Daily Bible Notes: October, 5th
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
He arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights.
1 Kings 19:8
All the strength supplied to us by our gracious God is meant for service, not for wantonness or boasting. When the prophet Elijah found the cake baked on the coals, and the cruse of water placed at his head, as he lay under the juniper tree, he was no gentleman to be gratified with dainty fare that he might stretch himself at his ease; far otherwise, he was commissioned to go forty days and forty nights in the strength of it, journeying towards Horeb, the mount of God. When the Master invited the disciples to "Come and dine" with Him, after the feast was concluded He said to Peter, "Feed my sheep"; further adding, "Follow me." Even thus it is with us; we eat the bread of heaven, that we may expend our strength in the Master’s service. We come to the passover, and eat of the paschal lamb with loins girt, and staff in hand, so as to start off at once when we have satisfied our hunger. Some Christians are for living on Christ, but are not so anxious to live for Christ. Earth should be a preparation for heaven; and heaven is the place where saints feast most and work most. They sit down at the table of our Lord, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. They eat of heavenly food and render perfect service. Believer, in the strength you daily gain from Christ labour for Him. Some of us have yet to learn much concerning the design of our Lord in giving us His grace. We are not to retain the precious grains of truth as the Egyptian mummy held the wheat for ages, without giving it an opportunity to grow: we must sow it and water it. Why does the Lord send down the rain upon the thirsty earth, and give the genial sunshine? Is it not that these may all help the fruits of the earth to yield food for man?
Even so the Lord feeds and refreshes our souls that we may afterwards use our renewed strength in the promotion of His glory.
Evening
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
Mark 16:16
Mr. MacDonald asked the inhabitants of the island of St. Kilda how a man must be saved. An old man replied, "We shall be saved if we repent, and forsake our sins, and turn to God." "Yes," said a middle-aged female, "and with a true heart too." "Ay," rejoined a third, "and with prayer"; and, added a fourth, "It must be the prayer of the heart." "And we must be diligent too," said a fifth, "in keeping the commandments." Thus, each having contributed his mite, feeling that a very decent creed had been made up, they all looked and listened for the preacher’s approbation, but they had aroused his deepest pity. The carnal mind always maps out for itself a way in which self can work and become great, but the Lord’s way is quite the reverse. Believing and being baptized are no matters of merit to be gloried in - they are so simple that boasting is excluded, and free grace bears the palm. It may be that the reader is unsaved - what is the reason?
Do you think the way of salvation as laid down in the text to be dubious?
How can that be when God has pledged His own word for its certainty?
Do you think it too easy? Why, then, do you not attend to it? Its ease leaves those without excuse who neglect it. To believe is simply to trust, to depend, to rely upon Christ Jesus. To be baptized is to submit to the ordinance which our Lord fulfilled at Jordan, to which the converted ones submitted at Pentecost, to which the jailer yielded obedience the very night of his conversion. The outward sign saves not, but it sets forth to us our death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus, and, like the Lord’s Supper, is not to be neglected. Reader, do you believe in Jesus? Then, dear friend, dismiss your fears, you shall be saved. Are you still an unbeliever, then remember there is but one door, and if you will not enter by it you will perish in your sins.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Psalms 148
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens! Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all his army!
3 Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you heavens of heavens, you waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the LORD's name, for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths;
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling his word;
9 mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars;
10 wild animals and all livestock; small creatures and flying birds;
11 kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth;
12 both young men and maidens; old men and children:
13 let them praise the LORD's name, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens.
14 He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise the LORD!
THE SOUL AND NATURE
"Praise ye the Lord." And the Psalmist calls upon the creation to join in the anthem. And that is the gracious purpose of our God, that the world should be filled with harmonious praise. It is His will that the character of man should harmonize with the flowers of the field, that the beauty of his habits should blend with the glories of the sunrise, and that his speech and laughter should mingle with the songs of birds and with the melody of flowing streams. But man is too often a discord in creation. The flowers put him to shame. The birds make him sound harsh and jarring. He is "out of tune."
What then? "Tune my heart to sing Thy praise." We must bring the broken strings, the rusted strings, the jarring strings to the Repairer and Tuner of the soul. It is the glad ministry of His grace to re-awaken silent chords, to restore broken harps, to "put new songs" in our mouths. He will make us the kinsfolk of all things bright and beautiful. We shall "go forth with joy," and "all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
October 5th.
Holy Spirit, if any faculty within me be withered, wilt Thou graciously restore it? If anything he growing within me which
ought to be dead, wilt Thou graciously destroy it? May I abound in the flowers of the Spirit! May I be a child of beauty!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth
not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
Micah 5:7
If this be true of the literal Israel, much more is it true of the spiritual Israel, the believing people of God. When saints are what they should be, they are an incalculable blessing to those among whom they are scattered.
They are as the dew; for in a quiet, unobtrusive manner they refresh those around them. Silently but effectually they minister to the life, growth, and joy of those who dwell with them. Coming fresh from heaven, glistening like diamonds in the sun, gracious men and women attend to the feeble and insignificant till each blade of grass has its own drop of dew. Little as individuals, they are, when united, all-sufficient for the purposes of love which the Lord fulfils through them. Dewdrops accomplish the refreshing of broad acres. Lord, make us like the dew!
Godly people are as showers which come at God's bidding without man's leave and license. They work for God whether men desire it or not; they no more ask human permission than the rain does. Lord, make us thus boldly prompt, and free in thy service wherever our lot is cast.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
Mark 8:36, R.V.
There is no failure more heartbreaking and disastrous than success which leaves God out of the bargain ... If you are simply setting out in life to amass mere material success, fame created or position gained, then success will be the most dismal and disastrous failure.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
... Because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts.
Romans 5:5
These words lead us a step further in our understanding of the nature of Christian hope. Not only is it true that it triumphs because it knows and believes God. It is also true that it is not put to shame. That is, it is never overthrown or discredited in any way by the circumstances of tribulation through which we must pass in order to its realization. On the contrary, we rejoice in these very tribulations because we realize that they are parts of the working force which is ever operating toward the realization. The secret of this victorious hope is that the love of God hath been poured out in our hearts. Here the idea is not merely that God loves us, though necessarily that is involved. It is rather that He fills us with His love by the Spirit, so that we love what He loves, and as He loves. That self-emptying sacrificial love becomes the inspiration of all our thinking, of all our doing. And it is more than that. It is the power of all our service. It is not only patient love which endures; it is mighty love which accomplishes. It is the secret of that abounding toil which never tires until its object is achieved. Where there is such love filling and mastering the life, hope is never put to shame in the processes of tribulation, and it will be ultimately saved from shame as all the toils are vindicated in the glory of the results.
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.