Daily Bible Notes: February, 11th
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
And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13
A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of Him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;" but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of Him; he is like Him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every-day actions." A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness . Never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you: take care you never disgrace that . Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God. Imitate Him in your loving spirit; think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, "He has been with Jesus." Imitate Jesus in His holiness . Was He zealous for His Master? So be you; ever go about doing good. Let not time be wasted: it is too precious. Was He self-denying, never looking to His own interest? Be the same. Was He devout? Be you fervent in your prayers. Had He deference to His Father’s will? So submit yourselves to Him. Was He patient? So learn to endure. And best of all, as the highest portraiture of Jesus, try to forgive your enemies, as He did; and let those sublime words of your Master, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," always ring in your ears. Forgive, as you hope to be forgiven. Heap coals of fire on the head of your foe by your kindness to him. Good for evil, recollect, is godlike. Be godlike, then; and in all ways and by all means, so live that all may say of you, "He has been with Jesus."
Evening
Thou hast left thy first love.
Revelation 2:4
Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was past; the mutterings of Sinai’s thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment. Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, and patience sprung from the sod; the hyacinth of repentance, the snowdrop of pure holiness, the crocus of golden faith, the daffodil of early love, all decked the garden of the soul. The time of the singing of birds was come, and we rejoiced with thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and our resolve was, "Lord, I am Thine, wholly Thine; all I am, and all I have, I would devote to Thee. Thou hast brought me with Thy blood - let me spend myself and be spent in Thy service. In life and in death let me be consecrated to Thee." How have we kept this resolve ?
Our espousal love burned with a holy flame of devoutedness to Jesus - is it the same now ? Might not Jesus well say to us, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left they first love"? Alas! it is but little we have done for our Master’s glory. Our winter has lasted all too long. We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer’s glow and bloom with sacred flowers. We give to God pence when He deserveth pounds, nay, deserveth our heart’s blood to be coined in the service of His church and of His truth.
But shall we continue thus? O Lord, after Thou hast so richly blessed us, shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent to Thy good cause and work? O quicken us that we may return to our first love, and do our first works! Send us a genial spring, O Sun of Righteousness.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper. The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
THE HILL COUNTRY OF THE SOUL
There should be a hill country in every life, some great up-towering peaks which dominate the common plain. There should be an upland district, where springs are born, and where rivers of inspiration have their birth. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills."
The soul that knows no hills is sure to be oppressed with the monotony of the road. The inspiration to do little things comes from the presence of big things. It is amazing what dull trifles we can get through when a radiant love is near. A noble companionship glorifies the dingiest road. And what if that Companion be God? Then, surely, "the common round and daily task" have a light thrown upon them from "the beauty of His countenance."
The "heavenlies" are our salvation and our defence. "His righteousness is like the great mountains." "The mountains bring forth peace unto His people."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 11th.
My Father, I would delight in Thee! I would not only follow Thee, but do so joyfully! May Thy statutes become my songs
and Thy will my ceaseless delight!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.
Isaiah 44:3
Our dear children have not the Spirit of God by nature, as we plainly see. We see much in them which makes us fear as to their future, and this drives us to agonizing prayer. When a son becomes specially perverse, we cry with Abraham, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee!" We would sooner see our daughters Hannahs than empresses. This verse should greatly encourage us. It follows upon the words, "Fear not, O Jacob, my servant," and it may well banish our fears.
The Lord will give his Spirit; will give it plentifully, pouring it out; will give it effectually, so that it shall be a real and eternal blessing. Under this divine outpouring our children shall come forward, and "one shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob."
This is one of those promises concerning which the Lord will be enquired of. Should we not, at set times, in a distinct manner, pray for our offspring? We cannot give them new hearts, but the Holy Spirit can; and he is easily to be entreated of. The great Father takes pleasure in the prayers of fathers and mothers. Have we any dear ones outside of the ark? Let us not rest till they are shut in with us by the Lord's own hand.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
To die is gain.
Philippians 1:21
Imagination is sometimes ahead of truth. Poetry guesses at more than prose ever fathoms ... Everywhere, on the throne and amid the multitudes, what see you? Christ. That is why Paul, ... notwithstanding Nero's threatened axe, says, "To die is gain."
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Psalms 14:1
In this declaration, which is cause, and which is effect? Does atheism result from folly, or folly from atheism? It would be perfectly correct to say that each is cause and each is effect. The words describe a vicious circle. Folly denies God, and the denial leads back to folly. When we remember, however, that the Hebrew word here rendered "fool" has a moral note and refers to wickedness rather than weakness of intellect, we are constrained to the view that the meaning of the singer was that immorality is the outcome of atheism. When, for whatever reason or by whatever method, a man says in his heart that there is no God, he becomes a fool, that is a vile person. This is ever so. All wickedness is the result of the denial of God. The denial of God which produces wickedness is the denial of the heart. Honest intellectual agnosticism does not necessarily produce immorality: dishonest emotional atheism always does. The heart is the realm of desire. When a man desires to be rid of God, of His government and interference, and out of that desire formulates a denial of God, the process is in itself immoral, and the issues are bound to be immoral. There is no realm of personality which needs more vigilant guarding than that of desire. Its power over the intellect and the will is amazing. It is capable of completely clouding the intelligence, and capturing the volition. It is possible for a man to yield himself so completely to desire, as to be able to persuade himself that he really does believe what he wants to believe, and thus to set his will free for all evil choices. Thus again the vicious circle is revealed, of an atheism springing out of immoral desires, and proceeding to immoral activity.
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.