Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
The blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.—HEB. 12:24.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.—The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.—It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Abel, . . . brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof . . . The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.—Christ . . . hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.—Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
John 1:29. -Rev. 13:8. -Heb. 10:4,5,10.Gen. 4:4. -Eph. 5:2.Heb. 10:22. -Heb. 10:19.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“I will never leave thee.”
Hebrews 13:5
No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When he openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text—“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - 2 Chronicles 16
16. Asa's Last Years
Alliance with Aram Condemned
16
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, to prevent anyone from going out or coming into the territory of King Asa of Judah.2Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,3“Let there be an alliance between me and you, like that between my father and your father; I am sending to you silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.”4Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store-cities of Naphtali.5When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease.6Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah, and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped you.8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with exceedingly many chariots and cavalry? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand.9For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”10Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the stocks, in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties on some of the people at the same time.
Asa’s Disease and Death
11 The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe; yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.13Then Asa slept with his ancestors, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.14They buried him in the tomb that he had hewn out for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art; and they made a very great fire in his honor.
New Testament in Four Years - Hebrews 2:4-18
2. Warning to Pay Attention
4while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.Exaltation through Abasement
5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.6But someone has testified somewhere,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
7
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
8
subjecting all things under their feet.”
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,9but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,12saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”
14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.16For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.17Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.18Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 33
33. Psalm 33
Psalm 33
The Greatness and Goodness of God
1
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13
The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
14
From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
16
A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17
The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.
18
Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19
to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
20
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
21
Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.