GOLDEN WORDS

We love him, because he first loved us.
 
1 John 4:19 -  KJV


We love him, because he first loved us.
 
1 John 4:19 -  NASB


We love him, because he first loved us.
 
1 John 4:19 - NIV 




The  story of a love is not important. What is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.

Helen Hayes

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman

February 13

"Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to understand everything that happens along the way?" Proverbs 20:24 TLB; "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow..." James 4:14,15.

We can propose what we think is a logical plan and God can dispose of it very quickly. The story of Joseph illustrates this well. At the request of his father Jacob, Joseph proposed to spend a few days finding his brothers to see if all was well with them; instead, when he finally found them, they disposed of him by selling him for twenty shekels.

We can only imagine what Joseph endured physically and mentally. God directed Joseph's steps into slavery in a strange land, then to a prison and then, because of Joseph's integrity through all this, "[Pharaoh] made [Joseph] master of his household, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom" Psalm 105:21,22. All Joseph did that fateful day was set out to find out how his brothers were. In a matter of minutes his whole life was changed.

"It was not you who sent me here, but God" Genesis 45:8; "`You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them" Genesis 50:20,21. Joseph's brothers had acted out of jealousy and animosity, and now their hopes and lives depended on this little brother who they had treated so cruelly. Joseph brought good from evil, light from darkness, and sweet from bitter (Isaiah 5:20); what a grand story of forgiveness and victory over what seemed sure hostility and defeat.
Just as Joseph's life was altered within moments, so ours could be this very day. What a comfort it is to know that God is directing our steps and that it isn't necessary to our salvation or happiness, even, to understand the circumstances in our lives. What is necessary is our faith in the kindly providence of a God who understands because His Son became Man.

Pat Nordman ©

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for February 13		Spurgeon's Evening February 13
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God." - 1 John 3:1,2
Consider who we were, and what we feel ourselves to be even now when corruption is powerful in us, and you will wonder at our adoption. Yet we are called "the sons of God." What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings!		"There is therefore now no condemnation." -  Romans 8:1
		Come, my soul, think thou of this. Believing in Jesus, thou art actually and effectually cleared from guilt; thou art led out of thy prison. Thou art no more in fetters as a bond-slave; thou art delivered now from the bondage of the law; thou art freed from sin, and canst walk at large as a freeman, thy Saviour's blood has procured thy full discharge.

 

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

The Lamp of Love In the Jewish temple and tabernacle there burned a lamp, a light of sacrifice that never went out. Day and night summer and winter, it shed its soft and mystic glow within the holy place.  In the temple of the life our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ there was a lamp, a light that never went out. The oil that supplied it was never exhausted. No scorn, no hostility, no hatred could ever quench it. It was the light of love. In the church of God there is a lamp, and light that must never go out. This light is fueled by the love of God, and is attended by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We must never allow scorn, hostility, hatred, or any other ungodly thing quench the light of God's love in our church. . . .for when that happens the darkness of God's disapproval will settle down on the church and the presence of the Holy Spirit will quickly leave.

 

February 13 Leviticus 26:1 - 27:34 Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

 

 

Today's  Devotion

 

But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. Job 16:5 (NIV) LOSS by Cathy Vinson   Loss with no perceivable purpose is unbearable. Touching upon our Savior's experience with loss gives us strength to go on. Jesus appeared to His beloved city. Even here, the Prince of Peace could not gather the precious souls under His wings and give them the peace they needed. Though right in the midst of them, they could not recognize Him or the times. It was hidden. This was loss, the kind of loss when you see a loved one close to the gates of salvation, only to see them say, "I've tried it, and it doesn't work." What did Jesus do? He wept. He wept over a generation of lost souls. "If you had only known..." If only things were different, but they weren't, and these blind would suffer greatly for their ignorance. For this Jesus wept. The shock of loss can freeze our tears. Yet when loosened, it is a beautiful gift to God--tears of legitimate disappointment and frustration. Jesus faced and declared the grim truth. It was painful. He did not deny it, but carried it. "He bore our sorrows." Though the pit of our grief over the loss of relationship, prestige, success, innocence, seems without limit, it was borne in the sorrow He carried. It was swallowed up in His sorrow. The "what might have beens" and "if onlys" of a lifetime add up. Weep, yes, weep, but don't utterly despair. In your loss you find Jesus: Redeemer, Restorer, Gatherer, Reclaimer. "I came to seek and to save what was lost" (Mt 18:11).  He is seeking you. "I came to seek and save that which was lost." Matthew 18:11   Loss with no perceivable purpose is unbearable..   Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion. Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE

 

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Copyright Information: Phillip Bower is not the author of the humor, and does not claim to own any copyright privileges to the jokes. Sources of jokes are listed when known. Birthday's and Happenings for the date, and quotations are public knowledge and collected from numerous sources. Quotations are public knowledge and sources are listed when known. Weekendspirations are written by Tim Knappenberger who has copyright privileges. Cathy Vinson authors Whispers from the Wilderness and owns copyright privileges. Weekendspirations and Whispers from the Wilderness are used with permission by the respective authors. Other devotions are written by Phillip Bower unless otherwise stated. In all cases credit is given when known. The Daily Miscellany is nonprofit. Submissions by readers is welcome.