Daily Bible Notes: May, 13th
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
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
Christian! If thou art in a night of trial, think of the morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of the coming of thy Lord. Be patient, for "Lo! He comes with clouds descending."
Be patient! The Husbandman waits until He reaps His harvest. Be patient; for you know who has said, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be." If you are never so wretched now, remember "A few more rolling suns, at most, Will land thee on fair Canaan’s coast."
Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it shall wear a starry crown ere long; thy hand may be filled with cares - it shall sweep the strings of the harp of heaven soon. Thy garments may be soiled with dust now; they shall be white by-and-by. Wait a little longer. Ah! how despicable our troubles and trials will seem when we look back upon them!
Looking at them here in the prospect, they seem immense; but when we get to heaven we shall then "With transporting joys recount, The labours of our feet."
Our trials will then seem light and momentary afflictions. Let us go on boldly; if the night be never so dark, the morning cometh, which is more than they can say who are shut up in the darkness of hell. Do you know what it is thus to live on the future - to live on expectation - to antedate heaven? Happy believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope. It may be all dark now, but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now, but it will soon be all happiness. What matters it though "weeping may endure for a night," when "joy cometh in the morning?"
Evening
Thou art my portion, O Lord.
Psalm 119:57
Look at thy possessions, O believer, and compare thy portion with the lot of thy fellowmen. Some of them have their portion in the field; they are rich, and their harvests yield them a golden increase; but what are harvests compared with thy God, who is the God of harvests? What are bursting granaries compared with Him, who is the Husbandman, and feeds thee with the bread of heaven? Some have their portion in the city; their wealth is abundant, and flows to them in constant streams, until they become a very reservoir of gold; but what is gold compared with thy God? Thou couldst not live on it; thy spiritual life could not be sustained by it. Put it on a troubled conscience, and could it allay its pangs? Apply it to a desponding heart, and see if it could stay a solitary groan, or give one grief the less? But thou hast God, and in Him thou hast more than gold or riches ever could buy. Some have their portion in that which most men love - applause and fame; but ask thyself, is not thy God more to thee than that?
What if a myriad clarions should be loud in thine applause, would this prepare thee to pass the Jordan, or cheer thee in prospect of judgment?
No, there are griefs in life which wealth cannot alleviate; and there is the deep need of a dying hour, for which no riches can provide. But when thou hast God for thy portion, thou hast more than all else put together. In Him every want is met, whether in life or in death. With God for thy portion thou art rich indeed, for He will supply thy need, comfort thy heart, assuage thy grief, guide thy steps, be with thee in the dark valley, and then take thee home, to enjoy Him as thy portion for ever. "I have enough," said Esau; this is the best thing a worldly man can say, but Jacob replies, "I have all things," which is a note too high for carnal minds.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Exodus 2:11-25
11 In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.
12 He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"
14 He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?" Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known."
15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?"
19 They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock."
20 He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."
21 Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.
22 She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land."
23 In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.
COMMONPLACE FIDELITIES
God prepares us for the greater crusades by more commonplace fidelities. Through the practice of common kindnesses God leads us to chivalrous tasks. Little courtesies feed nobler reverences. No man can despise smaller duties and do the larger duties well. Our strength is sapped by small disobediences. Our discourtesies to one another impair our worship of God. The neglect of the "pointing" of a house may lead to dampness and fatal disease.
And thus the only way to live is by filling every moment with fidelity. We are ready for anything when we have been faithful in everything. "Because thou hast been faithful in that which is least!" That is the order in moral and spiritual progress, and that is the road by which we climb to the seats of the mighty. When every stone in life is "well and truly laid" we are sure of a solid, holy temple in which the Lord will delight to dwell. The quality of our greatness depends upon what we do with "that which is least."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
May 13th.
My Saviour, may Thy Holy Spirit breathe upon me to-day! May the gracious influence brace me, and lift me into spiritual
health! May I draw in breath in the fear of the Lord!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And I will give him the morning star.
Revelation 2:28
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, what a blessing it is to see in Jesus "the morning star"! I remember when we read in the newspapers the idle tale that the star of Bethlehem had again appeared. On enquiry we found that it was only "the morning star"; but no great mistake had been made after all.
It is best to see Jesus as the sun; but when we cannot do so, the next best thing is to see him as that star which prophesies the day, and shows that the eternal light is near at hand. If I am not to-day all that I hope to be, yet I see Jesus, and that assures me that I shall one day be like him. A sight of Jesus by faith is the pledge of beholding him in his glory and being transformed into his image. If I have not at this hour all the light and joy I could desire, yet I shall have it; for as surely as I see the morning star I shall see the day. The morning star is never far from the sun.
Come, my soul, has the Lord given thee the morning star? Dost thou hold fast that truth, grace, hope, and love which the Lord has given thee? Then in this thou hast the dawn of coming glory. He that makes thee overcome evil, and persevere in righteousness, has therein given thee the morning star.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Ephesians 2:10
The age knows well, notwithstanding all its small criticism of the inconsistency of individual Christians, that the Church stands, a shining light, revealing to the world the possibility of highest heroism in all such as are loyal to the King: Human history affords no parallel in glory and strength of empire.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Seest thou this woman?
Luke 7:44
When Simon saw the woman of the city who was "a sinner" in contact with Christ, he came to the conclusion that the fact that the Lord permitted her to act as she was doing, was proof of His lack of perception. Evidently, thought Simon, He was unable to detect the truth about her; He was spiritually blind. The recognition of this conception of the Pharisee gives point to the question which the Lord addressed to him: "Seest thou this woman?" Having asked the question, He proceeded to help Simon to see her. The difference between Simon's attitude toward her and that of the Lord is, that while Simon was not looking at her, the Lord was doing so. Simon was judging her by her past. Jesus was judging her by her present. Are we not all in danger of falling into Simon's mistake? It is not easy for us to blot out a past, and to free ourselves from all prejudice resulting from our knowledge of that past. Yet that is exactly what the Lord does. And He does so, not unrighteously, but righteously. He knows the power of His own grace, and that it completely cancels the past, and gives its own beauty to the soul. When we allow memories of the past to blind us to the transformation wrought by grace, we are proving how meanly we think of grace.
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.