Daily Bible Notes: August, 16th
The following daily bible notes for every day of the year, are taken from six public domain sources:
- "Morning and Evening" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by John H.Jowett
- "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
- "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan
- An Evening Meditation from "Searchlights from the Word" by G. Campbell Morgan
1. "Morning and Evening" by C.H.Spurgeon
Morning
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.
Psalm 29:2
God’s glory is the result of His nature and acts. He is glorious in His character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that He must be glorious. The actions which flow from His character are also glorious; but while He intends that they should manifest to His creatures His goodness, and mercy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to Himself. Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to differ from another? And what have we that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord ! The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the potsherd exalt itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel? Shall the dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean struggle with the tempest? Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto Him the honour that is due unto His name. Yet it is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence - "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name be glory." It is a lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful discipline. Let a Christian begin to boast, "I can do all things," without adding "through Christ which strengtheneth me," and before long he will have to groan, "I can do nothing," and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the Lord, and He is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at His feet, and exclaim, "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me!"
Evening
Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
Romans 8:23
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the effectual working of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first . As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest . As soon as the Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves. So, brethren, when God gives us things which are pure, lovely, and of good report, as the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord , and our new nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit; it is Christ’s image and creation, and is ordained for His glory. But the firstfruits were not the harvest , and the works of the Spirit in us at this moment are not the consummation - the perfection is yet to come. We must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be all the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, and pant for the day of full redemption.
Dear reader, this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Let the boon in present possession excite in you a sacred avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for He is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 13:10-17
10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
11 Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity."
13 He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God.
14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, "There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!"
15 Therefore the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?
16 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?"
17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
THE CHURCH AS AN INFIRMARY
What infirmities gather together in the synagogue! What moral and spiritual ailments are congregated in every place of worship! If the veil of the flesh could be removed, and the inward life revealed, how we should pity one another, and how we should pray! In how many lives should we behold a spirit "bound together," who "could in no wise lift herself up!" Wills like crushed reeds, consciences like broken vocal chords, hopes like birds with injured wings, and hearts like ruined homes!
But the blessed Lord still goes into the synagogue; nay, He anticipates our coming. And He is present "to heal the broken in heart," and to "bind up his wounds." His touch "has still its ancient power." Still does the gracious Master speak with authority. "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity!" And immediately she is "made straight."
Then why do so many spiritual cripples leave the synagogue cripples still? Because they do not give the Healer a chance. No one can remain crooked and broken in conscience and will who grips the hand of the Lord of Life.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
August 16th.
Holy Lord, give me a sense of Thy nearness. May I know no common hour! May every season be sanctified! May everything be
as a transparent veil behind which I may see the King of kings!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
Here is the way of mercy for a guilty and repenting sinner. He must cease from the habit of covering sin. This is attempted by false-hood, which denies sin; by hypocrisy, which conceals it; by boasting, which justifies it; and by loud profession, which tries to make amends for it.
The sinner's business is to confess and forsake. The two must go together. Confession must be honestly made to the Lord himself; and it must include within itself acknowledgment of the wrong, sense of its evil, and abhorrence of it. We must not throw the fault upon others, nor blame circumstances, nor plead natural weakness. We must make a clean breast of it, and plead guilty to the indictment. There can be no mercy till this is done.
Furthermore, we must forsake the evil: having owned our fault, we must disown all present and future intent to abide in it. We cannot remain in rebellion and yet dwell with the King's Majesty. The habit of evil must be quitted, together with all places, companions, pursuits, and books, which might lead us astray. Not for confession, nor for reformation, but in connection with them we find pardon by faith in the blood of Jesus.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job 23:12
Man's capacity for pleasure finds its full satisfaction when his life is surrendered to the will of God ... Infinite meaning lies within the words of Christ, "I delight to do thy will, O my God."
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus.
Hebrews 3:1
Again we have an appeal based upon what has already been written. Having dealt with the humiliation of the Son, and shown that it had not detracted from His superiority to the angels, but rather enhanced it, in that such humiliation was in order to the doing of His saving, priestly work, the writer urged his readers to consider Him. We may link this appeal with the previous one. The sure way in which to "give earnest heed" to the message of the Son, and to be saved from "drifting," is to consider Him. That consideration is to be of Him in two ways, as Apostle and High Priest. Along these lines we are led in what follows. Jesus is "the Apostle ... of our confession." That marks the Divine authority of His message. He is the Sent of God. His pre-eminence in this matter is shown by comparing Him with Moses and Joshua. Moses was faithful as a servant in the house, but Jesus as a Son over the house. Moses led the people out, but could not lead them in. Jesus leads out of bondage and into the promised possessions. Joshua led the people in, but could not give them rest. Jesus gives rest. Jesus is also "the High Priest of our confession," and that is very fully developed. The whole emphasis of this verse is upon the necessity for considering Him. The idea is that of careful contemplation, attentive thinking. How sadly we often fail here. The holy exercise demands time, method, diligence, and wherever it is practised we are saved from drifting.
Note: To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that the above material, all published before 1926 and freely available elsewhere on the internet in various formats, is in the public domain.