Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion.—PSA. 65:1.
To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.—All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.—By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.—Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
I Cor. 8:6. -John 5:23. -Heb. 13:15. -Psa. 50:23.Rev. 7:9,10,12.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“These have no root.”
Luke 8:13
My soul, examine thyself this morning by the light of this text. Thou hast received the word with joy; thy feelings have been stirred and a lively impression has been made; but, remember, that to receive the word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into thy very soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the word is not always a lasting one. In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green shoot aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah’s gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above all let me feel the energy of his Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible; therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield thee a bounteous harvest.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Habakkuk 2
2. The Lord's Answer
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2
I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
2
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
3
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4
Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
5
Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own.
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?
7
Will not your own creditors suddenly rise,
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be booty for them.
8
Because you have plundered many nations,
all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed, and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
9
“Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”
10
You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11
The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the plaster will respond from the woodwork.
12
“Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed,
and found a city on iniquity!”
13
Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14
But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
15
“Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”
16
You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger!
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17
For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
18
What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!
19
Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.
20
But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!
New Testament in Four Years - Acts 26:9-18
26. Paul Before Agrippa
9 “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.10And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.11By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
12 “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,13when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’15I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.16But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.17I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you18to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Psalm a Day - Psalm 144
144. Psalm 144
Psalm 144
Prayer for National Deliverance and Security
Of David.
1
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
2
my rock and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues the peoples under me.
3
O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them,
or mortals that you think of them?
4
They are like a breath;
their days are like a passing shadow.
5
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains so that they smoke.
6
Make the lightning flash and scatter them;
send out your arrows and rout them.
7
Stretch out your hand from on high;
set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,
from the hand of aliens,
8
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hands are false.
9
I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10
the one who gives victory to kings,
who rescues his servant David.
11
Rescue me from the cruel sword,
and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hands are false.
12
May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars,
cut for the building of a palace.
13
May our barns be filled,
with produce of every kind;
may our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields,
14
and may our cattle be heavy with young.
May there be no breach in the walls, no exile,
and no cry of distress in our streets.
15
Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
happy are the people whose God is the Lord.