Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.—I THES. 5:8.
Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.—Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 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.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; . . . we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord.”
Colossians 2:6
The life of faith is represented as receiving—an act which implies the very opposite of anything like merit. It is simply the acceptance of a gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty vessels into which God pours his salvation. The idea of receiving implies a sense of realization, making the matter a reality. One cannot very well receive a shadow; we receive that which is substantial: so is it in the life of faith, Christ becomes real to us. While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us—a person who lived a long while ago, so long ago that his life is only a history to us now! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person in the consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means grasping or getting possession of. The thing which I receive becomes my own: I appropriate to myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, he becomes my Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able to rob me of him. All this is to receive Christ—to take him as God’s free gift; to realize him in my heart, and to appropriate him as mine.
Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only received these blessings, we have received Christ Jesus himself. It is true that he gave us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin; he gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but we are not content with them; we have received Christ himself. The Son of God has been poured into us, and we have received him, and appropriated him. What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain him!
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Jeremiah 46
46. Message About Egypt
Judgment on Egypt
46
The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations.
2 Concerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:
3
Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!
4
Harness the horses;
mount the steeds!
Take your stations with your helmets,
whet your lances,
put on your coats of mail!
5
Why do I see them terrified?
They have fallen back;
their warriors are beaten down,
and have fled in haste.
They do not look back—
terror is all around!
says the Lord.
6
The swift cannot flee away,
nor can the warrior escape;
in the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.
7
Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8
Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
It said, Let me rise, let me cover the earth,
let me destroy cities and their inhabitants.
9
Advance, O horses,
and dash madly, O chariots!
Let the warriors go forth:
Ethiopia and Put who carry the shield,
the Ludim, who draw the bow.
10
That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
a day of retribution,
to gain vindication from his foes.
The sword shall devour and be sated,
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice
in the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
11
Go up to Gilead, and take balm,
O virgin daughter Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
there is no healing for you.
12
The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
for warrior has stumbled against warrior;
both have fallen together.
Babylonia Will Strike Egypt
13 The word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt:
14
Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;
proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes;
Say, “Take your stations and be ready,
for the sword shall devour those around you.”
15
Why has Apis fled?
Why did your bull not stand?
—because the Lord thrust him down.
16
Your multitude stumbled and fell,
and one said to another,
“Come, let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
because of the destroying sword.”
17
Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name
“Braggart who missed his chance.”
18
As I live, says the King,
whose name is the Lord of hosts,
one is coming
like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea.
19
Pack your bags for exile,
sheltered daughter Egypt!
For Memphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, without inhabitant.
20
A beautiful heifer is Egypt—
a gadfly from the north lights upon her.
21
Even her mercenaries in her midst
are like fatted calves;
they too have turned and fled together,
they did not stand;
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
the time of their punishment.
22
She makes a sound like a snake gliding away;
for her enemies march in force,
and come against her with axes,
like those who fell trees.
23
They shall cut down her forest,
says the Lord,
though it is impenetrable,
because they are more numerous
than locusts;
they are without number.
24
Daughter Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be handed over to a people from the north.
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: See, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.26I will hand them over to those who seek their life, to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.
God Will Save Israel
27
But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,
and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and no one shall make him afraid.
28
As for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,
says the Lord,
for I am with you.
I will make an end of all the nations
among which I have banished you,
but I will not make an end of you!
I will chastise you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 9:27-34
9. Jesus as Healer
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”28When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”29Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”30And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, “See that no one knows of this.”31But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district.
Jesus Heals One Who Was Mute
32 After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him.33And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.”34But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”
Psalm a Day - Psalm 98
98. Psalm 98
Psalm 98
Praise the Judge of the World
A Psalm.
1
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
2
The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
7
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
8
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.