Daily Bible Notes: July, 15th
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
The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
Leviticus 6:13
Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety.
The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital and experimental religion.
Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much. Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer.
For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world.
The text will also apply to the altar of the heart . This is a golden altar indeed. God loves to see the hearts of His people glowing towards Himself. Let us give to God our hearts, all blazing with love, and seek His grace, that the fire may never be quenched; for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. Many foes will attempt to extinguish it; but if the unseen hand behind the wall pour thereon the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher. Let us use texts of Scripture as fuel for our heart’s fire, they are live coals; let us attend sermons, but above all, let us be much alone with Jesus.
Evening
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
Mark 16:9
Jesus "appeared first to Mary Magdalene," probably not only on account of her great love and persevering seeking, but because, as the context intimates, she had been a special trophy of Christ’s delivering power .
Learn from this, that the greatness of our sin before conversion should not make us imagine that we may not be specially favoured with the very highest grade of fellowship. She was one who had left all to become a constant attendant on the Saviour . He was her first, her chief object. Many who were on Christ’s side did not take up Christ’s cross; she did. She spent her substance in relieving His wants . If we would see much of Christ, let us serve Him. Tell me who they are that sit oftenest under the banner of His love, and drink deepest draughts from the cup of communion, and I am sure they will be those who give most, who serve best, and who abide closest to the bleeding heart of their dear Lord. But notice how Christ revealed Himself to this sorrowing one - by a word , "Mary." It needed but one word in His voice , and at once she knew Him, and her heart owned allegiance by another word , her heart was too full to say more. That one word would naturally be the most fitting for the occasion. It implies obedience. She said, "Master ." There is no state of mind in which this confession of allegiance will be too cold. No, when your spirit glows most with the heavenly fire, then you will say, "I am Thy servant, Thou hast loosed my bonds." If you can say, "Master," if you feel that His will is your will, then you stand in a happy, holy place. He must have said, "Mary," or else you could not have said, "Rabboni." See, then, from all this, how Christ honours those who honour Him, how love draws our Beloved, how it needs but one word of His to turn our weeping to rejoicing, how His presence makes the heart’s sunshine.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 9:18-26
18 As he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do the multitudes say that I am?"
19 They answered, " 'John the Baptiser,' but others say, 'Elijah,' and others, that one of the old prophets has risen again."
20 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
21 But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,
22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."
23 He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?
26 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
THE DAILY CROSS
Our Lord never bribes His disciples by promising them ways of sunny ease. He does not buy them with illicit gold. He does not put the glittering crown upon the entrance-gate, and hide the cross behind the wall. No: on the very first stage of the sacred pilgrimage there falls "the shadow of the Cross." "Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
And yet, the Lord's blessing is hidden in the apparent curse. In the act of bearing the cross we increase our strength. That is the heartening paradox of grace. Virtuous energies pass from our very burdens into our spirits, and thus "out of the eater comes forth meat." We bravely shoulder our load, and lo! a mystic breath visits the heart, and a strange facility attends our goings! The dead cross becomes a tree of life, and a secret vitality renews our souls.
How foolish, then, O heart of mine, to avoid and evade Thy cross! Refuse the burden, and thou declinest the strength! Ignore the duty, and thou shalt feel no inspiration! Carefully husband thy blood, and thou shalt remain for ever anæmic! But lose thy life, and thou shalt find it!
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 15th.
Holy Spirit, wilt Thou quicken my dying resolves? If any old vow is waxing faint, wilt Thou rekindle it?
May my devotion not fall in the bud, but may I carry it forward into maturity!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
By the valley of weeping we come to Zion. One would have thought mourning and being blessed were in opposition, but the infinitely wise Saviour puts them together, in this beatitude. What he has joined together let no man put asunder. Mourning for sin - our own sins, and the sins of others - is the Lord's seal set upon his faithful ones. When the Spirit of grace is poured upon the house of David, or any other house, they shall mourn. By holy mourning we receive the best of our blessings, even as the rarest commodities come to us by water. Not only shall the mourner be blessed at some future day, but Christ pronounces him blessed even now.
The Holy Spirit will surely comfort those hearts which mourn for sin. They shall be comforted by the application of the blood of Jesus, and by the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost. They shall be comforted as to the abounding sin of their city and of their age by the assurance that God will glorify himself, however much men may rebel against him. They shall be comforted with the expectation that they shall be wholly freed from sin before long, and shall soon be taken up to dwell for ever in the glorious presence of their Lord.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Matthew 19:18
A whisper broke the air,
A soft light tone, and low,
Yet barbed with shame and woe;
Now, might it only perish there,
Nor further go!
Ah, me! a quick and eager ear
Caught up the little-meaning sound;
Another voice has breathed it clear,
And so it wandered 'round,
From ear to lip, from lip to ear,
Until it reached a gentle heart,
And that - it broke.
- Anon.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Let all things be done unto edifying.
1 Corinthians 14:26
That is the test of the exercise of spiritual ministry within the Church, the ministry which in its holy fellowship may be exercised by any of its members as they are led of the Spirit of God. There is to be liberty for such ministry, but only in so far as its exercise tends to edification. And let it be remembered that this idea of edification so often occurring in the apostolic writings, is never that of the deepening of the spiritual life of the individual. It is always that of the erection of the house, the making of the entire building; and so the test of ministry is that of its value in perfecting the Church. This is a simple test, but its effects are far-reaching. No member of the fellowship has any right to exercise a gift, even a gift bestowed by the Spirit, in order to secure glory or popularity. Of course, this needs no argument, but so subtle is the self-life, that it does need to be constantly borne in mind. Moreover, no member of the Church has any right to exercise a gift in the assembly in order to personal advancement in Christian life and character. There is a place for such exercise, but it is in loneliness; it is to be done "to himself and to God." The law of ministry within the Church is that of selflessness. When there is no seeking for glory, and no thought of profit to one's own soul, ministry becomes powerful.
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.