Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: . . . your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.—GEN. 3:4,5.
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.—Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“The Lord trieth the righteous.”
Psalm 11:5
All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God’s ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys are not too low for temptations: trials lurk on all roads. Everywhere, above and beneath, we are beset and surrounded with dangers. Yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud; every drop has its order ere it hastens to the earth. The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces, and so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues, and to add to their energy. Our Lord in his infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon his people’s faith that he will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro, and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace. Worldly ease is a great foe to faith; it loosens the joints of holy valour, and snaps the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut; affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk it is useless to man, it must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Joshua 24
24. Covenant Renewed
The Tribes Renew the Covenant
24
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.2And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.3Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;4and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.5Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out.6When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.7When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time.8Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.9Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you,10but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand.11When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you.12I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.13I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.
14 “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.15Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods;17for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;18and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.20If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.”21And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”22Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”23He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”24The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.26Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord.27Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal falsely with your God.”28So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.
Death of Joshua and Eleazar
29 After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old.30They buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
33 Eleazar son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of his son Phinehas, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
New Testament in Four Years - Galatians 3:10-14
3. Faith or Observance of the Law
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”12But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.”13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 41
41. Psalm 41
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1
Happy are those who consider the poor;
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
2
The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
3
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.
4
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5
My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die, and my name perish.
6
And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.
7
All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.
8
They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.
9
Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
10
But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11
By this I know that you are pleased with me;
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.
12
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.