Daily Bible Notes: September, 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
Be ye separate.
2 Corinthians 6:17
The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life . To him, "to live," should be "Christ." Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God’s glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be "rich in faith," and good works. You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your hearts to the Lord. In your spirit , as well as in your aim, you should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before God, always conscious of His presence, delighting in communion with Him, and seeking to know His will, you will prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from the world in your actions .
If a thing be right, though you lose by it, it must be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin for your Master’s sake. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity.
Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings.
Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King in His beauty - let not those feet be defiled in miry places, which are soon to walk the golden streets - let not those hearts be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.
Then rise my soul! and soar away, Above the thoughtless crowd; Above the pleasures of the gay, And splendours of the proud; Up where eternal beauties bloom, And pleasures all divine; Where wealth, that never can consume, And endless glories shine.
Evening
Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies.
Psalms 5:8
Very bitter is the enmity of the world against the people of Christ. Men will forgive a thousand faults in others, but they will magnify the most trivial offence in the followers of Jesus. Instead of vainly regretting this, let us turn it to account, and since so many are watching for our halting, let this be a special motive for walking very carefully before God. If we live carelessly, the lynx-eyed world will soon see it, and with its hundred tongues, it will spread the story, exaggerated and emblazoned by the zeal of slander. They will shout triumphantly. "Aha! So would we have it! See how these Christians act! They are hypocrites to a man." Thus will much damage be done to the cause of Christ, and much insult offered to His name. The cross of Christ is in itself an offence to the world; let us take heed that we add no offence of our own. It is "to the Jews a stumblingblock": let us mind that we put no stumblingblocks where there are enough already. "To the Greeks it is foolishness": let us not add our folly to give point to the scorn with which the worldly-wise deride the gospel. How jealous should we be of ourselves! How rigid with our consciences! In the presence of adversaries who will misrepresent our best deeds, and impugn our motives where they cannot censure our actions, how circumspect should we be! Pilgrims travel as suspected persons through Vanity Fair. Not only are we under surveillance, but there are more spies than we reck of. The espionage is everywhere, at home and abroad. If we fall into the enemies’ hands we may sooner expect generosity from a wolf, or mercy from a fiend, than anything like patience with our infirmities from men who spice their infidelity towards God with scandals against His people. O Lord, lead us ever, lest our enemies trip us up!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
2 Kings 17:24-34
24 The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and lived in its cities.
25 So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn't fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions amongst them, which killed some of them.
26 Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don't know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions amongst them, and behold, they kill them, because they don't know the law of the god of the land."
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land."
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29 However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.
30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So they feared the LORD, and also made from amongst themselves priests of the high places for themselves, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
33 They feared the LORD, and also served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from amongst whom they had been carried away.
34 To this day they do what they did before. They don't fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
A FATAL DIVORCE
"They feared the Lord, and served their own gods."
And that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear one God and serve another.
But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. "Fear," as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true to the truth. It means only the payment of outward respect, a formal recognition, a passing nod which we give on the way to something better. It is a mere skin courtesy behind which there is no beating heart; a hollow convention in which there is no deep and sacred awe.
But the real "fear of God" is a spiritual mood in which virtue thrives, an atmosphere in which holy living is quite inevitable. "The fear of the Lord is clean." It is not lip-worship, but heart-homage, a reverence in which the soul is always found upon its knees. And so "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil"; it is an indignant repulsion from all that is hateful to God. It is the sharing of the Spirit of the Lord. There cannot be any true fear where the soul does not worship "in spirit and in truth."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
September 11th.
My Father, may the beauties of Thy creation influence me to a life of holiness! May I be taught by the flowers of the field!
May the birds of the air help me into spiritual harmony. May all Thy glories help to clothe me with light!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Lamentations 3:27
This is as good as a promise. It has been good, it is good, and it will be good for me to bear the yoke.
Early in life I had to feel the weight of conviction, and ever since it has proved a soul-enriching burden. Should I have loved the gospel so well had I not learned by deep experience the need of salvation by grace? Jabez was more honourable than his brethren because his mother bare him with sorrow, and those who suffer much in being born unto God make strong believers in sovereign grace.
The yoke of censure is an irksome one, but it prepares a man for future honour. He is not fit to be a leader who has not run the gauntlet of contempt. Praise intoxicates if it be not preceded by abuse. Men who rise to eminence without a struggle usually fall into dishonour.
The yoke of affliction, disappointment, and excessive labour is by no means to be sought for; but when the Lord lays it on us in our youth it frequently develops a character which glorifies God and blesses the church.
Come, my soul, bow thy neck; take up thy cross. It was good for thee when young, it will not harm thee now. For Jesus' sake, shoulder it cheerfully.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Not as I will, as Thou wilt.
Matthew 26:39
No desire of our own for early and easy realisation of peace ought to be allowed to interfere with the declared will of God. No policy of compromise can ever justify a coming short of Divine purpose.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
O God, keep not Thou silence. ... For lo, Thine enemies make a tumult.
Psalms 83:1,2
There is a touch of human nature about this petition which arrests us. The song was written by a man who was very conscious of the isolation of the people of God. He saw them surrounded on every side by implacable foes. Moreover, these foes were united by a common hatred of the people of God, which was a hatred of God Himself. This singer heard the tumult, that is, the uproar of these antagonistic multitudes. He therefore called upon God to answer their noise with His voice. Was he right in this prayer? Yes, I think he was. At least it is so, that there are times when God utters His voice in answer to the raging of the nations; times when He no longer holds His peace, but roars from Zion. There is, however, a difference. The noises of God are never those of tumult, of uproar, of ineffective shoutings. As this singer knew, they are the noises of the fire and the flame, of the tempest and the storm; the noises of effective forces, which destroy and purify, which break down and cleanse. When the silences of God are broken by His noises, men learn that the God of Grace is the Most High over all the earth. We also have heard the tumult of the enemies of God and His people, and we have prayed that God would break His silence. We also have heard the roaring out of Zion, the noises of God asserting Himself in human affairs.
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.