Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.—DEUT. 12:9.
This is not your rest.—There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.—Within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.—With Christ; which is far better.
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.—There the wicked cease from troubling: and there the weary be at rest.
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.—Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
-Mic. 2:10. -Heb. 4:9. -Heb. 6:19,20.John 14:2,3. -Phi. 1:23.Rev. 21:4. -Job 3:17.Matt. 6:20,21. -Col. 3:2.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 3:18
“Grow in grace”—not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let faith increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward—having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know him is “life eternal,” and to advance in the knowledge of him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus—as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of his love. If you do not desire to know him better, then you love him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of him in his divine nature, in his human relationship, in his finished work, in his death, in his resurrection, in his present glorious intercession, and in his future royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of his wounds. An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of his love to us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Micah 5
5. A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
5
Now you are walled around with a wall;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
upon the cheek.
The Ruler from Bethlehem
2
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5
and he shall be the one of peace.
If the Assyrians come into our land
and tread upon our soil,
we will raise against them seven shepherds
and eight installed as rulers.
6
They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;
they shall rescue us from the Assyrians
if they come into our land
or tread within our border.
The Future Role of the Remnant
7
Then the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which do not depend upon people
or wait for any mortal.
8
And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.
9
Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10
In that day, says the Lord,
I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11
and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12
and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you shall have no more soothsayers;
13
and I will cut off your images
and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14
and I will uproot your sacred poles from among you
and destroy your towns.
15
And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
New Testament in Four Years - Acts 24:10-16
24. Trial Before Felix
Paul’s Defense before Felix
10 When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied:
“I cheerfully make my defense, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation.11As you can find out, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.12They did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or throughout the city.13Neither can they prove to you the charge that they now bring against me.14But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law or written in the prophets.15I have a hope in God—a hope that they themselves also accept—that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.16Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 137
137. Psalm 137
Psalm 137
Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
2
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
3
For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4
How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
6
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.
7
Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!”
8
O daughter Babylon, you devastator!
Happy shall they be who pay you back
what you have done to us!
9
Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!