Today's Soul Food — August  23

 

Golden Words

 


When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he noticed the noisy crowds and heard the funeral music.

Matthew 9:23 (NLV)

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No Singing At His Funeral

When the noted agnostic Robert Ingersoll died, the printed funeral notices said, “There will be no singing.” Look not for hymns, anthems, oratorios, carols, and spiritual songs among infidels, agnostics, or skeptics. Without God, without Christ, without redemption, without a divine revelation and without hope, what have they to sing about?

—Sunday School Banner

 


Daily Meditations by  Pat Nordman ©

 


August 23

Grand liberty is accorded the praying man, if only the heart is in rapport with God. People pray kneeling: 1 Kings 8:54, Ezra 9:5, Daniel 6:10, Acts 20:36; standing: Jeremiah 18:20; sitting: 2 Samuel 7:18; lying prostrate: Matthew 26:39; silently: 1 Samuel 1:13; aloud: Ezekiel 11:13; alone: Mark 1:35, Matthew 6:6; together: Psalm 35:18, Matthew 18:19, Acts 4:31; at fixed times: Psalm 55:17, Daniel 6:10; everywhere: 1 Timothy 2:8; in bed: Psalm 63:6; at any time: Luke 18:1; spontaneously: Matthew 6:7; and for everything: Philippians 4:6, Genesis 24:1214, 1 Timothy 2:14.

God hungers for our fellowship, not our posture.


Pat Nordman ©

 

 


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Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

With links to the entire devotion

Spurgeon's Morning for August 23

Spurgeon's Evening for August 23

"The voice of weeping shall be no more heard."

– Isaiah 65:19

1

  

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith."

— Ephesians 3:17

The glorified weep no more, for all outward a causes of grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there.

You cannot get a subject closer to you than to have it in the heart itself. "That he may dwell"; not that he may call upon you sometimes, as a casual visitor enters into a house and tarries for a night, but that he may dwell; that Jesus may become the Lord and Tenant of your inmost being, never more to go out.

 

 

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August 23 Jer 32:1 - 33:26

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM 

 

Current Bible Question



According to Job, what is hidden from the keen eyes of the birds of prey?
 

Previous question and Answer:

Who had a dream about birds eating from a basket on his head?

Pharoah's baker (Genesis 40:16-17)

 
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Today's  Devotion
 

 

But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)

 

 

What it Means to Follow

by Cathy Vinson

 

"They saw the man...sitting there, dressed and in his right mind"

(Mark 5:15)


We may know this man as the Gadarene demoniac. In this verse we find him cleansed with a new beginning. Here is a man with a past of great disgust, yet, his story is a clear expression of the mercy of God.

The people of his region actually felt more comfortable in the days when they were trying to chain him down, more comfortable talking about "that crazy man over there." Now he stands as a revelation of God's power, shining a light of possibility into their own hearts. They do not want to face him, and even less the One who changed him. They are afraid. They want Jesus to leave their region.

This man is now the only one in his region who does NOT wish to be rid of the Righteous One called Jesus. This Jesus cleansed him. This Jesus is the only One who has ever had an answer for him.

But what is this...Jesus so quickly wants to leave him! Why, he has only just begun? Can you picture the scene? This mere babe "begs" Jesus that he might stay by His side and journey with Him.

Scripture says, "Jesus will not let him." (Mk 5:19) What could our own response be at this vulnerable juncture of our lives? He must turn from Jesus' side to face an apparently unyielding people who do not want to face the challenge of an existing God of power.

We can be deeply touched by this precious man, once demon-possessed, and now it appears being abandoned by His Savior. Obediently he turns away, and, in doing so actually begins to truly "follow" His Lord.

Cathy Vinson©

 

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

"We may one day be walking a life's crisis only to find someone adding another hardship. Nothing could seem more untimely! "Is this some sort of mistake, God? "

 


Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE

 

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~ The Price of a Miracle ~

 

Sally was only eight years old when she heard Mommy and Daddy talking about her little brother, Georgi. He was very sick and they had done everything they could afford to save his life. Only a very expensive surgery could help him now . . . and that was out of the financial question. She heard Daddy say it with a whispered desperation, "Only a miracle can save him now."

Sally went to her bedroom and pulled her piggy bank from its hiding place in the closet. She shook all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times. The total had to be exactly perfect.

No chance here for mistakes. Tying the coins up in a cold-weather-kerchief, she slipped out of the apartment and made her way to the corner drug store.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her attention . . . but he was too busy talking to another man to be bothered by an eight-year-old. Sally twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. She cleared her throat. No good. Finally she took a quarter from its hiding place and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Can it wait, I'm talking to my brother." "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Sally answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's sick ... and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon," said the pharmacist.

"My Daddy says only a miracle can save him now . . . so how much does a miracle cost?" "We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I can't help you."

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. Just tell me how much it costs."

The well-dressed man stooped down and asked, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"

"I don't know," Sally answered. A tear started down her cheek. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my folks can't pay for it . . . so I have my money.

"How much do you have?" asked the well-dressed man.

"A dollar and eleven cents," Sally answered proudly. "And it's all the money I have in the world."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the well-dressed man. A dollar and eleven cents . . . the exact price of a miracle to save a little brother. He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents."

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, renowned surgeon . . . specializing in solving Georgi's malady. The operation was completed . without charge and it wasn't long until Georgi was home again and doing well. Mommy and Daddy were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

"That surgery," Mommy whispered. "It's like a miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Sally smiled to herself. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost...one dollar and eleven cents... plus the faith of a little child.

Author Unknown

 

 

All the Rest for August 23


History for August 23

 


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