GOLDEN WORDS
Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For
when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
Psalm 49: 16-17
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mark 8: 36
In the long run, what is the benefit of riches on this earth? Man is an
everlasting soul. His time on earth is quite short. The world can only be enjoyed for a
short time. Our worldly treasures will soon pass away. Are the riches of this life worth
the cost. Are they even worth the work, trouble and fatigue of this world?
Monkey Business
In North Africa there is a very easy way to capture monkeys. A gourd, which a hole just
sufficiently large so that a monkey can thrust his hand into it, is filled with nuts and
fastened firmly to a branch of a tree at sunset. During the night a monkey will discover
the scent of food, and its source, and will put his hand into the gourd and grasp a
handful of nuts. But the hole is too small for the monkey to withdraw his clenched fist,
and he has not sense enough to let go of his bounty so that he may escape. Thus he pulls
and pulls without success, and when morning comes he is quickly and easily taken.
We must make sure that we, like the monkey, are not holding on too tight to the things of
this world.
They are the most foolish of all men who purchase the pleasures of this life with the loss
of everlasting bliss.
Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman
January 27
"They hated me without reason" John 15:25; "I have shown you
many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" John 10:31.
There is a Murphy's Law that says, "No good deed goes unpunished." Jesus was
crucified for His love and troubles, so we shouldn't wonder if someone forgets to show
gratitude or, worse yet, misinterprets our kindness.
The Creator is the Causeless Cause, but the world has its causeless causes for hating.
Joseph's brothers hated him because their father loved him; Cain hated Abel enough to kill
him because Abel's sacrifice was more acceptable; Saul hated David because of David's
goodness; Esau hated Jacob because of the lost blessing (which was a tradeoff, anyway;
Esau asked a question many ask at sometime in life, "What good is the birthright to
me?"). The causeless causes go on and on.
There was absolutely no justification for the hate and belligerence toward this Man of
peace who gave only tenderness and service. "For which of these...do you stone me?
For the miracles of healing? For saving you and not Myself? For My truth? For simplifying
your laws? For being born in a manger instead of a mansion? For being a carpenter instead
of an architect? For making your darkness light and making your burdens lighter? For
forgiving your ignorance? To die that sinners might live? Tell Me, for which of these do
you hate Me? "
Is the lesson we learn here that man just naturally hates goodness? Is it that we are so
blinded from the darkness that we cannot stand the Light? Pitiful! What may be worse than
hating Him is to ignore Him. Indifference must hurt Jesus even more than outright hate:
"Because you are lukewarmneither hot nor coldI am about to spit you out of my
mouth" Revelation 3:16. He would rather we have a backbone of endurance and a jawbone
of profession than be of none effect at all. And one sure sign of effectiveness is:
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" John 15:18.
"As he is, so are we in this world" 1 John 4:17 RSV.
Pat Nordman ©
January 28
"That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden;
and they hid themselves among the trees. The Lord God called to Adam, `Why are you
hiding?'" Genesis 3:8,9 TLB.
Adam and Eve sinned and they hid, and God looked for them. What a wonderful spiritual
lesson there is here. The Lord God calls to us, "Where are you?" Where are we in
our lives? God continually calls and finds us: 1) in conscience, the twinge of sorrow and
guilt reminding us that we have injured Him and His; 2) in providence, for all is under
His control; 3) and in revelation, whether written or spoken.
The serpent convinced Eve that if she ate the forbidden fruit she would know good and
evil. Up to then Adam and Eve knew only good; they disobeyed and then they also knew evil.
Only in that respect was the serpent, that liar, right. It wasn't just one sin but many:
pride, ingratitude, disobedience, disbelief, discontentment (let us remember that their
sin was committed in the very midst of paradise!), unholy curiosity, presumption upon
God's goodness, and doubt upon His sincerity.
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil" Isaiah 5:20. This is exactly
what the serpent did in the Garden. Adam and Eve fell through the senses and lost common
sense. Our senses are our servants, to be guarded ever so carefully. The serpent assailed
Eve's sensibilities. So one of our first lessons in life is that we must have boundaries
for the senses that war against our spirit. We can be sure that it is through the avenue
of our sensations that the serpent will be tripping us up. God cautions us in His call to
beware of what we see and hear and feel. If we sin with these wonderful gifts, then it is
of the serpent, that liar. Nothing but good comes from God: "God saw all that he had
made, and it was very good" Genesis 1:31.
Pat Nordman ©
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Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
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Spurgeon's Morning for January 27 |
Spurgeon's Evening January 27 |
"And of his fulness have all we received." - John 1:16
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"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." - Luke 2:19 |
These words tell us that there is a fullness in Christ. There is a fullness of essential Deity, for "in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead." There is a fullness of perfect manhood, for in him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a fullness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for "the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." |
Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what he has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold him fast for evermore |
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Spurgeon's Morning for January 28 |
Spurgeon's Evening January 28 |
"Perfect in Christ Jesus." - Colossians 1:28 |
"And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." - Luke 2:20 |
Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear which trickles from your eye, weeps "imperfection"; every harsh word which proceeds from your lip, mutters "imperfection." |
What was the subject of their praise? They praised God for what they had heard--for the good tidings of great joy that a Savior was born unto them. Let us copy them; let us also raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard of Jesus and his salvation. |
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... by Pat Nordman 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 22:33-62. Religion
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January 27 Exodus 29:1 - 31:18
Linked to Bible Gaitway TM
Today's Devotion
Want
to Follow
"Anyone who lets himself
be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God"
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.
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.
We want to follow
Jesus and His principles and practices, but it's too easy to forget our priorities.
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