March 1

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" Matthew 6:27,34.

"Yesterday is like a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is like ready cash. Use it wisely, for today is the most precious possession you can have." Anonymous. "Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained." A.S. Roche. Some wag has said that worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it falls due.

There is a joke about the patient in the mental hospital who had his ear to the wall, listening intently. He beckoned the attendant to listen. The attendant pressed his ear against the wall and finally said, "I don't hear anything." "No," replied the patient, "it's been like that all day!" So it is with us at times. We cling to an invisible wall waiting for something drastic to happen and it never does. If we have high blood pressure, we just might worry ourselves into another world. Poor people worry because they never seem to have enough and certain rich people worry because they can't get enough. The man whose greed exceeded room to store his grain is an example of futile worry: "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops" Luke 12:17. God took care of it for him: "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you" Luke 12:20. His hours were up and his apprehension about his wealth useless.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" Philippians 4:6. The cure for worry seems to be the attitude of gratitude which covers a multitude of vicissitudes!

Pat Nordman ©

Today's Bible Question ?

The Ammonites' bloodthirsty god was widely known in Israel because of the horrible practice of children being sacrificed to him. What was the name of this god?

Previous question and Answer:

What gruesome object did the Philistines fasten in the temple of Dagon?

Saul's Head - (1 Chronicles 10:10)

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for March 1	Spurgeon's Evening for March 1
"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." - Song of Solomon 4:16	"He is precious." - 1 Peter 2:7
Anything is better than the dead calm of indifference. Our souls may wisely desire the north wind of trouble if that alone can be sanctified to the drawing forth of the perfume of our graces.	As all the rivers run into the sea, so all delights centre in our Beloved. The glances of his eyes outshine the sun: the beauties of his face are fairer than the choicest flowers: no fragrance is like the breath of his mouth.

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March 1 Numbers 23:1 - 25:18

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

As yet I do not have enough pages finished for each day of this wonderful season of lent. Pages will appear here sporadically through the Lenten season.

Easter 1

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RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

You will receive a body.
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live.
How you care for it, or fail to care for it, can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.

You will learn lessons.
Your are enrolled in a full-time school called Life.
Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know.
The lessons presented are often completely different from those you think you need.

A lesson is repeated until it is learned.
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until your have learned it.
When you have learned it (as seen by a change in your attitude and behavior), then you can go on to the next lesson.

There are no mistakes, Only lessons.
Growth is a process of trial and error and experimentation.
Your can learn as much from failure as you can from success.

Others are merely mirrors of you.
Your cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.
When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.

What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need.
Remember that through desire, goal-setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want.
Persistence is the key to success.

You will forget all this.
Unless you consistently stay focused on the goals you have set for yourself, everything you just read won't mean a thing.

Sources: | Kasha Linka |

Today's Devotion

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Gift of Forgiveness

"Love never fails."

1 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV

I'm convinced that our mental and physical health depends on our attitude toward others and how we treat them. Included in this is forgiveness. In fact, if I could choose the one gift from God that I personally need to have and to give, it would be the gift of forgiveness both for others and for myself (by the way, have you forgiven yourself, dear reader?!).

Maltbie Babcock wrote years ago: "How sure we are of our own forgiveness from God. How certain we are that we are made in His image, when we forgive heartily and out of hand one who has wronged us. Sentimentally we may feel, and lightly we may say, `To err is human, to forgive divine;' but we never taste the nobility and divinity of forgiving till we forgive and know the victory of forgiveness over our sense of being wronged, over mortified pride and wounded sensibilities. Here we are in living touch with Him who treats us as though nothing had happened -- who turns His back upon the past, and bids us journey with Him into goodness and gladness, into newness of life." Well, God asks that we do the same for others and ourselves.

We all know someone we are reluctant to forgive, for whatever reasons. There's that bit of pride that hides in the corner of our heart and flashes out to bite us when that certain person digs in with sarcasm and corrodes our self-esteem. After being bitten royally one day -- again -- I asked myself if someone else had said this same thing, would it have bothered me so much? What a surprise to realize that I wouldn't have thought once much less twice about it. But it was this person! Why? I still haven't figured it out!

But it was at that moment I realized that my attitude is wrong, and that I'm only hurting myself, not the other person who probably isn't even aware of what is happening. So I am learning to treat this person "as though nothing had happened." And if there is one certainty in life, it is this: love never fails! And it is God who gives us that love to love. What a revelation and relief to finally put aside how I feel and to will a love that only God can give. The great gift is that I truly love this person now!

And if there is one certainty in life, it is this: love never fails! And it is God who gives us that love to love.

More Walking Through the Darkness