Daily Bible Notes: January, 16th
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
I will help thee, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 41:14
This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: "I will help thee." It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave up My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. ‘Help thee?’
Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. 'I will help thee.' O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them here - thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper!
"Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay’d! I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid."
Evening
The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.
Daniel 9:26
Blessed be His name, there was no cause of death in Him. Neither original nor actual sin had defiled Him, and therefore death had no claim upon Him.
No man could have taken His life from Him justly, for He had done no man wrong, and no man could even have lain Him by force unless He had been pleased to yield Himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers.
Justice was offended by us, but found its satisfaction in Him. Rivers of tears, mountains of offerings, seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not have availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the cause of wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away for ever. Herein is wisdom, whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was devised! Herein is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a crown of thorns, and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the Redeemer to lay down His life for His enemies!
It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein. The special object of the Messiah’s death was the salvation of His church; have we a part and a lot among those for whom He gave His life a ransom? Did the Lord Jesus stand as our representative? Are we healed by His stripes? It will be a terrible thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in His sacrifice; it were better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the question is, it is a joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered clearly and without mistake. To all who believe on Him the Lord Jesus is a present Saviour, and upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been sprinkled. Let all who trust in the merit of Messiah’s death be joyful at every remembrance of Him, and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest consecration to His cause.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
John 10:1-18
THE DISTINCTION OF BEING RECOGNIZED
The Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and knows them by name. And that is what I am tempted to forget. I think of myself as one of an innumerable multitude, no one of whom receives personal attention. "My way is overlooked by my God." But here is the evangel - the Saviour would miss me, even me!
At a great orchestral rehearsal, which Sir Michael Costa was conducting, the man who played the piccolo stayed his fingers for a moment, thinking that his trifling contribution would never be missed. At once Sir Michael raised his hand, and said: "Stop! Where's the piccolo?" He missed the individual note. And my Lord needs the note of my life to make the music of His Kingdom, and if the note be absent He will miss it, and the glorious music will be broken and incomplete.
There is a common vice of self-conceit, but there is also a common vice of excessive self-depreciation. "My Lord can do nothing with me!" Yes, my Lord knows thee and needs thee! And by the power of His grace thou canst accomplish wonders!
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
January 16th.
My Father, let my obedience to-day be a pleasure: let my duties be my delights: let Thy statutes be my songs.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.
Joel 2:32
Why do I not call on his name? Why do I run to this neighbour and that, when God is so near and will bear my faintest call? Why do I sit down, and devise schemes, and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon the Lord? Straightforward is the best runner - why do I not run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have his royal SHALL to make it sure.
I need not ask whether I may call on him or not, for that word "Whosoever" is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a promise.
My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find out ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey his commands; it is not mine to direct his counsels. I am his servant, not his solicitor. I call upon him, and he will deliver me.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5
Oh, rough and rugged Cross of Calvary! We gather round Thy stern sublimity of suffering with our own hearts' agony, and find heart's-ease. We come to Thee with faces stained with tears, and in the strength of His victory our tears are wiped away, our sorrow is turned into joy.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father.
Matthew 16:17
By this statement our Lord claimed that He had accomplished so far, the purpose for which He had been sent into the world. Through Him the Father had revealed the truth to this company of men - for there is no question that here Peter was speaking not for himself alone, but on behalf of that little company of whom Christ had inquired: "But who say ye that I am?" The Father's revealing truth concerning the Son of God had come through the Son of Man. That explains our Lord's subsequent charge to them: "That they should tell no man that He was the Christ." Their telling could bring no conviction. The Father Himself, through the Son, is alone able to do this. Does not this give us a very clear sense of our limitation in Christian service; and at the same time make perfectly clear what our true work is? We can never convince men that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God by our arguments, however sincerely they may state our convictions. Our perpetual business is that of leading men to Him, and leaving them with Him. It is in this latter matter that we often fail. We do not seem to be quite sure that they will come to a right view apart from us. The fact is that they will never come to a right view through us. It is when we have retired, and they are with Him alone, that the light breaks upon them.
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.