Daily Light on the Daily Path - Selections from Samuel Bagster

"It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.--"I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do."--We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.--Canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

"I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again."--"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends."

John 19:30; Heb. 12:2; John 17:4; Heb. 10:10-14; Col. 2:14; John10:17, 18; John 15:13

~Samuel Bagster~

_______________________________

He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.--You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.--"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me."--We went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you."

Ps. 18:16; Ps. 40:2; Eph. 2:1-3; Ps. 61:1, 2; Jonah 2:2, 3; Ps. 66:12; Isa. 43:2

~Samuel Bagster~

_________________________

Walk in newness of life.

Just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.--I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.--Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them.--Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. . . . But that is not the way you learned Christ!--assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. . . . Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Rom. 6:4; Rom. 6:19; Rom. 12:1, 2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15, 16; Eph.4:17, 20, 21, 24

~Samuel Bagster~

__________________________

"Your will be done."

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.--"Not as I will, but as you will."--But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

"You do not know what you are asking."--He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.--Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

I want you to be free from anxieties.--You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Matt. 26:42; Jer. 10:23; Matt. 26:39; Ps. 131:2; Rom. 8:26, 27; Matt.20:22; Ps. 106:15; 1 Cor. 10:6; 1 Cor. 7:32; Isa. 26:3

~Samuel Bagster~

_____________________________

The Lord reproves him whom he loves.

"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand."--"I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."--"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her."--As a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.--For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.--Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Prov. 3:12; Deut. 32:39; Jer. 29:11; Isa. 55:8; Hos. 2:14; Deut. 8:5; Heb. 12:11; 1 Pet. 5:6; Ps. 119:75

~Samuel Bagster~

____________________

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

"She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax."--"All things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance . . . comes from your hand and is all your own."--From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.--Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Ps. 24:1; Hos. 2:8, 9; 1 Chron. 29:14-16; Rom. 11:36; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 Tim. 4:4, 5; Phil. 4:19

~Samuel Bagster~