November • 60 entries
Morning • 11/1
Philemon 2
Is there a Church in this house? Are parents, children, friends, servants, all members of it? Or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the question go round— Am I a member of the Church in this house ? How would father's heart leap for joy, and mother's eyes fill…
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Evening • 11/1
Matthew 24:39
Universal was the doom. Neither rich nor poor escaped: the learned and the illiterate, the admired and the abhorred, the religious and the profane, the old and the young—all sank in one common ruin. Some had doubtless ridiculed the patriarch—where now are their merry jests? Other…
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Morning • 11/2
Malachi 3:6
It is well for us that, amid all the variability of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow change can make no furrows. All other things have changed—all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age; the world is…
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Evening • 11/2
Psalm 119:53
My soul, do you feel this holy shuddering at the sins of others? For otherwise you lack inward holiness. David's cheeks were wet with rivers of waters because of prevailing unholiness, Jeremiah desired eyes like fountains that he might lament the iniquities of Israel, and Lot was…
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Morning • 11/3
Acts 9:11
Acts 9:11 Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray, the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Often a poor, broken-hearted one bends his knee but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that g…
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Evening • 11/3
2 Chronicles 30:27
2 Chronicles 30:27 Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword, you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bowstring may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of…
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Morning • 11/4
2 Corinthians 12:9
A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God’s warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, “I know that I shall conquer; my own right arm…
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Evening • 11/4
Psalm 36:9
No lips can tell the love of Christ to the heart until Jesus Himself speaks within. Descriptions all fall flat and tame unless the Holy Ghost fills them with life and power; until our Immanuel reveals Himself within, the soul does not see Him. If you would see the sun, would you…
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Morning • 11/5
Isaiah 54:17
This day is notable in English history for two great deliverances God brought about for us: On this day in 1605, the plot by supporters of the Papacy to destroy our Houses of Parliament was discovered. “While for our princes they prepare In caverns deep a burning snare, He shot f…
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Evening • 11/5
Psalm 100:4
Our Lord wants all His people to be rich in high and happy thoughts concerning His blessed person. Jesus is not content that His brethren should think poorly of Him; it is His pleasure that His espoused ones should be delighted with His beauty. We are not to regard Him as a mere…
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Morning • 11/6
Isaiah 44:3
When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and sorrowful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. One might as well chain an eagle’s wing to make it mount, a…
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Evening • 11/6
Hebrews 9:20
There is a strange power about the very name of blood, and the sight of it is always affecting. A kind heart cannot bear to see a sparrow bleed and, unless familiarized by use, turns away with horror at the slaughter of a beast. As to the blood of men, it is a consecrated thing:…
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Morning • 11/7
Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word “ Behold ,” is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me. How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What…
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Evening • 11/7
Acts 1:8
In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at his example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple of Jerusalem; by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain’s brow. He is witnessing night and day; his mighty prayers are…
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Morning • 11/8
Colossians 2:6
The life of faith is represented as receiving—an act which implies the very opposite of anything like merit . It is simply the acceptance of a gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, par…
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Evening • 11/8
Mark 14:14
Jerusalem at the time of the Passover was one great inn; each householder had invited his own friends, but no one had invited the Saviour, and he had no dwelling of his own. It was by his own supernatural power that he found himself an upper room in which to keep the feast. It is…
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Morning • 11/9
Colossians 2:6
If we have received Christ himself in our inmost hearts, our new life will manifest its intimate acquaintance with him by a walk of faith in him . Walking implies action . Our religion is not to be confined to our private prayer; we must carry out into practical effect what we be…
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Evening • 11/9
Isaiah 33:16
Do you doubt, O Christian, do you doubt whether God will fulfill his promise? Shall the strongholds of rock be carried by storm? Shall the storehouses of heaven fail? Do you think that your heavenly Father, though he knows that you need food and clothing, will yet forget you? Whe…
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Morning • 11/10
Deuteronomy 33:27
The word refuge may be translated “mansion,” or “abiding-place,” which gives the thought that God is our abode, our home . There is a fullness and sweetness in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, even if it is the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret; and deare…
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Evening • 11/10
Matthew 10:25
No one will dispute this statement, for it would be unfitting for the servant to be exalted above his Master. When our Lord was on earth, what was the treatment he received? Were his claims acknowledged, his instructions followed, his perfections worshipped, by those whom he came…
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Morning • 11/11
Deuteronomy 33:27
God—the eternal God—is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation . Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God until he scarcely knows how to pr…
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Evening • 11/11
Psalm 47:4
Believer, if your inheritance is a lowly one, you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you . Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A ship of large tonnage is to be broug…
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Morning • 11/12
1 Peter 1:7
Untried faith may be true faith, but it is certainly little faith, and it is likely to remain stunted as long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reig…
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Evening • 11/12
Luke 6:12
If ever anyone born of a woman might have lived without prayer, it was our spotless, perfect Lord; and yet, no one was ever in supplication as much as he! Such was his love for his Father that he greatly loved to be in communion with him; such was his love for his people that he…
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Morning • 11/13
John 15:4
How did you begin to bear fruit? It was when you came to Jesus and cast yourselves on his great atonement, and rested on his finished righteousness. Ah! What fruit you had then! Do you remember those early days? Then indeed the vine flourished, the tender grape appeared, the pome…
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Evening • 11/13
Luke 18:1
If men ought always to pray and not to faint, much more Christian men. Jesus has sent his church into the world on the same errand upon which he himself came, and this mission includes intercession. What if I say that the church is the world’s priest? Creation is dumb, but the ch…
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Morning • 11/14
Zephaniah 1:5
Such persons thought themselves safe because they were with both parties: they went with the followers of Jehovah and bowed at the same time to Malcham. But duplicity is abominable to God, and hypocrisy his soul hates. The idolater who distinctly gives himself to his false god ha…
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Evening • 11/14
Genesis 29:26
We do not excuse Laban for his dishonesty, but we do not hesitate to learn from the custom which he quoted as his excuse. There are some things which must be taken in order, and if we would win the second, we must secure the first. The second may be more lovely in our eyes, but t…
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Morning • 11/15
Deuteronomy 32:9
How are they his? By his own sovereign choice . He chose them, and set his love upon them. This he did altogether apart from any goodness in them at the time, or any goodness which he foresaw in them. He had mercy on whom he would have mercy, and ordained a chosen company to eter…
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Evening • 11/15
Psalm 68:28
It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to ask God earnestly and continually to strengthen what He has worked in us. It is because of their neglect in this that many Christians may blame themselves for those trials and afflictions of spirit which arise from unbelief. It is tr…
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Morning • 11/16
Lamentations 3:24
It is not “The Lord is partly my portion,” nor “The Lord is in my portion”; but He Himself makes up the sum total of my soul’s inheritance. Within the circumference of that circle lies all that we possess or desire. The Lord is my portion. Not His grace merely, nor His love, nor…
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Evening • 11/16
Isaiah 33:17
The more you know about Christ, the less will you be satisfied with superficial views of him; and the more deeply you study his transactions in the eternal covenant, his engagements on your behalf as the eternal Surety, and the fullness of his grace which shines in all his office…
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Morning • 11/17
Romans 11:36
“To whom be glory forever.” This should be the single desire of the Christian. All other wishes must be subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it may help him to promote this—“To him be glory forever.” He m…
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Evening • 11/17
Ecclesiastes 10:9
Oppressors may impose their will on poor and needy men as easily as they can split logs of wood, but they should take heed, for it is a dangerous business, and a splinter from a tree has often killed the woodman. Jesus is persecuted in every injured saint, and He is mighty to ave…
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Morning • 11/18
Song of Solomon 4:12
In this metaphor, which refers to the inner life of a believer, we have plainly the idea of secrecy . It is a spring shut up : just as there were springs in the East over which a building was built, so that no one could reach them except those who knew the secret entrance, so it…
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Evening • 11/18
Psalm 93:2
Christ is Everlasting . Of him we may sing with David, “ Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. ” Rejoice, believer, in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus always was . The Babe born in Bethlehem was united to the Word, which was in the beginning, by whom…
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Morning • 11/19
Titus 3:9
Our days are few and are far better spent in doing good than in disputing over matters which are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical importance, and our Churches suffer much from petty…
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Evening • 11/19
Job 23:3
In Job’s greatest extremity, he cried out to the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once again to see his Father’s face. His first prayer is not, “Oh, that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!” nor even, “Oh, that I mi…
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Morning • 11/20
Lamentations 3:58
Observe how positively the prophet speaks. He does not say, “I hope, I trust, I sometimes think, that God has pleaded the causes of my soul”; but he speaks of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. You have pleaded the causes of my soul. Let us, by the aid of the gracious Com…
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Evening • 11/20
Proverbs 30:26
Conscious of their own natural defenselessness, the coneys resort to burrows in the rocks and are secure from their enemies. My heart, be willing to gather a lesson from these feeble creatures. You are as weak and as exposed to peril as the timid coney; be as wise to seek shelter…
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Morning • 11/21
Ephesians 4:30
All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you—in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act—apart f…
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Evening • 11/21
John 12:2
He is to be envied . It was well to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and commune. There are times for each purpose, and each is fitting in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear his wo…
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Morning • 11/22
Hosea 12:12
Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil: “This twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in…
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Evening • 11/22
Philippians 3:10
The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the keystone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacre…
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Morning • 11/23
1 John 1:6
When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with him that we were made one with him, and his interests and ours became mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ in his love . What he loves, we love. He loves the saints—so do we…
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Evening • 11/23
Isaiah 40:9
Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to climb the hill of the Lord, and see him face to face. We should not rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. My soul thirsts to drink deep of the cup that is reserved…
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Morning • 11/24
Isaiah 33:21
Broad rivers and streams produce fertility and abundance in the land. Places near broad rivers are remarkable for the variety of their plants and their plentiful harvests. God is all this to His Church. Having God, she has abundance . What can she ask for that He will not give he…
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Evening • 11/24
Proverbs 24:33, 34
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these litt…
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Morning • 11/25
Luke 4:18
None but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. Real liberty comes from him only. It is a liberty righteously bestowed ; for the Son, who is Heir of all things, has a right to make people free. The saints honor the justice of God, which now secures their salvation. It is a liber…
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Evening • 11/25
Romans 9:15
In these words, the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold his mercy according to his own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as seems…
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Morning • 11/26
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, refers to works that are possible . There are many things which our heart finds to do which we never will do. It is well that it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful, we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart and t…
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Evening • 11/26
Zechariah 4:10
Small things marked the beginning of the work in the hand of Zerubbabel, but no one should despise it, for the Lord had raised up one who would persevere until the headstone was brought forth with shouts. The plummet was in good hands. This is the comfort of every believer in the…
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Morning • 11/27
Zechariah 3:1
In Joshua the high priest we see a picture of each and every child of God, who has been made near by the blood of Christ, and has been taught to minister in holy things, and enter into that which is within the veil. Jesus has made us priests and kings to God, and even here on ear…
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Evening • 11/27
Ephesians 1:7
Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word “forgiveness,” when it sounds in a guilty sinner’s ear like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite? Blessed, forever blessed, be that dear star of pardon which shines into the condemned cell and gives the…
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Morning • 11/28
3 John 3
The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second could not be said of him, the first would have been a mere pretense. Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or el…
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Evening • 11/28
Esther 10:3
Mordecai was a true patriot, and therefore, being exalted to the highest position under Ahasuerus, he used his eminence to promote the prosperity of Israel. In this he was a type of Jesus, who, upon His throne of glory, seeks not His own, but spends His power for His people. It w…
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Morning • 11/29
Leviticus 19:16, 17
Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God’s Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord’s people should be very pre…
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Evening • 11/29
Exodus 35:8
Much use was made of this anointing oil under the law, and what it represents is of primary importance under the gospel. The Holy Spirit, who anoints us for all holy service, is indispensable to us if we would serve the Lord acceptably. Without his aid our religious services are…
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Morning • 11/30
2 Chronicles 25:9
A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight for you, O Christian, when you are tried and tempted. To lose money is at no time pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice…
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Evening • 11/30
Revelation 12:7
War will always rage between the two great sovereignties until one or the other is crushed. Peace between good and evil is an impossibility; the very pretense of it would, in fact, be the triumph of the powers of darkness. Michael will always fight ; his holy soul is vexed with s…
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