Daily Bible Notes: November, 11th
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
Underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27
God - the eternal God - is Himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation . Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet "underneath" thee "are everlasting arms." Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ’s great atonement is still under all. You may have descended into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as "the uttermost"; and to the uttermost He saves. Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without . Every earthly prop is cut away. What then? Still underneath him are "the everlasting arms." He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the "everlasting arms" - they are underneath him; and, while thus sustained, all Satan’s efforts to harm him avail nothing.
This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but earnest worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty. And, further, when death comes , the promise shall still hold good. When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be able to say with David, "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."
We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the "everlasting arms" - arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for "the everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary."
Evening
He shall choose our inheritance for us.
Psalm 47:4
Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you .
Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one part of the stream there is a sandbank; should some one ask, "Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel and deviate so much from a straight line?" His answer would be, "Because I should not get my vessel into harbour at all if I did not keep to the deep channel." So, it may be, you would run aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God. Down busy self, and proud impatience, it is not for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love! "Trials must and will befall - But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all; This is happiness to me."
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 22:24-34
24 A dispute also arose amongst them, which of them was considered to be greatest.
25 He said to them, "The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called 'benefactors.'
26 But not so with you. But one who is the greater amongst you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves.
27 For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn't it he who sits at the table? But I am amongst you as one who serves.
28 But you are those who have continued with me in my trials.
29 I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me,
30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
31 The Lord said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have all of you, that he might sift you as wheat,
32 but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn't fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers."
33 He said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!"
34 He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times."
FOILING THE ENEMY'S PLOTS
I do not meet my tempter alone. The engagement has been foreseen by my Lord. "Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you!" The tempter's plots, and wiles, and ambuscades are all clearly perceived. My Lord has got the enemy's maps, and his plan of campaign, for all things are open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. I do not fight a lonely warfare on a dark and unknown field. My Lord Himself both scouts and fights for those who are His own.
And one great means of His co-operation is the mighty ministry of intercession. "But I have prayed for thee." That "but" is the massing of the forces of heaven against the black and subtle hordes of hell. Let me ever remember that the Lord's prayers are always the conveyers of holy power to those for whom He prays. It is as when Christian met Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation: there comes a sudden accession of strength to the bleeding warrior, and Apollyon retires wounded and beaten from the field.
And the only way to preserve the fruits of a triumph is by helping other warriors to gain a similar conquest. "When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren." I shall retain the hard, muscular limbs of a soldier if I am willing to share my blood with the entire army.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
November 11th.
Gracious Lord, Thou hast promised to men the gift of peace. May I learn the meaning of Thy promise! May I not be contented
with ease, or with the comforts of the world! May I lean upon Thy breast! May I have the peace which passeth understanding!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14
Sin will reign if it can: it cannot be satisfied with any place below the throne of the heart. We sometimes fear that it will conquer us, and then we cry unto the Lord, "Let not any iniquity have dominion over me." This is his comforting answer, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." It may assail you, and even wound you; but it shall never establish sovereignty over you.
If we were under the law, our sin would gather strength and hold us under its power; for it is the punishment of sin that a man comes under the power of sin. As we are under the covenant of grace, we are secured against departing from the living God by the sure declaration of the covenant. Grace is promised to us, by which we are restored from our wanderings, cleansed from our impurities, and set free from the chains of habit.
We might lie down in despair and be "content to serve the Egyptians" if we were still as slaves working for eternal life; but since we are the Lord's free men, we take courage to fight with our corruptions and temptations, being assured that sin shall never bring us under its sway again. God himself giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
This do, and thou shalt live.
Luke 10:28
In so doing thou shalt fulfil His law, and out of that obedience shall come the cleansing of thy nature; the putting away of thy sin; the commencement of that new life which shall exercise an influence - pure, and strong, and high, and lovely - which shall stretch out far beyond the little years of thy life, into God's great eternity.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:21
Thus the great epistle of fellowship with God, startlingly and yet fittingly ends. The cry of the heart that truly knows God is surely ever that of ransomed Ephraim: "What have I to do any more with idols?" (Hos. 14:8). And yet the warning is necessary. There can be no perfect fellowship if devotion is divided. The one and only peril that threatens us in the life of fellowship is that we admit any person or passion which seeks to share the supreme place in our lives with our Lord through Whom we have fellowship with our Father. And by saying that we have defined the word "idols." Anything which divides the heart in its loyalty to the Lord, is an idol. It may be a very vulgar thing; or it may be that which in itself is perfectly right, so long as it is subservient to the final sanctions of His control. If its influence in the life is that of alienating us from Him, in thought, or in love, or in will, it is an idol. The urgency of the word is found in the fact that John has employed the strongest possible word to describe our attitude toward idols. We are to keep ourselves in isolation from them. That is the real force of the word. We are not to go near them, nor to allow them to come near us. Anything which has the remotest chance of interfering with our fellowship, is to be put away, to be kept away. We are to live lives of isolation from everything which threatens our devotion to our Lord.
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.