May 19
"...Holding on to faith and a good conscience." 1 Timothy 1:19; "Not that I
have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3:12.
William Booth (18291912) left an established church to become an evangelist to the poor.
He eventually founded the Salvation Army because the churches would not accept his slum
converts.
Because of his work with the poor and downcast, General Booth eventually formulated rules
for Christian living:
1) Consider your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit and treat it with reverence and
care.
2) Keep your mind active. Stimulate it with thoughts of others that lead to doing
something.
3) Take time to be holy with daily Bible reading and prayer.
4) Support the church of your faith.
5) Cultivate the presence of God. He wants to enter your life and will as far as you let
him.
6) Take God into the details of your life. You naturally call upon him in trouble and for
the bigger things.
7) Pray for this troubled world and the leaders who hold the destinies of the varied
nations.
8) Have a thankful spirit for the blessings of God: country, home, friends, and numerous
other blessings.
9) Work as if everything depended upon work, and pray as if everything depended upon
prayer.
10) Think of death not as something to be dreaded, but as a great and new experience where
loved ones are met and ambitions realized.
Pat Nordman ©
May 20
"Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or
night..." Isaiah 60:11; "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may
have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:14; "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will
come in and go out, and find pasture." John 14:6.
The Word of God begins with a gate closing on Adam and Eve. Imagine their hopelessness!
But in Revelation 22:14 we have the glorious idea of entering the gate into the
Everlasting City, and this gate will always stand open for us.
In Isaiah we are told that "He will be...a source of strength to those who turn back
the battle at the gate." Isaiah 28:6. What is our battle at the gate of life but to
"get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every
kind of malice," (Ephesians 4:31), all the evil works of the flesh, and go on to
develop the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22,22).
Jesus died outside the gate as the worst of criminals that we could enter through the
gate: "And Jesus also suffered outside the city [gate] to make the people holy
through his own blood." Hebrews 13:12. Jesus became the gate so that we who enter
will be saved. This will be our theme of gratitude for eternity!
"So let us go out to him beyond the city walls [that is, outside the interests of
this world, being willing to be despised] to suffer with him there, bearing his
shame." Hebrews 13:13 TLB. We must be willing to bear the cross and the crown of
thorns if we would share the crown of life with Him: "Be faithful, even to the point
of death, and I will give you the crown of life."
Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
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"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth." - Ecclesiastes 10:7 |
"And he requested for himself that he might die." - 1 Kings 19:4 |
The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! |
There is a limit to the doctrine of the prayer of faith. We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for. We know that we sometimes ask, and do not receive, because we ask amiss. |
Spurgeon's Morning for May 20 | Spurgeon's Evening for May 20 |
"Marvelous lovingkindness." - Psalm 17:7 |
"I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." - Hosea 11:4 |
He will come into our houses upon his errands of kindness, and he will not act as some austere visitors do in the poor man's cottage, but he sits by our side, not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weakness. |
Our meager faith brings leanness into our souls; we do not open our mouths wide, though God has promised to fill them. Does he not this evening draw us to trust him? Can we not hear him say, "Come, my child, and trust me. |
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Current Bible Question ?
Methuselah was the longest lived man in the Bible. He lived to the age of 969. Who came in second in longevity?
Previous question and Answer:
Who made the ark of the covenant?
Bezalel Exodus 37:1
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..and by his light I walked through darkness! JOB 29:3 NIV
Still Waters by Pat Nordman
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Send a note to © Pat Nordman , the writer of this devotion |
More Walking Through the Darkness
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