Daily Bible Notes: May, 26th
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
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.
Psalm 55:22
Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy He will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon His province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the "broken cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are "careful for nothing" because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."
Evening
Continue in the faith.
Acts 14:22
Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me." So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior."
He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war’s trumpet is blown no more. Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. "It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare." Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service : he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavour to make you weary of suffering , he will whisper, "Curse God, and die." Or he will attack your steadfastness : "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do." Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments : "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times." Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armour, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Acts 10:34-48
34 Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God doesn't show favouritism;
35 but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
36 The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all-
37 you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
40 God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed,
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
43 All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins."
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.
45 They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.
46 For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Can anyone forbid these people from being baptised with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us."
48 He commanded them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.
THE UNITING OF SUNDERED PEOPLES
"On the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost."
And this is ever the issue of a true outpouring of the Spirit: sundered peoples become one. At "low tide" there are multitudes of separated pools along the shore: at "high tide" they flow together, and the little distinctions are lost in a splendid union.
It is so racially. "Jew and Gentile!" Peter and Cornelius lose their prejudices in the emancipating ministry of the Spirit. And so shall it be with English and Irish, with French and German, with Asiatic and European: they shall be "all one" in Christ.
It is so socially. "Bond and free!" The master and the servant shall discover a glorious intimacy and union. And so shall rich and poor, the learned and the illiterate, the many-talented and the obscure. The pools shall flow together.
It is so ecclesiastically. Our sectarianisms are always most frowning and obtrusive when spiritually we are at "low tide." When the tide rises, it is amazing how the ramparts are submerged. It is not round-table conferences that we need, but seasons of communion when together we shall await the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
May 26th.
My Father, prepare me for this day's life. May the unexpected not throw me into panic! May nothing disturb my faith!
May I rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him! May all things work for good!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water.
Exodus 23:25
What a promise is this! To serve God is in itself a high delight. But what an added privilege to have the blessing of the Lord resting upon us in all things! Our commonest things become blessed when we ourselves are consecrated to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus took bread and blessed it; behold, we also eat of blessed bread. Jesus blessed water and made it wine: the water which we drink is far better to us than any of the wine with which men make merry; every drop has a benediction in it. The divine blessing is on the man of God in everything, and it shall abide with him at every time.
What if we have only bread and water! Yet it is blessed bread and water. Bread and water we shall have. That is implied, for it must be there for God to bless it. "Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be sure." With God at our table, we not only ask a blessing, but we have one. It is not only at the altar but at the table that he blesses us. He serves those well who serve him well. This table-blessing is not of debt, but of grace. Indeed, there is a treble grace; he grants us grace to serve him, by his grace feeds us with bread, and then in his grace blesses it.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him.
John 1:10
Creation is not an open book to man. God is allowing him, by the slow and tedious processes of the centuries, to learn to read its secrets. To Jesus all these secrets were apparent.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
David therefore calleth Him Lord, and how is He his Son?
Luke 20:44
In that question, our Lord fastened the attention of His enemies upon a mystery concerning the Hebrew Messiah as suggested in a psalm of their own king, David. He had sung of the Messiah as his sovereign Lord. How could He be at once his Lord and his Son? Reference to the Psalm (110.) will show that its description of Messiah was that of sovereignty. "Jehovah saith unto my Adonai" - that is, my Lord as sovereign. Now the idea that a son should rule over his father was utterly impossible to the eastern mind. What then did David mean? It is evident that our Lord was attempting to compel these men to face this problem of their sacred writing, in order to help them to understand some things concerning Himself which were perplexing. This central mystery of the Person of Christ still abides, only it is solved when we remember that He was in very deed, and in special sense, the Son of God. As Paul said, He "was born of the seed of David according to the flesh"; but He was also, "the Son of God, according to the spirit of holiness." All attempts to account for him on the level of the human only, leave the mystery of his sovereignty unexplained. While the mystery of His Person for ever transcends human interpretation, the mystery of His sovereignty vanishes when we realize that in very deed He is the Son of God.
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.