Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.—GEN. 28:16.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.—Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.—My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.—Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord, Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded?—Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.—Ye are the temple of living God.
Matt. 18:20. -Matt. 28:20. -Exo. 33:14.Psa. 139:7,8. -Jer. 23:23,24.I Kgs. 8:27. -Isa. 57:15. -II Cor. 6:16.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.”
John 17:15
It is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all believers in God’s own time—the going home to be with Jesus. In a few more years the Lord’s soldiers, who are now fighting “the good fight of faith” will have done with conflict, and have entered into the joy of their Lord. But although Christ prays that his people may eventually be with him where he is, he does not ask that they may be taken at once away from this world to heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;” but Christ does not pray like that, he leaves us in his Father’s hands, until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into our Master’s garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be kept from evil, but he never asks for us to be admitted to the inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, “Because we would be with the Lord.” We fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour’s company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to glorify God by your life here as long as he pleases, even though it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave him to say when “it is enough.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Job 15
15. Eliphaz Replies
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion
15
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2
“Should the wise answer with windy knowledge,
and fill themselves with the east wind?
3
Should they argue in unprofitable talk,
or in words with which they can do no good?
4
But you are doing away with the fear of God,
and hindering meditation before God.
5
For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6
Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7
“Are you the firstborn of the human race?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8
Have you listened in the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9
What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10
The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
those older than your father.
11
Are the consolations of God too small for you,
or the word that deals gently with you?
12
Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13
so that you turn your spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?
14
What are mortals, that they can be clean?
Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?
15
God puts no trust even in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his sight;
16
how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
one who drinks iniquity like water!
17
“I will show you; listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare—
18
what sages have told,
and their ancestors have not hidden,
19
to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20
The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
21
Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.
22
They despair of returning from darkness,
and they are destined for the sword.
23
They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;
24
distress and anguish terrify them;
they prevail against them, like a king prepared for battle.
25
Because they stretched out their hands against God,
and bid defiance to the Almighty,
26
running stubbornly against him
with a thick-bossed shield;
27
because they have covered their faces with their fat,
and gathered fat upon their loins,
28
they will live in desolate cities,
in houses that no one should inhabit,
houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
29
they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
nor will they strike root in the earth;
30
they will not escape from darkness;
the flame will dry up their shoots,
and their blossom will be swept away by the wind.
31
Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves;
for emptiness will be their recompense.
32
It will be paid in full before their time,
and their branch will not be green.
33
They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.
34
For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35
They conceive mischief and bring forth evil
and their heart prepares deceit.”
New Testament in Four Years - 1 Peter 1:22-25
1. Praise to God for a Living Hope
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.23You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.24For
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
That word is the good news that was announced to you.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 91
91. Psalm 91
Psalm 91
Assurance of God’s Protection
1
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2
will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
3
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
4
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
6
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
10
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
15
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
16
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.