Daily Bible Notes: February, 5th
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 Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
1 John 4:14
It is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ did not come forth without His Father’s permission, authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent of the Father, that He might be the Saviour of men. We are too apt to forget that, while there are distinctions as to the persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of honour . We too frequently ascribe the honour of our salvation, or at least the depths of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do the Father. This is a very great mistake. What if Jesus came?
Did not His Father send Him? If He spake wondrously, did not His Father pour grace into His lips, that He might be an able minister of the new covenant? He who knoweth the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost as he should know them, never setteth one before another in his love; he sees them at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane, and on Calvary, all equally engaged in the work of salvation. O Christian, hast thou put thy confidence in the Man Christ Jesus? Hast thou placed thy reliance solely on Him? And art thou united with Him? Then believe that thou art united unto the God of heaven. Since to the Man Christ Jesus thou art brother, and holdest closest fellowship, thou art linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is thy Father and thy friend. Didst thou ever consider the depth of love in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped His Son for the great enterprise of mercy? If not, be this thy day’s meditation. The Father sent Him! Contemplate that subject.
Think how Jesus works what the Father wills. In the wounds of the dying Saviour see the love of the great I AM. Let every thought of Jesus be also connected with the Eternal, ever-blessed God, for "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief."
Evening
At that time Jesus answered.
Matthew 11:25
This is a singular way in which to commence a verse -"At that time Jesus answered." If you will look at the context you will not perceive that any person had asked Him a question, or that He was in conversation with any human being. Yet it is written, "Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father." When a man answers, he answers a person who has been speaking to him. Who, then, had spoken to Christ? His Father. Yet there is no record of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and that God spake into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular enough to be recorded.
It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with God. Even as Jesus was, is this world, so are we; let us therefore learn the lesson which this simple statement concerning Him teaches us. May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father, so that often we may answer Him, and though the world wotteth not to whom we speak, may we be responding to that secret voice unheard of any other ear, which our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy. God has spoken to us, let us speak to God - either to set our seal that God is true and faithful to His promise, or to confess the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or to acknowledge the mercy which God’s providence has given, or to express assent to the great truths which God the Holy Ghost has opened to our understanding. What a privilege is intimate communion with the Father of our spirits! It is a secret hidden from the world, a joy with which even the nearest friend intermeddleth not. If we would hear the whispers of God’s love, our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to His voice. This very evening may our hearts be in such a state, that when God speaks to us, we, like Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer Him.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Genesis 28:10-22
10 Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went towards Haran.
11 He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 He dreamt and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 Behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring.
14 Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."
16 Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I didn't know it."
17 He was afraid, and said, "How awesome this place is! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven."
18 Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.
19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
20 Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on,
21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the LORD will be my God,
22 then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you."
EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN
"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not."
That is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of God. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of God is never mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget God! God would be a disturbing presence! But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place. "And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!"
Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere "a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reaches to heaven." There was a ladder from the very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. God gets at us everywhere.
But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and God can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at God. There are "ascending angels" who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious God.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 5th.
Father, I would that my daily labour might become a spiritual service. May my labour be so pure and lofty
that it shall refine my soul!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
When I see the blood, I will pass over you.
Exodus 12:13
My own sight of the precious blood is for my comfort; but it is the Lord's sight of it which secures my safety. Even when I am unable to behold it, the Lord looks at it, and passes over me because of it. If I am not so much at ease as I ought to be, because my faith is dim, yet I am equally safe, because the Lord's eye is not dim, and he sees the blood of the great Sacrifice with steady gaze. What a joy is this!
The Lord sees the deep inner meaning, the infinite fulness of all that is meant by the death of his dear Son. He sees it with restful memory of justice satisfied, and all his matchless attributes glorified. He beheld creation in its progress, and said, "It is very good"; but what does he say of redemption in its completeness? What does he say of the obedience even unto death of his Well-beloved Son? None can tell his delight in Jesus, his rest in the sweet savour which Jesus presented when he offered himself without spot unto God.
Now rest we in calm security. We have God's Sacrifice and God's Word to create in us a sense of perfect security. He will, he must, pass over us, because he spared not our glorious Substitute. Justice joins hands with love to provide everlasting salvation for all the blood-besprinkled ones.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Matthew 18:11
There is no type of failure that He has not taken hold of and remade.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
... Man ... Thou art mindful of him ... The son of man ... Thou visitest him.
Psalms 8:4
I have resolutely taken the affirmations out of the interrogations of this verse, because they reveal the facts which created the wonder of the singer. The method of the song is that of contrast. First, the contrast between the glory of Jehovah, set upon the heavens, and the prattle, or possibly the singing, of little children. Second, the contrast between the stately splendour of the moon and the stars, and man - Enosh - frail man - and the son of man Ben-Adam - of apparently earthly origin. The contrasts are graphic. The fact of difference creates no wonder. That is caused by the attitude of God toward the apparently small and trivial. God builds His stronghold against His foes in the prattle or singing of children. He visits, that is, specially cares for, the son of Adam; He is mindful of frail man. This is the cause of the wonder. But what a revelation it is of the true glory and dignity of man. Because of this, man is in dominion over all the creation, and by reason of this, God is able to find a stronghold against His adversaries in the language of childhood: We have still to say with the writer of the letter to the Hebrews : "We see not yet all things subjected to him." We do see the greatness of man as we see the interest of God in him; but we have never yet seen man realize his greatness. But, with the same writer, we may say that we have seen Jesus. In Him we have had the full revelation of the greatness of man. But we have seen more than that. We have seen Him "crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man." That vision creates our confidence that man will at last realize the Divine purpose.
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.