The Lord turned to Gideon and said, "Go with your strength and save Israel from the
Midianites. I am the one who is sending you."
But Gideon answered, "Lord, how can I save Israel from the Midianites? My family group
is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important membr of my family."
The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are
fighting are only one man."
Judges 6:14-16 (NCV)
Sometimes we try too hard to assemble and polish the perfect tools to serve God. He
doesn't need better tools. He's well-equipped to accomplish what needs to be done. And
because the battles we face are spiritual, not temporal, the abilities and talents we add
to our arsenal aren't necessarily the ones needed. What God desires is that we trust Him,
and give Him what we already hold in our hands.
Annie Chapman
Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman ©
June 30
"My young friends, the influence of your lives, for good or evil, cannot be
gathered up by your friends after your eyes are closed in death, no matter how earnestly
you may plead in your last moments on earth. Your influence has gone out from you; you
alone were responsible; you had the power to govern, to shape; your influence no human
being can withdraw. Such a request cannot be fulfilled. It is impossible.
"Your relatives and friends cannot gather up your influence and bury it with you.
Young [people], live noble, true, heroic lives. Possess this `moral courage' in full
proportions, and at all times everywhere." W.H. Baldwin.
Pat Nordman ©
"...I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil" (Romans 16:19).
There is prey, which is what happened in the garden with Eve, and there is pray, which is what Jesus did in the Garden. God had His reasons for forbidding Eve to eat of that particular tree, but she disobeyed and then Adam.
Jesus was also in a Garden, and He also had an encounter with a tree: He was hung on it. "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men" (Romans 5:18). Let us be wise in good and innocent in evil.
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
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Spurgeon's Morning for June 30 |
Spurgeon's Evening for June 30 |
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them." - John 17:22
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"Ah Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." - Jeremiah 32:17 |
He has emptied all his estate into the coffers of the Church, and hath all things common with his redeemed. There is not one room in his house the key of which he will withhold from his people. He gives them full liberty to take all that he hath to be their own; he loves them to make free with his treasure, and appropriate as much as they can possibly carry. |
Whether it be a Noah who is to build a ship on dry land, an Abraham who is to offer up his only son, or a Moses who is to despise the treasures of Egypt, or a Joshua who is to besiege Jericho seven days, using no weapons but the blasts of rams' horns, they all act upon God's command, contrary to the dictates of carnal reason; and the Lord gives them a rich reward as the result of their obedient faith. |
| Spurgeon's Morning for July 1 | Spurgeon's Evening for July 1 |
"Our heart shall rejoice in Him." - Psalm 33:21
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"Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." - Psalm 28:1
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Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. |
A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. |
June 30 Ne 1:1 - 3:32 |
Current Bible Question |
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Previous question and Answer:
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But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)
Serving Security by Cathy Vinson
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"Firm, steadfast, that which is to be trusted." This sounds like the definition of what we should seek to align ourselves with. We are wise to be secure, building on what we can count on. The word defined above is mammon. Are we then finding ourselves in the midst of what Jesus spoke of? "You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Matt 6:24). Are we "rendering any type of service" to that which provides security? The preacher just said "the most difficult thing about the Christian life is it's so DAILY. Every new day we wake up to a new set of circumstances..." Jesus said we are either serving mammon or God (vs 24). There is Another One over against our service to security Who "feeds" (vs 26), Who "arrays" (vs 30), and Who "knows" our need (vs 32). We "cannot" serve security without diminishing our vision of the Life-Giver. "No one can serve two masters...he will be devoted to one and despise the other" (vs 24) (despise (kataphroneo-down, the mind) to think down upon or against, to think slightly of, to despise). Jesus tells us the truth about this "either/or" (vs 24) proposition. Again, comes the message "choose life" (De 30:19). See the sham we have subtlely sought and served with all good intentions, but without life. As truth breaks cracks into our sham, may we peek through unto Him Who is the Life-Giver. Let's become so, so assured in Him Who sees "your life as more important" and "your body as more important..." (vs 25). "My life is in You, Lord, my hope is in You, Lord, my strength is in You, Lord. In You, it's in You!" Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion. |
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Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE
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