Daily Bible Notes: February, 27th
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
Thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.
Psalm 91:9
The Israelites in the wilderness were continually exposed to change .
Whenever the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched; but tomorrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the ark was in motion, and the fiery, cloudy pillar was leading the way through the narrow defiles of the mountain, up the hillside, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had scarcely time to rest a little before they heard the sound of "Away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying towards Canaan!" They were never long in one place. Even wells and palm trees could not detain them. Yet they had an abiding home in their God, His cloudy pillar was their roof-tree, and its flame by night their household fire. They must go onward from place to place, continually changing, never having time to settle, and to say, "Now we are secure; in this place we shall dwell." "Yet," says Moses, "though we are always changing, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations." The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow; he may be sickly to-day and well to-morrow; he may be in happiness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed - but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God.
If He loved me yesterday, He loves me to-day. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is "my strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort." I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation.
Evening
Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Micah 5:2
The Lord Jesus had goings forth for His people as their representative before the throne, long before they appeared upon the stage of time . It was "from everlasting" that He signed the compact with His Father, that He would pay blood for blood, suffering for suffering, agony for agony, and death for death, in the behalf of His people; it was "from everlasting" that He gave Himself up without a murmuring word. That from the crown of His head to the sole of His foot He might sweat great drops of blood, that He might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, rent asunder, and crushed beneath the pains of death. His goings forth as our Surety were from everlasting.
Pause, my soul, and wonder! Thou hast goings forth in the person of Jesus "from everlasting." Not only when thou wast born into the world did Christ love thee, but His delights were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men. Often did He think of them; from everlasting to everlasting He had set His affection upon them. What! my soul, has He been so long about thy salvation, and will not He accomplish it? Has he from everlasting been going forth to save me, and will He lose me now?
What! has He carried me in His hand, as His precious jewel, and will He now let me slip from between His fingers? Did he choose me before the mountains were brought forth, or the channels of the deep were digged, and will He reject me now? Impossible! I am sure He would not have loved me so long if He had not been a changeless Lover. If He could grow weary of me, He would have been tired of me long before now. If He had not loved me with a love as deep as hell, and as strong as death, He would have turned from me long ago. Oh, joy above all joys, to know that I am His everlasting and inalienable inheritance, given to Him by His Father or ever the earth was! Everlasting love shall be the pillow for my head this night.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 105:23-36
23 Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24 He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miracles amongst them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn't rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings.
31 He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.
33 He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number,
35 ate up every plant in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.
THE MIGHT OF FRAILTY
That is the wonder of wonders, that the Almighty God will use frail humanity as the vehicles of His power, and will make Moses and Aaron shine with reflected glory. Man can send an electric current into a fragile carbon film and make it incandescent. He can send his voice across a continent, and make it speak on a distant shore. And the Lord God can do wonders compared with which these are only as the dimmest dreams. He can send His holy power into human speech, and the words can wake the dead. He can send His virtue into the human will, and its strength can shake the thrones of iniquity. He can send His love into the human heart, and the power of its affection can capture the bitterest foe.
And so the word "impossible" becomes itself impossible when the soul of man is in fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. The pliant will becomes an iron pillar. The weak heart becomes "as a defended city" when it is the home of God. Dumb lips become the thrones of mysterious eloquence when touched with divine inspiration.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 27th.
Father of all, hear me when I pray for my brethren of every race and clime. May the light of the Cross break upon their eyes
and hearts, and may their yoke become easy and their burden light!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
Psalms 112:7
Suspense is dreadful. When we have no news from home, we are apt to grow anxious, and we cannot be persuaded that "no news is good news." Faith is the cure for this condition of sadness: the Lord by his Spirit settles the mind in holy serenity, and all fear is gone as to the future as well as the present.
The fixedness of heart spoken of by the Psalmist is to be diligently sought after. It is not believing this or that promise of the Lord, but the general condition of unstaggering trustfulness in our God, the confidence which we have in him that he will neither do us ill himself, nor suffer anyone else to harm us. This constant confidence meets the unknown as well as the known of life. Let the morrow be what it may, our God is the God of to-morrow. Whatever events may have happened which to us are unknown, our Jehovah is God of the unknown as well as of the known. We are determined to trust the Lord, come what may. If the very worst should happen, our God is still the greatest and best. Therefore will we not fear though the postman's knock should startle us, or a telegram wake us at midnight. The Lord liveth, and what can his children fear?
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Christ also suffered for us ... that ye should follow his steps.
1 Peter 2:21
As you look at the pathway you will think that it is a hard one; but as you begin to tread it you will find that He is with you, and every step is leading you into finer air, and larger life, and more infinite possibilities.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.
Psalms 30:6
This is a common blunder made even by men of faith in hours when circumstances are those of ease and comfort. All is as we desire it to be. We have found a place of pleasant situation in which to live, and work of delight which to perform. And, indeed, all this under direct Divine guidance. Herein is a peril. We are tempted to confide in circumstances rather than in God. Then comes the rough awakening. In the case of the singer it came through sickness which led him to the very gates of death. It may come to us thus, or in many ways. The pleasant place has to be left. The work in which we delighted is taken from us. All our plans based upon our prosperity, are shattered. Is there then anything that is not moved? Yes - read the next verse: "Thou Jehovah, of Thy favour hadst made my mountain to stand strong." The mountain is the stronghold of the dwelling-place of God. That. is never moved. In that we may dwell securely, when all our temporary dwelling-places are taken from us. In abiding fellowship with God, kept in His will, and keeping there, we shall be delivered, not from disturbance and upheaval, but through these very things, from more disastrous perils - the real perils of those deflections from loyalty, which destroy the soul. Confessedly the lesson is not an easy one to learn, but it is of vital importance. There is only one sure resting place, and perfect security for the soul of man, and that is found in the heart of God. To dwell there is to cease to trust in circumstances and to be delivered from depending upon them in any way.
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.