Guilt
If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will
receive mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 (NCV)
For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my many sins.
Psalm 25:11 (NCV)
The results of sin were immediately evident in the garden of Eden.... The significance is
that Adam and Eve were brought to a realization of what they had done. They began to feel
afraid and to feel guilt -- and well they might, for their guilt feelings were rooted in
true guilt. When a man has sinned against God, he not only has guilt feelings, he has true
guilt; and he has true guilt even if he doesn't have feelings of guilt.
We notice here (Genesis 3:9-13) that Adam and Eve... try to pass the guilt from themselves
to another, and we have, therefore, the division which is at the very heart of man's
relationship with man from this point on....We do not have to wait for modern
psycholigists to talk about alienation. Here it is.... All the alienation that any poet
will ever write about is here already.
— Francis Schaeffer
Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman ©
August 16
"Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me" (Psalm
27:10). When her son committed suicide she decided she would like to know who her real
father washe had forsaken her unmarried mother. Perhaps there would be a clue to the son's
despondency to the point of selfdestruction.
She joined a group that searches for relatives. As she listened month after month to
stories of fruitless calls and trips, and the thousands of dollars and many years wasted,
she knew then she didn't need to know who her father wasfor she knew who her Father is,
and that was all she needed to know.
Pat Nordman ©
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
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Spurgeon's Morning for August 16 |
Spurgeon's Evening for August 16 |
| "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name." – Psalm 29:2 |
"Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit." — Romans 8:23 |
God's glory is the result of his nature and acts. He is glorious in his character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that he must be glorious. |
As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. |
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August 16 Jer 7:1 - 10:25 |
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)
Pass the Test by Cathy Vinson
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Escape by iniquity...isn't this the only way it's done? The thief escapes the police by racing fullspeed down the city streets; the disobedient child avoids the hand of discipline by fibbing. But here the Word of God through David speaks out, "On NO account..." The only true escape must be the one the Lord provides. If so, the believer should be the most expert on what escape is all about. How does one really escape? It must be an escape by righteousness. It's provided by God, "God will also provide a way of escape" (2 Cor 10:13), and "Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials" (2 Pet 1:9). One of the most sure ways to get out a test is to PASS it. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has STOOD the test..." It makes sense that the best way to get out of eighth grade is to pass the eighth grade exam. We tend to FIGHT the trials we "fall into" (Ja 1:2). As long as we are fighting God, we have yet to crack the books for our course. We have yet to begin studying and learning what the instructor is looking for to pass the course. James says rather than to pray for an end to the trial, we "should ask" for generously-given wisdom...how can we make the trial count?, how can we invest it well to produce desirable results?, how can we pass the test, etc? Another angle may be seen in the Lord's Prayer. We pray "lead us not into temptation...forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Just think, someone may be becoming a debtor to us today by "twisting my words all day long, always plotting..." (Ps 56:5). They are becoming bound by their wrong and, as above, will not escape by what they are doing. Today we may release them and become an AGENT of escape for them. This may be what is required for us to pass the test at their hands and inevitably allow grace for them to pass theirs. Cathy Vinson©
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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RealAudio format |
All the Rest for August 16 |
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