GOLDEN WORDS

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   
Ephesians 5.19,20

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

Ephesians 5.19,20 (NASB)

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Ephesians 5.19,20 (NIV) 




The Singing Marine

Corporal William Shurts, 21, of F. company, 5th Marine Regiment, was lit by a sniper's bullet on a Korean hill. He died the next day. His inspirational singing brought cheer and courage to the trenches. His comrades described him as the "man who brought God to the front lines!" His favorite song was 'The Old Rugged Cross." How this song enhearted the men in the foxholes! Often, they would join with Corporal Shurts on the chorus. Passing from man to man, William spoke quietly to them of faith in God. "After he talked to us a comrade wrote "the dark night was not so dark, and as you looked up, you thanked God that He had sent a man among you whose belief was so strong that he could PASS IT ALONG.




Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
Of His Flesh the mystery sing;
Of the Blood, all price exceeding,
Shed by our immortal King.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman

January 30

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" Revelation 3:20 .

Here we are confronted with one of the sublime "I Ams." In this verse, Jesus is presented as the guest of our heart who actively seeks us. Dr. Alexander Maclaren tells of a painting: "He who is the light of the world stands, girded with the royal mantle clasped with the priestly breastplate, bearing in His hand the lamp of truth, and there, amidst the dew of night and the rank hemlock, He pleads for entrance at the closed door which has no handle on its outer side, and is hinged to open only from within." Homiletic Commentary, Revelation, page 491.

Our Jesus can't become any more human than fellowshipping with us at the table. "Come and dine on My heavenly bread of comfort," He pleads with us. In His great I AM's, He tells us, "I AM the Staff of Consolation on which you can lean; I AM the Bread which you can eat to gain strength; I AM the Good Shepherd who will lead you through your valley; I AM your very present help in this time of trouble."

I Am not was or will be. What precious comfort there is in this promise. "I AM all that you need," He demonstrates and remonstrates with us with a love we cannot comprehend. With some of us He must knock loudly and repeatedly through what we perceive as sorrows. When He finally gets our attention and we open the door that was once closed through ignorance and indifference, then He brings to our hearts and houses His feast of love and delight and pleasant communion. He makes up our deficiencies with His sufficiencies and gives us such satisfaction that we will finally gladly respond to His Word and the impulses of the Holy Spirit for these are the knockings at our heart and door. And how grateful we should be that He will never close that door.


Pat Nordman ©

 

T H I N K A B O U T I T

A Tale Of Two Brothers The following story was found in a copy of Hutching's California Magazine, yellow with age, which was published in July, 1860.  "In helping others, we also help ourselves. This story of two brothers, traveling in Lapland, illustrates this truth more than whole volumes of aphorisms.  "It was a bitter freezing day, and they were traveling in a sledge, wrapped in furs from head to 'foot -- but, notwithstanding this, they were almost frozen in the fearful cold.  "By the wayside they discovered a poor traveler benumbed and perishing in the snow.  "'Let us stop and help,' said one of the brothers, 'we may save his life.'  "'Yes, and lose your own,' replied the other, 'Are we not ourselves freezing in the cold? None but a fool would think of stopping on such a day as this! I would not throw off my cloak of fur to save a hundred travelers!'  "'I am freezing as well as you,' said his brother, 'but I cannot see this stranger perish, I must go and help him.'  "He was as good as his word. He went to his relief, chafed his temples and gave him wine from his bottle to drink. The effort that he made brought warmth to his own limbs and he took the traveler on his back and bore him to the sledge.  "'Brother,' he said, 'Look! I have saved this stranger's life and also, I verily believe, my own. I am quite warm from the effort I have made.'  "But his brother did not answer. He was sitting upright in his furs on the sledge, cold and dead."  -- Christian Observer  William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

 

January 30   Exodus 38:1 - 39:43 Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

 

 

Today's  Devotion

 

... ...and by his light I walked through darkness!    JOB 29:3 NIV   Simple  by Pat Nordman   "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" Acts 4:13 It  was beyond doubt that these unsophisticated and common men were friends of Jesus. Their words and acts proved it. What was it that finally convinced the authorities that these men they scorned now were so bold because they had been with Jesus?     "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" 1 Corinthians 1:27. Peter, impulsive and assertive, who had just recently cursed and disowned his Lord, is transformed from sinking sand into bedrock firmness; John, ambitious, sensitive, longing for love and companionship, becomes valiant.     What was it that made this personality and character change? Basically they remained simple of heart and mind. This is what Jesus wanted--and wants--in His disciples. It was their devotion and courage and determination that changed. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that wrought the change, and not the power of money or intellect or social urgings. These men were still poor and unlettered, but now they were clothed with the armor of God.     If we don't know the Person, then we can't have a true change of personality. Peter and John knew Jesus intimately. Indeed, John rested on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper (John 13:25). We, too, must lay on the bosom of Jesus and share our intimate secrets with Him. Then others will note that we have been with the lovely Jesus. © Pat Nordman It was the power of the Holy Spirit that wrought the change...   More Walking Through the Darkness

 

 

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