Daily Bible Notes: November, 10th
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
The eternal God is thy refuge.
Deuteronomy 33:27
The word refuge may be translated "mansion," or "abiding-place," which gives the thought that God is our abode, our home . There is a fulness and sweetness in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, although it be the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret; and dearer far is our blessed God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. It is at home that we feel safe : we shut the world out and dwell in quiet security. So when we are with our God we "fear no evil." He is our shelter and retreat, our abiding refuge. At home, we take our rest ; it is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. And so our hearts find rest in God, when, wearied with life’s conflict, we turn to Him, and our soul dwells at ease. At home, also, we let our hearts loose ; we are not afraid of being misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So when we are with God we can commune freely with Him, laying open all our hidden desires; for if the "secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," the secrets of them that fear Him ought to be, and must be, with their Lord. Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness : and it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. We have joy in Him which far surpasses all other joy. It is also for home that we work and labour . The thought of it gives strength to bear the daily burden, and quickens the fingers to perform the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our home. Love to Him strengthens us. We think of Him in the person of His dear Son; and a glimpse of the suffering face of the Redeemer constrains us to labour in His cause. We feel that we must work, for we have brethren yet to be saved, and we have our Father’s heart to make glad by bringing home His wandering sons; we would fill with holy mirth the sacred family among whom we dwell. Happy are those who have thus the God of Jacob for their refuge!
Evening
It is enough for the disciple that he be as His Master.
Matthew 10:25
No one will dispute this statement, for it would be unseemly for the servant to be exalted above his Master. When our Lord was on earth, what was the treatment He received? Were His claims acknowledged, His instructions followed, His perfections worshipped, by those whom He came to bless? No; "He was despised and rejected of men." Outside the camp was His place: cross-bearing was His occupation. Did the world yield Him solace and rest? "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." This inhospitable country afforded Him no shelter: it cast Him out and crucified Him. Such - if you are a follower of Jesus, and maintain a consistent, Christ-like walk and conversation - you must expect to be the lot of that part of your spiritual life which, in its outward development, comes under the observation of men. They will treat it as they treated the Saviour - they will despise it. Dream not that worldlings will admire you, or that the more holy and the more Christ-like you are, the more peaceably people will act towards you. They prized not the polished gem, how should they value the jewel in the rough? "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?" If we were more like Christ, we should be more hated by His enemies. It were a sad dishonour to a child of God to be the world’s favourite. It is a very ill omen to hear a wicked world clap its hands and shout "Well done" to the Christian man. He may begin to look to his character, and wonder whether he has not been doing wrong, when the unrighteous give him their approbation. Let us be true to our Master, and have no friendship with a blind and base world which scorns and rejects Him. Far be it from us to seek a crown of honour where our Lord found a coronet of thorn.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 5:1-11
1 Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
2 He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch."
5 Simon answered him, "Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net."
6 When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.
7 They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord."
9 For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive."
11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
NEVERTHELESS!
Here is obedience in spite of the night of failure. "Nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down the net." That word "nevertheless" has always made history. It has been spoken after scourgings, after "bonds and imprisonments." Ten thousand times has it been heard in the chamber of bereavement, the first sound to break the awful silence. "At evening my wife died.... In the morning I did as God commanded me." And may it be true of me! May my "nevertheless" of willing obedience rise like a lark above the storm.
And because there was obedience there came vision. In the wonderful answer to his faith Peter beheld the glory of his Lord. And so I never know where the unenticing road of obedience will lead me. At the end of the dull road there will be some gracious surprise! It is the rugged path which leads to the summit! The panorama comes as the reward of the toilsome climb! Always, in the realm of the Spirit, the dogged "nevertheless" will lead to the "shining tableland to which our God Himself is moon and sun."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
November 10th.
My Father, help me to survey Thy mercies. May I feel that I walk in an atmosphere of grace! May I know that everything
that is worth having I obtain from Thee. May I see the seals of Thy love in the common comforts of the day!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
Psalms 121:3
If the Lord will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. How greatly would they rejoice if they could give us a disgraceful fall, drive us from our position, and bury us out of memory! They could do this to their heart's content were it not for one hindrance, and only one: the Lord will not suffer it; and if he does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it.
The way of life is like travelling among the Alps. Along mountain paths one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide: there are spots which are smooth as glass, and others that are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude. What with pitfalls and snares, weak knees, weary feet, and subtle enemies, no child of God would stand fast for an hour were it not for the faithful love which will not suffer his foot to be moved.
- "Amidst a thousand snares I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
That hand unseen shall hold me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill."
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The wind bloweth where it listeth ... thou canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 3:8
You may count the petals on the rose and tell the story of floriculture and cultivation, but behind all your schemes is the touch of the Divine, the presence of God; and as thou canst not explain ... the working behind the thousand mysteries of beauty and nature, neither can I tell you how God will come into your soul and purify it.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
We love, because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19
The omission of the pronoun "Him" from this sentence by the Revisers is unquestionably warranted. So far from robbing the statement of point and power, it leaves it in all its fullness of meaning. It remains true that we love God because He first loved us; but it is also true that we love one another, that we love all men, because God first loved us. When John wrote this, he was true to his whole conception of love. He had come to realize that much which is called love is not love at all. He had already declared: "Hereby know we love, because He laid down His life for us" (3:16); and "Love is of God" (4:7); and superlatively, "God is love" (4:8). To him, then, nothing was worthy of the name which was not of that nature. Therefore when he wrote "We love," he was not thinking of any mere human affection or emotion, in which there may lurk much of selfishness; but of that pure, disinterested love, which pours itself out in the uttermost giving. How true, then, the declaration that "We love because He first loved us." We only come to the knowledge of love, when we find it redeeming us at infinite cost. We only come to the experience of love as that love is shed abroad within us, and begins to lead us out in activities of the same nature. But the statement is positive. When we know that love, when that love is shed abroad within us, then we do truly love. We love God in an utter abandonment of all we are and have to Him. Nothing is withheld from Him. We love men with the same abandonment. Like the early disciples, we do not say that anything we have is our own. Everything is valuable in proportion as it may be given for the enrichment of others.
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.