Share with God's people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.

(Romans 12:13 NCV)

Success does not mean standing victoriously over a fallen enemy. It is standing side by side with persons you have helped. Success is a matter of raising not only your own water level but the water level of all around you so that all the ships in the harbor can embark on prosperous voyages.

Denis Waitley – Timing is Everything Adams

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman ©

July 2

"In Jesus Christ, in that Godman, so full of tenderness, so gentle, kind, loving and longsuffering; here not spurning away but encouraging a weeping Magdalene; here shedding tears for a city that was about to shed his blood; here forgetting his own sorrows in pity for a mother's, putting forth his dying strength to save a thief, and spending life's latest breath in prayer for bloody murderers; in him who hastened on wings of love to pluck this world from ruin who never wished ill to any, but good to all who returned blessing for cursing...who this day bends looks of pity on [us]...in him God unveils himself to us." Dr. Guthrie.

Pat Nordman ©

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for July 2	Spurgeon's Evening for July 2
"Our heart shall rejoice in Him." - Psalm 33:21	"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
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.

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July 2 Ne 7:1 - 8:18

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

Current Bible Question

Which seller of purple in the city of Thyatira provided a place for Paul and Silas to stay?

Previous question and Answer:

Who was the third son of Adam and Eve?

Seth (Genesis 4:25)

Today's Devotion

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

Job 16:5 (NIV)

Running From the Parent

by Cathy Vinson

"One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God."

(Luke 18:15-17)

Don't we derive pleasure from watching a toddler's discovery that his wobbly, jerky legs can actually carry him away from this pursuing parents? What a beam spreads across his face as the realization dawns that he can get away! The initial discovery is amusing to all.

Aren't we delighted with the child, the child of joy? His very presence in our midst teaches us how to receive the Kingdom. Yet even in Jesus' experience, the adult tried to hinder the child's coming to Him (Luke 18:15-17). A valuable principle exists here.

Consider the child in you who longs toward the simplicity of God's joy, a joy that translates into inner strength..."the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Neh 8:10). There also dwells the adult in us who tries to hinder the child from coming, from casting off his cares, from running, skipping in liberty, and most sadly, from beholding the continual joy of the Lord "...For I tell you that their (the children's) angels in heaven always see the FACE of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:10).

Paul knew the inner hinderer: "For in my inner being I DELIGHT in God's law, but I see another law at work...What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:22,24) In the same way Jesus intervened to gather to Himself the children from the well-meaning disciples, so it is only He who will deliver us.

Rick Joiner has prophetically spoken of our day as a time of learning "how to MAINTAIN the joy of the Lord. The Lord is pouring out a special anointing of joy to help deliver us from our bondage." Run with it! Run from the adult who would hinder such a one from entering the Kingdom that "belongs to such as these." "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Luke 18:17).

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

There also dwells the adult in us who tries to hinder the child from coming, from casting off his cares, from running, skipping in liberty, and most sadly, from beholding the continual joy of the Lord...

Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE