Daily Bible Notes: November, 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
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," refers to works that are possible .
There are many things which our heart findeth to do which we never shall do. It is well it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful, we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart, and talking of them; we must practically carry out "whatsoever our hand findeth to do ."
One good deed is more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we "find to do" day by day. We have no other time in which to live.
The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God. Endeavour now to bring forth fruit. Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find to do - "do it with thy might ." Do it promptly ; do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do to-morrow as if that could recompense for the idleness of to-day. No man ever served God by doing things to-morrow. If we honour Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do to-day . Whatever you do for Christ throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little slurred labour, done as a matter of course now and then; but when you do serve Him, do it with heart, and soul, and strength.
But where is the might of a Christian? It is not in himself, for he is perfect weakness. His might lieth in the Lord of Hosts. Then let us seek His help; let us proceed with prayer and faith, and when we have done what our "hand findeth to do," let us wait upon the Lord for His blessing. What we do thus will be well done, and will not fail in its effect.
Evening
They shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
Zechariah 4:10
Small things marked the beginning of the work in the hand of Zerubbabel, but none might despise it, for the Lord had raised up one who would persevere until the headstone should be brought forth with shoutings. The plummet was in good hands. Here is the comfort of every believer in the Lord Jesus; let the work of grace be ever so small in its beginnings, the plummet is in good hands , a master builder greater than Solomon has undertaken the raising of the heavenly temple, and He will not fail nor be discouraged till the topmost pinnacle shall be raised. If the plummet were in the hand of any merely human being, we might fear for the building, but the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in Jesus’ hand. The works did not proceed irregularly, and without care, for the master’s hand carried a good instrument . Had the walls been hurriedly run up without due superintendence, they might have been out of the perpendicular; but the plummet was used by the chosen overseer. Jesus is evermore watching the erection of His spiritual temple, that it may be built securely and well. We are for haste, but Jesus is for judgment. He will use the plummet, and that which is out of line must come down, every stone of it. Hence the failure of many a flattering work, the overthrow of many a glittering profession. It is not for us to judge the Lord’s church, since Jesus has a steady hand, and a true eye, and can use the plummet well. Do we not rejoice to see judgment left to Him? The plummet was in active use - it was in the builder’s hand; a sure indication that he meant to push on the work to completion. O Lord Jesus, how would we indeed be glad if we could see Thee at Thy great work. O Zion, the beautiful, thy walls are still in ruins! Rise, Thou glorious Builder, and make her desolations to rejoice at Thy coming.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
2 Chronicles 7:12-22
12 The LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice.
13 "If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence amongst my people;
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.
16 For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.
17 "As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;
18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.'
19 But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword amongst all peoples.
21 This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, 'Why has the LORD done this to this land and to this house?'
22 They shall answer, 'Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshipped them, and served them. Therefore he has brought all this evil on them.' "
UNCONSECRATED SOULS
"This house which I have sanctified will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a by-word among all nations."
And thus am I taught that consecrated houses are nothing without consecrated souls. It is not the mode of worship, but the spirit of the worshipper which forms the test of a consecrated people. If the worshipper is defiled his temple becomes an offence. When the kernel is rotten, and I offer the husk to God, the offering is a double insult to His most holy name.
And yet, how tempted I am to assume that God will be pleased with the mere outsides of things, with words instead of aspiration, with postures instead of dispositions, with the letter instead of the spirit, with an ornate and costly temple instead of a sweet and lowly life! Day by day I am tempted to treat the Almighty as though He were a child! Nay, the Bible uses a more awful word; it says men treat the Lord as though He were a fool!
From all such irreverence and frivolity, good Lord, deliver me! Let me ever remember that Thou "desirest truth in the inward man." "In the hidden parts" help me "to know wisdom."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
November 26th.
Lord of glory, glorify Thyself in me to-day. May my life shine with Thy gracious presence! May even the trifles be
illumined! May my very courtesies wear the beauty of heaven! May all my life be lifted up into completeness!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
John 16:20
Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when he rose from the dead and showed himself in their midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted; even the worst of them, which look as if they must for ever remain fountains of bitterness.
Then the more sorrow the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord's power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavour of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.
Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long, I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51
We see Christ passing by the way of the Cross with the step of a Conqueror, the Leader of the great hosts, who by His victory shall be delivered from the bondage of sin and the bondage of death, into all the spacious freedom of the Kingdom of God.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Which things angels desire to look into.
1 Peter 1:12
What a wonderful chapter this is! After the introduction, it opens with a doxology, and then proceeds exultantly to deal with the wonders of Christian experience and privilege, resulting from the "great mercy" of "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The whole theme is that of "the sufferings of Christ, and the glories which should follow them," or inclusively, that of "Salvation." Of this the prophets of the past had written having "sought and searched diligently," and that under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Whom the Apostle here describes as "the Spirit of Christ." These are the things into which angels desire to look. It is a revealing word, helping us to realize the depths and glories of our salvation. The angels are the unfallen ones, the high intelligences who serve God in holiness, and dwell in the light. So great is human salvation, that they desire to consider it. The word for "desire" is the simplest and strongest, showing us that they realize the amazing wonder, and earnestly wish to apprehend it. The word for "look," too, is a strong one, suggesting the closest attention and inspection, the bending over and careful examination of the matter. While prophets sought and searched diligently, and angels desire to look, those of us who are the objects of this mercy which is so full of wonder should surely be content with nothing less than the utmost diligence in our endeavour to apprehend the deep things of our "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
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.