Daily Bible Notes: June, 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
The Lord shut him in.
Genesis 7:16
Noah was shut in away from all the world by the hand of divine love. The door of electing purpose interposes between us and the world which lieth in the wicked one. We are not of the world even as our Lord Jesus was not of the world. Into the sin, the gaiety, the pursuits of the multitude we cannot enter; we cannot play in the streets of Vanity Fair with the children of darkness, for our heavenly Father has shut us in. Noah was shut in with his God . "Come thou into the ark," was the Lord’s invitation, by which He clearly showed that He Himself intended to dwell in the ark with His servant and his family. Thus all the chosen dwell in God and God in them.
Happy people to be enclosed in the same circle which contains God in the Trinity of His persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. Let us never be inattentive to that gracious call, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee, and hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast." Noah was so shut in that no evil could reach him . Floods did but lift him heavenward, and winds did but waft him on his way. Outside of the ark all was ruin, but inside all was rest and peace. Without Christ we perish, but in Christ Jesus there is perfect safety. Noah was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out , and those who are in Christ Jesus are in Him for ever. They shall go no more out for ever, for eternal faithfulness has shut them in, and infernal malice cannot drag them out. The Prince of the house of David shutteth and no man openeth; and when once in the last days as Master of the house He shall rise up and shut the door, it will be in vain for mere professors to knock, and cry Lord, Lord open unto us, for that same door which shuts in the wise virgins will shut out the foolish for ever. Lord, shut me in by Thy grace.
Evening
He that loveth not knoweth not God.
1 John 4:8
The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return. First, faith sets her seal upon the man by enabling the soul to say with the apostle, "Christ loved me and gave Himself for me." Then love gives the countersign, and stamps upon the heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. "We love Him because He first loved us." In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls, and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honour of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love - the love of Christ constraineth them; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them, and then by force of gratitude they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently. My reader, do you love Him?
Ere you sleep give an honest answer to a weighty question!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Acts 13:14-23
14 But they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
15 After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak."
16 Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.
17 The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it.
18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years.
20 After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
21 Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
23 From this man's offspring, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise,
THE SPEECH OF EVENTS
Do I sufficiently remember the witness of history? Do I reverently listen to the "great voice behind me"? God has spoken in the speech of events. "Day unto day" has uttered speech. There has been a witness in national life, sometimes quiet as a fragrance, and sometimes "loud as a vale when storms are gone." Is it all to me as though it had never been, or is it part of the store of counsel by which I shape and guide my life?
And do I sufficiently remember my own providences, "all the way my God has led me"? When a day is over, do I carry its helpful lamp into the morrow? Do I "learn wisdom" from experience? That is surely God's purpose in the days; one is to lead on to another in the creation of an ever brightening radiance, that so at eventide it may be light.
And do I sufficiently remember that I, too, am making history for my fellows who shall succeed me? What kind of a witness will it be? Grim and full of warning, like the pillar of salt, or winsome and full of heartiness, like some "sweet Ebenezer" built by life's way? Let me pray and labour that my days may so shine with grace that all who remember me shall adore the goodness of my Lord.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
June 5th.
My Father, I thank Thee for my daily bread. May my manner of eating it turn it into sacramental feast! Feed me with the
Bread of Life. Nourish me with holy inspirations. May I grow in grace and holiness!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord
doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Exodus 11:7
What! has God power over the tongues of dogs? Can he keep curs from barking? Yes, it is even so. He can even prevent an Egyptian dog from worrying one of the lambs of Israel's flock. Doth God silence dogs, and doggish ones among men, and the great dog at hell's gate? Then let us move on our way without fear.
If he lets dogs move their tongues, yet he can stop their teeth. They may make a dreadful noise, and still do us no real harm. Yet, how sweet is quiet! How delightful to move about among enemies, and perceive that God maketh them to be at peace with us! Like Daniel in the den of lions, we are unhurt amid destroyers.
Oh, that to-day, this word of the Lord to Israel might be true to me! Does the dog worry me? I will tell my Lord about him. Lord, he does not care for my pleadings; do thou speak the word of power, and he must lie down. Give me peace, O my God, and let me see thy hand so distinctly in it that I may most clearly perceive the difference which thy grace has made between me and the ungodly!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil; he preserveth the souls of his saints.
Psalm 97:10
Love that is God-like, far-seeing, and comprehensive, love which permits of no present pleasure at the cost of possible future pain; such love can only be where character is in harmony with Divine intention.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
God is our refuge.
Psalms 46:1
This is the first of three Psalms which are intimately related to each other. They all refer to the Divine relation to the Holy City, and set forth the consequent security of its citizens. The three phases celebrated may thus be stated: Psa. 46, God as a Refuge; Psa. 47, God as Ruler; Psa. 48, God as Resource. As to the first, its wonderful power is revealed in the constancy of its use by the people of God. In our own days of strain and calamity, perhaps no other song has been more constantly employed than this. Its note is that of complete and daring courage, resulting from the assurance of what God is in Himself, and the consequent sense of the security of those for whom He cares. It opens with figurative language, as it describes convulsions of the most terrible known in Nature, those of the earthquake and tempest, and declares that these cannot produce fear in the hearts of those who know God. Suddenly it introduces the picture of the City of God, gladdened by the river proceeding from the dwelling-place of God. Then outside, the nations are pictured in tumultuous upheaval. Over all God is reigning, commanding the tumult to cease, and declaring His determination to be exalted. The whole song is the result of the vision of God. That is the vision which gives the heart steadiness and strength at all times. To lose that vision is only, sooner or later, to have nothing left to look upon but storm and tempest, wreck and ruin, the anger and the brutality of the massed forces of iniquity. To retain it, is still to see these things; but it is to see them all under His government, and to discover that they also are compelled to serve His purpose.
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.