Daily Bible Notes: November, 7th
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
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.
Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word "Behold ," is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favoured people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush; He cries, "How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?" O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps His promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him.
He never faileth; He is never a dry well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert. "Behold," is a word intended to excite admiration . Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. "I have graven thee ."It does not say, "Thy name." The name is there, but that is not all: "I have graven thee ." See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when He has graven thee upon His own palms?
Evening
And ye shall be witnesses unto Me.
Acts 1:8
In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at His example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple of Jerusalem: by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain’s brow. He is witnessing night and day; His mighty prayers are as vocal to God as His daily services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and Pharisees cannot shut His mouth; even before Pilate He witnesses a good confession. He witnesses so clearly, and distinctly that there is no mistake in Him. Christian, make your life a clear testimony. Be you as the brook wherein you may see every stone at the bottom - not as the muddy creek, of which you only see the surface - but clear and transparent, so that your heart’s love to God and man may be visible to all. You need not say, "I am true:" be true. Boast not of integrity, but be upright. So shall your testimony be such that men cannot help seeing it.
Never, for fear of feeble man, restrain your witness. Your lips have been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as like heaven-touched lips should do. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand." Watch not the clouds, consult not the wind - in season and out of season witness for the Saviour, and if it shall come to pass that for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s you shall endure suffering in any shape, shrink not, but rejoice in the honour thus conferred upon you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord; and joy also in this - that your sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a platform, from which the more vigorously and with greater power you shall witness for Christ Jesus. Study your great Exemplar, and be filled with His Spirit. Remember that you need much teaching, much upholding, much grace, and much humility, if your witnessing is to be to your Master’s glory.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Isaiah 63:7-14
7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has given to us, and the great goodness towards the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
8 For he said, "Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;" so he became their Saviour.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, "Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit amongst them?"
12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses' right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn't stumble?
14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, the LORD's Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.
REJECTED LOVE
If I refuse the friendship of the Holy One I inevitably invite His hostility. "But they rebelled, and vexed His holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them."
And so, if I reject the forces of grace I do not turn them from my gate, I convert them into foes. Malachi teaches me that rejected sunshine becomes like a burning oven. The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches me that rejected love becomes "a consuming fire." Holiness nourishes virtue, it withers vice. If I offer my Lord a tender aspiration, His breath wooes it like the balmy air of the spring; if I come before Him with the weeds of ignoble dispositions, He blights them as with the nipping of the frost.
And is it not well, for thee and me, that our Lord is thus fiercely hostile to our sins? Is not this "consuming fire" the friend of my soul? May I not pray: Burn on, burn on, pure flame, until all the refuse and rubbish of my life are utterly consumed; burn on, burn on, until fierce flame becomes mild light, flinging its genial radiance over a transfigured desert?
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
November 7th.
My Saviour, what is Thy will for me to-day? What wouldst Thou have me to do? May I know Thy will and know it clearly!
May I love the will revealed! Incline my heart as well as my mind. Teach me, and then teach me to love.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. - Luke 18:14
It ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so. If we are sensible and honest we shall be little in our own eyes. Especially before the Lord in prayer we shall shrink to nothing. There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none: our one and only appeal must be to mercy: "God be merciful to me a sinner."
Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the Lord if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The Lord will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; he will exalt us into knowledge of his Word and fellowship with himself; he will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification. The Lord puts his honours upon those who can wear them to the honour of the giver. He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them, but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility. Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honour modest worth.
O Lord, sink me in self that I may rise in thee.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 1:5
There is nothing better in this world, no higher experience, than that we should, to every revelation of the Will of God, utter our whole-hearted Amen, and crown it with our joyous Hallelujah.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ
1 John 1:3
This is one of the greatest statements of the New Testament, and it may safely be said that its greatness is created by the richness of the word which is the emphatic word, viz. fellowship. This is a word which was actually used by Paul more often than any other New Testament writer, but the conception is most perfectly interpreted by John. The marvel of this particular statement will best be apprehended if we accurately apprehend the significance of the word. The Greek word koinonia is derived from the word koinos, which very literally means common, in the sense of being shared by all. The use of that word koinos, or common, in our New Testament, which will help us most in this consideration, is that made of it by Luke when he declared that "All that believed were together, and had all things common" (Acts 2:44). Fellowship then is that community of relationship which expresses itself in community of resource and responsibility. Those who have a fellowship one with another, are those who share the same resources, and are bound by the same responsibilities. The idea becomes almost overwhelming when it is thus applied to the relationship which believing souls bear to the Father, and to His Son Jesus Christ. It is a subject which can be meditated in silence better than interpreted by words. The whole of this letter helps us in such meditation. We may reverently attempt to summarize by repeating what is already said. The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and all believers have all things in common. All the resources of each in the wondrous relationship are at the disposal of the others. Such is the grace of our God, and of His Son.
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.