Daily Bible Notes: January, 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
These have no root.
Luke 8:13
My soul, examine thyself this morning by the light of this text. Thou hast received the word with joy; thy feelings have been stirred and a lively impression has been made; but, remember, that to receive the word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into thy very soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the word is not always a lasting one. In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green shoot aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah’s gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above all let me feel the energy of His Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible; therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield Thee a bounteous harvest.
Evening
I have prayed for thee.
Luke 22:32
How encouraging is the thought of the Redeemer’s never-ceasing intercession for us. When we pray, He pleads for us; and then we are not praying, He is advocating our cause, and by His supplications shielding us from unseen dangers. Notice the word of comfort addressed to Peter -"Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but" - what? "But go and pray for yourself." That would be good advice, but it is not so written. Neither does he say, "But I will keep you watchful, and so you shall be preserved." That were a great blessing. No, it is, "But I have prayed for thee , that thy faith fail not." We little know what we owe to our Saviour’s prayers. When we reach the hill-tops of heaven, and look back upon all the way whereby the Lord our God hath led us, how we shall praise Him who, before the eternal throne, undid the mischief which Satan was doing upon earth. How shall we thank Him because He never held His peace, but day and night pointed to the wounds upon His hands, and carried our names upon His breastplate! Even before Satan had begun to tempt, Jesus had forestalled him and entered a plea in heaven.
Mercy outruns malice. Mark, He does not say, "Satan hath desired to have you." He checks Satan even in his very desire, and nips it in the bud.
He does not say, "But I have desired to pray for you." No, but "I have prayed for you: I have done it already; I have gone to court and entered a counterplea even before an accusation is made." O Jesus, what a comfort it is that thou hast pleaded our cause against our unseen enemies; countermined their mines, and unmasked their ambushes. Here is a matter for joy, gratitude, hope, and confidence.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Matthew 6:26-33
26 The king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he didn't wish to refuse her.
27 Immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John's head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.
29 When his disciples heard this, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
30 The apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught.
31 He said to them, "You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile." For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32 They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
33 They saw them going, and many recognised him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to him.
SELF-MADE OR GOD-MADE
Think of Lot and then think of a lily of the field! Think of the feverishness of the one and of the serenity of the other, or think of the ugly selfishness of the one, and of the graceful beauty of the other! Look upon avarice at its worst, upon a Shylock, and then gaze upon a lily of the field! How alarming is the contrast! The one is self-made, guided by vicious impulses; the other is the handiwork of God. The one is rooted in self-will; the other is rooted in the power of the Divine grace. God has nothing to do with the one; He has everything to do with the other. So one becomes "big" and ugly; the other grows in strength and beauty.
Now the wonder is this, that we, too, may be rooted in the power from which the lily draws its grace. We may draw into our souls the wealth of the Eternal, even the unsearchable riches of Christ. We may put on "the beauty of holiness." We may become clothed in the graces of the Spirit. When we are in the field of the lilies we may appear unto the Lord as kindred flowers of His own garden.
"He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit." "Rooted in Him," we shall "grow up in all things unto Him."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
January 11th.
My Father, help me to hear the Master's call to-day, when He calls to me in some unpleasant duty, or when
He offers me a welcome task.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.
Genesis 9:14
Just now clouds are plentiful enough, but we are not afraid that the world will be destroyed by a deluge. We see the rainbow often enough to prevent our having any such fears. The covenant which the Lord made with Noah stands fast, and we have no doubts about it. Why, then, should we think that the clouds of trouble, which now darken our sky, will end in our destruction? Let us dismiss such groundless and dishonouring fears.
Faith always sees the bow of covenant promise whenever sense sees the cloud of affliction. God has a bow with which he might shoot out his arrows of destruction; but see! it is turned upward. It is a bow without an arrow or a string; it is a bow hung out for show, no longer used for war. It is a bow of many colours, expressing joy and delight, and not a bow blood-red with slaughter; or black with anger. Let us be of good courage. Never does God so darken our sky as to leave his covenant without a witness; and even if he did, we would trust him, since he cannot change, or lie, or in any other way fail to keep his covenant of peace. Until the waters go over the earth again, we shall have no reason for doubting our God.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
The victory of Jesus over temptation is victory over all the forces of hell; and all men who, abandoned to His Lordship, abide in His will, must share His triumph.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Blessed is he, whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in Me.
Matthew 11:6
These are the final words of the message which the Lord sent to John the Baptist, when he inquired as to whether He was indeed the Christ. They constitute a warning which we all need to bear in mind. There can be no question that John was perplexed by the methods which the Lord was adopting, and that perplexity was due to the fact that even he had not fully apprehended the meaning of Messiahship. Had Jesus preached so as to raise a revolution and create an army, John would have been more satisfied. This is a perpetual peril. It is not easy yet to understand why God does not do something more startling. It is that idea which underlies the question which we sometimes hear as to why God does not do thus or so. It is that idea which inspired all those activities in the Name of Christ which are attempts to improve upon His methods. To all such restless impatience, He utters the same warning. We are called upon to trust Him so completely as to be content to follow Him in those quiet, persistent methods which consist of attending to individuals, and getting things done one by one, simply, quietly, and with persistent patience. There are hours for demonstration, for, under some circumstances, if men do not shout, stones will cry out. For the most part, the way of the Lord's service is the way of plodding perseverance in the doing of apparently small things. The history of the Church shows that this is one of the lessons most difficult to learn. It also proves that the measure in which it is learned and practised is the measure of real co-operation with 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.