Daily Bible Notes: July, 5th
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
Called to be saints.
Romans 1:7
We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were "saints" in a more especial manner than the other children of God. All are "saints" whom God has called by His grace, and sanctified by His Spirit; but we are apt to look upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the same weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honours him in His service, the more also doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked with him, we should have said, "We find that his experience and ours are much the same. He is more faithful, more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has the selfsame trials to endure.
Nay, in some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves. Do not, then, look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or sins; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will almost make us idolators. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We are "called to be saints" by that same voice which constrained them to their high vocation. It is a Christian’s duty to force his way into the inner circle of saintship; and if these saints were superior to us in their attainments, as they certainly were, let us follow them; let us emulate their ardour and holiness. We have the same light that they had, the same grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived with Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let us live by the same Spirit as they did, "looking unto Jesus," and our saintship will soon be apparent.
Evening
Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
Isaiah 26:4
Seeing that we have such a God to trust to, let us rest upon Him with all our weight; let us resolutely drive out all unbelief, and endeavour to get rid of doubts and fears, which so much mar our comfort; since there is no excuse for fear where God is the foundation of our trust. A loving parent would be sorely grieved if his child could not trust him; and how ungenerous, how unkind is our conduct when we put so little confidence in our heavenly Father who has never failed us, and who never will. It were well if doubting were banished from the household of God; but it is to be feared that old Unbelief is as nimble nowadays as when the psalmist asked, "Is His mercy clean gone for ever? Will He be favourable no more?"
David had not made any very lengthy trial of the mighty sword of the giant Goliath, and yet he said, "There is none like it." He had tried it once in the hour of his youthful victory, and it had proved itself to be of the right metal, and therefore he praised it ever afterwards; even so should we speak well of our God, there is none like unto Him in the heaven above or the earth beneath; "To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." There is no rock like unto the rock of Jacob, our enemies themselves being judges. So far from suffering doubts to live in our hearts, we will take the whole detestable crew, as Elijah did the prophets of Baal, and slay them over the brook; and for a stream to kill them at, we will select the sacred torrent which wells forth from our Saviour’s wounded side. We have been in many trials, but we have never yet been cast where we could not find in our God all that we needed. Let us then be encouraged to trust in the Lord for ever, assured that His ever lasting strength will be, as it has been, our succour and stay.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
John 8:12-20
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."
13 The Pharisees therefore said to him, "You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid."
14 Jesus answered them, "Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don't know where I came from, or where I am going.
15 You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one.
16 Even if I do judge, my judgement is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.
17 It's also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
18 I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me."
19 They said therefore to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
20 Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
THE DISCIPLESHIP THAT TELLS
"He that followeth Me."
Yes, but I must make sure that I follow Him in Spirit and in truth. It is so easy to be self-deceived. I may follow a pleasant emotion, while all the time a bit of grim cross-bearing is being ignored. I may be satisfied to be "out on the ocean sailing," singing of "a home beyond the tide," while all the time there is a piece of perilous salvage work to be done beneath the waves. To "follow Jesus" is to face the hostility of scribes and Pharisees, to offer restoring friendship to publicans and sinners, to pray in blood-shedding in Gethsemane, to brave the derision of the brutal mob, and to be "ready" for the appalling happenings on Calvary! Therefore, following is not a light picnic; it is a possible martyrdom!
But if I set my face "to go," the Lord Himself will visit me with "the light of life." And the resource shall not be broken and spasmodic: it shall be mine without ceasing. "Be thou faithful ... and I will give thee ... life." That life will flow into my soul, just as the oxygenating air flows down to the diver who is faithfully busy recovering wreckage from the wealth-strewn bed of the mighty sea. Let me be faithful, and every moment the Lord will crown me with His own vitalizing life!
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 5th.
Holy Spirit, quicken the secret springs of my life. May I abound in spiritual willingness! May I rise daily into newness of life!
Take all reluctance out of my discipleship. May Thy law be my delight!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
Jeremiah 39:17
When the Lord's faithful ones are suffering for him, they shall have sweet messages of love from himself, and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them. Ebed-melech was a despised Ethiopian, but he was kind to Jeremiah, and so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of his prophet. Let us be ever mindful of God's persecuted servants, and he will reward us.
Ebed-melech was to be delivered from the men whose vengeance he feared. He was a despised man, but Jehovah would take care of him. Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans, but this lowly man could not be hurt. We, too, may be fearful of some great ones who are bitter against us; but if we have been faithful to the Lord's cause in the hour of persecution, he will be faithful to us. After all, what can man do without the Lord's permission? He puts a bit into the mouth of rage, and a bridle upon the head of power. Let us fear the Lord, and we shall have no one else to fear. No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God shall be without its reward; and if we stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand up for us.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18
What the glory of the coming One will be, none can imagine; nor can they yet know what will be the glory of the children of God, when the work of God is finished in their lives. The Holy Spirit within, seals unto that glorious issue.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
What hast thou that thou didst not receive?
1 Corinthians 4:7
This is a truth the recognition of which will keep the children and servants of God from being "puffed up, for the one against the other." The reference of the Apostle was to the foolish pride which some were manifesting in himself, others in Apollos, and so on. He did not deny the importance of that in his ministry, or that in the ministry of Apollos, in which they were boasting. He reminded them that in every case they had received as a gift that which had helped them. And this was as true in the case of one as of the other, in that of Apollos, as of himself. Pride, therefore, was entirely out of place. Instead, there should have been gratitude, and recognition of the value of the gifts bestowed upon others, which probably they had not shared. The application of the principle was to the teachers as well as to the taught. Paul had nothing of his own, neither had Apollos. What they had ministered, they had received. Therefore they were, as he had already said, "ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God"; and in their ministry, as administering the estate of the mysteries, there could be no place for pride. All this is of the widest possible application to Christian life and service. The gifts by which we serve, and the gifts which we receive through the service of others, are all gifts of God. We do not create them, we receive them. We may do so thankfully, joyfully, but there is neither place nor time for pride; and when we allow it to gain ascendancy, we are frustrating the grace which bestows, and is bestowed.
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.