Today's Soul Food — August  26 & 27

 

Golden Words

 


If you want  to know what God wants for you to do, asl him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountyful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it.

James 1:5 New Living Bible

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If God gives to us in promises, we must give ourselves to him in duties.

 


Daily Meditations by  Pat Nordman ©

 


August 26

"We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses..." (Hebrews 4:15a). He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. As we follow in His steps, we find sacred blood in the footprints. As He touches our hearts, we see the nail prints in His hands. How can we not be influenced by such a thought as this, that the greatest became the least that we the least might rise out of our depths to His heights?

In the dark night of our soul how much it eases the pain to know Jesus has gone before us and marked the path and pushed aside hindrances to make a clear way for us.


August 27

We crave excitement, so the TV writers rack empty brains to come up with more and more violence and stupidity to satiate what they perceive to be an unending appetite for grossness, gruesomeness and silliness.

Years ago Alexander Pope left us this grand epigram for addicts of the perverse: "Vice is a monster of so frightful mein/ As to be hated needs but to be seen;/Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,/We first endure, then pity, then embrace." Sometimes certain programs are preempted so something else can be shown. The problem is, common sense, decency, literacy, love, hope and joy were preempted years ago. TV is seen much too oft! And what a waste of God's time...


Pat Nordman ©

 

 


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Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

With links to the entire devotion

Spurgeon's Morning for August 26

Spurgeon's Evening for August 26
 

"He hath commanded his covenant for ever."

– Psalms 111:9

  

"The people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him."

— Mark 9:15

The covenant is a treasury of wealth, a granary of food, a fountain of life, a store-house of salvation, a charter of peace, and a haven of joy

Though Jesus is holy and just, yet blended with his purity there is so much of truth and grace, that sinners run to him amazed at his goodness, fascinated by his love; they salute him, become his disciples, and take him to be their Lord and Master
Spurgeon's Morning for August 27 Spurgeon's Evening for August 27
 

"How long will it be ere they believe me?"

– Numbers 14:11

  

"Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

— Psalm 31:5

Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. ... It is true it is a weed, the seeds of which we an never entirely extract from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance.

What is this mortal state compared with the soul? The believer commits his soul to the hand of his God; it came from him, it is his own, he has aforetime sustained it, he is able to keep it, and it is most fit that he should receive it.

 

 

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August 26 Jer 41:1 - 44:30
August 27 Jer 45:1 - 48:47


365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM 

 

Current Bible Question



Who is mentioned as the father of those who play the harp and organ?
 

Previous question and Answer:

What king prophesied while accompanied by a minstrel?

Elisha (2 Kings 4:32)

 
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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)

 

 

How Can I?

by Cathy Vinson

 

"I have put off my robe-how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet-how can I soil them again?"

(S of S 5:4)


Out of life's necessities we erect artificial boundaries. I can only go this far, we think, and there stands our limit...until One mercifully comes along beckoning us to open up at that point to Him.

In Scripture this sentiment seems respectfully bestowed upon the female. As her lover comes to her door, Solomon's maiden says "HOW CAN I put on my coat?" She has spent her day. The putting off of her coat means a cessation of weary duties and errands. "HOW CAN I" dirty my feet now that I have bathed? The evening has brought the washing away of the day's sweat and grime. Please leave her shortlived cleanness untouched.

Even Martha can be heard to be saying "HOW CAN I"...sit in repose when much is to be done. I even wonder if we can hear it in the heart of Lot's wife: "HOW CAN I leave my life here? This is the home my children were raised in, filled with cherished memories and decorated in due time. This is the town I have prayed for...these are the relationships cultivated, growing deeper roots as each season turned."

"How can I?" There will be a softening going on at the edges of these long-guarded limits. And it will happen by the One who draws near out of the evening with his "head filled with dew, his locks with the drops of the night" (vs 2). He leaves some of His fragrance by the handles of the door, and I begin to repent. Will I still refrain because of my well-developed excuses? Or will I soften? If I shall not, won't I too learn the lesson of such starvation for His fellowship, that I will roam through the streets and find the true worth of the things I held at bay. I will be "sick of love" (vs 8)

Cathy Vinson©

 

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

"Out of life's necessities we erect artificial boundaries. I can only go this far, we think, and there stands our limit...until One mercifully comes along beckoning us to open up at that point to Him."

 


Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE

 

Music in the Bible

Music was a part of everyday life. Merrymaking, weddings, and funerals were never complete without music. Even war relied on music. Musicians and their skills were part of aristocratic diversion and relaxation.

Music was also a very important part of worship. The Hebrew priests took great care in avoiding the use of music in the temple that could be associated with sensuous pagan worship. In some surrounding cultures fertility rites were common. Women singers and musicians would incite sexual orgies to honor their gods. These instruments and women singers we forbidden in the temple. Even instruments not associated with pagan practices were sometimes restricted. Happy, melodious flute tones in the temple could distract the mind from worship. For this reason, these instruments were not permitted in the first temple.

Temple music consisted of singers and an orchestra. The singers and musicians could only come from the males of certain families. The Old Testament lists several kinds of instruments used in the temple orchestra (1 Chronicles 15;28; 16:42; 25:1). These instruments include the big harp (nevel), the trumpet (chatsotserah), the timbrel (toph), and cymbals (metsiltayim). Following the Exile the temple was rebuilt. The temple orchestra was reestablished (Neh 12:27). Vocal music became more prominent and the pipe or flute (halil) was now include.

 

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~ Prayer Saves A Nation ~

On September 1, 1939, Adolph Hitler launched his attack on Poland. Then, in six short months, his armies rolled practically unopposed through Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium. In April 1940, he was ready to invade France. The French believed, along with most military experts, that the German advance would be stopped at the French border. Helping the French were more than a quarter-million British soldiers - nearly the entire defensive force of England.

The French army was routed. 40 days after the German assault began, the Germans had advanced to within 15 miles of ultimate victory, trapping nearly 500,000 French and British troops in the town of Dunkirk. The British parliament was in a panic. If the force at Dunkirk were lost, as seemed inevitable, Britain would be left defenseless. That was the situation on May 23, 1940. 500,000 troops waited at Dunkirk, expecting to be killed or imprisoned by the Germans. But that day in England, the churches, supported by King George VI, their political leaders, and the nation's newspapers, issued a call for a national day of prayer to be held on Sun-day, May 26.

24 hours after the call for prayer went out, Adolph Hitler, to the amazement and dismay of his own generals, ordered his armies to halt. Two days later, on May 26, the people of England met to pray. They poured into the churches to plead with God to spare their husbands, sons and fathers at Dunkirk.

At 7:00 o'clock that evening, an order was issued to attempt a desperate evacuation of Dunkirk. Anything that could float was sent across the English Channel to rescue as many men as possible. And while the evacuation took place, Hitler's armies remained in place, allowing 336,000 Allied soldiers to be rescued.

To this day, it baffles the historians. Hitler held victory in the palm of his hand, yet he prevented his troops from finishing the job. Many have speculated on why Hitler held his soldiers at bay, but from a military perspective, none make any sense. But there is, in light of the Word of God, a very plausible explanation. In response to the prayers of a nation, the same God who parted the Red Sea and stopped the mouths of lions halted the armies of Hitler.

Many historians see Dunkirk as the turning point of World War II. Hitler never regained his momentum. And if Dunkirk was the turning point of the war, then the outcome of World War II was not ultimately determined by the entrance of the United States into the war or Hitler's foolish attack on Russia. Hitler's defeat began when thousands of men and women fell to their knees before an Almighty God and asked Him to save their nation.

Submitted by David Zimmerman

 

 

Today's Religion News
From Goshen Web News Service

 

 

All the Rest for August 26 & 27


History for August 26
History for August 27

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