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with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.—JAS. 2:26.
Not every one that saith, . . . Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.—Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.—Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”
3 John 3
The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second could not be said of him the first would have been a mere pretence. Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value. Doctrines held as a matter of creed are like bread in the hand, which ministers no nourishment to the frame; but doctrine accepted by the heart, is as food digested, which, by assimilation, sustains and builds up the body. In us truth must be a living force, an active energy, an indwelling reality, a part of the woof and warp of our being. If it be in us, we cannot henceforth part with it. A man may lose his garments or his limbs, but his inward parts are vital, and cannot be torn away without absolute loss of life. A Christian can die, but he cannot deny the truth. Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass: when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon which a man’s inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed proceeding from him. To walk in the truth, imports a life of integrity, holiness, faithfulness, and simplicity—the natural product of those principles of truth which the gospel teaches, and which the Spirit of God enables us to receive. We may judge of the secrets of the soul by their manifestation in the man’s conversation. Be it ours today, O gracious Spirit, to be ruled and governed by thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may reign in our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence to our daily walk among men.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - 1 Kings 6
6. Solomon Builds Temple
Solomon Builds the Temple
6
In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.2The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.3The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits wide, across the width of the house. Its depth was ten cubits in front of the house.4For the house he made windows with recessed frames.5He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary; and he made side chambers all around.6The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle one was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
7 The house was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the temple while it was being built.
8 The entrance for the middle story was on the south side of the house: one went up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.9So he built the house, and finished it; he roofed the house with beams and planks of cedar.10He built the structure against the whole house, each story five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.
11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon,12“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my ordinances, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my promise with you, which I made to your father David.13I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.15He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.16He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the rafters, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the most holy place.17The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.18The cedar within the house had carvings of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, no stone was seen.19The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.20The interior of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.21Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, then he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.22Next he overlaid the whole house with gold, in order that the whole house might be perfect; even the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
The Furnishings of the Temple
23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high.24Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.25The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form.26The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub.27He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house; the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one was touching the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; their other wings toward the center of the house were touching wing to wing.28He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved the walls of the house all around about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.30The floor of the house he overlaid with gold, in the inner and outer rooms.
31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.32He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
33 So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, four-sided each,34and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, overlaying them with gold evenly applied upon the carved work.36He built the inner court with three courses of dressed stone to one course of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.38In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.
New Testament in Four Years - Colossians 3:15-17
3. Rules for Holy Living
15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.Psalm a Day - Psalm 111
111. Psalm 111
Psalm 111
Praise for God’s Wonderful Works
1
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3
Full of honor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4
He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5
He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8
They are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever.