Daily Bible Notes: May, 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
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2 Corinthians 6:16
What a sweet title: "My people!" What a cheering revelation: "Their God!" How much of meaning is couched in those two words, "My people!" Here is speciality . The whole world is God’s; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s, and He reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom He hath chosen, whom He hath purchased to Himself, He saith what He saith not of others -"My people" In this word there is the idea of proprietorship . In a special manner the "Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." All the nations upon earth are His; the whole world is in His power; yet are His people, His chosen, more especially His possession; for He has done more for them than others; He has bought them with His blood; He has brought them nigh to Himself; He has set His great heart upon them; He has loved them with an everlasting love, a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of time shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish. Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in that number?
Can you look up to heaven and say, "My Lord and my God: mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to call Thee Father; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I delight to hold with Thee when Thou art pleased to manifest Thyself unto me as Thou dost not unto the world?"
Canst thou read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the indentures of thy salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious blood? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of Jesus’ garments, and say, "My Christ"?
If thou canst, then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, "My people;" for, if God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to you; you are the object of His choice, accepted in His beloved Son.
Evening
He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:20
Wisdom is man’s true strength; and, under its guidance, he best accomplishes the ends of his being. Wisely handling the matter of life gives to man the richest enjoyment, and presents the noblest occupation for his powers; hence by it he finds good in the fullest sense. Without wisdom, man is as the wild ass’s colt, running hither and thither, wasting strength which might be profitably employed. Wisdom is the compass by which man is to steer across the trackless waste of life; without it he is a derelict vessel, the sport of winds and waves. A man must be prudent in such a world as this, or he will find no good, but be betrayed into unnumbered ills. The pilgrim will sorely wound his feet among the briers of the wood of life if he do not pick his steps with the utmost caution. He who is in a wilderness infested with robber bands must handle matters wisely if he would journey safely. If, trained by the Great Teacher, we follow where He leads, we shall find good, even while in this dark abode; there are celestial fruits to be gathered this side of Eden’s bowers, and songs of paradise to be sung amid the groves of earth. But where shall this wisdom be found? Many have dreamed of it, but have not possessed it. Where shall we learn it? Let us listen to the voice of the Lord, for He hath declared the secret; He hath revealed to the sons of men wherein true wisdom lieth, and we have it in the text, "Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." The true way to handle a matter wisely is to trust in the Lord .
This is the sure clue to the most intricate labyrinths of life, follow it and find eternal bliss. He who trusts in the Lord has a diploma for wisdom granted by inspiration: happy is he now, and happier shall he be above.
Lord, in this sweet eventide walk with me in the garden, and teach me the wisdom of faith.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
James 1:21-27
21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone amongst you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man's religion is worthless.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
HEALTHY LISTENING
"Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
When we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our hearing. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Or we may attach a virtue to the mere act of listening to the word. We may assume that some magical efficacy belongs to the mere reading of the word. And all this is perverse and delusive. No listening is healthy which is not mentally referred to obedience. We are to listen with a view to obedience, with our eyes upon the very road where the obedient feet will travel. That is to say, we are to listen with purpose, as though we were Ambassadors receiving instructions from the King concerning some momentous mission. Yes, we must listen with an eye on the road.
"Doing" makes a new thing of "hearing." The statute obeyed becomes a song. The commandment is found to be a beatitude. The decree discloses riches of grace. The hidden things of God are not discovered until we are treading the path of obedience. "And it came to pass that as he went he received his sight." In the way of obedience the blind man found a new world. God has wonderful treasures for the dutiful. The faithful discover the "hidden manna."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
May 5th.
My Father, may the glorious light of Thy gospel flood my soul to-day! May buried seeds of heavenly power awake into life!
May budding graces and virtues grow into fuller strength and beauty!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity. - Deuteronomy 30:3
God's own people may sell themselves into captivity by sin. A very bitter fruit is this, of an exceeding bitter root. What a bondage it is when the child of God is sold under sin, held in chains by Satan, deprived of his liberty, robbed of his power in prayer, and his delight in the Lord! Let us watch that we come not into such bondage; but if this has already happened to us, let us by no means despair.
But we cannot be held in slavery for ever. The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy's hand. The way to freedom is, "Return unto the Lord thy God." Where we first found salvation we shall find it again. At the foot of Christ's cross confessing sin we shall find pardon and deliverance. Moreover, the Lord will have us obey his voice according to all that he has commanded us, and we must do this with all our heart, and all our soul, and then our captivity shall end.
Often depression of spirit and great misery of soul are removed as soon as we quit our idols and bow ourselves in obedience before the living God. We need not be captives. We may return to Zion's citizenship, and that speedily. Lord, turn our captivity!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
John 4:10
He still gives the living water, enters into and heals personal sorrows, communicates virtue to distressed souls, transforms into beauty the most difficult and perplexing characters, and deals with exquisite tenderness with those who, trusting Him, have not yet perfectly understood Him.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I counted ... and I count.
Philippians 3:7, 8
These words occur in the page of auto-biography in which Paul employed his own experience as an argument in appealing to his spiritual children in Philippi. They refer to a mental and spiritual activity. The two exercises were separated by at least thirty years. The first took place when Christ broke through upon him in all the radiant glory and revolutionizing power of His risen life. The second took place as he wrote, in prison, and amid all the difficulties and trials created by his Apostolic ministry. Between the time when he counted his gain loss and abandoned everything, and this hour, what experiences he had passed through! Nothing had occurred which in any way altered his first reckoning and decision; and so, to the "I counted" of the first revelation, he added the "I count" of the present experience. And this should ever be so. We are never more in peril than when we are trusting to a past experience. Yet how often it is done! We remember the day when the light broke upon us. It was a very real thing. It changed all our outlook. It compelled us to reconsideration of all the facts of life. We obeyed. We turned our backs upon all sorts of gains, counting them as merely worthless things. We yielded to the call and glory of the life in Christ. It was all excellent. But what about the present? Is the old attitude maintained? Are the activities of today those of the first days? Or have we gone back to the abandoned things? Do we allow ourselves to seek again the lower things? It is only as we can express the decision of the past in terms of the present, the "I counted," as "I count," that there is any real value in the past.
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.