GOLDEN WORDS

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman

February 15

"You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one of them in your book" Psalm 56:8 TLB.

"Tears are often the telescope through which men see into heaven." Anonymous. To think that our great God takes notice even of our tears and saves them as jewels! He promises that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5). Our tears will be turned into precious gems for God. They are posted in His book of remembrance, for He does not forget our anguish. His own Son was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried" Isaiah 53:3,4.

We can better see another's anguish when our own eyes are bathed with purifying tears that wash out our blindness and allow us to better understand another's vision. There is an adage that says, "Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone." But one who empathizes because of a like experience literally enters into another's chamber of sorrows. Our own tears of grief quickly wash away preconceptions and presumptions and our hearts grow larger and softer for others.

Our heart is honed with God's whet-stone. "He who did not spare his own Son" (Romans 8:32) will not spare us because He loves us so much. "No discipline seems pleas-ant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteous-ness and peace for those who have been trained by it" Hebrews 12:11.

The shortest and most poignant verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). Jesus took on our weaknesses that He might give us strength. "For we do not have a high priest who is un-able to sympathize with our weakness-es, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are..." Hebrews 4:15. Only when we are in the cellar of despair can we appreciate and appropriate this marvelous truth. Our tears are His treasure!

Pat Nordman ©

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for February 15		Spurgeon's Evening February 15
"To him be glory both now and forever." -2 Peter 3:18
Heaven will be full of the ceaseless praises of Jesus. Eternity! thine unnumbered years shall speed their everlasting course, but forever and for ever, "to him be glory."		"Whereby they have made thee glad." - Psalm 45:8
		He makes us glad, but how can we make him glad? By our love. Ah! we think it so cold, so faint; and so, indeed, we must sorrowfully confess it to be, but it is very sweet to Christ.

 

T H I N K A B O U T I T

The Long Walk In "The Grace of Giving", Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. "No, Peter," General Washington said. "I cannot grant you the life of your friend." "My friend!" exclaimed the old preacher. "He's the bitterest enemy I have." "What?" cried Washington. "You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I'll grant your pardon." And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata. . no longer an enemy but a friend.  Leadership p.44 1984 52 You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.   Matthew 5:43-45

 

February 15 Numbers 1:1 - 2:34 Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

 

 

Today's  Devotion

 

But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. Job 16:5 (NIV) The Secret of the Persecuted by Cathy Vinson We work so hard to provide pleasant things on our every side. Recently, have we considered what a jolt it would be to our sensibilities to be imprisoned and even tortured, as our brothers and sisters in Christ have been? In the manner we are presently carrying on, it's even challenging to look into this fact: in our precious family are those who have, are, and will be sorely abused because they love Jesus. To go from our present-day freedoms to such incarceration without a transitional period seems impossible to bear. To find ourselves half-clothed in a cold cement cell knowing our next contact might well be our torturer is not a far-fetched scene, unfortunately. Could you and I make it? How would we cope when everything surrounding us would be detestable? How could we do it? How can anyone do it? Richard Wurmbrand, used worldwide to educate the free world of what suffering has and is occurring, speaks from personal experience..."If the heart is cleansed by the love of Jesus Christ, and if the heart loves Him, you can resist all tortures. What would a loving bride not do for a loving bridegroom? What would a loving mother not do for her child? If you love Christ as Mary did, who had Christ as a baby in her arms, if you love Jesus as a bride loves her bridegroom, then you can resist such tortures...This is 'heartwashing." Couldn't we begin practicing this now, having no room for anything in our hearts but love for Jesus? Shove aside all these preferences we have built up as an ugly moss-covered wall in the middle of our hearts. Let love for Christ fill its place. Practice this in the little things. These saints found only love left, love for God and men, the ones who mistreated them. Let us face a new day with only love left, love for everyone. "Love the LORD with all your heart."     What would a loving bride not do for a loving bridegroom? What would a loving mother not do for her child? Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion. Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE

 

 

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Copyright Information: Phillip Bower is not the author of the humor, and does not claim to own any copyright privileges to the jokes. Sources of jokes are listed when known. Birthday's and Happenings for the date, and quotations are public knowledge and collected from numerous sources. Quotations are public knowledge and sources are listed when known. Weekendspirations are written by Tim Knappenberger who has copyright privileges. Cathy Vinson authors Whispers from the Wilderness and owns copyright privileges. Weekendspirations and Whispers from the Wilderness are used with permission by the respective authors. Other devotions are written by Phillip Bower unless otherwise stated. In all cases credit is given when known. The Daily Miscellany is nonprofit. Submissions by readers is welcome.