Today's Soul Food — April 20
 

April 20

"I will not fear the tens of thousands...." Psalm 3:6.

The "voice of the people" can be most strident and fickle. "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" We can also slough off responsibility this way: "Let George or Mary or them do it. After all, they have more money, more time, more talent than I have." But God has given each of us the same of what the others have, even if it isn't the same amount.

Numbers cannot make us happy. Most of Jesus' miracles were one on one. And true friends come one at a time. Jesus is the perfect Friend, for He is the only one who will never misunderstand us; we can tell Him anything and know that it won't go any further. Sorrow is very lonely, too: "Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone."

"I do not believe that any human being is fundamentally happier for being finally lost in a crowd, even if it called a crowd of comrades." G. K. Chesterton, As I Was Saying (1936); "In the crowd, herd, or gang, it is a mass mind that operates which is to say, a mind without subtlety, a mind without compassion, a mind, finally, uncivilized." Robert Lindner, Must You Conform?, (1956); "He who goes into a crowd must now go one way and then another, keep his elbows close, retire, or advance, and quit the straight way, according to what he encounters." Montaigne, Essays, (158088).

Oswald Chambers tells us, "Solitude with God repairs the damage done by the fret and noise and clamour of the world." We are born alone and we die alone. There are milestones and obligations in all our lives that only we can face. In 1 Samuel 9:27, Samuel tells Saul, after asking him to send his servant ahead, "I have received a special message for you from the Lord." Perhaps we need to send ahead what so distracts us that we may hear the special message from God. It's difficult to do in this noisy world!

Pat Nordman ©

Today's Bible Question ?

What are the four rivers in the Garden of Eden?

Previous question and Answer: What grief stricken woman turned away from her diseased husband because his breath was so offensive? Job's wife (Job 19:17)

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

About Prayer For You The Lord always hears our prayers, But He does not always say, "Yes!" Sometimes He says, "Wait" Sometimes He says, "No" For He has something better for us. God's delays are not denials, He has heard your prayer; He knows all about your trials, Knows your every care. God's delays are not denials, Help is on the way, He is watching o'er life's dials, Bringing forth that day. God's delays are not denials, You will find Him true, Working through the darkest trials, What is best for you. ~unknown~

 

Today's  Devotion

One Blood by Pat Nordman   "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth ... " Acts 17:26 NKJV

When I was 19 years old, my grandmother gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life, a trip to Europe. We were a group of college students from many schools touring religious sites in eight countries. Even today, many years later, I recall it as the most delightful summer of my life. It wasn't just the constant rush, the ships to and from Europe, (I recommend at least one of these in a lifetime!), the Alps, Florence, the laughter, the joy of "talking" and not understanding the words but understanding the expressions and hearts -- no, the very greatest souvenir and one that will go to my grave, I pray, was the realization that we are all of one mind and heart and blood: Christ's blood that was shed for us – all of us! The more I thought about it after I got back the more I knew that God and my beloved grandmother had given me something literally priceless, and I thank them both with all my heart. John Morley gives the following explanation: "Tolerance is far more than the abandonment of civil usurpations over the conscience. Toleration means reverence for all the possibilities of truth, it means acknowledgment that she dwells in diverse mansions and wears vesture of many colors, and speaks in strange tongues; it means frank respect for freedom of indwelling conscience against mechanic forms, official conventions, social force; it means the charity that is greater than faith and hope. Marked is the day for the man when he can truly say, as Mr. Gladstone said, `Long, long have I cast these weeds behind me.'" Intolerance is indeed one of the worst weeds in the world. Oh, Friends, we are one blood: the precious Blood of Jesus! Send a note to © Pat Nordman , the writer of this devotion

The more I thought about it after I got back the more I knew that God and my beloved grandmother had given me something literally priceless, and I thank them both with all my heart.

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