Daily Bible Notes: March, 6th
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
Ye must be born again.
John 3:7
Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it - the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious , that human words cannot describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt : known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural . It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent; unless Thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I ascribe it. ‘My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.
Evening
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.
Proverbs 18:12
It is an old and common saying, that "coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David’s aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man’s glory when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Sam. 24:10. See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird’s claws, and his hair like eagle’s feathers. Dan. 4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast, as once before it made an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails to bring them down., All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts. O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the Christian’s heart as well as into the sinner’s; it can delude him into dreaming that he is "rich and increased in goods, and hath need of nothing."
Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself, that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat, and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us smart under His rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer, the destruction of thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul. Wherefore, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord ."
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
John 17:20-26
20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 Righteous Father, the world hasn't known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them."
HOME-LIFE IN GOD
The home-life in God is to be a life of perfect union - "I in them, and Thou in Me." Home is only another name for union. It is the perfect fusion of life with life, the harmonizing of differences as many different notes combine to form the mystery of choral song. And so will it be in the home-land! Our manifold individualities will be retained, but we shall "fit into one another," and in the perfect harmony we shall hear the "new song" of heaven.
And we are to prepare that union by the contemplation of the glory of the Lord. "That they may behold My glory." Yes, and we can begin to do that now. We can lift our eyes away from the ugly compromises of men and fix them upon the radiant holiness of the Lord. We can look away from the dirty Alpine village and gaze upon the virgin snow of the uplifted heights. "Looking unto Jesus!"
And in that contemplation we shall most assuredly become transformed. "I have given unto them the glory which Thou gavest Me." That is our wonderful possibility. For thee and me is this prize offered, we can "awake in His likeness."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
March 6th.
O Lord, keep me sensitive to the grace that is round about me. May the familiar not become the neglected! May I see Thy goodness
in my daily bread, and may the comfort of my home take my thoughts to the mercy-seat of God!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
In thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
Hosea 14:3
This is an excellent reason for casting away all other confidences and relying upon the Lord alone. When a child is left without its natural protector, our God steps in and becomes his guardian: so also when a man has lost every object of dependence, he may cast himself upon the living God and find in him all that he needs. Orphans are cast upon the fatherhood of God, and he provides for them. The writer of these pages knows what it is to hang on the bare arm of God, and he bears his willing witness that no trust is so well warranted by facts, or so sure to be rewarded by results, as trust in the invisible but ever living God.
Some children who have fathers are not much the better off because of them, but the fatherless with God are rich. Better have God and no other friend than all the patrons on the earth and no God. To be bereaved of the creature is painful, but so long as the Lord remains the fountain of mercy to us, we are not truly orphaned. Let fatherless children plead the gracious word for this morning, and let all who have been bereaved of visible support do the same. Lord, let me find mercy in thee! The more needy and helpless I am, the more confidently do I appeal to thy loving heart.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace.
Malachi 4:1
What men shall catch daybreak first? Not the men who are wicked and are to be as stubble, but the watchers on the mountains - souls who have been tired of the apostate age and have been saying, "Lord, come, come! " They first will see the break of day, and to them its rosy tints will bring healing.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
O Lord ... O my God ... O Lord.
Psalms 38:21, 22
This is the third of the Penitential Psalms (the others are 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, 143). I have stressed these words in the concluding portions because they reveal the deepest value of this song. It is the cry of a soul in bodily agony and mental anguish, which he recognizes as the result of his own transgression, and therefore does not rebel against. It is, however, the cry of such a soul to God, and its movement shows his knowledge of God, and how in his dire need he is casting himself upon that God in all the fullness of the knowledge which he possesses. The first movement speaks of his personal sufferings both bodily and mental; and is addressed to Jehovah (see verse 1). The second movement describes the attitude of friends and foes; and this is addressed to the Sovereign Lord (Adonai, see verse 9). The last movement is that of the prayer for deliverance, and is addressed to both Jehovah and Adonai as God-Elohim (see verse 15). In this final appeal the three names are found again. Here is a wonderful unveiling of the refuge and hope of the penitent soul. It may expect succour in personal suffering from God, for He is Jehovah, the One full of grace. He may expect justice in regard to men, for God is the Sovereign Lord. He may look for complete deliverance, for Jehovah, the Sovereign Lord, is the Mighty One. If Jehovah forsaketh not; if the Mighty One remains nigh at hand; if the Sovereign Lord makes haste to help - then is there salvation for the penitent soul. And all this is what has been made for ever certain to sinning men in Christ Jesus the Lord.
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.