April 21
" But the Lord said, `You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not
tend it or make it grow...But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people
who cannot tell their right hand from their left...Should I not be concerned about that
great city?'" Jonah 4:10,11.
Jonah is one of the more interesting people in the Bible. He was that most human mixture
of strength and weakness; Godly yet bigoted, selfish and mean spirited.
And yet God seems to say to Jonah, "Come, let us reason together, Jonah. You are
concerned about this measly vine which I have destroyed with a worm, and you are so angry
about it you could die. And yet I want to save this nation, people and animals, and you
seem so unconcerned about them. I want no more controversy with you, Jonah, for I am both
sovereign and merciful. You are merciful to this gourd which is as nothing to the people
in Niveneh, and yet you are angry that I want to overlook their sins and accept their
repentance."
Yesterday we talked about aloneness. This passage from Jonah tells us of God's concern for
the population. The great city is as much His distress as the sparrow. God is a God of
peoples as well as persons. His Son wept over Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem...how often I have longed to gather your children together,...but you were not
willing." Matthew 23:37. Here Nineveh is willing to repent, and God is willing to
forgive. The Book of Jonah is filled with lessons and warnings. One warning is for us to
beware of expectations interfering with our present obligations. Jonah expected God to
destroy Nineveh, not realizing that God's plans are flexible. Another lesson is to let God
lead rather than give in to our own inclinations. Jonah ran the other way and God still
caught up with him, for God does know best. Our direction in duty is God's direction. All
benefit when all obey. Nineveh did, and probably so did Jonah, after God reasoned with
him.
Pat Nordman ©
April 22
"...The fire will test the quality of each man's work." 1 Corinthians 3:13c.
"The Lord has given to every man his work. It is his business to do it, and the
devil's business to hinder him if he can. So sure as God has given you a work to do, Satan
will try to hinder you. He may throw you from it, he may present other things more
promising. He may allure you by worldly prospects, he may assault you with slander,
torment you with false accusations, set you at work defending your character, employ pious
persons to lie about you, and excellent men to slander you. You may have Pilate and Herod,
Annas and Caiaphas all combined against you, and Judas standing by you ready to sell you,
all for thirty pieces of silver, and you may wonder why all these things come upon you.
Can you not see that the whole thing is brought about through the craft of the devil? To
draw you off from you work and hinder your obedience to God?
"Keep about your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not stop to stone the
devil's dogs; do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work. Let
the liars lie, let sectarians quarrel, let corporations resolve, let editors publish, let
the devil do his worst; but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work
God has given you.
"He has not sent you to make money. He has not commanded you to get rich. He has
never bidden you defend your character. He has never set you at work to contradict
falsehood which Satan and his servants may start to peddle. If you do these things, you
will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.
"Keep about your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. Let the world brawl and
bubble. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected; you may
be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men, but see to it
with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of
your life and object of your being until at last you can say, `I have finished the work
which Thou gavest me to do.'" Source Unknown.
Pat Nordman ©
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
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"I know that my Redeemer liveth." - Job 19:25 |
"Who is even at the right hand of God." - Romans 8:34 |
The marrow of Job's comfort lies in that little word "My"--"My Redeemer," and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in him before we can enjoy him. |
He who was once despised and rejected of men, now occupies the honourable position of a beloved and honoured Son. The right hand of God is the place of majesty and favour. Our Lord Jesus is his people's representative. |
Spurgeon's Morning for April 22 |
Spurgeon's Evening for April 22 |
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." - Romans 8:37 |
"Lo, in the midst of the throne ... stood a Lamb as it had been slain." - Revelation 5:6 |
We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. |
Beloved, the wounds of Jesus are far more fair in our eyes than all the splendour and pomp of kings. The thorny crown is more than an imperial diadem. It is true that he bears not now the sceptre of reed, but there was a glory in it that never flashed from sceptre of gold. |
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Today's Bible Question ?
What are the four rivers in the Garden of Eden?
Previous question and Answer:
What grief stricken woman turned away from her diseased husband because his breath was so offensive?
Job's wife (Job 19:17)
T
H
I
N
K
A
B
O
U
T
I
T
The Weaver
My life is but a weaving,
between my God and me.
I do not choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.
Offtimes He weaveth sorrow,
and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
and I the underside.
Not 'til the loom is silent
and the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
in the weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
in the pattern He has planned.
Author Unknown
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Slow Down! by Pat Nordman
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In the ignited atmosphere preceding the two miraculous feedings, Jesus makes one consistent requirement of the people: have them sit down. It wasn't a question of anointing being present, the crowd had to be in a posture to receive, and this meant sitting. While God offers to feed us miraculously from His treasures of wisdom, will we sit? Will we wait and take a moment to submit to His presence? Can we, or must we rush onto the next thing? Perhaps this is the calamity of our souls in this time. One of the most influential theologians of this half of the century, German Jurgen Moltmann, accurately explains our plight: "Although the world offers us unlimited possibilities, our own life spans are short. Hence, many people panic because they think they might miss something, and thus they accelerate the tempo of their lives. The difference between lifespan and world possibilities seduces us into a 'race with time.' We want to gain more from time so we can get more from life and, precisely, in so doing we miss life. We believe that only the person who lives faster gets more out of this short life.... "The experience of the presence of the eternal God brings our own temporal life as if into an ocean that surrounds and supports us when we swim in it...We become calm and composed, and we begin to live slowly and with enjoyment. Only the person who lives slowly gets more from life! Only the person who eats and drinks slowly eats and drinks with enjoyment. Slow food; slow life. Only the person who is extremely rich can waste time. A person who is certain of eternal life has a great deal of time."
Send a note to © Pat Nordman , the writer of this devotion |
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