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Daily Light's Morning Reading
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him.—ISA. 59:16.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire: mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.—I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
There is no God else beside me: a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.—There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Psa. 40:6-8. -John 10:17,18.Isa. 45:21,22. -Acts 4:12.II Cor. 8:9.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“I have chosen you out of the world.”
John 15:19
Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a bottle of richest cordial. Those who doubt the doctrines of grace, or who cast them into the shade, miss the richest clusters of Eshcol; they lose the wines on the lees well refined, the fat things full of marrow. There is no balm in Gilead comparable to it. If the honey in Jonathan’s wood when but touched enlightened the eyes, this is honey which will enlighten your heart to love and learn the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Eat, and fear not a surfeit; live upon this choice dainty, and fear not that it will be too delicate a diet. Meat from the King’s table will hurt none of his courtiers. Desire to have your mind enlarged, that you may comprehend more and more the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God. When you have mounted as high as election, tarry on its sister mount, the covenant of grace. Covenant engagements are the munitions of stupendous rock behind which we lie entrenched; covenant engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, are the quiet resting-places of trembling spirits.
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“His oath, his covenant, his blood, Support me in the raging flood; When every earthly prop gives way, This still is all my strength and stay.” |
If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father promised that he would give me to the Son to be a part of the infinite reward of the travail of his soul; then, my soul, till God himself shall be unfaithful, till Jesus shall cease to be the truth, thou art safe. When David danced before the ark, he told Michal that election made him do so. Come, my soul, exult before the God of grace and leap for joy of heart.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Jeremiah 35
35. The Recabites
The Rechabites Commended
35
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:2Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.3So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites.4I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold.5Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Have some wine.”6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children;7nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’8We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,9and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed;10but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.11But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:13Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the Lord.14The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me.15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, “Turn now every one of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not incline your ear or obey me.16The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.17Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.
18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you,19therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 8:1-34
8. Jesus as Healer
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8
When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him;2and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”3He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.4Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant
5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.”7And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.”8The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.9For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.11I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,12while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”13And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour.
Jesus Heals Many at Peter’s House
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever;15he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.16That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick.17This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Would-Be Followers of Jesus
18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.19A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”20And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”21Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”22But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Stills the Storm
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.24A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.25And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”26And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.27They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs
28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.29Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”30Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them.31The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”32And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.33The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs.34Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 88
88. Psalm 88
Psalm 88
Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1
O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
3
For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4
I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
5
like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6
You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.Selah
8
You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
10
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you?Selah
11
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13
But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14
O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15
Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
16
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
17
They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.
18
You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.