Daily Bible Notes: February, 29th
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
With lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Jeremiah 31:3
The thunders of the law and the terrors of judgment are all used to bring us to Christ; but the final victory is effected by lovingkindness. The prodigal set out to his father’s house from a sense of need; but his father saw him a great way off, and ran to meet him; so that the last steps he took towards his father’s house were with the kiss still warm upon his cheek, and the welcome still musical in his ears. "Law and terrors do but harden All the while they work alone; But a sense of blood-bought pardon Will dissolve a heart of stone."
The Master came one night to the door, and knocked with the iron hand of the law; the door shook and trembled upon its hinges; but the man piled every piece of furniture which he could find against the door, for he said, "I will not admit the man." The Master turned away, but by-and-bye He came back, and with His own soft hand, using most that part where the nail had penetrated, He knocked again - oh, so softly and tenderly. This time the door did not shake, but, strange to say, it opened, and there upon his knees the once unwilling host was found rejoicing to receive his guest. "Come in, come in; thou hast so knocked that my bowels are moved for thee. I could not think of thy pierced hand leaving its blood-mark on my door, and of thy going away houseless, ‘Thy head filled with dew, and thy locks with the drops of the night.’ I yield, I yield, Thy love has won my heart." So in every case: lovingkindness wins the day. What Moses with the tablets of stone could never do, Christ does with His pierced hand.
Such is the doctrine of effectual calling. Do I understand it experimentally?
Can I say, "He drew me, and I followed on, glad to confess the voice divine?" If so, may He continue to draw me, till at last I shall sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Evening
Now we have received... the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12
Dear reader, have you received the spirit which is of God, wrought by the Holy Ghost in your soul? The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart may be clearly seen from this fact, that all which has been done by God the Father, and by God the Son, must be ineffectual to us, unless the Spirit shall reveal these things to our souls . What effect does the doctrine of election have upon any man until the Spirit of God enters into him?
Election is a dead letter in my consciousness until the Spirit of God calls me out of darkness into marvellous light. Then through my calling, I see my election, and knowing myself to be called of God, I know myself to have been chosen in the eternal purpose. A covenant was made with the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Father; but what avails that covenant to us until the Holy Spirit brings us its blessings, and opens our hearts to receive them? There hang the blessings on the nail - Christ Jesus; but being short of stature, we cannot reach them; the Spirit of God takes them down and hands them to us, and thus they become actually ours. Covenant blessings in themselves are like the manna in the skies, far out of mortal reach, but the spirit of God opens the windows of heaven and scatters the living bread around the camp of the spiritual Israel. Christ’s finished work is like wine stored in the wine-vat; through unbelief we can neither draw nor drink. The Holy Spirit dips our vessel into this precious wine, and then we drink; but without the Spirit we are as truly dead in sin as though the Father never had elected, and though the Son had never bought us with His blood. The Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to our well-being. Let us walk lovingly towards Him and tremble at the thought of grieving Him.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Hebrews 11:17-22
17 By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son,
18 to whom it was said, "Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,"
19 concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
21 By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
INVINCIBLE RELIANCE
"Accounting that God was able." That is the faith that makes moral heroes. That is the faith that prompts mighty ventures and crusades. It is faith in God's willingness and ability to redeem His promises. It is faith that if I do my part He will most assuredly do His. It is faith that He cannot possibly fail. It is faith that when He makes a promise the money is already in the bank. It is faith that when He sends me into the wilderness the secret harvest is already ripe from which He will give me "daily bread." It is faith that "all things are now ready," and in that faith I will face the apparently impossible task.
And thus the "impossible" leads me to the "prepared." The desert leads me to "fields white already." The hard call to sacrifice leads me to the "lamb in the thicket." "God is able," and He is never behind the time. The critical need unveils His grace.
Faith goes out on this invincible reliance. It is "the assurance of things hoped for." And by faith it inherits these things and is rich and strong in their possession.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
February 29th.
My Father, I would thank Thee for all the bright things of life. Help me to see them, and to count them, and to remember
them, that my life may flow in ceaseless praise.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Surely goodness and mercy shall fallow me all the days of my life - Psalms 23:6
A devout poet sings:-
- "Lord, when thou
Puttest in my time a day, as thou dost now,
Unknown in other years, grant, I entreat,
Such grace illume it, that whate'er its phase
It add to holiness, and lengthen praise!"
This day comes but once in four years. Oh, that we could win a fourfold blessing upon it! Up till now goodness and mercy, like two guards, have followed us from day to day, bringing up the rear, even as grace leads the van; and as this out-of-the-way day is one of the days of our life, the two guardian angels will be with us to-day also. Goodness to supply our needs, and mercy to blot out our sins - these twain shall attend our every step this day, and every day till days shall be no more. Wherefore, let us serve the Lord on this peculiar day with special consecration of heart, and sing his praises with more zest and sweetness than ever. Could we not to-day make an unusual offering to the cause of God, or to the poor? By inventiveness of love let us make this twenty-ninth of February a day to be remembered for ever.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I delight to do they will, O my God.
Psalm 40:8
The will of God should be the supreme matter, beyond the doing of which the soul should have no anxiety.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
Psalms 32:5
This is the second of the seven Psalms which are usually called Penitential. (The others are 6, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143.) It is one of the greatest songs in the Psalter. In it, human experience is vividly revealed. Sin, sorrow, and ignorance are all expressed; and their inter-relationship is recognized. It is a Psalm of penitence, but it is also the song of a ransomed soul rejoicing in the wonders of the grace of God. Sin is dealt with; sorrow is comforted; ignorance is instructed. The fundamental matter is that of sin, and the power of the song is created by the contrast it makes between the soul hiding sin, refusing to acknowledge it, and that same soul confessing it. While there was continuance of silence on the part of the sinner, the hand of God was heavy upon him, and his life was withered. When the confession was made, that sinner found the heart of God, and life was healed, and songs took the place of sighing. These words which are emphasized reveal the Divine heart in the most wonderful way. In them God is set forth radiantly as "a God ready to pardon." Note carefully that when this man said he would confess, God forgave. So ready is He to pardon, that He does not wait for the actual and formulated expression. The yielding of the will, the decision of the soul, this is what He seeks. Directly He finds it, His forgiveness is granted, and the soul is restored to the consciousness of communion. This is finally illustrated in the teaching of Jesus. The father's kisses were upon his returning boy, before any word of confession was uttered. It was upon the bosom of his father that he gave expression to the confession already made in his will. Such is our God.
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.