But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become the children of God.

John 1:12 (NCV)

When you recognize God as Creator, you will admire him. When you recognize his wisdom, you will learn from him. When you discover his strength, you will rely on him. But only when he saves you will you worship him. ... And from that moment on, he is not just a deity to admire, a teacher to serve, or a master to obey. He is the Savior. The Savior to be worshiped.

Max Lucado

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman ©

June 29

The following is from Scientific American, 1881: "Another fact which tells that `high pressure' living tends to unhinge the mind may be found in the source of the larger portion of the inmates of the insane asylums. The records...show that most of the insane come, not from the busy professional, mercantile, and manufacturing classes, but from those whose lives are a monotonous round of petty drudgery, or, what is equally killing, petty inaction, unfruitful idleness, and dissipation. Frivolity probably leads more men and women to the insane asylum than the hardest and intensest pursuit of mental or material wealth." That was in 1881!

Pat Nordman ©

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for June 29	Spurgeon's Evening for June 29
"Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." - 1 Thessalonians 4:14	"Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." - 2 Chronicles 32:31
Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise," is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They "sleep in Jesus," but their souls are before the throne of God, praising him day and night in his temple, singing hallelujahs to him who washed them from their sins in his blood.	Like the moon, we borrow our light; bright as we are when grace shines on us, we are darkness itself when the Sun of Righteousness withdraws himself. Therefore let us cry to God never to leave us.

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June 29 Psalms 144:1 - 150:6

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

Current Bible Question

On what people did the Lord cause great hailstones to fall from heaven?

Previous question and Answer:

Who was the partially blind and very fat man, who at the age of 98, fell off his seat and broke his neck?

Eli (1Samuel 4:15, 18)

Today's Devotion

But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

Job 16:5 (NIV)

Almost

by Cathy Vinson

"Almost you persuade me to be a Christian"

Acts 26:28

There is no sadder statement than to say as King Agrippa to Paul, that he almost was persuaded to believe. We can assume the process went no further than what is recorded in Scripture.

What does it mean to "almost" believe? We know no one can create spiritual hunger but God. He alone draws people, causes people to seek Him, reveals truth, and convicts of guilt, righteousness and judgment. If this is at work in an individual, we know we are seeing the handprints of God's activity within them.

But at this stage, the person still remains outside the promises of God. Almost is not enough. "Once you were not a people...once you had not received mercy" (1 Pet 2:10), "you were once darkness..." (Eph 5:8). "Once" has not been changed.

A vivid memory to my husband remains with him of the night before he surrendered to the Lord. As some street preachers at a festival encountered his gang of friends, one other friend stayed to hear. While the gang tried to drag the two away, his friend consented to being pulled away. My husband will never forget the longing look on his face as he looked back to the preachers talking to my husband. He was killed 3 1/2 months later as he drove drunk into an oil well. It is a look he can't forget, the look of "almost."

You may have been interested, even stirred. This could not happen without God's drawing (Jn 6:44). You may think you can stay or return to this point...only indefinitely.

Please make that step of your will. If you are stirred, God is doing His part. May your story not be recorded as "almost."

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

... What does it mean to "almost" believe? We know no one can create spiritual hunger but God. He alone draws people, causes people to seek Him, reveals truth, and convicts of guilt, righteousness and judgment.

Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE