Daily Bible Notes: October, 3rd
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
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Hebrews 1:14
Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads them to take a deep interest in the children of His love; they rejoice over the return of the prodigal to his father’s house below, and they welcome the advent of the believer to the King’s palace above. In olden times the sons of God were favoured with their visible appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us, heaven is still opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon the Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly beloved. If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal. Spenser’s line is no poetic fiction, where he sings - "How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant Against foul fiends to aid us militant!"
To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant courtiers of heaven become their willing servitors! Into what communion are we raised since we have intercourse with spotless celestials! How well are we defended since all the twenty- thousand chariots of God are armed for our deliverance! To whom do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be for ever endeared to us, for through Him we are made to sit in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose camp is round about them that fear Him; He is the true Michael whose foot is upon the dragon.
All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of Jehovah’s presence, to Thee this family offers its morning vows.
Evening
He Himself hath suffered being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
It is a common-place thought, and yet it tastes like nectar to the weary heart - Jesus I was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many times: have you grasped it? He was tempted to the very same sins into which we fall. Do not dissociate Jesus from our common manhood. It is a dark room which you are going through, but Jesus went through it before.
It is a sharp fight which you are waging, but Jesus has stood foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be of good cheer, Christ has borne the load before us, and the blood-stained footsteps of the King of glory may be seen along the road which we traverse at this hour. There is something sweeter yet - Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never sinned. Then, my soul, it is not needful for thee to sin, for Jesus was a man, and if one man endured these temptations and sinned not, then in His power His members may also cease from sin. Some beginners in the divine life think that they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they mistake; there is no sin in being tempted , but there is sin in yielding to temptation . Herein is comfort for the sorely tempted ones. There is still more to encourage them if they reflect that the Lord Jesus, though tempted, gloriously triumphed, and as He overcame, so surely shall His followers also, for Jesus is the representative man for His people; the Head has triumphed, and the members share in the victory. Fears are needless, for Christ is with us, armed for our defence. Our place of safety is the bosom of the Saviour.
Perhaps we are tempted just now, in order to drive us nearer to Him.
Blessed be any wind that blows us into the port of our Saviour’s love!
Happy wounds, which make us seek the beloved Physician. Ye tempted ones, come to your tempted Saviour, for He can be touched with a feeling of your infirmities, and will succour every tried and tempted one.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Jeremiah 10:10-16
10 But the LORD is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren't able to withstand his indignation.
11 "You shall say this to them: 'The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.' "
12 God has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.
13 When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
14 Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: the LORD of Armies is his name.
WATCHING THE CREATOR
"He hath made the earth by His power." And He is making it still. Even in the material world "His mercies are new every morning." James Smetham used to speak of going into his garden "to see what the Lord is doing." He would stand on the top of Highgate Hill on a blustering night "to watch the goings of the Lord in the storm." And all this means that to James Smetham creation was not merely a single event, but a process whose countless events are still going on. He watched his Lord at work! Every sunset was a new creation from the Almighty Maker's hands.
To many of us the Creator is remote from His works. He is not immediately near. And so He no longer "walks in the garden in the cool of the day." The garden is no longer a holy place. Let us recover the sacredness of things. Let us "practise the presence of God." Let us link His love and power to every flower that blows. And so shall we be able to say, as we move amid the glories of the natural world, "The Lord is in His holy temple."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
October 3rd.
Holy Spirit, breathe upon me Thy reviving breath. May my life awake to nobler activities! May no power lie in unhallowed sleep!
May all that is within me praise Thy holy name!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Psalms 17:15
The portion of other men fills their bodies, and enriches their children, but the portion of the believer is of another sort. Men of the world have their treasure in this world, but men of the world to come look higher and further.
Our possession is twofold. We have God's presence here and his likeness hereafter. Here we behold the face of the Lord in righteousness, for we are justified in Christ Jesus. Oh, the joy of beholding the face of a reconciled God! The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ yields us heaven below, and it will be to us the heaven of heaven above.
But seeing does not end it: we are to be changed into that which we gaze upon. We shall sleep a while and then wake up to find ourselves as mirrors which reflect the beauties of our Lord. Faith sees God with a transforming look. The heart receives the image of Jesus into its own depths, till the character of Jesus is imprinted on the soul. This is satisfaction. To see God and to be like him - what more can I desire? David's assured confidence is here by the Holy Ghost made to be the Lord's promise. I believe it. I expect it. Lord, vouchsafe it. Amen.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I will trust, and not be afraid.
Isaiah 12:2
Look at the purpose of God underlying all His dealings with us. Let everything else be put out of the vision. When we get to this point, though it be through heartbreak and disappointment, everything else vanishes from sight, and only the thought that God is doing a great work stands before us. We never saw this when God was dealing with us. At first we simply stood in the presence of God and yielded ourselves to His will.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
As it is written.
Romans 3:4
This is not the first time we have found this phrase in this letter: (see 1:17 and 2:24): neither is it the last occurrence: (see 3:10-48; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13, 33; 10:15; 11:8, 26; 12:19; 14:11; 15:9, 21) In all those cases this formula of reference to the Old Testament is employed. Beyond these, there are many other quotations or allusions thereto. There are at least seventy-three verses in which such direct references are found. This is a most interesting study, as it shows the place which the Old Testament Scriptures occupied in the thinking of Paul, and as it reveals his method with them, and so the real value of them. As to the first, it is to be noticed that he never referred to any Old Testament Scripture in order to deny or correct its teaching. Every reference or allusion is to the Sacred Writings as authoritative. These quotations are from each section of the Hebrew Bible; Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy; The Prophets: 1 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Habakkuk, Malachi; and The Writings: Psalms, Proverbs. As to the method of quotation, Paul quoted generally from the Septuagint, and sometimes from the Hebrew, and he constantly changed the actual wording, but never the essential meaning, thus showing us that the truth embodied is authoritative, rather than the particular words employed to convey it. A careful study of these facts will help us to a right attitude toward the Old Testament.
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.