GOLDEN WORDS

Daily Meditations by Pat Nordman

February 27

"You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north" Deuteronomy 2:3.

Sometimes we move in hollow circles that become dreary, but the emblem of the Christian life is a spiral. Boredom is contrary to the Christian life for God leads us forward. There are three traits among many that should get us off the mountain of monotony:

1) Growth, a going forward to a fulfillment and a final victory. We are constantly moving on in life. "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature..." Luke 2:52."But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" 2 Peter 3:18. One of the great promises is, "He who overcomes (grows) will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son" Revelation 21:7. We are cautioned, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" 2 Corinthians 4:16. Although the body is withering, the soul is weathering the storms and growing stronger in Christ.

2) Enthusiasm and earnestness for this gift of life. John Wesley is quoted as saying, "Get on fire for God, and men will come to see you burn." Jesus says, "Because you are lukewarm...I am about to spit you out of my mouth" Revelation 3:16. In a tepid condition one brings neither disgrace nor dishonor; one simply vegetates. Lethargy brags that it lacks nothing and can now take it easy. But Jesus says, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me" John 9:4. We must work.

3) Enterprise, or a plan for our life. Sometimes we need to "turn northward," to take a different direction in life so we may regain our zeal. Turning north, we are invigorated and strengthened for the new winds and windings of our high way of life. We should know when God gives us our marching orders by the inner peace we feel when we finalize our new plans.

Pat Nordman ©

Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions
Spurgeon's Morning for February 27		Spurgeon's Evening February 27
"Thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation." - Psalm 91:9
The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow; he may be sickly to-day and well to-morrow; he may be in happiness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed--but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God.		"Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."   -  Micah 5:2
		Not only when thou wast born into the world did Christ love thee, but his delights were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men. Often did he think of them; from everlasting to everlasting he had set his affection upon them.

 

 

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

Giving Blood    Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liz."  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood. Yet, he was willing to give everything to save her life!  Author Unknown

 

February 27 Numbers 19:1   20:29 Linked to Bible Gaitway TM

 

 

Today's  Devotion

 

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

OUT of the CAVE   "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" 1 Kings 19:4 NKJV

This is a favorite chapter of mine because it gives us a glimpse of someone as human as we are. Here we have the great Elijah, sinking from triumph to despair. He is just as subject to human emotions as we are. Who of us has not said, "I have had enough of this!" But God doesn't answer Elijah’s prayer; instead, He sends an angel, not once but twice, to Elijah to feed him. When Elijah is strong again, he travels on to Horeb, and what does he do -- he hides in a cave! God isn't going to let him get away with that, either. "What are you doing here, Elijah, so far away from your duties? What are you doing here, Elijah, you of all my people who should have remained at your post? My past compassions to you should have strengthened and served you especially for a time such as this." We need to know that God understands when we cry out in exhaustion and heartache and despair. Just as He brought Elijah out of the cave, He will bring us out of the darkness of whatever cave we are in now into His light once again (Psalm 18:28). Elijah thought his labor was useless; that it had come to nothing. Those with the highest and holiest purposes are the very ones who experience such intense dejection and rejection. Elijah's heart withered at the thought that he had failed. So it is with us all who feel we have failed God, family and church because of mistakes and our humanity. But this chapter tells us that God isn’t going to let us get away with self-pity. We are all subject to depression but there is an angel to help us out of our cave, if we will believe it. God commands us to "be strong and of good courage." (Joshua 1:6.) An anonymous saint said, "So, in the Lord's ministry, the nucleus of the Church was not found in the applauding multitudes on Olivet, but in the few faithful ones in the garden of Gethsemane." What a thought! When we feel we have had enough, let us be the faithful one in Gethsemane, kneeling with Jesus who set His face toward Jerusalem, realizing what He was about to endure (Luke 9:51b) © Pat Nordman

We need to know that God understands when we cry out in exhaustion and heartache and despair. Just as He brought Elijah out of the cave, He will bring us out of the darkness of whatever cave we are in now into His light once again...

 More Walking Through the Darkness

 

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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.