GOLDEN WORDS
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and
shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew 4:16 KJV
“Stupid Old Woman!”
When Queen Victoria resided at Balmoral Castle she sometimes enjoyed a walk in the
district incognito. On one occasion she slipped out by a side gate, accompanied only by
her faithful servant John Brown, who followed behind.
Along the road she came on a flock of sheep being driven by a boy, who shouted, “Keep
out of the way, stupid old woman!” The Queen smiled, but said nothing, and when her
servant came along he informed the lad that she was the Queen. “Ugh, well,” said
the boy, “she should dress like a queen.”
There were those who did not recognize the Son of God because He came in humble form.
—Gospel Herald
-
December 21
"A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped" (Mark 4:37).
Sometimes a storm comes suddenly. Job knew about suddenness of sorrow: a messenger came. . .another messenger came. -. .another messenger came. . .yet another messenger came. They all came with tragedies totally unexpected and astonishing.
If we're fortunate, sorrow comes slowly, like a soft wave, so we can have time to lower our anchor and calm our hearts. But sometimes we are not so blessed. It is then that God Himself lowers our anchor in our turbulent waters.
Pat Nordman ©
Today's Bible Question
|
|
Previous question and Answer: Who were the parents of Jesus? |
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
|
Spurgeon's Morning for December 21 |
Spurgeon's Evening for December 21 |
|
"Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant." - 2 Samuel 23:5 |
"I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk." - Ezekiel 16:10
|
An everlasting covenant means a covenant which had no beginning, and which shall never, never end. How sweet amidst all the uncertainties of life, to know that "the foundation of the Lord standeth sure," and to have God’s own promise, "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
|
When the Lord sanctifies his people, they are clad as priests in pure white; not the snow itself excels them; they are in the eyes of men and angels fair to look upon, and even in the Lord’s eyes they are without spot. |
|
|
Suppose
Suppose it were your birthday |
Christmas Quotation, Fact and Inspiration.
 |
Today's Devotion |
| "Merry Christmas" - This Means War! by Tim Knappenberger |
The Star; the Holy Family; the
toddler Jesus; the tender Madonna; the Magi; the gifts of gold, incense and myrrh; and the
slaughter of the babies. Whoa! Wait just a minute! What kind of sick-o are you?! What are
you trying to do to my Nativity reverie!?! Well actually, nothing. Nothing, that is, other
than telling the whole story. Anyone who’s even vaguely familiar with the Christmas story is aware of this seemingly aberrant footnote to the account of Jesus’ birth. It fits in with all of the other warm and soft Christmas imagery about as well as a hair-sprouting wart on the tip of Mona Lisa’s nose. It’s not a detail of the Savior’s advent that we eagerly retell to our own children again and again. For the most part, we read through it and move on as quickly as we can. If we do pause to consider how it does or doesn’t "fit" into the larger story, we all too often end up just shaking our heads and lamenting about the insane cruelty of man against man. Life confronts us with many issues upon which we ponder, but there remains a select few we keep coming back to again and again. Issues with which we particularly struggle in attempts to understand and make sense of. Death is one. Suffering another. And Evil. The Christmas story contains all three. It’s not hard for even the most adamant of agnostics to be drawn to the many icons of Christmas evoking love, mercy, and tenderness. Nevertheless, the real Christmas is more about warfare and battle than lullabies and carols. Or as C.S. Lewis pens; the Savior's "invasion" and His confrontation with the forces of evil . Never ever forget; Jesus’ long awaited incarnation was the loudest "cannon volley" ever heard in the realms of spiritual combat. What God ordained in the Garden was now here. Satan’s uncontested reign of fear, pain, suffering and death was about to be wrestled away and he wasn’t about to give up without a fight. Christmas is marked by numerous contrasts: stars and swords; majestic kingly visitations and twisted kingly agitation; The Light breaking into the dark; angels conversing with shepherds; the children who die, and the Child who gets away;. Mary rejoicing, Rachel weeping. Every contrast represents pitched battle; blow and counter-blow. What does one say to the mothers of those boys? Their deaths made no sense: What did they have to do with earthly thrones and messianic expectations?
Send a note to Tim Knappenberger at: TKNAPPENBERGER@neo.rr.com |
|
| 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and
found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and
said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to
me, so that I too may go and worship him." 12 And having been warned in a dream not
to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 13 When they had
gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said,
"take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for
Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So he got up, took the child
and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 16 When Herod realized that he had
been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in
Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time
he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was
fulfilled: 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping
for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Matthew 2:7-18 - NIV) |
||
|
Find more Weekendspirations HERE
Today's Religion News
From Goshen Web News Service
Religion
News |
RealAudio format |
|
|
Return to DM's HOME
