Daily Bible Notes: July, 18th
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
They shall go hindmost with their standards.
Numbers 2:31
The camp of Dan brought up the rear when the armies of Israel were on the march. The Danites occupied the hindmost place , but what mattered the position, since they were as truly part of the host as were the foremost tribes; they followed the same fiery cloudy pillar, they ate of the same manna, drank of the same spiritual rock, and journeyed to the same inheritance. Come, my heart, cheer up, though last and least; it is thy privilege to be in the army, and to fare as they fare who lead the van. Some one must be hindmost in honour and esteem, some one must do menial work for Jesus, and why should not I? In a poor village, among an ignorant peasantry; or in a back street, among degraded sinners, I will work on, and "go hindmost with my standard."
The Danites occupied a very useful place . Stragglers have to be picked up upon the march, and lost property has to be gathered from the field. Fiery spirits may dash forward over untrodden paths to learn fresh truth, and win more souls to Jesus; but some of a more conservative spirit may be well engaged in reminding the church of her ancient faith, and restoring her fainting sons. Every position has its duties, and the slowly moving children of God will find their peculiar state one in which they may be eminently a blessing to the whole host.
The rear guard is a place of danger . There are foes behind us as well as before us. Attacks may come from any quarter. We read that Amalek fell upon Israel, and slew some of the hindmost of them. The experienced Christian will find much work for his weapons in aiding those poor doubting, desponding, wavering, souls, who are hindmost in faith, knowledge, and joy. These must not be left unaided, and therefore be it the business of well-taught saints to bear their standards among the hindmost.
My soul, do thou tenderly watch to help the hindmost this day.
Evening
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path.
Joel 2:8
Locusts always keep their rank, and although their number is legion, they do not crowd upon each other, so as to throw their columns into confusion. This remarkable fact in natural history shows how thoroughly the a Lord has infused the spirit of order into His universe, since the smallest animate creatures are as much controlled by it as are the rolling spheres or the seraphic messengers. It would be wise for believers to be ruled by the same influence in all their spiritual life. In their Christian graces no one virtue should usurp the sphere of another, or eat out the vitals of the rest for its own support. Affection must not smother honesty, courage must not elbow weakness out of the field, modesty must not jostle energy, and patience must not slaughter resolution. So also with our duties , one must not interfere with another; public usefulness must not injure private piety; church work must not push family worship into a corner. It is ill to offer God one duty stained with the blood of another.
Each thing is beautiful in its season, but not otherwise. It was to the Pharisee that Jesus said, "This ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone." The same rule applies to our personal position , we must take care to know our place, take it, and keep to it. We must minister as the Spirit has given us ability, and not intrude upon our fellow servant’s domain. Our Lord Jesus taught us not to covet the high places, but to be willing to be the least among the brethren. Far from us be an envious, ambitious spirit, let us feel the force of the Master’s command, and do as He bids us, keeping rank with the rest of the host. To-night let us see whether we are keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, and let our prayer be that, in all the churches of the Lord Jesus, peace and order may prevail.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Matthew 19:23-30
23 Jesus said to his disciples, "Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into God's Kingdom."
25 When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"
26 Looking at them, Jesus said, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
27 Then Peter answered, "Behold, we have left everything, and followed you. What then will we have?"
28 Jesus said to them, "Most certainly I tell you that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, will receive one hundred times, and will inherit eternal life.
30 But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.
THE MESMERISM OF THE WORLD
Material possessions multiply our spiritual difficulties. It is hard for a rich man "to enter into the kingdom of heaven." For what is the kingdom? It is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." It is easy for a rich man to appear respectable, but how hard is it to be holy! He may surround himself with comforts, but how hard to get into peace! He may move in the cold gleam of a glittering happiness, but how hard to get into the rich, warm quietness of an abiding joy! Yes, our material possessions so easily range themselves as ramparts between us and our destined spiritual wealth.
And if we find that any material thing so mesmerizes us that we are held in fatal bondage, we are to sacrifice it. "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee!" Whatever interposes itself between us and our Lord must go! It is a hard way, but it leads to a sound and boisterous health. We verily "receive an hundredfold!" We lose "a thing," and gain a grace. We lose fickle sensations and gain abounding inspiration. We lose the world, and gain the Lord!
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 18th.
Father of mercies, I thank Thee for my daily bread. May I never take it as though I had a right to it! May I take
as from Thine own hand! May it be to me the minister of grace! May my common meals be as sacramental feasts.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
Hosea 2:14
The goodness of God sees us allured by sin, and it resolves to try upon us the more powerful allurements of love. Do we not remember when the Lover of our souls first cast a spell upon us and charmed us away from the fascinations of the world? He will do this again and again whenever he sees us likely to be ensnared by evil.
He promises to draw us apart, for there he can best deal with us, and this separated place is not to be a Paradise, but a wilderness, since in such a place there will be nothing to take off our attention from our God. In the deserts of affliction the presence of the Lord becomes everything to us, and we prize his company beyond any value which we set upon it when we sat under our own vine and fig-tree in the society of our fellows. Solitude and affliction bring more to themselves and to their heavenly Father than any other means.
When thus allured and secluded the Lord has choice things to say to us for our comfort. He "speaks to our heart," as the original has it. Oh that at this time we may have this promise explained in our experience! Allured by love, separated by trial, and comforted by the Spirit of truth, may we know the Lord and sing for joy!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:9, R.V.
The Cross is the insistence of love. It is the persistence of love. It is love that holds the throne in the darkness. But for that love there would have been no Cross.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication.
2 Corinthians 1:11
This is pre-eminently the comfort chapter of the New Testament. Writing to his children in Corinth and Achaia, Paul was recalling a dark experience through which he had passed in Asia, when he had in affliction come so near to death, that he had actually died but for the deliverance of God. In all that time of suffering he had known the comfort of God, and now knew that through such experiences of trial and of comfort, he had been prepared to comfort others. The deliverance of the past filled him with confidence about whatever the future might bring. He was confident that He would still deliver him. It is at this point that the words we have selected flash out upon us. Notice the surprising connection: "He will also still deliver us; ye also helping together ... by your supplication." Our prayers for our loved ones help God to work deliverance for them. That is a deep mystery, but it is a fact of which we do well to take heed. There are things which God can do only when we pray. It was surely that conviction in the olden days which made Samuel say as he retired from his judgeship to make way for Saul, "Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you." Observe carefully that he did not say that by ceasing to pray he would sin against them, but that he would sin against Jehovah. When we cease to pray, we limit God, and wrong our friends. We may not understand this, but we ought to act upon it. By our supplication, we are helping together in the deliverances God works for our loved ones.
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.