Daily Bible Notes: September, 23rd
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
Accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:6
What a state of privilege! It includes our justification before God, but the term acceptance" in the Greek means more than that. It signifies that we are the objects of divine complacence , nay, even of divine delight . How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it is only "in the beloved ." Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father’s sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted "in the beloved." Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, "There is nothing acceptable here !" But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there . Thy sins trouble thee; but God has cast thy sins behind His back, and thou art accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted in Him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for thou art accepted in Him who has broken Satan’s head. Know by full assurance thy glorious standing. Even glorified souls are not more accepted than thou art. They are only accepted in heaven "in the beloved," and thou art even now accepted in Christ after the same manner.
Evening
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe.
Mark 9:23
A certain man had a demoniac son, who was afflicted with a dumb spirit.
The father, having seen the futility of the endeavours of the disciples to heal his child, had little or no faith in Christ, and therefore, when he was bidden to bring his son to Him, he said to Jesus, "If Thou cast do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." Now there was an "if" in the question, but the poor trembling father had put the "if" in the wrong place: Jesus Christ, therefore, without commanding him to retract the "if," kindly puts it in its legitimate position. "Nay, verily," He seemed to say, "there should be no ‘if’ about My power, nor concerning My willingness, the ‘if’ lies somewhere else." "If thou canst believe , all things are possible to him that believeth." The man’s trust was strengthened, he offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the word, and the devil was cast out, with an injunction never to return. There is a lesson here which we need to learn. We, like this man, often see that there is an "if" somewhere, but we are perpetually blundering by putting it in the wrong place. "If" Jesus can help me - "if" He can give me grace to overcome temptation - "if" He can give me pardon - "if" He can make me successful? Nay, "if" you can believe, He both can and will. You have misplaced your "if." If you can confidently trust, even as all things are possible to Christ, so shall all things be possible to you. Faith standeth in God’s power, and is robed in God’s majesty; it weareth the royal apparel, and rideth on the King’s horse, for it is the grace which the King delighteth to honour. Girding itself with the glorious might of the all-working Spirit, it becomes, in the omnipotence of God, mighty to do, to dare, and to suffer. All things, without limit, are possible to him that believeth. My soul, canst thou believe thy Lord to-night?
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
2 Kings 4:38-44
38 Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, "Get the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets."
39 One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew; for they didn't recognise them.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew, they cried out, and said, "Man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.
41 But he said, "Then bring meal." He threw it into the pot; and he said, "Serve it to the people, that they may eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
42 A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, "Give to the people, that they may eat."
43 His servant said, "What, should I set this before a hundred men?" But he said, "Give the people, that they may eat; for the LORD says, 'They will eat, and will have some left over.' "
44 So he set it before them, and they ate, and had some left over, according to the LORD's word.
THE DEDICATION OF SUBSTANCE
Here is a man recognizing the sacredness of his substance. He saw the seal of the Lord upon his harvest, and he offered the first-fruits in token of its rightful Owner. Men go wrong when the only name upon their field is their own. "My power, and the strength of my hand hath gotten me this wealth." It matters nothing what the wealth may be - material substance, mental skill, or business sagacity. It becomes unhallowed power when we attach our own label to it, and erase the name of God.
This man dedicated his substance, and the hunger of his fellows was appeased. That is a great principle in human life. One man's satisfaction is dependent on another man's fidelity. His want is to be filled with my fulness. If I am selfish he remains hungry. If I acknowledge "the rights of God," and therefore "the rights of man," he has "enough and to spare." If I hoard my treasure I rob both God and man.
My gracious Lord, remove the scales from my eyes. Help me to be sensitive to the obligations of all wealth. Let my plenty call me to the children of need. Let me acknowledge my stewardship, and be Thy fellow minister in the service of man.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
September 23rd.
My Father, if to-day I should meet with disappointment, may I he helped to turn it into spiritual victory!
May I not only be calm in success, but calm in apparent defeat! In my tribulations may I glorify Thee!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve,
yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
Amos 9:9
The sifting process is going on still. Wherever we go, we are still being winnowed and sifted. In all countries God's people are being tried "like as corn is sifted in a sieve." Sometimes the devil holds the sieve, and tosses us up and down at a great rate, with the earnest desire to get rid of us for ever. Unbelief is not slow to agitate our heart and mind with its restless fears. The world lends a willing hand at the same process, and shakes us to the right and to the left with great vigour. Worst of all, the church, so largely apostate as it is, comes in to give a more furious force to the sifting process.
Well, well! let it go on. Thus is the chaff severed from the wheat. Thus is the wheat delivered from dust and chaff. And how great is the mercy which comes to us in the text, "yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth"! All shall be preserved that is good, true, gracious. Not one of the least of believers shall be lost, neither shall any believer lose anything worth calling a loss. We shall be so kept in the sifting that it shall be a real gain to us through Christ Jesus.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Mark 10:17
Man is everywhere, and at all times, and in every way, at war with decay. The hatred of death, the loathing of the grave, mark the fact that man has capacity for life, and therefore feels rebellious against the faintest suggestion of its cessation.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
1 Timothy 6:10
Not money, but the love of it. Money is not a root of evil. Neither is it a root of good. It is non-moral. It may be the greatest curse that can come into a human life. It may be the instrument of untold good. Much depends upon the use of it. Everything depends ultimately upon the attitude of the soul toward it. Where we have three words in this statement, "love of money," the Greek has but one, and perhaps the word in our common speech which best conveys the thought is the word "avarice." It is not covetousness. That is also a root of evil, but it is not the same thing exactly as avarice! Covetousness is a desire to gain possession of money, or indeed anything. Avarice is love-of-money, for itself. It is often the low motive of covetousness from other motives. Love of money is just that, the love of it, that hoards and holds. It is indeed a root of all kinds of evil. It dries up the springs of compassion in the soul. It lowers the whole standard of morality. It is the inspiration of all the basest things, even covetousness; for if there may be covetousness without love-of-money, there is never love-of-money without covetousness. Yet how insidious a peril this is! It is sometimes created by prosperity and the consequent possession of money. It is often powerfully present in lives which are devoid of wealth. It is wholly material, the result of a wrong conception of life, due to forgetfulness of the fact that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
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.