Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.—COL. 1:10.
I beseech you, . . . brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.—As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.—In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.—I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Rom. 12:1,2. -Rom. 6:19. -Gal. 6:15,16.John 15:8. -John 15:16.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“The eternal God is thy refuge.”
Deuteronomy 33:27
The word refuge may be translated “mansion,” or “abiding- place,” which gives the thought that God is our abode, our home. There is a fulness and sweetness in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, although it be the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret; and dearer far is our blessed God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. It is at home that we feel safe: we shut the world out and dwell in quiet security. So when we are with our God we “fear no evil.” He is our shelter and retreat, our abiding refuge. At home, we take our rest; it is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. And so our hearts find rest in God, when, wearied with life’s conflict, we turn to him, and our soul dwells at ease. At home, also, we let our hearts loose; we are not afraid of being misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So when we are with God we can commune freely with him, laying open all our hidden desires; for if the “secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,” the secrets of them that fear him ought to be, and must be, with their Lord. Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness: and it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. We have joy in him which far surpasses all other joy. It is also for home that we work and labour. The thought of it gives strength to bear the daily burden, and quickens the fingers to perform the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our home. Love to him strengthens us. We think of him in the person of his dear Son; and a glimpse of the suffering face of the Redeemer constrains us to labour in his cause. We feel that we must work, for we have brethren yet to be saved, and we have our Father’s heart to make glad by bringing home his wandering sons; we would fill with holy mirth the sacred family among whom we dwell. Happy are those who have thus the God of Jacob for their refuge!
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Jeremiah 48
48. Message About Moab
Judgment on Moab
48
Concerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Alas for Nebo, it is laid waste!
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
2
the renown of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her:
“Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!”
You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3
Hark! a cry from Horonaim,
“Desolation and great destruction!”
4
“Moab is destroyed!”
her little ones cry out.
5
For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping bitterly;
for at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressing cry of anguish.
6
Flee! Save yourselves!
Be like a wild ass in the desert!
7
Surely, because you trusted in your strongholds and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
Chemosh shall go out into exile,
with his priests and his attendants.
8
The destroyer shall come upon every town,
and no town shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and the plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9
Set aside salt for Moab,
for she will surely fall;
her towns shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10 Accursed is the one who is slack in doing the work of the Lord; and accursed is the one who keeps back the sword from bloodshed.
11
Moab has been at ease from his youth,
settled like wine on its dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
therefore his flavor has remained
and his aroma is unspoiled.
12 Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I shall send to him decanters to decant him, and empty his vessels, and break his jars in pieces.13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14
How can you say, “We are heroes
and mighty warriors”?
15
The destroyer of Moab and his towns has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16
The calamity of Moab is near at hand
and his doom approaches swiftly.
17
Mourn over him, all you his neighbors,
and all who know his name;
say, “How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff!”
18
Come down from glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
enthroned daughter Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19
Stand by the road and watch,
you inhabitant of Aroer!
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping;
say, “What has happened?”
20
Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down;
wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon,
that Moab is laid waste.
21 Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath,22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,24and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord.
26 Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord; let Moab wallow in his vomit; he too shall become a laughingstock.27Israel was a laughingstock for you, though he was not caught among thieves; but whenever you spoke of him you shook your head!
28
Leave the towns, and live on the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be like the dove that nests
on the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29
We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30
I myself know his insolence, says the Lord;
his boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31
Therefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the people of Kir-heres I mourn.
32
More than for Jazer I weep for you,
O vine of Sibmah!
Your branches crossed over the sea,
reached as far as Jazer;
upon your summer fruits and your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33
Gladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have stopped the wine from the wine presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.35And I will bring to an end in Moab, says the Lord, those who offer sacrifice at a high place and make offerings to their gods.36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the people of Kir-heres; for the riches they gained have perished.
37 For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; on all the hands there are gashes, and on the loins sackcloth.38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the Lord.39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all his neighbors.
40
For thus says the Lord:
Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle,
and spread his wings against Moab;
41
the towns shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
The hearts of the warriors of Moab, on that day,
shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42
Moab shall be destroyed as a people,
because he magnified himself against the Lord.
43
Terror, pit, and trap
are before you, O inhabitants of Moab!
says the Lord.
44
Everyone who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and everyone who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the trap.
For I will bring these things upon Moab
in the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
45
In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop exhausted;
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed the forehead of Moab,
the scalp of the people of tumult.
46
Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47
Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 10:1-10
10. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
The Twelve Apostles
10
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
The Mission of the Twelve
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.9Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts,10no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 100
100. Psalm 100
Psalm 100
All Lands Summoned to Praise God
A Psalm of thanksgiving.
1
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.