Today's Soul Food —March 28
 

 

GOLDEN WORDS



Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.

Luke 9:23  KJV


And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Ecc 2:13  NASB


Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Ecc 2:13 NIV

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Carry the cross patiently, and with perfect submission; and in the end it shall carry you.

If you bear the cross unwillingly, you make it a burden, and load yourself more heavily; but you must needs bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will certainly find another, and perhaps heavier.

Thomas a' Kempis

 

Daily Meditations by  Pat Nordman ©

 


March 28

"But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" Luke 22:32.

Simon Peter loved Jesus as much as any man could and he was so confident in his love that he told his Friend, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will" Matthew 26:33. Little did he realize how human he was. "I will help you over the waters," Jesus says to us all (Matthew 14:29), "but you must have unsinkable faith that I can and will bring you through."

"My friend," Jesus says to us, "Satan will sift you as wheat, and you will come out as My choice wheat because I believe in you. Though you stumble, you will not fall, for I uphold you right now with My nail pierced hands. I trust you with all My own breaking heart, as I did My servant Job. I knew Satan wouldn't win with Job. He won't win this battle with you, either, for I, your Shepherd and your Savior, am praying for you that you will come through triumphant over this.

"Will it comfort you to know that I don't waste irreplaceable time on chaff? You see, I can't afford to waste time, either, for it is only in your short lifetime that I can convince you that I love you so much I would give My very life again for you. I know what you are and I know that, with faith, you can rise above and beyond what is past and is now and will be.

"And when you have come through the valley, I want you to help others through their valleys and up to My mountain. Above all, I want you to remember, `The past troubles will be forgotten...The former things will not be remembered...The sound of weeping...will be heard...in it no more' (Isaiah 65:16,17,19). "I'm praying for you right now. Right now I give you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. The valley is My resting place for you while you search for Me (Isaiah 65:10). Your affliction is My affection, as difficult as that is. Just know beyond any doubt that I know you and love you.

Pat Nordman ©

 


Today's Bible Question ?



    Where did the prostitute Rahab live? 

Previous question and Answer:

What weather phenomenon did the Lord use to defeat the Amorites when Joshua and his men were fighting them?

Hailstones — Joshua 10:11

And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

 

 

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

Spurgeon's Morning for March 28

Spurgeon's Evening for March 28

 

"I will accept you with your sweet savour."

-  Ezekiel 20:41

 

"The love of Christ which passeth knowledge."

-  Ephesians 3:19

What a preciousness must there be in him to overcome our want of preciousness! What a sweet savour to put away our ill savour! What a cleansing power in his blood to take away sin such as ours! and what glory in his righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved!

The love of Christ in its sweetness, its fulness, its greatness, its faithfulness, passeth all human comprehension. Where shall language be found which shall describe his matchless, his unparalleled love towards the children of men?


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March 28 Joshua 11:1 - 13:33

 365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM 


 


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Please Just Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried,
and quietly, patiently, God replied.
I had pled and wept for a clue to my fate,
yet the Master just said, "Child, you must wait."

Wait? You say, wait, was my indignant reply,
Lord, I need answers, I need to know why.
Is your hand so short? Have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, I am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
Now hangs in the balance. And you tell me to "wait."
I need a "yes," a go-ahead sign,
or even a "no" to which I resign.
Besides Lord, you promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.
So Lord, I've been asking. This is my cry,
I'm weary of asking. I need a reply.

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate.
The Master replied, "My child, please wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
and grumbled to God, "Okay, I am waiting, but for what?"

He then seemed to kneel, His eyes wept with mine, 
and tenderly said, "I could give you a sign. 
I could shake the heavens, darken the sun, 
I could raise the dead and cause the mountains to run. 
All you seek, I could give. And then pleased you would be? 
You would have what you wanted, but you wouldn't know Me. 
You'd know not the depth of My love, my dear saint; 
You'd know not the power I give to the faint; 
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair, 
that you need to trust, trusting simply, 'I'm here.' 
You'd know not the joy of resting in Me, 
when darkness and silence are all you can see; 
You'd not experience all of My love, 
when the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove. 
Oh, you'd know that I give, and I save ... for a start, 
but you'd miss the real joy of the depths of My heart. 
You'd miss the glow of My comfort through the night 
and the faith that I give when you walk without sight. 
There's a depth far beyond getting what you ask; 
the depth of My grace, getting what lasts. 
You'd not know, should your pain quickly flee, 
what it means when I say, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' 
You'd have dreams for your loved ones, that's true, 
but you'd miss, oh you'd miss, what I'm doing in you. 
So be silent, My child, in time you will see, 
that the greatest gift is to get to know Me. 
And though oft My answers seem terribly late, 
My most precious answer still is, 'Just wait.'"


-author unknown

 

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Today's  Devotion
 

THINGS

 

" Set your hearts on THINGS above, were Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on THINGS above, not on earthly THINGS."

Colossians 3:12


Things seem to be what distract our focus and rob our attention. Even the casual use of the word "things" seems to imply mundaness, even to the nature of nuisances: the ticking of a clock, toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, unnovel things...they are like "the little foxes that ruin the vineyard" (Song of Solomon 2:15).

"Set your hearts on THINGS above, were Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on THINGS above, not on earthly THINGS" (Colossians 3:12). Here we learn there are the things of heaven. Oh might we consider them so our hearts might be recaptured to the interests above!

Job repentantly responded to God's revelation: "Surely I spoke of THINGS I did not understand, THINGS too wonderful for me" (Job 42:3). "Even the angels long to look into these THINGS" (1 Peter 1:12). Can we taste of these things now?

The prodigal's father consoled the elder wearying son: "Every-THING I have is yours" (Luke 15:31). "All THINGS are yours...the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God" (1 Corinthians 3:23).

© Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion

 
... the casual use of the word "things" seems to imply mundaness, even to the nature of nuisances: the ticking of a clock, toys on the floor, dishes in the sink ...

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