Daily Bible Notes: December, 12th
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
His ways are everlasting.
Habakkuk 3:6
What He hath done at one time, He will do yet again. Man’s ways are variable, but God’s ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them are the following - the Lord’s ways are the result of wise deliberation ; He ordereth all things according to the counsel of His own will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise, or happen otherwise than He has foreseen.
His ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character , and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One Himself can undergo change, His ways, which are Himself in action, must remain for ever the same. Is He eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender? - then His ways must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow of a turning, His ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might . The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of His people. Who can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?
But it is not might alone which gives stability; God’s ways are the manifestation of the eternal principles of right , and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish.
This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and in Him the Lord is ever gracious to His people.
Evening
They have dealt treacherously against the Lord.
Hosea 5:7
Believer, here is a sorrowful truth! Thou art the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by blood, called by grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on thy way to heaven, and yet, "thou hast dealt treacherously" with God, thy best friend; treacherously with Jesus, whose thou art; treacherously with the Holy Spirit, by whom thou hast been quickened unto life eternal! How treacherous you have been in the matter of vows and promises. Do you remember the love of your espousals, that happy time - the springtide of your spiritual life? Oh, how closely did you cling to your Master then! saying, "He shall never charge me with indifference; my feet shall never grow slow in the way of His service; I will not suffer my heart to wander after other loves; in Him is every store of sweetness ineffable. I give all up for my Lord Jesus’ sake." Has it been so?
Alas! if conscience speak, it will say, "He who promised so well has performed most ill. Prayer has oftentimes been slurred - it has been short, but not sweet; brief, but not fervent. Communion with Christ has been forgotten. Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been carnal cares, worldly vanities and thoughts of evil. Instead of service, there has been disobedience; instead of fervency, lukewarmness; instead of patience, petulance; instead of faith, confidence in an arm of flesh; and as a soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to a very shameful degree." "Thou hast dealt treacherously." Treachery to Jesus! what words shall be used in denouncing it? Words little avail: let our penitent thoughts execrate the sin which is so surely in us. Treacherous to Thy wounds, O Jesus! Forgive us, and let us not sin again! How shameful to be treacherous to Him who never forgets us, but who this day stands with our names engraven on His breastplate before the eternal throne.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 Corinthians 10:23-33
23 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are profitable. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things build up.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbour's good.
25 Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat, asking no question for the sake of conscience,
26 for "the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness."
27 But if one of those who don't believe invites you to a meal, and you are inclined to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for the sake of conscience.
28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," don't eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For "the earth is the Lord's, with all its fullness."
29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other's conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced for something I give thanks for?
31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the assembly of God;
33 even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
RELATING EVERYTHING TO GOD
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
And so all my days would constitute a vast temple, and life would be a constant worship. This is surely the science and art of holy living - to relate everything to the Infinite. When I take my common meal and relate it to "the glory of God," the common meal becomes a sacramental feast. When my labour is joined "unto the Lord," the sacred wedding turns my workshop into a church. When I link the country lane to the Saviour, I am walking in the Garden of Eden, and paradise is restored.
The fact of the matter is, we never see anything truly until we see it in the light of the glory of God. Set a dull duty in that light and it shines like a diamond. Set a bit of drudgery in that light and it becomes transfigured like the wing of a starling when the sunshine falls upon it. Everything is seen amiss until we see it in the glory! And, therefore, it is my wisdom to set everything in that light, and to do all to the glory of God.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
December 12th.
My Lord and God, incline my heart to love Thee. I am conscious of other leadings. I incline too much to the earthly and
the transient. Help me to set my heart upon things above. Turn my ambitions into aspirations, and my lusts into prayers.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
Isaiah 30:15
It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mistrusting. What can we do if we wear ourselves to skin and bone? Can we gain anything by fearing and fuming? Do we not unfit ourselves for action, and unhinge our minds for wise decision? We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith.
Oh for grace to be quiet! Why run from house to house to repeat the weary story which makes us more and more heart-sick as we tell it? Why even stay at home to cry out in agony because of wretched forebodings which may never be fulfilled? It would be well to keep a quiet tongue, but it would be far better if we had a quiet heart. Oh to be still and know that Jehovah is God!
Oh for grace to be confident in God! The Holy One of Israel must defend and deliver his own. He cannot run back from his solemn declarations. We may make sure that every word of his will stand though the mountains should depart. He deserves to be confided in; and if we would display confidence and consequent quietness, we might be as happy as the spirits before the throne.
Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Given to hospitality.
Romans 12:13
The ideal Christian home will ever have a door open to welcome the homeless ones of our great centres of population, that its atmosphere of love may help to guard and form the life of such.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Revelation 9:21
The statement is an appalling revelation of the fearful nature of evil, and a vindication of those awful methods by which, and by which alone, God can deal with it so as to deliver men from its power. In this chapter the fifth and sixth angels have sounded, and so the first and second of the last three woes have fallen upon the earth. These have been of a new nature from those following the sounding of the first four trumpets. Those were physical. These have been terrible spiritual visitations, producing bodily sufferings and death. Nevertheless, men who had escaped actual death repented not. As the story is read, it seems almost incredible; and yet when we turn from these visions to the actual facts of human history, and most notably to the things in the midst of which we have lived recently, is not this view of the power of evil vindicated? How often have we seen men fear death, but, if they escape it, still persistent in evil, and indeed sometimes rush back to it with an abandonment and intensity that is utterly appalling. These methods of severe judgment are necessary in order to stamp out evil, but they will not save men. If men will not yield themselves to the grace and mercy of God, they will be destroyed, not saved, by His wrath. It is a solemn and searching truth, the meaning of which we do well to ponder.
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.