Daily Bible Notes: March, 12th
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
Thou shalt love thy neighbour.
Matthew 5:43
"Love thy neighbour." Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion; thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he were as thyself.
Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.
Mayhap, on the other hand, thou art rich, and near thee reside the poor.
Do not scorn to call them neighbour. Own that thou art bound to love them. The world calls them thy inferiors. In what are they inferior? They are far more thine equals than thine inferiors, for "God hath made of one blood all people that dwell upon the face of the earth." It is thy coat which is better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they. They are men, and what art thou more than that? Take heed that thou love thy neighbour even though he be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty.
But, perhaps, you say, "I cannot love my neighbours, because for all I do they return ingratitude and contempt." So much the more room for the heroism of love. Wouldst thou be a feather-bed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love? He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbours through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them , but to please thy Master ; and remember if they spurn thy love, thy Master hath not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to Him as if it had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbour, for in so doing thou art following the footsteps of Christ.
Evening
To whom belongest thou?
1 Samuel 30:13
No neutralities can exist in religion. We are either ranked under the banner of Prince Immanuel, to serve and fight His battles, or we are vassals of the black prince, Satan. "To whom belongest thou?"
Reader, let me assist you in your response. Have you been "born again" ?
If you have, you belong to Christ, but without the new birth you cannot be His. In whom do you trust ? For those who believe in Jesus are the sons of God. Whose work are you doing ? You are sure to serve your master, for he whom you serve is thereby owned to be your Lord. What company do you keep ? If you belong to Jesus, you will fraternize with those who wear the livery of the cross. "Birds of a feather flock together." What is your conversation ? Is it heavenly or is it earthly? What have you learned of your Master ? - for servants learn much from their masters to whom they are apprenticed. If you have served your time with Jesus, it will be said of you, as it was of Peter and John, "They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
We press the question, "To whom belongest thou?" Answer honestly before you give sleep to your eyes. If you are not Christ’s you are in a hard service - Run away from your cruel master ! Enter into the service of the Lord of Love, and you shall enjoy a life of blessedness. If you are Christ’s let me advise you to do four things. You belong to Jesus - obey him ; let his word be your law; let His wish be your will. You belong to the Beloved, then love Him ; let your heart embrace Him; let your whole soul be filled with Him. You belong to the Son of God, then trust him ; rest nowhere but on him. You belong to the King of kings, then be decided for Him . Thus, without your being branded upon the brow, all will know to whom you belong.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 17:22-32
22 He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
23 They will tell you, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Don't go away or follow after them,
24 for as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part under the sky, shines to another part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day.
25 But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
27 They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the sky and destroyed them all.
30 It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
31 In that day, he who will be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
32 Remember Lot's wife!
THE COMING OF THE LORD
In a certain very real way the Lord is coming every moment. And the great art of Christian living is to be able to discern Him when He arrives. He may appear as the village carpenter; or we may "suppose Him to be one of the gardeners," and we may mistake His appearing! He may meet us in some lowly duty, or in some seemingly unpleasant task. He may shine in the cheeriness of some triumph, or whisper to us in a message of good news. "I come again." And if our eyes are open we shall see Him coming continually. It is by this perception that the value of our life is measured and weighed.
But He will also come again "suddenly," when the soul will be translated into unknown climes. He will come again in the sable robes of death. Shall we know Him? Will our eyes be so keen and true that we shall be able to pierce the dark veil and say "It is the Lord!" This has been the joyful experience of countless multitudes. When the summons came their souls went forth, not as victims to encounter death, but as the bride "to meet the bridegroom!" They had intimacy with Him in life; they had glorious fellowship with Him in death!
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
March 12th.
My Father, lift me into the heavenly places, that I may to-day have communion with Christ. May I see His glory! May His beauty
woo me into deeper and more fruitful devotion!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out.
Deuteronomy 33:18
The blessings of the tribes are ours; for we are the true Israel who worship God in the spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh. Zebulun is to rejoice because Jehovah will bless his "going out"; we also see a promise for ourselves lying latent in this benediction. When we go out we will look out for occasions of joy.
We go out to travel, and the providence of God is our convoy. We go out to emigrate, and the Lord is with us both on land and sea. We go out as missionaries, and Jesus saith, "Lo, I am with you unto the end of the world." We go out day by day to our labour, and we may do so with pleasure, for God will be with us from morn till eve.
A fear sometimes creeps over us when starting, for we know not what we may meet with; but this blessing may serve us right well as a word of good cheer. As we pack up for moving, let us put this verse into our travelling trunk; let us drop it into our hearts, and keep it there; yea, let us lay it on our tongue to make us sing. Let us weigh anchor with a song, or jump into the carriage with a psalm. Let us belong to the rejoicing tribe, and in our every movement praise the Lord with joyful hearts.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
Intellect divorced from Deity deals only with dust. Scientific investigation has been almost exclusively occupied with the investigation and tabulation of material things.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He surnamed ... He surnamed.
Mark 3:16, 17
This is a very suggestive story. To three of His twelve Apostles He gave surnames. Perhaps He did the same for all. We do not know. The action in regard to these three is illustrative. Perhaps He ever does the same for His own. If so, one wonders how He is surnaming us. The idea is purely speculative, but it is speculation on a profitable level, especially in the light of these revelations. "Simon He surnamed Rock." This Simon was impulsive, restless, inconsistent, lacking cohesion. Yet He surnamed him Rock. The name was an indication of his unrealized natural capacities; and of the Lord's ability to realize them. The sons of Zebedee, James and John, He surnamed Sons of Thunder. They were men of gentle, filial nature, quiet men, content to abide at home in the service of their father. Yet He surnamed them Sons of Thunder; men of authority and power. The principle was the same. In James was the capacity to be so loyal to a Master and a cause as to die for them. In John was the mystic power which would make him a seer, and an interpreter of the great things of life. The Lord was able to bring these things to realization, and to employ them for His own glory in co-operation with His service. And so again we wonder what is He naming us? The consideration is for the hour of lonely communion with Him. In such an hour we shall discover that His surnaming is ever based upon two things; first, our capacities as the result of our first birth; and secondly, His power to realize those capacities. We shall find, moreover, that His power becomes operative when we are wholly yielded to Him.
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.