Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?—I COR. 15:55.
The sting of death is sin.—But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.”
Genesis 42:8
This morning our desires went forth for growth in our acquaintance with the Lord Jesus; it may be well tonight to consider a kindred topic, namely, our heavenly Joseph's knowledge of us. This was most blessedly perfect long before we had the slightest knowledge of him. “His eyes beheld our substance, yet being imperfect, and in his book all our members were written, when as yet there was none of them.” Before we had a being in the world we had a being in his heart. When we were enemies to him, he knew us, our misery, our madness, and our wickedness. When we wept bitterly in despairing repentance, and viewed him only as a judge and a ruler, he viewed us as his brethren well beloved, and his bowels yearned towards us. He never mistook his chosen, but always beheld them as objects of his infinite affection. “The Lord knoweth them that are his,” is as true of the prodigals who are feeding swine as of the children who sit at the table.
But, alas! we knew not our royal Brother, and out of this ignorance grew a host of sins. We withheld our hearts from him, and allowed him no entrance to our love. We mistrusted him, and gave no credit to his words. We rebelled against him, and paid him no loving homage. The Sun of Righteousness shone forth, and we could not see him. Heaven came down to earth, and earth perceived it not. Let God be praised, those days are over with us; yet even now it is but little that we know of Jesus compared with what he knows of us. We have but begun to study him, but he knoweth us altogether. It is a blessed circumstance that the ignorance is not on his side, for then it would be a hopeless case for us. He will not say to us, “I never knew you,” but he will confess our names in the day of his appearing, and meanwhile will manifest himself to us as he doth not unto the world.
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!