Daily Bible Notes: July, 29th
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
Nevertheless I am continually with Thee.
Psalm 73:23
"Nevertheless ," - As if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance which David had just been confessing to God, not one atom the less was it true and certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being constantly in God’s presence was undoubtedly his. Fully conscious of his own lost estate, and of the deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings "nevertheless I am continually with Thee." Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph’s confession and acknowledgment, endeavour in like spirit to say "nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continually with God!" By this is meant continually upon His mind , He is always thinking of me for my good. Continually before His eye ; - the eye of the Lord never sleepeth, but is perpetually watching over my welfare. Continually in His hand , so that none shall be able to pluck me thence. Continually on His heart , worn there as a memorial, even as the high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his heart for ever. Thou always thinkest of me, O God. The bowels of Thy love continually yearn towards me. Thou art always making providence work for my good. Thou hast set me as a signet upon thine arm; thy love is strong as death, many waters cannot quench it; neither can the floods drown it. Surprising grace! Thou seest me in Christ, and though in myself abhorred, Thou beholdest me as wearing Christ’s garments, and washed in His blood, and thus I stand accepted in Thy presence. I am thus continually in Thy favour - "continually with Thee."
Here is comfort for the tried and afflicted soul; vexed with the tempest within - look at the calm without. "Nevertheless" - O say it in thy heart, and take the peace it gives. "Nevertheless I am continually with Thee."
Evening
All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.
John 6:37
This declaration involves the doctrine of election : there are some whom the Father gave to Christ. It involves the doctrine of effectual calling : these who are given must and shall come; however stoutly they may set themselves against it, yet they shall be brought out of darkness into God’s marvellous light. It teaches us the indispensable necessity of faith ; for even those who are given to Christ are not saved except they come to Jesus.
Even they must come, for there is no other way to heaven but by the door, Christ Jesus. All that the Father gives to our Redeemer must come to Him , therefore none can come to heaven except they come to Christ.
Oh! the power and majesty which rest in the words "shall come ." He does not say they have power to come, nor they may come if they will, but they "shall come ." The Lord Jesus doth by His messengers, His word, and His Spirit, sweetly and graciously compel men to come in that they may eat of His marriage supper; and this He does, not by any violation of the free agency of man, but by the power of His grace. I may exercise power over another man’s will, and yet that other man’s will may be perfectly free, because the constraint is exercised in a manner accordant with the laws of the human mind. Jehovah Jesus knows how, by irresistible arguments addressed to the understanding, by mighty reasons appealing to the affections, and by the mysterious influence of His Holy Spirit operating upon all the powers and passions of the soul, so to subdue the whole man, that whereas he was once rebellious, he yields cheerfully to His government, subdued by sovereign love. But how shall those be known whom God hath chosen? By this result: that they do willingly and joyfully accept Christ, and come to Him with simple and unfeigned faith, resting upon Him as all their salvation and all their desire. Reader, have you thus come to Jesus?
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Romans 8:1-10
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3 For what the law couldn't do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God's law, neither indeed can it be.
8 Those who are in the flesh can't please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10 If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
NAMES AND NATURES
Men will recognize my Christianity by the sign of the Spirit of Christ. And they will accept no other witness. I saw a plant-pot the other day, full of soil, bearing no flower, but flaunting a stick on which was printed the word "Mignonette." "Thou hast a name to live and art dead." The world will take no notice of our labels and our badges: it is only arrested by the flower and the perfume. "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His."
And in the Spirit of Christ I shall best deal with "the things of the flesh." There are some things which are best overcome by neglecting them. To give them attention is to give them nourishment. Withdraw the attention, and they sicken and die. And so I must seek the fellowship of the Spirit. That friendship will destroy the other. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." If I am in communion with the Holy One the other will pine away, and cease to trouble me.
Lord, make my spirit a kinsman of Thine! Let the intimacy be ever deeper and dearer. "Draw me nearer, blessed Lord," until in nearness to Thee I find my peace, my joy, and my crown.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 29th.
Father of mercies, let me ever live in the sense of Thy favour. May I keep ever in remembrance that I am a child of
grace! May Thy Holy Spirit keep me sensitive to Thy visitations! May I watch for Thy coming!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He hath cast out thine enemy.
Zephaniah 3:15
What a casting out was that! Satan has lost his throne in our nature even as he lost his seat in heaven. Our Lord Jesus has destroyed the enemy's reigning power over us. He may worry us, but he cannot claim us as his own. His bonds are no longer upon our spirits: the Son has made us free, and we are free indeed.
Still is the arch-enemy the accuser of the brethren; but even from this position our Lord has driven him. Our advocate silences our accuser. The Lord rebukes our enemies, and pleads the causes of our soul, so that no harm comes of all the devil's revilings.
As a tempter, the evil spirit still assails us, and insinuates himself into our minds; but thence also is he cast out as to his former pre-eminence. He wriggles about like a serpent, but he cannot rule like a sovereign. He hurls in blasphemous thoughts when he has opportunity; but what a relief it is when he is told to be quiet, and is made to slink off like a whipped cur! Lord, do this for any who are at this time worried and wearied by his barkings. Cast out their enemy, and be thou glorious in their eyes. Thou hast cast him down, Lord cast him out. Oh that thou wouldst banish him from the world!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I am God ... declaring the end from the beginning.
Isaiah 46:9,10
It is said that every flower that decks the sod has its root far back in eternity. So, also, every human life, in the will and purpose of God, is linked to the past and to the future, and His laws for it forget no fact of all the ages.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2 Corinthians 12:4
This is the second time that we have come across this word "unspeakable" in our reading of this letter; but the words Paul used were not identical. Where he wrote of God's "unspeakable gift" (9:15) he employed a word which meant not expounded in full, and there he was thinking of the infinite wonder of the gift. Here his word meant inexpressible. On the occasion to which he refers, he had heard words which he could not express, some secrets that were not for publication; it was not lawful to utter them, that is, he was not permitted to do so. The idea which this statement of the Apostle conveys to the mind is that in the life of service and fellowship, God may communicate to the soul, in hours of high experience, secrets which will affect all life and service, and yet which are not to be proclaimed in ministry. The value of such revelations is that of the effect which they produce in the life and character of those to whom they are granted. This is a subject which may be very profitably considered. There are some who seem eager to talk of visions and revelations which they have had. The question is as to whether such eagerness is not a proof that the visions and revelations are not "of the Lord." When they are granted (and they certainly are granted to the servants of God under certain circumstances), they produce a reverent reticence. They are too solemn, too overwhelming, to be lightly described or discussed, but the effect of them will be apparent in all life and service.
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.