Daily Bible Notes: October, 8th
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
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luke 5:4
We learn from this narrative, the necessity of human agency . The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored; but all were used to take the fishes. So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When God worketh without instruments, doubtless He is glorified; but He hath Himself selected the plan of instrumentality as being that by which He is most magnified in the earth. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing . "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing." What was the reason of this? Were they not fishermen plying their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskillfully? No.
Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they lacked perseverance? No, they had toiled all the night . Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals. What, then, is the reason? Is it because there is no power in the means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without Him we can do nothing." But with Christ we can do all things. Christ’s presence confers success . Jesus sat in Peter’s boat, and His will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net. When Jesus is lifted up in His Church, His presence is the Church’s power - the shout of a king is in the midst of her. "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for He who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes.
Evening
Praying in the Holy Ghost.
Jude 20
Mark the grand characteristic of true prayer - "In the Holy Ghost ." The seed of acceptable devotion must come from heaven’s storehouse. Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God. We must shoot the Lord’s arrows back to Him. That desire which He writes upon our heart will move His heart and bring down a blessing, but the desires of the flesh have no power with Him.
Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in fervency . Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer - it is essential that it be red hot. It is praying perseveringly . The true suppliant gathers force as he proceeds, and grows more fervent when God delays to answer. The longer the gate is closed, the more vehemently does he use the knocker, and the longer the angel lingers the more resolved is he that he will never let him go without the blessing. Beautiful in God’s sight is tearful, agonizing, unconquerable importunity. It means praying humbly , for the Holy Spirit never puffs us up with pride. It is His office to convince of sin, and so to bow us down in contrition and brokenness of spirit. We shall never sing Gloria in excelsis except we pray to God De profundis : out of the depths must we cry, or we shall never behold glory in the highest. It is loving prayer. Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love - love to our fellow saints, and love to Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith . A man prevails only as he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God’s promise. O that this blessed combination of excellent graces, priceless and sweet as the spices of the merchant, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Ghost is in our hearts! Most blessed Comforter, exert Thy mighty power within us, helping our infirmities in prayer.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Isaiah 43:1-7
1 But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burnt, and flame will not scorch you.
3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you have been precious and honoured in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
5 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.
6 I will tell the north, 'Give them up!' and tell the south, 'Don't hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
7 everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.' "
GOD'S GLORIOUS PURPOSE
"I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him."
That is surely a superlative honour! "I have created him for My glory." I stood before one of Turner's paintings, and a man of fine judgment said to me, "That is Turner's glory!" He meant that in that picture the genius and the power and the grace of Turner were most abundantly expressed. And it is the will of God that man should express His glory, and by his righteousness and goodness witness to the great Creator's power and love. Amid all the wonders and sublimities of earth, and sky, and sea, man is to be the Almighty's "glory."
The contrast is pathetic when we turn from the Creator's purpose to our immediate life. There is so much that is shameful, crooked, and perverse. There is little or nothing of "glory." But, blessed be God! the purpose abides, and the Creator's work goes on. In His redemptive grace He has made provision for marred work, for spoilt and perverted life. "The crooked shall be made straight." "I will bring again that which is out of the way." "Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
October 8th.
Gracious Father, I would be a child of light. May there be no darkness in any part of my being! May every power be lit up by the
light of Thy grace! May Thy glory shine from every faculty! May all that is within me praise Thy holy name!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Thou shall no more be termed Forsaken.
Isaiah 62:4
"Forsaken" is a dreary word. It sounds like a knell. It is the record of sharpest sorrows, and the prophecy of direst ills. An abyss of misery yawns in that word "Forsaken." Forsaken by one who pledged his honour! Forsaken by a friend so long tried and trusted! Forsaken by a dear relative! Forsaken by father and mother! Forsaken by all! This is woe indeed, and yet it may be patiently borne if the Lord will take us up.
But what must it be to feel forsaken of God? Think of that bitterest of cries, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Have we ever in any degree tasted the wormwood and the gall of "Forsaken," in that sense? If so, let us beseech our Lord to save us from any repetition of so unspeakable a sorrow. Oh that such darkness may never return! Men in malice said to a saint, "God hath forsaken him; persecute and take him." But it was always false. The Lord's loving favour shall compel our cruel foes to eat their own words, or, at least, to hold their tongues.
The reverse of all this is that superlative word, Hephzibah - "the Lord delighteth in thee." This turns weeping into dancing. Let those who dreamed that they were forsaken hear the Lord say, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The Lord our God is one Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:4
God is behind everything the final, certain One. You cannot analyse, or divide, or explain Him, yet He is the one and only absolute certainty. He is ONE, all-comprehending, indivisible. When you have said that, you have said all. When you have omitted that, you have left everything out, and babbled only in chaotic confusion.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
More than conquerors.
Romans 8:37
To conquer is to subdue; that is, to master, to overcome, in the sense of defeating an attack. To conquer tribulation would be to put an end to it; to conquer anguish would be to replace it by joy; to conquer persecution would be to turn it into patronage; to conquer famine would be to provide food; to conquer nakedness would be to provide clothing; to conquer peril would be to secure safety; to conquer the sword would be to destroy the sword. In all these things Paul says we are "more than conquerors." This does not mean that, in the senses referred to, we conquer, and more. On the contrary, it may mean that we do not conquer at all, but that we do more, we wrest from defeat values that could never be gained by conquest. Enduring tribulation, we are thereby brought, through patience and proving, to the hope that is not put to shame. Experiencing anguish, we are having fellowship with the suffering which saves. Bearing persecution, we are demonstrating the meaning of true godliness. Suffering hunger, we are proving that man does not live by bread alone. In nakedness, we reveal the beauty of spiritual adorning. Living amid perils, we are revealing the power of our Lord. Dying by the sword, we are demonstrating the weakness of the sword. This is more-than-conquering, and it is only possible "through Him that loved us."
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.