Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.—MATT. 26:41.
In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early.
I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.—The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.—Our sufficiency is of God.—My grace is sufficient for thee.
Isa. 26:8,9.Rom. 7:18,22,23. -Gal. 5:17.Phi. 4:13. -II Cor. 3:5. -II Cor. 12:9.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”
Revelation 1:13
“One like unto the Son of Man” appeared to John in Patmos, and the beloved disciple marked that he wore a girdle of gold. A girdle, for Jesus never was ungirt while upon earth, but stood always ready for service, and now before the eternal throne he stays not His holy ministry, but as a priest is girt about with “the curious girdle of the ephod.” Well it is for us that he has not ceased to fulfil his offices of love for us, since this is one of our choicest safeguards that he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Jesus is never an idler; his garments are never loose as though his offices were ended; he diligently carries on the cause of his people. A golden girdle, to manifest the superiority of his service, the royalty of his person, the dignity of his state, the glory of his reward. No longer does he cry out of the dust, but he pleads with authority, a King as well as a Priest. Safe enough is our cause in the hands of our enthroned Melchizedek.
Our Lord presents all his people with an example. We must never unbind our girdles. This is not the time for lying down at ease, it is the season of service and warfare. We need to bind the girdle of truth more and more tightly around our loins. It is a golden girdle, and so will be our richest ornament, and we greatly need it, for a heart that is not well braced up with the truth as it is in Jesus, and with the fidelity which is wrought of the Spirit, will be easily entangled with the things of this life, and tripped up by the snares of temptation. It is in vain that we possess the Scriptures unless we bind them around us like a girdle, surrounding our entire nature, keeping each part of our character in order, and giving compactness to our whole man. If in heaven Jesus unbinds not the girdle, much less may we upon earth. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - 1 Kings 14
14. Prophecy Against Jeroboan
Judgment on the House of Jeroboam
14
At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick.2Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so that it will not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; for the prophet Ahijah is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.3Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what shall happen to the child.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did so; she set out and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.5But the Lord said to Ahijah, “The wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her.”
When she came, she pretended to be another woman.6But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with heavy tidings for you.7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, made you leader over my people Israel,8and tore the kingdom away from the house of David to give it to you; yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my sight,9but you have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods, and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back;10therefore, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will consume the house of Jeroboam, just as one burns up dung until it is all gone.11Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat; and anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the air shall eat; for the Lord has spoken.’12Therefore set out, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.13All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him; for he alone of Jeroboam’s family shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.14Moreover the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today, even right now!
15 “The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors, and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles, provoking the Lord to anger.16He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he caused Israel to commit.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and went away, and she came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.18All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant the prophet Ahijah.
Death of Jeroboam
19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.20The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and his son Nadab succeeded him.
Rehoboam Reigns over Judah
21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.22Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their ancestors had done.23For they also built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree;24there were also male temple prostitutes in the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;26he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made;27so King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.28As often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?30There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.31Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him.
New Testament in Four Years - 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12
2. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica
7though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.8So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.9 You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.10You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.11As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children,12urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
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.