Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Christ the firstfruits.—I COR. 15:23.
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.—If the firstfruit be holy the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.—Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.—If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.—The Lord Jesus Christ . . . shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
The firstborn from the dead.—If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
John 12:24. -Rom. 11:16. -I Cor. 15:20. -Rom. 6:5. -Phi. 3:20,21.Col. 1:18. -Rom. 8:11.John 11:25.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.”
Ephesians 1:19, 20
In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God’s grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, “Thou shalt,” man shall not say, “I will not.” Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. “Because he lives we live also.” “For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.” “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Judges 5
5. Song of Deborah
The Song of Deborah
5
Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:
2
“When locks are long in Israel,
when the people offer themselves willingly—
bless the Lord!
3
“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing,
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4
“Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled,
and the heavens poured,
the clouds indeed poured water.
5
The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6
“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, caravans ceased
and travelers kept to the byways.
7
The peasantry prospered in Israel,
they grew fat on plunder,
because you arose, Deborah,
arose as a mother in Israel.
8
When new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
Was shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10
“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets
and you who walk by the way.
11
To the sound of musicians at the watering places,
there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord,
the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel.
“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
12
“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, utter a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13
Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for him against the mighty.
14
From Ephraim they set out into the valley,
following you, Benjamin, with your kin;
from Machir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal’s staff;
15
the chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to Barak;
into the valley they rushed out at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
16
Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds,
to hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17
Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
and Dan, why did he abide with the ships?
Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
settling down by his landings.
18
Zebulun is a people that scorned death;
Naphtali too, on the heights of the field.
19
“The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
they got no spoils of silver.
20
The stars fought from heaven,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21
The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22
“Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23
“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse bitterly its inhabitants,
because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24
“Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25
He asked water and she gave him milk,
she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.
26
She put her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera a blow,
she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27
He sank, he fell,
he lay still at her feet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell dead.
28
“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29
Her wisest ladies make answer,
indeed, she answers the question herself:
30
‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?—
A girl or two for every man;
spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera,
spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?’
31
“So perish all your enemies, O Lord!
But may your friends be like the sun as it rises in its might.”
And the land had rest forty years.
New Testament in Four Years - Galatians 4:1-7
4. Concern for the Galatians
4
My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property;2but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.3So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world.4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 46
46. Psalm 46
Psalm 46
God’s Defense of His City and People
To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.Selah
4
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.Selah
8
Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
11
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.Selah