December • 62 entries
Morning • 12/1
Psalm 74:17
My soul, begin this wintry month with your God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind you that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend to assure you that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made with you in the person of Christ Jesus. He wh…
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Evening • 12/1
Psalm 107:8
If we complained less, and praised more, we would be happier, and God would be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies —common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of them we are ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes wit…
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Morning • 12/2
Song of Solomon 4:7
The Lord’s admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair , but " all fair." He views her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed in his meritorious righteousness, and he considers her to be fu…
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Evening • 12/2
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Nothing can satisfy the whole person but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own self. Saints have tried to anchor in other havens, but they have been driven out of such fatal refuges. Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we m…
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Morning • 12/3
Song of Solomon 4:7
Having pronounced His Church positively full of beauty, our Lord confirms His praise by a precious negative: “There is no spot in thee.” As if the thought occurred to the Bridegroom that the fault-finding world would insinuate that He had only mentioned her attractive features, a…
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Evening • 12/3
Psalm 24:8
Our God may well be glorious in the eyes of His people, since He has accomplished such wonders for them, in them, and by them. For them , the Lord Jesus on Calvary routed every enemy, breaking all the weapons of the enemy in pieces by His finished work of satisfactory obedience;…
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Morning • 12/4
Acts 18:10
This should be a great encouragement to try to do good, since God has among the vilest of the vile, the most reprobate, the most debauched and drunken, an elect people who must be saved. When you take the Word to them, you do so because God has ordained you to be the messenger of…
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Evening • 12/4
Romans 8:23
This groaning is universal among the saints: to a greater or lesser extent we all feel it. It is not the groan of murmuring or complaint; it is rather the note of desire than of distress. Having received an earnest, we desire the whole of our portion; we are sighing that our enti…
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Morning • 12/5
Matthew 7:7
We know of a place in England, still existing, where a dole of bread is served to every passerby who chooses to ask for it. Whoever the traveler may be, he has only to knock at the door of St. Cross Hospital, and the dole of bread is there for him. Jesus Christ so loves sinners t…
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Evening • 12/5
Zechariah 1:20
In the vision described in this chapter, the prophet saw four terrible horns. They were pushing this way and that way, dashing down the strongest and the mightiest; and the prophet asked, “What are these?” The answer was, “These are the horns which have scattered Israel.” He saw…
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Morning • 12/6
1 Corinthians 15:48
The head and members are of one nature, and not like that monstrous image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The head was of fine gold, but the belly and thighs were of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part of clay. Christ’s mystical body is no absurd c…
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Evening • 12/6
Revelation 1:13
One like unto the Son of Man appeared to John in Patmos, and the beloved disciple observed that he wore a girdle of gold. A girdle , for Jesus never was ungirded while on earth, but was always ready for service. Now, before the eternal throne, he does not cease His holy ministry,…
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Morning • 12/7
1 Corinthians 1:28
Walk the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners then. Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to that jail, and walk through the wards, and notice the men with heavy, ov…
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Evening • 12/7
1 Corinthians 9:22
Paul’s great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to save. Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he wanted men to be renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified—in fact, saved. Have our Christian labors been aimed at anything below this great point? Then…
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Morning • 12/8
Revelation 3:4
We may understand this to refer to justification . They shall walk in white; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter t…
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Evening • 12/8
Psalm 68:10
All God’s gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for needs foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fullness which he has treasured up in Christ Jesus, he provides from his goodness for the poor. You may trust him for all the necessities that can occur, for he has in…
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Morning • 12/9
Isaiah 30:18
God often delays in answering prayer . We have several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day—he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor Syrophoenician woman was not answered with a word for a long while.…
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Evening • 12/9
Isaiah 32:18
Peace and rest do not belong to the unregenerate; they are the unique possession of the Lord’s people, and of them only. The God of Peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are fixed on him. When man was unfallen, his God gave him the flowery bowers of Eden as his quiet re…
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Morning • 12/10
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are—and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory , but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart h…
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Evening • 12/10
Acts 16:14
In Lydia’s conversion, there are many points of interest. It was brought about by providential circumstances . She was a seller of purple, from the city of Thyatira, but just at the right time for hearing Paul, we find her at Philippi; providence, which is the handmaid of grace,…
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Morning • 12/11
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Heaven is a place where we will never sin; where we will cease our constant watch against an indefatigable enemy, because there will be no tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. Heaven is the “undefiled inheritance;” it is t…
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Evening • 12/11
Colossians 3:24
To what choice order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who proudly boast a divine right? Ah, no! Too often they serve themselves or Satan, and forget the God whose permission allows them to wear their mimic majesty for their little hour. Does the apostle then speak to t…
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Morning • 12/12
Habakkuk 3:6
What he has done at one time, he will do yet again. Man’s ways are variable, but God’s ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them are the following—the Lord’s ways are the result of wise deliberation ; he orders all things according to…
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Evening • 12/12
Hosea 5:7
Believer, here is a sorrowful truth! You are the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by blood, called by grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on your way to heaven, and yet, “thou hast dealt treacherously” with God, your best friend; treacherously with Jesus, whos…
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Morning • 12/13
Ezra 7:22
Salt was used in every offering made by fire to the Lord, and from its preserving and purifying properties it was the pleasing emblem of divine grace in the soul. It is worthy of our careful attention that, when Artaxerxes gave salt to Ezra the priest, he set no limit to the quan…
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Evening • 12/13
Isaiah 54:12
The church is most instructively symbolized by a building erected by heavenly power and designed by divine skill. Such a spiritual house must not be dark, for the Israelites had light in their dwellings; therefore, there must be windows to let the light in and to allow the inhabi…
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Morning • 12/14
Psalm 84:7
They go from strength to strength . There are various renderings of these words, but all of them contain the idea of progress. Our own good translation of the authorized version is enough for us this morning. They go from strength to strength. That is, they grow stronger and stro…
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Evening • 12/14
Galatians 2:20
The Lord Jesus Christ acted in what he did as a great public representative person, and his dying upon the cross was the virtual dying of all his people. Then all his saints rendered to justice what was due, and made an expiation to divine vengeance for all their sins. The apostl…
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Morning • 12/15
Ruth 1:14
Both of them had an affection for Naomi and therefore set out with her on her return to the land of Judah. But the hour of testing came; Naomi most unselfishly set before each of them the trials that awaited them and urged them, if they cared for ease and comfort, to return to th…
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Evening • 12/15
Isaiah 54:11
Not only what is visible in the church of God, but also what is unseen, is beautiful and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and as long as they are firm, it is not typically expected that they also be valuable; but in Jehovah’s work, everything is consistent, nothing is done…
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Morning • 12/16
Matthew 11:28
The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, “Come.” The Jewish law harshly said, “Go, take heed to your steps as to the path in which you shall walk. Break the commandments, and you shall perish; keep them, and you shall live.” The law was a dispensation of terror, whic…
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Evening • 12/16
Isaiah 48:8
It is painful to remember that, to a certain degree, this accusation may be attributed to believers , who too often are somewhat spiritually insensible . We may well lament that we do not hear the voice of God as we should; Indeed, you did not hear. There are gentle motions of th…
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Morning • 12/17
Jeremiah 2:2
Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returns often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so the mind continually pursues the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love;…
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Evening • 12/17
John 10:9
Jesus, the great I AM, is the entrance into the true church and the way of access to God himself. He gives to the person who comes to God by him four choice privileges. He shall be saved . The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of the city of refuge and was safe. Noah entered the…
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Morning • 12/18
Joel 2:13
Garment-rending and other outward signs of religious emotion are easily manifested and are frequently hypocritical ; but to feel true repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. People will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial regulations—fo…
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Evening • 12/18
Proverbs 27:23
Every wise merchant will occasionally take stock, when he will settle his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and determine decisively whether his trade is prosperous or declining. Every person who is wise in the kingdom of heaven will cry, “Search me, O God, and try me”; and…
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Morning • 12/19
Proverbs 16:33
If the disposal of the lot is the Lord’s, whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by Him, how much more the events of our entire life—especially when we are told by our blessed Saviour: The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not…
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Evening • 12/19
Revelation 21:1
We could scarcely rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are no fairer to our imagination if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be read as a met…
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Morning • 12/20
Jeremiah 31:3
Sometimes the Lord Jesus tells His Church His thoughts of love. “He does not think it enough to tell it behind her back, but in her very presence He says, ‘ You are all fair, my love. ’ It is true, this is not His ordinary method; He is a wise lover, and knows when to keep back t…
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Evening • 12/20
Matthew 20:8
God is a good paymaster; He pays His servants while at work as well as when they have done it. One of His payments is this: an easy conscience . If you have spoken faithfully of Jesus to one person, when you go to bed at night you feel happy in thinking, “I have today discharged…
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Morning • 12/21
2 Samuel 23:5
This covenant is divine in its origin . He has made with me an everlasting covenant. Oh, that great word He ! Stop, my soul. God, the everlasting Father, has positively made a covenant with you; yes, that God who spoke the world into existence by a word; He, stooping from His maj…
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Evening • 12/21
Ezekiel 16:10
See with what matchless generosity the Lord provides for His people’s apparel. They are so arrayed that the divine skill is seen producing an unrivaled broidered work , in which every attribute takes its part and every divine beauty is revealed. No art is like the art displayed i…
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Morning • 12/22
Isaiah 41:10
God has a strong reserve with which to fulfill this commitment, for He is able to do all things. Believer, until you can drain dry the ocean of omnipotence, until you can break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty strength, you never need to fear. Do not think that the…
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Evening • 12/22
Deuteronomy 32:5
What is the secret mark which infallibly indicates the child of God? It would be vain presumption to decide this based on our own judgment; but God’s word reveals it to us, and we can proceed confidently where we have revelation to be our guide. Now, we are told concerning our Lo…
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Morning • 12/23
Luke 14:10
When the life of grace first begins in the soul, we do indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling. The soul, conscious of guilt and humbled by it, is overawed with the solemnity of its position; it is cast to the earth by a sense of the grandeur of Jehovah,…
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Evening • 12/23
Psalm 74:16
Yes, Lord, you do not abdicate your throne when the sun goes down, nor do you leave the world all through these long wintry nights to be the prey of evil; your eyes watch us as the stars, and your arms surround us as the zodiac belts the sky. The dews of kindly sleep and all the…
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Morning • 12/24
2 Corinthians 8:9
The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich , glorious, and exalted; but though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. As the rich saint cannot be true in his communion with his poor brothers unless he ministers to their necessities from his substance, so (the same rule hol…
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Evening • 12/24
Isaiah 40:5
We anticipate the happy day when the whole world shall be converted to Christ; when the idols of the nations shall be cast to the moles and the bats; when Romanism shall be discredited, and the crescent of Mohammed shall wane, never again to cast its harmful rays upon the nations…
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Morning • 12/25
Isaiah 7:14
Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “ Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. ” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate,…
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Evening • 12/25
Job 1:5
What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself before he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as Chr…
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Morning • 12/26
1 Corinthians 15:45
Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from…
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Evening • 12/26
Matthew 28:20
The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walks among the golden candlesticks. His promise is, Lo, I am with you alway. He is as surely with us now as he was with the disciples at the lake, when they saw coals of fire, and fish laid on them, and bread. Not carnally, but st…
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Morning • 12/27
Job 8:11
The rush is spongy and hollow, and so also is a hypocrite; there is no substance or stability in him. It is shaken back and forth in every wind, just as formalists yield to every influence. For this reason, the rush is not broken by the tempest, nor are hypocrites troubled with p…
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Evening • 12/27
Isaiah 58:11
“ The Lord shall guide you. ” Not an angel, but Jehovah shall guide you. He said He would not go through the wilderness before His people, an angel should go before them to lead them in the way; but Moses said, “ If your presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here.…
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Morning • 12/28
Galatians 2:20
When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, He first of all said, “Live;” and this He did first , because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it is bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now th…
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Evening • 12/28
Matthew 10:34
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to make none; but if doing what is right and believing what is true should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it merely a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be still more f…
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Morning • 12/29
1 Samuel 7:12
The word “until now” seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past . Twenty years or seventy, and yet, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us! Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honour, in dishonour,…
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Evening • 12/29
Matthew 22:42
The great test of your soul’s health is, What think you of Christ? Is he to you “fairer than the children of men” — “the chief among ten thousand” — “the altogether lovely” ? Wherever Christ is thus esteemed, all the faculties of the spiritual man exercise themselves with energy.…
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Morning • 12/30
Ecclesiastes 7:8
Look at David’s Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father’s right hand, expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. As he is, so are we also in this worl…
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Evening • 12/30
2 Samuel 2:26
If, O my reader! you are merely a professor, and not a possessor of the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the following lines are a true sketch of your end. You are a respectable attendant at a place of worship; you go because others go, not because your heart is right with God. Thi…
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Morning • 12/31
John 7:37
Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast He pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year He pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the Saviour in bearing with some of us y…
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Evening • 12/31
Jeremiah 8:20
Not saved ! Dear reader, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment to come, commanded to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved ! You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, an…
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