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Daily Light's Morning Reading
Think upon me, my God, for good.—NEH. 5:19.
Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness.—I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.—I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you.—For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.—I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number.—Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbered.
Jer. 2:2. -Ezek. 16:60. -Jer. 29:10. -Jer. 29:11.Isa. 55:9. -Job. 5:8,9. -Psa. 40:5.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“For me to live is Christ.”
Philippians 1:21
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his glory we would live, and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character. Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ—nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business—are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage? Do you ask, “Is that a mean reason?” For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian—its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word—Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Nahum 1
1. Lord's Anger Against Nineveh
1
An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
The Consuming Wrath of God
2
A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies.
3
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
5
The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who live in it.
6
Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
7
The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8
even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries,
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9
Why do you plot against the Lord?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice.
10
Like thorns they are entangled,
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw.
11
From you one has gone out
who plots evil against the Lord,
one who counsels wickedness.
Good News for Judah
12
Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13
And now I will break off his yoke from you
and snap the bonds that bind you.”
14
The Lord has commanded concerning you:
“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the cast image.
I will make your grave, for you are worthless.”
15
Look! On the mountains the feet of one
who brings good tidings,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off.
New Testament in Four Years - Acts 25:1-12
25. Trial Before Festus
Paul Appeals to the Emperor
25
Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem2where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him3and requested, as a favor to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way.4Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly.5“So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”
6 After he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.7When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.8Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.”9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?”10Paul said, “I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.11Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.”12Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, “You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.”
Psalm a Day - Psalm 140
140. Psalm 140
Psalm 140
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1
Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from those who are violent,
2
who plan evil things in their minds
and stir up wars continually.
3
They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
and under their lips is the venom of vipers.Selah
4
Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent
who have planned my downfall.
5
The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net,
along the road they have set snares for me.Selah
6
I say to the Lord, “You are my God;
give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”
7
O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8
Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot.Selah
9
Those who surround me lift up their heads;
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10
Let burning coals fall on them!
Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
11
Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil speedily hunt down the violent!
12
I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,
and executes justice for the poor.
13
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall live in your presence.