Daily Bible Notes: December, 28th
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
The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.
Galatians 2:20
When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, He first of all said, "Live"; and this He did first , because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace which perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its firstfruit. It is the neck which joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head. "Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord, Is not this office thine? and thy fit name, In the economy of gospel types, And symbols apposite - the Church’s neck; Identifying her in will and work With Him ascended?"
Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp. She knows His excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to repose her trust elsewhere; and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this heavenly grace, that He never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by the loving embrace and all-sufficient support of His eternal arms. Here, then, is established a living, sensible, and delightful union which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, complacency, and joy, whereof both the bride and bridegroom love to drink. When the soul can evidently perceive this oneness between itself and Christ, the pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the one blood as flowing through the veins of each.
Then is the heart as near heaven as it can be on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most sublime and spiritual kind of fellowship.
Evening
I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.
Matthew 10:34
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the I true, should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly, and reveal Himself to him more graciously than ever. O ye who have taken up His cross, know ye not what your Master said? "I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother; and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. Where the light cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee; or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot. If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you would live so as to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend upon it the world will not speak well of you. He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities. Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous. For the truth’s sake to hazard reputation and affection, is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not your back like a coward, but play the man.
Follow right manfully in your Master’s steps, for He has traversed this rough way before you. Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.
9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognise him.
11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.
12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name:
13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 The Word became flesh, and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testified about him. He cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.' "
16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
IN HIM WAS LIFE
I have heard men speak of "wanting to see a bit of life," and I found that what they meant was to see a bit of death. It is as if a man should go to the hospital to see a bit of health, or as if he should go to a gory battlefield to see the human frame. It is like going to a refuse-heap to see a bit of garden. Life is not found in fields of license; it is not found among the wild oats of a dissipated youth. Life is found only in Christ, and if we want to see a bit of life we must go to Him.
"In Him was life"; and that not merely to be looked at but to be shared. He is the well to which everybody can bring his pitcher, and take it away filled. And my pitcher is just my need. "All the fitness He requires is to feel our need of Him." The Life is all-sufficient for the needs of the race. This Life can vitalize all that is withered and dead; it can make decrepit wills muscular and mighty, and it can transfigure the leper with the glow and purity of perfect health.
- "Thou of life the Fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
December 28th.
My Father God, may I sit at Thy feet to-day and listen with attentive ears to every sound of Thy voice!
Open mine ears that I may discern wondrous things out of Thy Word. May I hear Thy high calling in Jesus Christ Thy Son!
May I hear the voice of the Highest!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5
Several times in the Scriptures the Lord hath said this. He has often repeated it, to make our assurance doubly sure. Let us never harbour a doubt of it. In itself the promise is specially emphatic. In the Greek it has five negatives, each one definitely shutting out the possibility of the Lord's ever leaving one of his people so that he can justly feel forsaken of his God. This priceless Scripture does not promise us exemption from trouble, but it does secure us against desertion. We may be called to traverse strange ways, but we shall always have our Lord's company, assistance, and provision. We need not covet money, for we shall always have our God, and God is better than gold, his favour is better than fortune.
We ought surely to be content with such things as we have, for he who has God has more than all the world besides. What can we have beyond the Infinite? What more can we desire than Almighty Goodness.
Come, my heart; if God says he will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, be thou much in prayer for grace, that thou mayest never leave thy Lord, nor even for a moment forsake his ways.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house ... and prove me now herewith ... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing.
Malachi 3:10, R.V.
When men come and say, "Here we are, our interests, ourselves, our business - everything," then the windows of heaven are never shut - never! When my all is upon the altar, then the windows of heaven are open and the blessing descends.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within Me, bless His holy Name.
Psalms 103:1
This great Psalm of perfect praise is one of the most' familiar in the Psalter. It is a glad outpouring of gratitude to Jehovah; for His ways with men; for what He is in Himself; for His great mercy; for His faithfulness therein; for the order and perfection of His government. For our present help we stress these introductory words, revealing as they do the responsibility of the soul in the matter of rendering praise to such a God. The singer addresses himself. He realizes that he has power over himself, that he is able to give or to withhold that which is due to God. He realizes also the complexity of personality. In order to perfect praise, all its powers need to be arrested, summoned to action, united in order to completeness. Whether intentionally or no, is there not here a recognition of the spiritual nature as supreme, and all mental powers as possessions thereof. The method harmonizes with that of Paul in Rom. 12:1, where he called upon believers to present their bodies, to seek the renewing of their mind, and thus to render reasonable (or, more accurately, spiritual) service. The one value of these opening words is that they show us that worship is not involuntary, automatic. It calls for the co-ordination of all our powers, if it is to be perfect. This truth should arrest us whenever we enter the place of worship. The sanctuary is not a lounge, a place of relaxation. We should enter it with all the powers of personality arrested, arranged, dedicated. Then we may render a service of praise that is worthy and acceptable.
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.