Daily Bible Notes: December, 10th
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
So shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are - and how transitory! One moment our eyes see Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see Him, for our beloved withdraws Himself from us; like a roe or a young hart He leaps over the mountains of division; He is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies. "If to-day He deigns to bless us With a sense of pardoned sin, He to-morrow may distress us, Make us feel the plague within."
Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold Him at a distance, but see Him face to face: when He shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of His glory. We shall not see Him for a little season, but "Millions of years our wondering eyes, Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove; And myriad ages we’ll adore, The wonders of His love."
In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing for ever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see Him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.
Evening
Whose heart the Lord opened.
Acts 16:14
In Lydia’s conversion there are many points of interest. It was brought about by providential circumstances . She was a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, but just at the right time for hearing Paul we find her at Philippi; providence, which is the handmaid of grace, led her to the right spot. Again, grace was preparing her soul for the blessing - grace preparing for grace. She did not know the Saviour, but as a Jewess, she knew many truths which were excellent stepping-stones to a knowledge of Jesus. Her conversion took place in the use of the means. On the Sabbath she went when prayer was wont to be made, and there prayer was heard.
Never neglect the means of grace; God may bless us when we are not in His house, but we have the greater reason to hope that He will when we are in communion with His saints. Observe the words, "Whose heart the Lord opened." She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord Himself must open the heart, to receive the things which make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for Himself. He is the heart’s master as He is the heart’s maker. The first outward evidence of the opened heart was obedience . As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart, when the child of God is willing to obey a command which is not essential to his salvation, which is not forced upon him by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a simple act of obedience and of communion with his Master. The next evidence was love , manifesting itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. Love to the saints has ever been a mark of the true convert.
Those who do nothing for Christ or His church, give but sorry evidence of an "opened" heart. Lord, evermore give me an opened heart.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 111
1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the council of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 The LORD's works are great, pondered by all those who delight in them.
3 His work is honour and majesty. His righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered. The LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He has given food to those who fear him. He always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice. All his precepts are sure.
8 They are established forever and ever. They are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
THE ONLY WISE BEGINNING
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
If I want to do anything wisely I must begin with God. That is the very alphabet of the matter. Every other beginning is a perverse beginning, and it will end in sure disaster. "I am Alpha." Everything must take its rise in Him, or it will plunge from folly into folly, and culminate in confusion.
If I would be wise in my daily business I must begin all my affairs in God. My career itself must be chosen in His presence, and in the illumination of His most holy Spirit. And in the subsequent days nothing must be done that is not rooted and grounded in Him.
If I would be wise as a teacher I must begin with God. I must not merely call Him in to bless my lesson when my labour is done. The very beginnings of my thinkings must be in Him. Our Lord will not write an appendix to a volume about which He has never been consulted. "They who seek Me early shall find Me." And so it is with the varied activities of our multitudinous life. If we would have them shine with quiet wisdom we must light them at the Sun of glory.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
December 10th.
Spirit of Holiness may Thy presence pervade my life to-day! May everything be sanctified! May nothing be common or
unclean! May everything shine with the beauty of holiness! May the trifles glow like stars! May I child of light!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and
an adversary unto thine adversaries.
Exodus 23:22
The Lord Christ in the midst of his people is to be acknowledged and obeyed. He is the vicegerent of God, and speaks in the Father's name, and it is ours implicitly and immediately to do as he commands. We shall lose the promise if we disregard the precept.
To full obedience how large the blessing! The Lord enters into a league with his people, offensive and defensive. He will bless those who bless us, and curse those who curse us. God will go heart and soul with his people, and enter in deepest sympathy into their position. What a protection this affords us! We need not concern ourselves about our adversaries, when we are assured that they have become the adversaries of God. If Jehovah has taken up our quarrel we may leave the foemen in his hands.
So far as our own interest is concerned we have no enemies; but for the cause of truth and righteousness we take up arms and go forth to conflict. In this sacred war we are allied with the eternal God, and if we carefully obey the law of our Lord Jesus, he is engaged to put forth all his power on our behalf. Wherefore we fear no man.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33
There must be a clean severance from all entanglement, and an utter uncompromising abandonment of ourselves to Him. Unless this be so, we cannot be His disciples.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their fore-heads.
Revelation 7:3
These words, uttered by one angel to four others, indicate a halt in the processes under the opening of the seals. Six have been opened; the seventh and last is about to be opened; but there is delay, during which an elect remnant of Israel is sealed. This is the spiritual realization of Israel. At this point John was also granted a vision of a multitude in heaven, so great that no man could number them. They are seen surrounding the Throne and the Lamb, worshipping and praising Him, as it is given to them to see the processes of the government of the earth, and to understand whereunto all these things are moving. This is the first of a series of interludes during these processes, and the fact of them is full of importance, proving as it does that God is not bound by times and dates and seasons. As six seals have been opened, there has been a steady development toward a climax of judgment. That climax is at hand, but it is halted in order that the justice of God's mercy may have full opportunity to accomplish its purpose also. The storm is ready to break, but that also is under the control of the angels who are the servants of the Throne; and until He has completed His work of securing loyal souls from the disaster, these angels must hold the winds in check.
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.