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Daily Light's Morning Reading
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.—PSA. 119:71.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.—We suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Ask, and it shall be given you.”
Matthew 7:7
We know of a place in England still existing, where a dole of bread is served to every passerby who chooses to ask for it. Whoever the traveller may be, he has but to knock at the door of St. Cross Hospital, and there is the dole of bread for him. Jesus Christ so loveth sinners that he has built a St. Cross Hospital, so that whenever a sinner is hungry, he has but to knock and have his wants supplied. Nay, he has done better; he has attached to this Hospital of the Cross a bath; and whenever a soul is black and filthy, it has but to go there and be washed. The fountain is always full, always efficacious. No sinner ever went into it and found that it could not wash away his stains. Sins which were scarlet and crimson have all disappeared, and the sinner has been whiter than snow. As if this were not enough, there is attached to this Hospital of the Cross a wardrobe, and a sinner making application simply as a sinner, may be clothed from head to foot; and if he wishes to be a soldier, he may not merely have a garment for ordinary wear, but armour which shall cover him from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. If he asks for a sword, he shall have that given to him, and a shield too. Nothing that is good for him shall be denied him. He shall have spending-money so long as he lives, and he shall have an eternal heritage of glorious treasure when he enters into the joy of his Lord.
If all these things are to be had by merely knocking at mercy’s door, O my soul, knock hard this morning, and ask large things of thy generous Lord. Leave not the throne of grace till all thy wants have been spread before the Lord, and until by faith thou hast a comfortable prospect that they shall be all supplied. No bashfulness need retard when Jesus invites. No unbelief should hinder when Jesus promises. No cold-heartedness should restrain when such blessings are to be obtained.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Ezekiel 16
16. Allegory of Unfaithful Jerusalem
God’s Faithless Bride
16
The word of the Lord came to me:2Mortal, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,3and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.4As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths.5No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
6 I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to you, “Live!7and grow up like a plant of the field.” You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8 I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.9Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you, and anointed you with oil.10I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric.11I adorned you with ornaments: I put bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck,12a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.13You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric, and embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen.14Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.
15 But you trusted in your beauty, and played the whore because of your fame, and lavished your whorings on any passer-by.16You took some of your garments, and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore; nothing like this has ever been or ever shall be.17You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and my silver that I had given you, and made for yourself male images, and with them played the whore;18and you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them.19Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey—you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and so it was, says the Lord God.20You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your whorings were not enough!21You slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering to them.22And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, flailing about in your blood.
23 After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord God),24you built yourself a platform and made yourself a lofty place in every square;25at the head of every street you built your lofty place and prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to every passer-by, and multiplying your whoring.26You played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.27Therefore I stretched out my hand against you, reduced your rations, and gave you up to the will of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.28You played the whore with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied.29You multiplied your whoring with Chaldea, the land of merchants; and even with this you were not satisfied.
30 How sick is your heart, says the Lord God, that you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen whore;31building your platform at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square! Yet you were not like a whore, because you scorned payment.32Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!33Gifts are given to all whores; but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all around for your whorings.34So you were different from other women in your whorings: no one solicited you to play the whore; and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; you were different.
35 Therefore, O whore, hear the word of the Lord:36Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whoring with your lovers, and because of all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them,37therefore, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them against you from all around, and will uncover your nakedness to them, so that they may see all your nakedness.38I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy.39I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare.40They shall bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.41They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from playing the whore, and you shall also make no more payments.42So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm, and will be angry no longer.43Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things; therefore, I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God.
Have you not committed lewdness beyond all your abominations?44See, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.”45You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.46Your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.47You not only followed their ways, and acted according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.48As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.49This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.50They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.51Samaria has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.52Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have brought about for your sisters a more favorable judgment; because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes along with theirs,54in order that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them.55As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.56Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,57before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you are a mockery to the daughters of Aram and all her neighbors, and to the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.58You must bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.
An Everlasting Covenant
59 Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant;60yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.61Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.62I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,63in order that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord God.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 13:31-32
13. Parables of Jesus
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;32it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Psalm a Day - Psalm 116
116. Psalm 116
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6
The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9
I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10
I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11
I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!