Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death.—HEB. 2:14.
Our Saviour Jesus Christ . . . hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.—He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD shall wipe away the tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.—When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.—Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
II Tim. 1:10. -Isa. 25:8. -I Cor. 15:54-57.II Tim. 1:7. -Psa. 23:4.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Oh that I were as in months past.”
Job 29:2
Numbers of Christians can view the past with pleasure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction; they look back upon the days which they have passed in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known, but as to the present, it is clad in a sable garb of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near to Jesus, but now they feel that they have wandered from him, and they say, “O that I were as in months past!” They complain that they have lost their evidences, or that they have not present peace of mind, or that they have no enjoyment in the means of grace, or that conscience is not so tender, or that they have not so much zeal for God’s glory. The causes of this mournful state of things are manifold. It may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied with something else, more than with God; the affections have been set on the things of earth, instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; he must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of his presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted instead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you are not now as you “were in months past,” do not rest satisfied with wishing for a return of former happiness, but go at once to seek your Master, and tell him your sad state. Ask his grace and strength to help you to walk more closely with him; humble yourself before him, and he will lift you up, and give you yet again to enjoy the light of his countenance. Do not sit down to sigh and lament; while the beloved Physician lives there is hope, nay there is a certainty of recovery for the worst cases.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Joshua 1
1. The Lord Commands Joshua
God’s Commission to Joshua
1
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,2“My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses.4From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory.5No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.6Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.8This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.9I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Preparations for the Invasion
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,11“Pass through the camp, and command the people: ‘Prepare your provisions; for in three days you are to cross over the Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess.’ ”
12 To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,13“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest, and will give you this land.’14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them,15until the Lord gives rest to your kindred as well as to you, and they too take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan to the east.”
16 They answered Joshua: “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.17Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!18Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”
New Testament in Four Years - 2 Corinthians 11:1-6
11. Paul and False Apostles
Paul and the False Apostles
11
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!2I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.5I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.6I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 22:1-11
22. Psalm 22
Psalm 22
Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility
To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5
To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6
But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7
All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8
“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
9
Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10
On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.