Daily Bible Notes: February, 15th
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
To Him be glory both now and forever.
2 Peter 3:18
Heaven will be full of the ceaseless praises of Jesus. Eternity! thine unnumbered years shall speed their everlasting course, but forever and for ever, to Him be glory. "Is He not a "Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek"? "To Him be glory." Is He not king for ever? - King of kings and Lord of lords, the everlasting Father? "To Him be glory for ever ." Never shall His praises cease. That which was bought with blood deserves to last while immortality endures. The glory of the cross must never be eclipsed; the lustre of the grave and of the resurrection must never be dimmed. O Jesus! thou shalt be praised for ever. Long as immortal spirits live - long as the Father’s throne endures - for ever, for ever, unto Thee shall be glory. Believer, you are anticipating the time when you shall join the saints above in ascribing all glory to Jesus; but are you glorifying Him now ? The apostle’s words are, "To Him be glory both now and for ever." Will you not this day make it your prayer? "Lord, help me to glorify Thee; I am poor, help me to glorify Thee by contentment; I am sick, help me to give Thee honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol Thee by spending them for Thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve thee; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but Thine, and glow with no flame but affection for Thee; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of Thee and for Thee; Thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into Thy treasury; I am all Thine; take me, and enable me to glorify Thee now , in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have."
Evening
Whereby they have made Thee glad.
Psalm 45:8
And who are thus privileged to make the Saviour glad? His church - His people. But is it possible? He makes us glad, but how can we make Him glad ? By our love. Ah! we think it so cold, so faint; and so, indeed, we must sorrowfully confess it to be, but it is very sweet to Christ. Hear His own eulogy of that love in the golden Canticle: "How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!" See, loving heart, how He delights in you. When you lean your head on His bosom, you not only receive, but you give Him joy; when you gaze with love upon His all-glorious face, you not only obtain comfort, but impart delight. Our praise , too gives Him joy - not the song of the lips alone, but the melody of the heart’s deep gratitude. Our gifts , too, are very pleasant to Him; He loves to see us lay our time, our talents, our substance upon the altar, not for the value of what we give, but for the sake of the motive from which the gift springs. To Him the lowly offerings of His saints are more acceptable than the thousands of gold and silver. Holiness is like frankincense and myrrh to Him. Forgive your enemy, and you make Christ glad; distribute of your substance to the poor, and He rejoices; be the means of saving souls, and you give Him to see of the travail of His soul; proclaim His gospel, and you are a sweet savour unto Him; go among the ignorant and lift up the cross, and you have given Him honour. It is in your power even now to break the alabaster box, and pour the precious oil of joy upon His head, as did the woman of old, whose memorial is to this day set forth wherever the gospel is preached. Will you be backward then?
Will you not perfume your beloved Lord with the myrrh and aloes, and cassis, of your heart’s praise? Yes, ye ivory palaces, ye shall hear the songs of the saints!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 78:1-8
1 Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
5 For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
7 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God's deeds, but keep his commandments,
8 and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
THE WITNESS OF YESTERDAY
Our yesterdays are to be the teachers of our children. We are to take them over our road, and show them the pitfalls where we stumbled and the snares that lured us away. And we are to show them how we found the springs of grace, and how the Lord made Himself known to us in daily providence and care. We are to relate His exploits, "His wonderful dealings with the children of men." We must make our life witness of God to our children, and when their minds roam over our road they must see it radiant with the grace and mercy of the Lord.
The best inheritance I can give my child is a steadfast witness of my knowledge of God. The testimony of a light that never failed may give him the needful wisdom when his own way becomes troubled with clouds and darkness. And what a story it is, this story of the deeds of our gracious God. It is full of quickening for weary and desponding souls. It is a perfect reservoir of inspiration for those whose desire has failed, and in whose lives the wells of impulse have become dry. Let us bring forward yesterday's wealth to enrich the life of to-day. "Do ye not remember the miracle of the loaves?"
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 15th.
Heavenly Father, give the grace of sympathy. Keep my affection soft and sensitive. Save me from growing hard. May I be
easily touched with the feeling of the injustice done to others!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us.
Psalms 115:12
I can set my seal to that first sentence. Cannot you? Yes, Jehovah has thought of us, provided for us, comforted us, delivered us, and guided us. In all the movements of his providence he has been mindful of us, never overlooking our mean affairs. His mind has been full of us - that is the other form of the word "mindful." This has been the case all along, and without a single break. At special times, however, we have more distinctly seen this mindfulness, and we would recall them at this hour with overflowing gratitude. Yes, yes, "the Lord hath been mindful of us."
The next sentence is a logical inference from the former one. Since God is unchangeable, he will continue to be mindful of us in the future as he has been in the past; and his mindfulness is tantamount to blessing us. But we have here, not only the conclusion of reason but the declaration of inspiration: we have it on the Holy Ghost's authority - "HE WILL BLESS US." This means great things and unsearchable. The very indistinctness of the promise indicates its infinite reach. He will bless us after his own divine manner, and that for ever and ever. Therefore, let us each say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee.
Job 42:5
Nothing's small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer bee
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot but proves a sphere; No chaffinch but implies the cherubim. Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. - Mrs. E. B. Browning.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful.
Psalms 18:25
This is the first of four statements, all of which reveal the same principle, viz. that the attitude of God towards men is created by their attitude towards Him. The man who, responding to the Divine compassion, is himself compassionate, finds God ever compassionate toward him. The man who is perfect - that is, completely devoted - will find God faithful to him. The man who purifies himself will discover the purity of God. The man who is perverse - that is, the man who crosses the purposes of God - will find God at cross-purposes with him. Let it be well noted that neither of these men escapes from God. That is an eventuality which the Bible never concedes as being possible. Every man lives and moves and has his being in God. In the hand of God, every man's breath is - even that of Belshazzar, foul with drink and obscenity. That which is possible to man is, that he can and does create his experience of God. The perfect man finds God faithful to His covenant: the perverse man finds Him froward. It is at least suggestive that this particular statement of principle occurs in the Psalm which celebrates God's deliverance of David out of the hand of Saul. The story of these two men forms a remarkable illustrative commentary on the declarations. In all the deepest things of his life David had been merciful, perfect, and pure. Saul from the beginning had been perverse. David had been delivered in the mercy and perfection and purity of God. Saul had been rejected and cast out by the frowardness of God. In God's dealings with men, the balance of justice is perfectly maintained, both in His mercy and in His wrath.
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.