Today's Soul Food — November 23

Golden Words

      


 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word.

Psalm 119:67  NIV

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Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. It is different than most other Psalms in its length and content. It was written as an acrostic. It may have been written to read, rather than to be sung. The main focus of the entire 176 verses is God's word. There 22 stanzas, each devoted to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

In the above verse we again see the benefit of affliction in one's life. The stanza 65-72 show the goodness of God. Even in affliction God is good. Affliction can give us knowledge and good judgment from the word of God. 

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By afflictions God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us. -- When he makes the world too hot for us to hold, we let it go.

Sir John Powell



Daily Meditations by  Pat Nordman ©

 


November 23

"A story is told of a king who tested his subjects by placing a large stone in the center of the street near his palace. Various people avoided it, or stumbled over it, each complaining of `the lazy people' who left it there. When it was clear that no one would remove it voluntarily, the king called those who had avoided the stone to the place, and, with his own hands, removed the stone, while they looked on. Under the stone was a box containing gold and treasures marked, `For him who moves this stone.'" Anonymous.

So we are to go on with our duties; they conceal treasures we can't see until we do them.


Pat Nordman ©

 


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Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

With links to the entire devotion

Spurgeon's Morning for November 23

Spurgeon's Evening for November 23

"Fellowship with him."

- 1 John 1:6

"Get thee up into the high mountain."

- Isaiah 40:9

 

We have fellowship with Christ in his love. What he loves we love. He loves the saints-so do we. He loves sinners-so do we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth’s deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord-so do we.

Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to climb the hill of the Lord, and see him face to face. We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us.

 

   

 

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November 23  Romans 14:1 - 16:27

365 days of Bible Readings Linked to Bible Gaitway TM 

 

Current Bible Question



What tree's fruit was used to make a plaster to heal the diseased King Hezekiah?    
 

Previous question and Answer:

Who was put in prison as a political enemy of the Philistines?

Samson (Judges 16:24)

 

 

A Child's Grateful Heart

 I once heard a touching story about a poor woman with two children who had no bed for them to sleep in and scarcely any clothes to cover them. In the depth of winter they were nearly frozen, and the mother took the door of a cellar off the hinges, and set it up before the corner where they crouched to sleep, that some of the draft and cold might be kept from them. One of the children whispered to her, when she complained, "Mother, what do those dear little children do who have no cellar door to put up in front of them?" Even there, you see, the little heart found cause for thankfulness. 

-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990) 

 

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Today's  Devotion
 

 

...and by his light I walked through darkness!    JOB 29:3 NIV

 

Given Your Due 

by Pat Nordman 

 

There is going to come a time of testing at Christ's Judgment Day to see what kind of material each builder has used. Everyone's work will be put through the fire so that all can see whether or not it keeps its value, and what was really accomplished."

1 Corinthians 3:13c TLB

This Source Unknown has helped me through some discouraging times. So often we feel we haven't been given our due for all the hard work we have done and the time we've spent on people and projects. When I start to feel sorry for myself I reread this gem:

"The Lord has given to every man his work. It is his business to do it, and the devil's business to hinder him if he can. So sure as God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder you. He may throw you from it, he may present other things more promising. He may allure you by worldly prospects, he may assault you with slander, torment you with false accusations, set you at work defending your character, employ pious persons to lie about you, and excellent men to slander you. You may have Pilate and Herod, Annas and Caiaphas all combined against you, and Judas standing by you ready to sell you, all for thirty pieces of silver, and you may wonder why all these things come upon you. Can you not see that the whole thing is brought about through the craft of the devil? To draw you off from you work and hinder your obedience to God?

"Keep about your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not stop to stone the devil's dogs; do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work. Let the liars lie, let sectarians quarrel, let corporations resolve, let editors publish, let the devil do his worst; but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work God has given you."

He has not sent you to make money. He has not commanded you to get rich. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has never set you at work to contradict falsehood which Satan and his servants may start to peddle. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.

"Keep about your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. Let the world brawl and bubble. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected; you may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men, but see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being until at last you can say, `I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.'"

-Source Unknown.


Thank You, Lord, that You know our work. After all, that is the only thing that matters, finally.

© Pat Nordman

Send a note to Pat Nordman , the writer of this devotion.
 

So often we feel we haven't been given our due for all the hard work we have done and the time we've spent on people and projects.

 

More Walking Through the Darkness

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Today's 'All the Rest' Fact and the 'Soul Food' Think About It are found combined for the Thanksgiving Season on the following pages:

Thanksgiving 1 - Thanksgiving 2 - Thanksgiving 3 - 
Thanksgiving 4 - Thanksgiving 5 - Thanksgiving 6 -  
Thanksgiving 7 -  Thanksgiving 8 -  Thanksgiving 9 -  
Thanksgiving 10 -  Thanksgiving 11 -Thanksgiving 12 -  
Thanksgiving 13 - Thanksgiving 14  

 

Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalm 30:4

 

Today's Religion News
From Goshen Web News Service

 

 


All the Rest November 23


Today in History for November 23

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