Today's Soul Food — April 3
 

 

GOLDEN WORDS



Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1  KJV


Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1  NASB


If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Hebrews 11:1  NIV

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Holy obedience puts to shame all natural and selfish desires. It mortifies our lower nature and makes it obey the spirit and our fellow men.

St. Francis of Assisi

 

Daily Meditations by  Pat Nordman ©

 


April 3

"When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble" Proverbs 4:12; "He makes [our] steps firm..." Psalm 37:23.

Notice that Proverbs 4:12 says steps, not giant leaps. The child begins with steps and each duty begins with steps. A person is the details–the steps–of his or her life. A step is a process in the right or the wrong direction. The walk indicates that life normally is ordinary; the run tells us that our life will have its stunning momentsits emergencies when even greater faith and decision are called for. And in either the walk or the run, we will not stumble, because our Father has promised this.

For those of us who want to leap through life or who feel that God requires this of us, when Jesus was on earth He didn't talk about big plans or things. His concern was the children, the sparrows, the lilies, and the hairs on our heads. It is so comforting to know that He is interested in everything that touches our lives, especially what we consider to be inconsequential. Our Father knows and understands the consequences of despising the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10). God's Word is filled with His regard for the small things of life as well as for the large emotions.

Great success in God's view can be small success in the world's perception, also. Our age of "bigger is better" camouflages the fact that Jesus Himself never belonged to the current fashions and the clubs. He was never an officer but always a Gentleman! He simply and quietly went about doing His modest and good works, not shouting in the streets to be noticed.
"And a little child will lead [us]" Isaiah 11:6. A little, innocent, simple, and unafraid child often leads the worldly mighty to our Father with firm and unhampered steps.

Pat Nordman ©

 


Today's Bible Question ?



      What Canaanite city was burned down by the men of Dan?

Previous question and Answer:

What husband, the victim of David's adulterous scheming, was made drunk by the king?

Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba — 2 Samuel 11:13

 

 

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

Spurgeon's Morning for April 3

Spurgeon's Evening for April 3

birds in winter

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

-  Isaiah 53:6

 

They took Jesus, and led him away."

-  John 19:16

 

Here a confession of sin common to all the elect people of God. They have all fallen, and therefore, in common chorus, they all say, from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall enter there, "All we like sheep have gone astray."

He had been all night in agony, he had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas, he had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate; he had, therefore, but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted him. They were eager for his blood, and therefore led him out to die, loaded with the cross.


   

 

 

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 April 3  Judges 3:1 - 5:31

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM 



 


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Like Grass

 

In Queen Mary's time a man named Palmer was condemned to die. Many tried to persuade him to recant. Among other things a friend said to him, "Take pity on your golden years and pleasant flowers of youth, before it is too late." 

His reply was as beautiful as it was conclusive: "Friend, I long for those spring flowers which shall never fade away." When he was in the midst of the flames he exhorted his companions to constancy, saying, "We shall not end our lives in the fire, but make a change for a better life. Yes, for coals we shall receive pearls." From his testimony we clearly see that although "if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," yet the prospect of a better and enduring substance enables us to meet all the trials and temptations of this present life with holy boldness and joy. 

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 

 ...and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:17-20 NASB 

 

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Today's  Devotion
 

What Have You Done for Me Lately?

 

"I marvel at how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ..."

(Gal 1:6 ))

A revealing look into human nature can be seen by the famous rhetoric of the would-be baseball fan. Someone makes us happy, but not for long. We'll go to the ends of the earth for that person, but only if they keep feeding our satisfaction. How quickly we fade away!

Miriam had barely finished the victory song, after the crossing of the Red Sea, when grumbling began again. "Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea...for three days they traveled...so the people grumbled against Moses..." (Ex 15:22,24) What have you done for me lately?

Marveling, grief, astonishment have been experienced by leaders throughout history. They have shared the marvel of Paul's: the quickness of unbonding.

It's one thing to grow fickle after a miracle, it's another to desert the grace of Christ. "...whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst...indeed a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (Jn 4:14). The drink of Christ's grace is meant to be eternal, forever settled,
eternally enticing.

Dr. Dobbins (not Dobson) teaches that God has given each of us a fascinating mind, one that bonds together pleasure WITH the source of that pleasure. (Negatively this is the cause of all kinds of disorders and obsessions.) To our benefit we have been given the capacity to bond and
rebond with God through a lifetime. The peace, security, intimacy, delight we enjoy links us to its Source: God. We would not "quickly desert" He who has called us into the grace of Christ.

Let us learn how to drink from the spring that wells up into MORE and MORE, and somehow to escape the marveling of our own contemporaries. "They keep watch over you as men who must give account. Obey them that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Heb 13:17).

© Cathy Vinson
Marveling, grief, astonishment have been experienced by leaders throughout history. They have shared the marvel of Paul's: the quickness of unbonding.

More Whispers from the Wilderness