Today's Soul Food
 

 

FEBRUARY 14

GOLDEN WORDS


The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,.  

 Titus 2:3- 4 KJV 


Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,  that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  
 Titus 2:3- 4 -  NASB


Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
 
Titus 2:3- 4 - NIV 


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After helping my three-year-old son, Isaac, dry off after a bath, I wrapped him in a towel and put him on my lap for a hug. I said, "Isaac, you're getting so big! What are we going to do when you're too big to fit on my lap anymore?" He replied, "Then I'm going to hold you, Mom." 

Debra Power, California. Today's Christian Woman, "Small Talk." 

 

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman


February 14

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear..." Psalm 46:1,2a.

That word is is, present tense, a right-now conviction that there is help–and hope. The verse doesn't delineate the trouble; it only tells us that help and hope are there when they are so acutely needed. Hope–which should be a Christian frame of mind–is one of God's greatest blessings to man. It is Christian hope that helps us to bear the bur-dens of life. "...Jesus Christ, who is our hope..." (1 Timothy 1:1), a this moment possible confidence that all is not lost the instant we think it is. "In the presence of trouble, some people grow wings; others buy crutches." Anonymous. A legend is told of the time when God placed wings on the backs of the feeble birds and they protested loudly to Him, "Must we be burdened with this weight?" The Lord smiled and asked them to wait a week. The next day a strange thing happened. A force of some kind lifted them heaven-ward and the birds found themselves flying and floating, and enjoying a sensation they had never felt before. When the week passed they reappeared before the Lord and humbly acknowledged the wisdom of their Father. "These very wings which we ridiculed as unnecessary burdens we now cherish. They enable us to soar into the loftiest heights!"

We may be at the end of our rope, and that is exactly when God reaches down and pulls that very rope–and us–up to Him. It is said that when Luther and his friends became discouraged, Luther would cheerily say, "Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm." Luther had a special affinity for this particular Psalm and for good reason. When he said, "Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise," he knew that his resources were immediate and unfailing; he need fear no man on earth. "A mighty fortress is our God!" So let us grow wings to soar beyond and above earth's sorrows and diseases of psyche and physique.

Pat Nordman ©

 

 

 


Today's Bible Question ?


How old was Joseph when Pharaoh made him a ruler?     
 


Previous question and Answer:

Who was forbidden to "round the corners of the head?"

Answer - Jews (Leviticus 19:27)

 

 

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions

Spurgeon's Morning for February 14

 

Spurgeon's Evening February 14

 

"And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life."

- 2 Kings 25:30

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Herein he well pictures the happy position of all the Lord's people. A daily portion is all that a man really wants. We do not need tomorrow's supplies; that day has not yet dawned, and its wants are as yet unborn.

 

"She was healed immediately."

-  Luke 8:47

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If we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, salvation is our present and eternal possession. If in the list of the Lord's children we are written as the feeblest of the family, yet, being heirs through faith, no power, human or devilish, can eject us from salvation.

 
 

 

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The Race

There is a story that comes to us out of the long ago of a king who organized a great race within his kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom participated. A bag of gold was to be given to the winner, and the finish line was within the courtyard of the king's palace. The race was run, and the runners were surprised to find in the middle of the road leading to the king's palace a great pile of rocks and stones. But they managed to scramble over it or to run around it and eventually to come to the courtyard. Finally all the runners had crossed the finish line except one. But still the king did not call the race off. 

After a while one lone runner came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand and said, "O King, I am sorry that I am so late. But you see, I found in the road a pile of rocks and stones, and it took me a while, and I wounded myself in removing them." Then he lifted the other hand, and in it was a bag. He said, "But, Great King, I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of gold." The king said, "My son, you have won the race, for that one runs best who makes the way safer for those who follow." 

PREACHING TODAY 


 

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February 14 Psalms 18:1 - 22:31


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Today's  Devotion

 

"First Love"

by Tim Knappenberger

I don’t know about you, but in my youth, I swore I’d never grow old and stodgy. I vowed I’d never lose my passion for life. For the sake of my future children, I’d be the hippest dad anyone could ask for (It still was OK to use that word in the ‘70’s.). Like I said, all of these vows were made in my youth. Then I grew older and stodgier. My passions for life began cooling under the chilling layers of responsibilities that surreptitiously piled upon them. And what about being "hip?" Maybe this vignette best answers the question:

The other night my sons and I were talking about a movie they’d gone to see. Having had one of those brain spasm moments wherein you can’t come up with a word that’s on the tip of your tongue, I tried to ask which theater they went to. Being unable to think of the word "theater", I foolishly blurted out: "What movie house did you guys go to?" Howls and screeches of "Movie house!! Dad said movie house!!" followed for a good 10 minutes. How’s that for "hip?"

I can take the stodginess and being hip-impaired (maybe I’m in need of a total hip replacement?). It’s the cooling of my passions that’s got me most bugged. I’m aware that one can live a passionate life all the way to an elderly grave (and probably beyond for that matter). However, knowing this and doing this are far different things. To make matters worse, my dimming passions are currently living alongside my oldest son’s blazing ones, fanned to flame by his first true love. When he and Lora can’t be with one another, they find they must be in auditory contact over the phone for hours at a time simply to sustain life itself! The rest of us have to watch our step around home for fear of being swept under by the flood of hormones gushing out from underneath the door to Eric’s room. This from a kid, mind you, who not more than a year ago only got passionate over grand slams and slam dunks.

So, Where Oh Where did my passions go? Oh where, Oh where can they be? No doubt the same place other’s, have wound up. Passions take a real beating under the relentless press of paying bills, going to work everyday, coping with irritating people, compromising your dreams, raising kids, mowing the lawn, being responsible, paying your taxes, re-grouping after a divorce, living with chronic physical pain, and a host of other "passion pounders." From what I’ve observed, ironically, It’s often the most responsible among us that lose their passion the soonest. Working hard and always doing what’s expected by others often crowds out the zest and "juice" of life; resulting in a feeling of being squeezed and wrung out.

Nevertheless, God apparently wants us to perpetuate our passions. Passion may in fact be more important to Him than protocol. This is why the verse in Christ’s Revelation to John caught my eye. Notice what the church at Ephesus was doing: Working hard, persevering, not tolerating evil, testing false apostles, and enduring hardship. I would dare say that the Ephesians would be a tough act for many modern day churches to follow. Yet despite their dogged determination, Jesus holds their loss of passion ("forsaking their first love") against them. Early in their history, they evidently were intense for the Lord. He asks them to remember the heights of former passion, love, and devotion to Him. He even warns that failing to return to their first love, jeopardizes their standing with Him before the Throne. This desire of Jesus for a passionate relationship with His Bride is only further underscored a few verses later (Rev. 3:15-16) when He professes to the church at Laodicea how He wishes that they were either hot or cold, anything but lukewarm! This is not to say Jesus ignores unadorned, gut-it-out faithfulness. Quite the contrary. However, it does seems to clearly indicate His desire that the "juice" of our love for Him never dry up. That it be vibrant, sweet, exciting and alive!

What then are the passionateless to do? I was hoping you might tell me. Suffice to say, however, suggestions probably include changing one’s perspective, getting reacquainted with former loves, and unburdening oneself from unnecessary loads accumulated along the way. It also means, asking Christ’s Holy Spirit to have sway and reign in our hearts and minds. As with other emotional states, passion for God is one Jesus never expected us to manufacture alone. What does Jesus know about passion? Have you ever wondered just how intensely passionate He felt hanging on a cross screaming out "Father forgive them…"? We focus so much on His suffering and agony at Calvary, we lose sight of what I believe were equal amounts of passion and love felt on that same cruel cross. Next time your passion begins to cool, remember the passion that took God from heaven to a stable to a cross and then to a tomb. He’s pretty "head-over-heals" for you, wouldn’t you say?!

 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

1 John 3:1

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: … I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

(Revelation 2:2-5)

 

Passions take a real beating under the relentless press of paying bills, going to work everyday, coping with irritating people, compromising your dreams, raising kids, mowing the lawn, being responsible, paying your taxes, re-grouping after a divorce, living with chronic physical pain, and a host of other "passion pounders."

Other Weekendspirations can be found : HERE
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All the Rest February 14

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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.