GOLDEN WORDS
This
is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24 NIV
This is yet another day
that the Lord has made for us (Psalm 118:24), a day of more opportunities to serve Him
through helping those He sends us this day. We are to rejoice in it and know that He gives
us strength for the day and its various challenges (Deuteronomy 33:25), for God does not
purposely give problems He cannot help us through.
It is a blessed day of salvation for all who love God. God has already weighed and
weighted everything that will happen today in just and loving Hands and Heart. "His
compassions never fail. They are new every morning..." (Lame-ntations 3:22,23). The
key-note of our fresh and white day is the first hour with our Father who will bless our
entire day.
— Pat
Nordman
Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman
January 13
"Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is
not fit for the Kingdom of God" Luke 9:62 TLB.
We have such good intentions of staying on the straight and narrow path with our Lord.
Peter did: "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Poor Peter
not only failed that great proclamation but he actually disowned his best Friend. Then
"He went outside and wept bitterly" Luke 22:3362.
We want to follow Jesus and His principles and practices, but it's too easy to forget our
priorities. There are so many distractions and demands today. If we do not do God's work
that He has planned for us, then our other work becomes difficult, uncertain, and
mediocre, a poor gift to One who wants us to do our best. What we look back on are our
failures; what we can look forward to is God's forgiveness of those failures. Even
spiritual persons can waste much time and emotional energy on feeling that they have
committed the unpardonable sin when, in effect, they have been human.
We know that Peter denied his Lord but we have overlooked what Jesus did for Peter:
"The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter" Luke 22:61. What a look of love!
It was then that Peter remembered Jesus telling him that he would betray Him. At the same
time that He warned Peter of his impending betrayal He also told him: "Simon, Simon,
Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith
may not fail" Luke 22:31,32. Was it our Lord's prayer for Peter that finally saved
him? "And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" v.32.
The Lord looks upon us with tenderness. He understands our weaknesses for "he
remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). And to think that He prays for us! We can
go on with our work for Him and not look back at yesterday's or last year's or a
lifetime's sins or mistakes. All we need do is continue to look on Jesus as He looks on us.
January 14
"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the trans-gression
of the remnant of his inheritance?" Micah 7:18.
How we crave to be forgiven by God and by man! Who is a God like this who suffers long
with our sins and doubts? Who is this who with-draws the plumb line of judgment? "I
will make justice the measuring line and righteous-ness the plumb line" Isaiah 28:17.
God's people are made according to His standards, and we are expected to be true to these
standards. But when we are tested, we are found to be out of plumb. We are not up to
God's measurements.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost" Luke 19:10; "For I
have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" Matthew 9:13. Since we are all
sinners, that means us. What hope this gives us! What a Friend we have in Jesus: "And
here is how to measure it--the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for
his friends" John 15:13 TLB. This is the plumb line: love.
"And I pray that you...may have power...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep
is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be
filled with the measure of all the fullness of God" Ephesians 3:17-19. Any
friendship is measured by the depth of its affection in the sacrifices it makes and the
burdens it bears. Then Jesus is indeed the Friend of humanity.
Moses asked God to show him His glory; in-stead, God chose to show Moses His goodness
(Exodus 33:18,19). "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, `The Lord, the
compassion-ate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
maintaining love to thousand, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin'" Exodus
34:6,7. How can we not love such a God as this!
Pat Nordman ©
|
|
|
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
|
Spurgeon's Morning for January 13 |
Spurgeon's Evening January 13 |
| "Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber" -1 Kings 22:48
|
"The iron did swim." - 2 Kings 6:9
|
Solomon's ships had returned in safety, but Jehoshaphat's vessels never reached the land of gold. Providence prospers one, and frustrates the desires of another, in the same business and at the same spot, yet the Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as another. |
The axe-head seemed hopelessly lost, and as it was borrowed, the honour of the prophetic band was likely to be imperilled, and so the name of their God to be compromised. Contrary to all expectation, the iron was made to mount from the depth of the stream and to swim; for things impossible with man are possible with God. |
Spurgeon's Morning for January 14 |
Spurgeon's Evening January 14 |
| "Mighty to save." -Isaiah 63:1
|
"Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." - Matthew 14:30
|
By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who repent, but he is able to make men repent. |
Sinking times are praying times with the Lord's servants. Peter neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. |
|
T |
Heaven's Grocery Store
|
But my mouth would encourage you; comfort
from my lips would bring you relief. Job 16:5 (NIV) by Cathy Vinson Then
a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you
go." Matthew 8:19 NIV Send a note to
Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion. Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found
HERE Religion
News RealAudio format Return to DM's HOME
Today's Devotion
"Withersoever..."
Have there been times when we have laid it all on the line..."Whatever,
Jesus"..."Whenever, Jesus"..."However, Jesus"..."Wherever,
Jesus"? This is what a scribe presented in himself and commitment before Jesus.
"I will follow You wherever You go" (Mt 8:19).
Scribe (from gramma) means a writing, a man of letters, a teacher of the law. He was
concerned with the text. Didn't Jesus want this willing man to follow Him? What could it
be that Jesus would address within him?
It appears for those three years Jesus was continually moving. The benefit of having a
settlement, a dwelling eluded His experience. Though He denied this for Himself, He
graciously granted His lower creation this privilege..."Foxes have holes, and the
birds of the air their nests..."
"but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (8:20). He never even wrote a
book! Laying His head meant to bend, to bow, to make to lean, to rest. Ironically the same
usage of "lay" is found in Jesus' final breaths: "It is finished,' and He
BOWED His head and gave up His spirit" (Jn 19:30). Vine writes this was "placing
His head into a position of rest, not a helpless drooping of the head as in other cases of
crucifixion. He reversed the natural order, by first reclining His head (indicative of His
submission to His Father's will), and then 'giving up His spirit." This place of rest
He had not found on earth.
Can a scribe handle such a life? Can we? When Jesus speaks, He is moving. To adjust to His
movements in the day of calling and ministry will be the grammar lesson we need.
When Jesus
speaks, He is moving.
Today's Religion News
From Goshen Web News Service
Feature Story
News Summary
World News
BaptistPress
Country Profiles
News Links
News Archives
All the Rest January 13 & 14
Today in History January 13
Today in History January 14
