Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.—I COR. 1:9.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.—God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.—Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.—Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.—And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him.
Heb. 10:23. -II Cor. 6:16. -I John 1:3. -I Pet. 4:13.Eph. 3:17-19.I John 4:15. -I John 3:24.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“The Lord’s portion is his people.”
Deuteronomy 32:9
How are they his? By his own sovereign choice. He chose them, and set his love upon them. This he did altogether apart from any goodness in them at the time, or any goodness which he foresaw in them. He had mercy on whom he would have mercy, and ordained a chosen company unto eternal life; thus, therefore, are they his by his unconstrained election.
They are not only his by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them to the utmost farthing, hence about his title there can be no dispute. Not with corruptible things, as with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord’s portion has been fully redeemed. There is no mortgage on his estate; no suits can be raised by opposing claimants, the price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord’s freehold forever. See the blood-mark upon all the chosen, invisible to human eye, but known to Christ, for “the Lord knoweth them that are his”; he forgetteth none of those whom he has redeemed from among men; he counts the sheep for whom he laid down his life, and remembers well the Church for which he gave himself.
They are also his by conquest. What a battle he had in us before we would be won! How long he laid siege to our hearts! How often he sent us terms of capitulation! but we barred our gates, and fenced our walls against him. Do we not remember that glorious hour when he carried our hearts by storm? When he placed his cross against the wall, and scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood-red flag of his omnipotent mercy? Yes, we are, indeed, the conquered captives of his omnipotent love. Thus chosen, purchased, and subdued, the rights of our divine possessor are inalienable: we rejoice that we never can be our own; and we desire, day by day, to do his will, and to show forth his glory.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Lamentations 1
1. Jerusalem's Misery
The Deserted City
1
How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become a vassal.
2
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.
3
Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
and finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4
The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
and her lot is bitter.
5
Her foes have become the masters,
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6
From daughter Zion has departed
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7
Jerusalem remembers,
in the days of her affliction and wandering,
all the precious things
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was no one to help her,
the foe looked on mocking
over her downfall.
8
Jerusalem sinned grievously,
so she has become a mockery;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans,
and turns her face away.
9
Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
with none to comfort her.
“O Lord, look at my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
10
Enemies have stretched out their hands
over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
11
All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
Look, O Lord, and see
how worthless I have become.
12
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
13
From on high he sent fire;
it went deep into my bones;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all day long.
14
My transgressions were bound into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they weigh on my neck,
sapping my strength;
the Lord handed me over
to those whom I cannot withstand.
15
The Lord has rejected
all my warriors in the midst of me;
he proclaimed a time against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a wine press
the virgin daughter Judah.
16
For these things I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.
17
Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18
The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and behold my suffering;
my young women and young men
have gone into captivity.
19
I called to my lovers
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city
while seeking food
to revive their strength.
20
See, O Lord, how distressed I am;
my stomach churns,
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21
They heard how I was groaning,
with no one to comfort me.
All my enemies heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring on the day you have announced,
and let them be as I am.
22
Let all their evil doing come before you;
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many
and my heart is faint.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 10:32-39
10. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
Not Peace, but a Sword
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 104:1-18
104. Psalm 104
Psalm 104
God the Creator and Provider
1
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
4
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
5
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
6
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
to the place that you appointed for them.
9
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
11
giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
15
and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17
In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.