GOLDEN WORDS
And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Beheld by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16 NASV
The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.
-- Stuart Briscoe in Meet Him at the Manger
December 2
One tree prayed to be made into a beautiful palace; a second tree prayed to be made into a ship; a third tree wanted to remain in the forest and point to God. The first tree was made into a
stable where the Babe was born; the second tree was made into a small ship that was launched on the Sea of Galilee, whereon stood a young Man who told the
multitudes: "I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10b); the third tree was made into a cross that ever since has been pointing us to God.
In its way, each tree's prayer was answered. We thank the unknown author of this gem.
December 3
"I would not lose the hard things from my life--
The rocks o'er which I stumbled long ago,
The griefs, the fears, the failures, the mistakes,
That tried and tested faith and patience so.
I need them now; they make the deep-laid wall,
The firm foundation-stones on which I raise,
To mount thereon from stair to stair,-
The lofty towers of my House of Praise."
Author Unknown.
"O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not com-forted, behold, I will set your stones in
antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires." Isaiah 54:11 NAS. Dear one, I will etch the gold of My promises into your heart with the fair colors and hues of My
character. Remember how much I love you!
Pat Nordman ©
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Who said: "Is thy servant a dog
that he should do this thing?"
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Previous question and
Answer:
Who said: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."
Answer: Job, expressing his confidence in God, after being 'helped' by his three
comforting friends.
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
Job 13:15
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Excerpts from today's Spurgeon's Devotions |
Spurgeon's Morning for December
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Spurgeon's Evening for December
2 |
"Thou art all fair, my love."- Song of Solomon 4:7
The Lord’s admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of her
beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but "all fair." |
"Behold, all is vanity."- Ecclesiastes 1:14
Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own
self. Saints have tried to anchor in other roadsteads, but they have been driven out of
such fatal refuges. |
| Spurgeon's Morning for December
3 |
Spurgeon's Evening for December
3 |
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"There is no spot in thee." - Song of Solomon 4:7
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"The Lord mighty in battle."- Psalm 24:8
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| A spot may soon be removed, and is the very least thing that can disfigure beauty, but
even from this little blemish the believer is delivered in his Lord’s sight. |
Well may our God be glorious in the eyes of his people, seeing that he has wrought such
wonders for them, in them, and by them. For them, the Lord Jesus upon Calvary routed every
foe... |
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For
Keeps
Norman Vincent Peale tells a story of the early days of his ministry. He was in Brooklyn, New York. One Christmas Eve he was out visiting some families, and he walked by a doorway. He noticed that on the door was the red ribbon of Christmas and a black wreath of mourning. While the people who lived there were not parishioners of his, he decided he would call on the family.
So he knocked on the door, and the father of the family came tot the door. Dr. Peale introduced himself and was invited in. He sought to give condolences to the family, and he saw in the sitting room a small casket where a 6-year-old girl was lying in state. He expressed his sympathy to the father, and this father said, "Dr. Peale, its' going to be all right, for she is with God, you know."
While they were talking, Dr. Peale could hear the mother of the family reading the Bible to two little boys of the family, and he heard her reading these words: "Because I live, you shall live also."
Christ's love is for keeps, whatever comes.
W. Frank Harrington, "The Love That Brought Him," Preaching Today, Tape No. 51.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
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Christmas Quotation, Fact and inspiration.
Advent 1
Advent 2 Advent 3
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Today's Devotion
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But my mouth would encourage you; comfort
from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)
| Weaned by Cathy Vinson |
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My heart is not proud, O Lord,
My eyes are not haughty.
I do not concern myself with great matters
Or things too wonderful for me
But I have stilled and quieted my soul
Like a weaned child with its mother
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
(Ps 131)
This metaphor unfolds before us, and the songwriter says "Come to the
quiet."
When the time is drawing to a close of the tender nursing relationship between
mother and the young one, a new dynamic enters in . The child can sit on the lap of its
mother and just sit. The rooting reflex isn't taking over. The weaned child is not in a
state of want but of calm disposition. This tiny step of maturity has increased the
ability to enjoy one another in deepening ways as the relationship grows. A new era has
begun.
Considering this setting as being the child, requests would be to our encounter
with Father as the milk-exchange would be to mother and infant. And though good, so good,
may there come moments of being weaned. We would wish to hold our presence with Him
without words or requests. In all the lovely ways to have time with our Father, let us not
miss this one. |
""Come
to the quiet."
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| The weaned child
is not in a state of want but of calm disposition. |
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Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion.
Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE
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