Daily Bible Notes: June, 23rd
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
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Hosea 7:8
A cake not turned is uncooked on one side ; and so Ephraim was, in many respects, untouched by divine grace: though there was some partial obedience, there was very much rebellion left. My soul, I charge thee, see whether this be thy case. Art thou thorough in the things of God? Has grace gone through the very centre of thy being so as to be felt in its divine operations in all thy powers, thy actions, thy words, and thy thoughts?
To be sanctified, spirit, soul, and body, should be thine aim and prayer; and although sanctification may not be perfect in thee anywhere in degree, yet it must be universal in its action; there must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reigning sin in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned.
A cake not turned is soon burnt on the side nearest the fire , and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burnt black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vainglorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humour. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The cake which is burned on one side, is dough on the other. If it be so with me, O Lord, turn me ! Turn my unsanctified nature to the fire of Thy love and let it feel the sacred glow, and let my burnt side cool a little while I learn my own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from Thy heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded man, but one entirely under the powerful influence of reigning grace; for well I know if I am left like a cake unturned, and am not on both sides the subject of Thy grace, I must be consumed for ever amid everlasting burnings.
Evening
Waiting for the adoption.
Romans 8:23
Even in this world saints are God’s children, but men cannot discover them to be so, except by certain moral characteristics. The adoption is not manifested, the children are not yet openly declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a child, and keep it private for a long time: but there was a second adoption in public; when the child was brought before the constituted authorities its former garments were taken off, and the father who took it to be his child gave it raiment suitable to its new condition of life. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be." We are not yet arrayed in the apparel which befits the royal family of heaven; we are wearing in this flesh and blood just what we wore as the sons of Adam; but we know that "when He shall appear" who is the "first-born among many brethren," we shall be like Him, we shall see Him as He is. Cannot you imagine that a child taken from the lowest ranks of society, and adopted by a Roman senator, would say to himself, "I long for the day when I shall be publicly adopted. Then I shall leave off these plebeian garments, and be robed as becomes my senatorial rank"? Happy in what he has received, for that very reason he groans to get the fulness of what is promised him. So it is with us today. We are waiting till we shall put on our proper garments, and shall be manifested as the children of God. We are young nobles, and have not yet worn our coronets. We are young brides, and the marriage day is not yet come, and by the love our Spouse bears us, we are led to long and sigh for the bridal morning. Our very happiness makes us groan after more; our joy, like a swollen spring, longs to well up like an Iceland geyser, leaping to the skies, and it heaves and groans within our spirit for want of space and room by which to manifest itself to men.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Matthew 10:29-42
29 "Aren't two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father's will,
30 but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Therefore don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
34 "Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 A man's foes will be those of his own household.
37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn't worthy of me.
38 He who doesn't take his cross and follow after me, isn't worthy of me.
39 He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward."
THE GREATEST BENEFACTORS
It is a very wonderful thing that the finest services are within the power of the poorest people. The deepest ministries find their symbols in "cups of cold water," which it is in the power of everybody to give. The great benefactors are the great lovers, and their coin is not that of material money, but the wealth of the heart. A bit of affection is worth infinitely more than the gift of a necklace of pearls. To kindle hope in a fainting soul is far more precious than to adorn the weary pilgrim with dazzling gems. "He brought me heaps of presents, but I was hungering for love!" Such was the pathetic cry of one who was "clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day."
"Cups of cold water," simple ministries of refreshment, the love-thought, the love-prayer, the love-word - these are the privileged services of all of us. And everybody needs these gentle and gracious services of refreshment, and often there is greatest need where there seems to be least.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
June 23rd.
Gracious Father, I would pray for all men whose sense of sin is more powerful than their sense of grace.
May they gain the consciousness that Christ is greater than the devil, and that in Him they can do all things!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with
shield, nor cast a bank against it.
2 Kings 19:32
Neither did Sennacherib molest the city. He had boasted loudly, but he could not carry out his threats. The Lord is able to stop the enemies of his people in the very act. When the lion has the lamb between his jaws, the great Shepherd of the sheep can rob him of his prey. Our extremity only provides an opportunity for a grander display of divine power and wisdom.
In the case before us, the terrible foe did not put in an appearance before the city which he thirsted to destroy. No annoying arrow could he shoot over the walls, and no besieging engines could he put to work to batter down the castles, and no banks could he cast up to shut in the inhabitants. Perhaps in our case also the Lord will prevent our adversaries from doing us the least harm. Certainly he can alter their intentions, or render their designs so abortive that they will gladly forego them. Let us trust in the Lord and keep his way, and he will take care of us. Yea, he will fill us with wondering praise as we see the perfection of his deliverance.
Let us not fear the enemy till he actually comes, and then let us trust in the Lord.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The Lord reigneth.
Psalm 45:6
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.
1 Chronicles 16:31
These and kindred phrases tell the character of the music. When the song is of human experience at its best, it is ever of the joy and peace to be found in the law of God ... When the music becomes a dirge, it is because in individual or national life God has been forgotten.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Psalms 64:1
The thought of that petition had remarkable illustration in the experiences of our men and boys during the Great War. It is a most arresting and suggestive fact that over and over again, in talking with them of their experiences, they have told us that the one thing they supremely feared was that they should be filled with fear. Generalizations may be somewhat dangerous, but it is almost certain that the fear of fear has delivered these boys almost invariably from fear. And yet is this strange? Surely the fear of cowardice is the very inspiration of courage. This singer was certainly afraid lest he should be afraid. And there were causes enough for fear. These first six verses reveal that most clearly. Every sentence reveals the relentless fury and remorseless subtlety and cruelty of the foes by whom he was surrounded. Conscious of all this he had one fear, and that was that he should be afraid of them. The cure of such fear was that of communion with God, and consideration of Him. To remember God, is to see One Who is mightier than all the foes, and moreover, One Who is active against those foes on behalf of His own. This is a prayer we need ever to pray. To fear the foe, is inevitably to be beaten by that foe. To fear to be afraid, is ever to be driven to seek the help of the God Who fighteth on behalf of the trusting soul; and in such seeking is the secret of courage, and the assurance of victory.
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.