Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
A new and living way.—HEB. 10:20.
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.—Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you.—Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.—Our Saviour Jesus Christ . . . hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.—He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.—The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.—Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Gen. 4:16. -Isa. 59:2. -Heb. 12:14.John 14:6. -II Tim. 1:10.Heb. 9:8. -Eph. 2:14. -Matt. 27:51.Matt. 7:14. -Psa 16:11.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Are they Israelites? so am I.”
2 Corinthians 11:22
We have here a personal claim, and one that needs proof. The apostle knew that his claim was indisputable, but there are many persons who have no right to the title who yet claim to belong to the Israel of God. If we are with confidence declaring, “So am I also an Israelite,” let us only say it after having searched our heart as in the presence of God. But if we can give proof that we are following Jesus, if we can from the heart say, “I trust him wholly, trust him only, trust him simply, trust him now, and trust him ever,” then the position which the saints of God hold belongs to us—all their enjoyments are our possessions; we may be the very least in Israel, “less than the least of all saints,” yet since the mercies of God belong to the saints as saints, and not as advanced saints, or well-taught saints, we may put in our plea, and say, “Are they Israelites? so am I; therefore the promises are mine, grace is mine, glory will be mine.” The claim, rightfully made, is one which will yield untold comfort. When God’s people are rejoicing that they are his, what a happiness if they can say, “So am I !” When they speak of being pardoned, and justified, and accepted in the Beloved, how joyful to respond, “Through the grace of God, so am I.” But this claim not only has its enjoyments and privileges, but also its conditions and duties. We must share with God’s people in cloud as well as in sunshine. When we hear them spoken of with contempt and ridicule for being Christians, we must come boldly forward and say, “So am I.” When we see them working for Christ, giving their time, their talent, their whole heart to Jesus, we must be able to say, “So do I.” O let us prove our gratitude by our devotion, and live as those who, having claimed a privilege, are willing to take the responsibility connected with it.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Numbers 5
5. Purity of the Camp
Unclean Persons
5
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:2Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who is leprous, or has a discharge, and everyone who is unclean through contact with a corpse;3you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp; they must not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.4The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.
Confession and Restitution
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:6Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt7and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it, and giving it to the one who was wronged.8If the injured party has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for the guilty party.9Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites, every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his.10The sacred donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.
Concerning an Unfaithful Wife
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:12Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,13if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act;14if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;15then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 Then the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord;17the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.18The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.19Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse.20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,”21—let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—“the Lord make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge;22now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
23 Then the priest shall put these curses in writing, and wash them off into the water of bitterness.24He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain.25The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar;26and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and turn it into smoke on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.27When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children.
29 This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,30or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this entire law to her.31The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.
New Testament in Four Years - 1 Corinthians 10:23-30
10. Warnings From Israel's History
Do All to the Glory of God
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.24Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience,26for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.”27If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.28But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—29I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience?30If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
Psalm a Day - Psalm 118:15-29
118. Psalm 118
15
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
19
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
28
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
29
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.