Daily Bible Notes: January, 24th
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
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.
Psalm 91:3
God delivers His people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From , and out of. First, He delivers them from the snare - does not let them enter it; and secondly, if they should be caught therein, He delivers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to others. "He shall deliver thee from the snare." How? Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and He in mercy sends the rod. We say, "Lord, why is this?" not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. Many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses; these have frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" But what a blessed thing it is that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out of it! O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Wanderer though thou hast been, hear what thy Redeemer saith -"Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy upon you." But you say you cannot return, for you are a captive. Then listen to the promise -"Surely He shall deliver thee out of the snare of the fowler."
Thou shalt yet be brought out of all evil into which thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent of thy ways, yet He that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; He will receive thee, and give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which He has broken may rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the fowler’s net.
Evening
Martha was cumbered about much serving.
Luke 10:40
Her fault was not that she served : the condition of a servant well becomes every Christian. "I serve," should be the motto of all the princes of the royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had "much serving."
We cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart, and hands, be engaged in the Master’s service. It was no fault of hers that she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement.
Her fault was that she grew "cumbered with much serving," so that she forgot Him , and only remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so presented one duty stained with the blood of another. We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses, on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands. The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly graces are the most difficult to cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, which are good enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living, personal fellowship with Jesus.
See to it that sitting at the Saviour’s feet is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing Him service. The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Hebrews 11:1-6
1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony.
3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
5 By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
THE VOICE OF THE DEAD
With what voice shall we speak when we are dead? What will men hear when they turn their thoughts toward us? What part of us will remain alive, singing or jarring in men's remembrance? It is the biggest part of us that retains its voice. In some it is wealth, in others it is goodness; some go on speaking in their cruelty, others in their gentleness. Cain still speaks in his jealous passion. Abel speaks in his faith. Dorcas speaks in her "good works and alms-deeds which she did"; Judas Iscariot speaks in his betrayal. Yes, something goes on speaking. What shall it be?
But these biggest things not only continue to speak in the ears of memory, they persist as actual forces in the common life of men. Our faith is not buried with our bones, nor is our avarice or pride. Our characters do not die when our hearts cease to beat. "The evil that men do lives after them," and so does the good. But deeper than our deeds, our dominant dispositions persist and mingle as friends or enemies in the lives of others. By them we, being dead, still speak, and we speak in subtle forces which aid or hinder other pilgrims who are fighting their way to God and heaven.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
January 24th.
My Father, what message hast Thou for me to-day? May I be in the Spirit, that I may receive it! Give me the hearing ear.
Give me the understanding heart. May I be able to appreciate the truth! May I be at home in the Gospel!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He will keep the feet of his saints.
1 Samuel 2:9
The way is slippery, and our feet are feeble, but the Lord will keep our feet. If we give ourselves up by obedient faith to be his holy ones, he will himself be our guardian. Not only will he charge his angels to keep us, but he himself will preserve our goings.
He will keep our feet from falling, so that we do not defile our garments, wound our souls, and cause the enemy to blaspheme.
He will keep our feet from wandering, so that we do not go into paths of error, or ways of folly, or courses of the world's custom.
He will keep our feet from swelling through weariness, or blistering because of the roughness and length of the way.
He will keep our feet from wounding: our shoes shall be iron and brass, so that even though we tread on the edge of the sword, or on deadly serpents, we shall not bleed, or be poisoned.
He will also pluck our feet out of the net. We shall not be entangled by the deceit of our malicious and crafty foes.
With such a promise as this, let us run without weariness, and walk without fear. He who keeps our feet will do it effectually.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing.
2 Samuel 14:24
Sacrilege is centered in offering God something which costs nothing ... God looks for the giving at His altar of a gift that costs something.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Behold, I have told you beforehand.
Matthew 24:25
In these words our Lord revealed to His disciples then, and for all time, the real value of these prophetic utterances at the close of His public ministry. He saw the end from the beginning, and all the processes leading thereto, and was under no delusion as to the strength of the evil forces to be dealt with before the final and perfect establishment of the Day of the Lord. He declared these things before-hand that we also might be free from all such delusion, and that through all the periods and processes of catastrophe and deceit, our hearts should be kept firm and faithful to Him in the assurance of His knowledge. The perspective of prediction is at all times perplexing, and it is certainly so in these foretellings of Jesus. The general principles and facts are perfectly plain, and concerning them we can make no mistake. Wars and distresses, false prophets and false Christs, are to continue and multiply, until the Coming of the Son of Man. If this view of the course of events is not consonant with human ideas of how things ought to happen, it certainly is true to the actual facts of history and experience until now. We may rest assured that He Whose predictions have been verified completely so far, was not mistaken about the consummation. The Son of Man is surely coming, and when He comes there will be no mistaking the fact. Let us not be seduced from our loyalty to Him by any false Christ.
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.