Things Jesus Might Say!

What would Jesus say when the Dow swings nearly 1,000 points in one day?

I'm not sure, but this is my take on it...

"You know I love you.

Your value has not changed one bit, no matter what's happened to your market accounts.

The downturn in the market can remind you of something I have often said:

'This world is not your home.'

Not long ago people would store up their treasures in barns where moth and rust could destroy.

Your investments are a little more high-tech, but not so much different in some ways.

You're not worried about moths or rust, you're worried about uncertainty and sudden downswings

you cannot control.

Like the scriptures say, cast all your anxieties on me because I love you.

Maybe that means something more to you today than ever before.

If so, that's a good thing!"

As the market goes up and down, always know that my love for you never changes.

In other words, let my love be the most important factor in your mindset and attitude,

not what Fox News or CNN is reporting.

My love will bring comfort to your soul.

I know you're stressed-out.

Faithful people have faced terrible circumstances many times over the years.

Just keep your eyes focused on me and my Father's will.

"Most financial analysts are exactly right when they say 'focus on the long term.'

This is a principle my Father's Word has been teaching for generations.

Much tragedy occurs when people make rash decisions, when they get carried away with 'short-term crisis.

'I've seen people take harsh measures and make terrible decisions because they could only seethe moment.

Focus on all the promises for eternity.

That will make huge difference today!

Let the current market crisis help you re-frame your thinking with respect to the future.

My Father wants us to look past the short term and focus on a more distant horizon.

And that horizon depends wholly on His will.

The future depends on the Father's love and plans, not on the Dow Jones.

No matter what happens today or tomorrow, His plans are to give you a hope and a future

of calling on His name and finding Him.

"There are so many things I could say, many things I have already said in The Word.

Go there and spend more time with me.

What if the biggest gain you make in the midst of all these market losses is a new walk with me and my Father? That would be wonderful, huh?!

Just think of how much better off you'll be, no matter what happens with your portfolio.

But let me say this: I think you'll be fine.

I hope your financial security makes a rebound.

Over the years much good has been done in this world by prospered people who have gotten

their priorities in order.

Perhaps my father is preparing you for the greatest opportunities of your life.

I hope so."In the meantime, don't ever forget this:

I love you no matter what.And no matter what occurs today or tomorrow, your value will never change."

~this devotion by Danny Sims and other devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org~

A Little Spunk Needed? ~ by Rob Frazier

"I was walking through the Atlanta airport, CNN blaring in the background,

headlines screaming from the news stands stocked with magazines

covered with glum faces, all the news is bad, bad, bad.

You can't help but worry and wonder what the future will hold, what your retirement will be like,

what will be left over when all the dust settles.

Then I saw her.

She was about 8 years old and a darling little girl.

She was with her mother and father and older brother.

She was also on crutches.

Her legs barely made a ripple in her little jeans, obviously withered and weak from some

chromosome that came unraveled while she was being knitted in the womb.

She was happy, and swung her legs in a strong rhythmic motion with her crutches to keep pace

with her parents and brother.

She was in every way a typical 8 year-old except for her withered extremities.

I thought that no matter where the stock market ends up, or how the economy falls or rises,

she will still be crippled.

She will grow up in a world where a pair of shorts will be a cause for people to stare.

She'll feel left out as other kids run and play at school, and she will struggle to find a formal dress for the Homecoming dance that will accommodate her braced legs and crutches.

It's too early to fold, and we're made of better stuff!

No matter if my 401(k) recovers or not, she will always -- always -- be crippled.

Her parents may lose their job, I might lose mine, but she will never lose her infirmity.

We may all weather this storm with nothing more than a few fallen limbs in the yard, but her limbs

will never be whole.

It made me a little angry that we have been focused on what we lost, not what we have.

I remember Sam Walton, after the 1987 crash, when he said that even after watching Wal-Mart stock fall by a third, he still had the same number of shirts on the shelves as he did the day before.

That is the kind of thinking, the kind of investing, and the kind of courage we need now.

The losses are paper losses.

The value is still there in the companies the stocks represent.

If we will each keep our head in this mess, we'll work through this.

That really is what the little girl does.

She marches through the airport like she had every right to be there, withered legs and all.

No sympathy, no melancholy, just the spirit and spunk to deal with the hand she was dealt.

We need to take a deep breath and get ready to play the game.

It's too early to fold, and we're made of better stuff ~

the same kind of stuff of which that little girl is made."

(c) 2008 Rob Frazier

~this and other devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org~

when all others have gone...

in the last 5 years, i have lost almost everyone i've ever loved...

one day here, the next just gone.

i've prayed, fasted, believed and hoped for miracles...yet not one has returned to both Abba and me.

i've made huge mistakes and asked for a forgiveness that i did not deserve.

i've stumbled and fallen and it has been God alone who has saved me from the great abyss.

what i've learned in this time, in the 'valley of God' is this:

God will never leave or forsake me

i cannot earn or ever deserve, His Love, Grace and Forgiveness

He is with me at all times, in all places

though i have been forsaken by those i've loved, He would never do the same to me

He would never do the same to you

i have to hold on despite seeming like a ridiculous, modern-day noah

and most of all...

nothing is impossible with God ~ absolutely nothing.

dearest Abba,

save and forgive me from my terrible foolishness, huge mistakes and the doubts that assail me daily...

i am nothing without You, my King of Kings.

i have no future without you...my only future is You.

You are the only One that makes my life make sense...

with all the love i possess ~ Your most unworthy daughter,

Your laineyrose

"I will"

"And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible." ~Jeremiah 15:21~

Note the glorious personality of the promise.

I will, I will.

The Lord Jehovah himself interposes to deliver and redeem his people.

He pledges himself personally to rescue them.

His own arm shall do it, that he may have the glory.

Here is not a word said of any effort of our own which may be needed to assist the Lord.

Neither our strength nor our weakness is taken into the account, but the lone I, like the sun in the heavens, shines out resplendent in all-sufficiency.

Why then do we calculate our forces, and consult with flesh and blood to our grievous wounding?

Jehovah has power enough without borrowing from our puny arm.

Peace, ye unbelieving thoughts, be still, and know that the Lord reigneth.

Nor is there a hint concerning secondary means and causes.

The Lord says nothing of friends and helpers:

he undertakes the work alone, and feels no need of human arms to aid him.

Vain are all our lookings around to companions and relatives;

they are broken reeds if we lean upon them-often unwilling when able, and unable when they are willing.

Since the promise comes alone from God, it would be well to wait only upon him;

and when we do so, our expectation never fails us.

Who are the wicked that we should fear them?

The Lord will utterly consume them;they are to be pitied rather than feared.

As for terrible ones, they are only terrors to those who have no God to fly to, for when the Lord

is on our side, whom shall we fear?

If we run into sin to please the wicked, we have cause to be alarmed, but if we hold fast our integrity,

the rage of tyrants shall be overruled for our good.

When the fish swallowed Jonah, he found him a morsel which he could not digest;

and when the world devours the church, it is glad to be rid of it again.

In all times of fiery trial, in patience let us possess our souls.

~Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org.~

my lil love...

my lil mini-doxie, petey, is the love of my life...

he is my best friend and i love him beyond thought or measure.

a week ago yesterday i had to bring him into pet ER clinic for a small infection.

i thought i was losing him and was absolutely devastated...

the antibiotics were finished yesterday and then last night he swallowed a small portion of sport's tape from my girls' bedroom floor.

the tape can hurt his digestive track and cause an infection...

they wanted me to bring in petey but i can't afford it -

(it cost me $244.00 to take him to the pet ER clinic last sunday)

if he starts the 'v' word or the 'd' word (sorry, i hate both of those words) he has to be seen immediately.

he has to be watched carefully for the next week...

now i will be afraid of losing him for another week and after speaking to the nurse over the phone,

i just cried and cried.

even if you don't know me, could you please say a prayer for petey?

i've lost too many people to lose my precious lil friend as well...

thank you for listening and for any prayers you offer up on me and petey's behalf...

may God bless you all,

laineyrose

i love this devotion...

Stressed Out,
by Patrick D. Odum

"So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
(Matthew 6:31-34 TNIV)

Please pardon me if I seem a little stressed out.
I really can't help it.
After all, I apparently live in the most stressful city in America.
Yes, Chicago was recently named in an article by "Forbes Magazine" as the most stressful place
in the United States to live.
Forbes based their evaluation on several factors, including air quality, unemployment rate, the cost of housing
and gas, and population density.
Chicago scored high enough in all these categories to push our lovely city past New York, Detroit, Los Angeles,
and San Francisco and claim the title of "Most Stressful Place in America."
Whoo-hoo! We're number one.
Actually, it could have been worse.
The "Forbes" article based its conclusions in part on the fact that gas in Chicago costs "a nickel under four dollars." Those were the days.
Funny thing, though.
I've lived in Chicago for seventeen years and, aside from a little high blood pressure, I'm in pretty good health.
You'd think all that time living in the most stressful city in America would have taken more of a toll.
In fact, I know lots of people who live in other places who seem to have at least as much stress in their
lives as I do, if not more.
And I'm sure there are places in other parts of the world that make Chicago look about as stressful as a quiet tropical island.
Though we use it to refer to almost anything that makes us worried or anxious,
the word stress originally described "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change."
In other words, stress is the general symptoms we feel when things don't go as we planned.
It's what happens to us when we're forced to adjust on the fly.
If that's what stress is, then I think we're left with an inescapable conclusion.
We can't avoid stress.
I know, I know.
You're welcome.
Look, I'm with you;
I think I might enjoy a life in which the only stress I had was deciding whether to have crab or steak for dinner.
I've come to the conclusion, however, that God hasn't seen fit to give me that life.
I'm pretty sure that isn't your life, either.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that's no one's life.
If stress is the body's response to any demand for change, then short of having absolute and complete control of your life, and the lives of those around you, stress is inescapable.
Stuff will happen to you that you hadn't planned for.
Stuff will happen to you that you might have planned for, but sooner than you planned.
Stuff will happen to you that you planned for, and you'll find that your plans don't cover it.
Or if it's not you this week, it will be someone you love, and that person's stress will cause you stress.
We might as well stop being surprised when unexpected things happen.
We might as well recognize the stress we feel for what it is:
a biological reaction to the upsetting of our apple carts.
Be it a lane closure or a foreclosure, the birth of a baby or the death of a parent, starting a new job
or getting fired, marriage problems or dating problems.
Something happens that demands change, or adaptation, or fight, or flight, and our bodies amp up
the energy level and take stock of options.
Not just in Chicago, or even especially in Chicago.
Anywhere.
Everywhere.
Jesus suggests that we focus our energies on seeking God.
I think a lot of what we call stress is really worry, and what we usually worry about are the things
we can't do much else about.
It's funny how we are, really;
we worry most about what we can do the least about.
Somehow, though, we seem to be under the impression that by obsessing over it and fretting about it,
lying awake all night turning it over in our heads, and driving everyone we know crazy endlessly retelling
and rehashing it, we can somehow solve it.
That's why we don't like it that Jesus seems dismissive of the things that stress us.
"Don't worry," he says, and being wired the way we are it's little wonder that our knee-jerk response
is something along the lines of, "Yeah, right."
But don't tune him out, because what he suggests is that worry is a theological problem.
We worry, he claims, because the God we believe in isn't powerful enough or loving enough or concerned enough
to watch over us.
Thankfully, he reminds us that the God we're supposed to believe in is our "heavenly Father,"
and that he cares for his children.
Jesus suggests that we learn some life lessons from the birds and the grass.
Neither are strong in the area of strategic, long-range planning.
Yet, by and large, God cares for them.
The birds seem to have all they need to eat.
The grass is clothed in flowers as bright as the finery of a king.
They go about their business, they do what they do and live their lives, and God cares for them.
"Are you not much more valuable to God?"
Jesus asks us – who are made in his image, shaped by his hands, animated by his breath.
"Don't you think your Father in heaven will care for you at least that well?"
Worry, Jesus says, is the response of pagans to a world that's out of their control.
The response of believers is faith in a God who knows exactly what we need and is happy to provide it.
The response of believers is prayer: to give thanks for his care in the past and ask for it
to continue in the present and future.
Instead of worry, Jesus suggests that we focus our energies on seeking God:
his reign over our hearts and lives, his righteousness lived out in what we do and say.
It's kind of a nice way, I think, of telling us to just try to do what God says and be the people he made us to be, and leave the planning to him.
That's scary, for some us.
For all of us, to an extent.
Then again, there's something attractive about it, too.
To live with joy and expectation and trust, instead of anxiety, worry, and gloom?
We can.
We have every reason to live that way.
Leave worry to those who don't know our Father in heaven.
That's not for us.
The God we know cares for the birds and the grass and loves us even more.
So much, in fact, that he didn't even withhold his Son from us.
Trust his power and love, seek his presence and his will above everything else, and you'll be ready
to deal with any kind of stress life may have in store for you.
Why, you could even live in Chicago.

(c) 2008 Patrick D. Odum
~this and other devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org~

who do you say that I am?

VERSE:

"But what about you?" he asked.

"Who do you say I am?"

Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

~Luke 9:20~

THOUGHT:

A lot of people have their opinions about Jesus’ identity.

The real issue, however, is what you believe about Jesus.

What you decide about God’s Son means everything for you and for those you influence.

So listen to Jesus' question to his disciples as if he is asking it of you: "Who do you say I am?"

I pray that your answer is the same as Peter’s:

“You are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus, who is my Lord, Savior, friend, and older brother in your family.

I praise you for sending him to reveal yourself to us and I thank you for your love demonstrated by him on the Cross.

I do believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the only Savior who can bring freedom, pardon, cleansing, and complete salvation.

Thank you!

In Jesus' mighty name I pray.

Amen.

~this and other devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org~

freedom...

VERSE:
"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to
everyone, to win as many as possible."
~1 Corinthians 9:19~

THOUGHT:
Grace frees us from the law of sin and death.

But, our freedom is not to be used for rebellion or for self-gratification.

Instead, we are to use our freedom redemptively, just as Jesus did

(cf. Philippians 2:5-11).

We can voluntarily limit that freedom to help others still caught in bondage

to sin and false ideas about God.

We can use the freedom of the Spirit to be transformed to be like
Christ (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

Let’s use our freedom to rejoice and to bless.

PRAYER:
Thank you, great and mighty LORD, for setting me free by your grace.

I know, dear Father, that this gift was given to me at great cost ~

the humiliating torture, death, and burial of your Son, Jesus Christ.

So use me, dear Father, to bless others who have not
yet found their deliverance and freedom in Jesus.

I pray this in the name of my Savior, Jesus.

Amen.

~this and other devotions can be found at: www.heartlight.org~

just thank You...

dearest Father,

though i am undeserving and unworthy for even an ounce of Your Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness,
i am so grateful to You for not giving up on me...

thank You for loving me, my Abba.
thank You for forgiving me.
thank You for taking pity on me.

thank You for the people You put in my path...

my mom and dad
my children
my petey - my friend
my sisters
jay, one of my best friends
cindyluwho
lauren
nat
lydia
all the sms drivers
all the nurses
all my doctors

all the wonderful receptionists
all the radiologists
everyone at my dentist office - (they are kind, understanding and knowledgable about the liver disease too)
all the kind and funny people at Yoke's - (we will miss you, jeannette!)
my patient and understanding pharmacists
all the friendly and helpful people i've talked with at avista, city of airway and qwest...
and more besides.

i know they are in my path because of You, Father.
help me to be just as big a blessing to them as they have been to me...

i don't deserve You, my Father...but that doesn't change how very much i need You and want to reflect who You are to the world around me.

so, Abba, thank You

and this one's for You...

"I Need You More"

I need You more
More than yesterday
I need You Lord
More than words can say
I need You more
Than ever before
I need You Lord

I need You Lord
More than the air I breathe
More than the song I sing
More than the next heartbeat
More than anything
And Lord as time goes by
I'll be by Your side
Cause I never want to go back
To my old life
I need You Lord

~Lindell Cooley~

freely given...

"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
~Psalms 32:5~

David's grief for sin was bitter.
Its effects were visible upon his outward frame: "his bones waxed old";
"his moisture was turned into the drought of summer."
No remedy could he find, until he made a full confession before the throne of the heavenly grace.
He tells us that for a time he kept silence, and his heart became more and more filled with grief:
like a mountain tarn whose outlet is blocked up, his soul was swollen with torrents of sorrow.
He fashioned excuses;
he endeavoured to divert his thoughts, but it was all to no purpose;
like a festering sore his anguish gathered, and as he would not use the lancet of confession,
his spirit was full of torment, and knew no rest.
At last it came to this, that he must return unto his God in humble penitence, or die outright;
so he hastened to the mercy-seat, and there unrolled the volume of his iniquities before the

all-seeing One, acknowledging all the evil of his ways in language such as you read in the fifty-first and

other penitential Psalms.
Having done this, a work so simple and yet so difficult to pride, he received at once the token of divine forgiveness; the bones which had been broken were made to rejoice, and he came forth from his closet

to sing the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven.
See the value of a grace-wrought confession of sin!
It is to be prized above all price, for in every case where there is a genuine, gracious confession,

mercy is freely given, not because the repentance and confession deserve mercy, but for Christ's sake.
Blessed be God, there is always healing for the broken heart;
the fountain is ever flowing to cleanse us from our sins.
Truly, O Lord, thou art a God "ready to pardon!"
Therefore will we acknowledge our iniquities.

~Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org.~

great storms...

"There were also with him other little ships."

~Mark 4:36~

Jesus was the Lord High Admiral of the sea that night, and his presence preserved the whole convoy.

It is well to sail with Jesus, even though it be in a little ship.

When we sail in Christ's company, we may not make sure of fair weather, for great storms may toss

the vessel which carries the Lord himself, and we must not expect to find the sea less boisterous

around our little boat.

If we go with Jesus we must be content to fare as he fares;

and when the waves are rough to him, they will be rough to us.

It is by tempest and tossing that we shall come to land, as he did before us.

When the storm swept over Galilee's dark lake all faces gathered blackness, and all hearts dreaded shipwreck.

When all creature help was useless, the slumbering Saviour arose, and with a word, transformed the

riot of the tempest into the deep quiet of a calm;

then were the little vessels at rest as well as that which carried the Lord.

Jesus is the star of the sea;

and though there be sorrow upon the sea, when Jesus is on it there is joy too.

May our hearts make Jesus their anchor, their rudder, their lighthouse, their life-boat, and their harbour.

His Church is the Admiral's flagship, let us attend her movements, and cheer her officers with our presence.

He himself is the great attraction;

let us follow ever in his wake, mark his signals, steer by his chart, and never fear while he is within hail.

Not one ship in the convoy shall suffer wreck;

the great Commodore will steer every barge's safety to the desired haven.

By faith we will slip our cable for another day's cruise, and sail forth with Jesus into a sea of tribulation.

Winds and waves will not spare us, but they all obey him;

and, therefore, whatever squalls may occur without, faith shall feel a blessed calm within.

He is ever in the centre of the weather-beaten company: let us rejoice in him.

His vessel has reached the haven, and so shall ours.

~Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org.~

not forsaken...

VERSE:

"He answered me, "The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great;

the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice.

They say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land;

the LORD does not see.'"

~Ezekiel 9:9~

THOUGHT:

In times of evil and adversity, God's people can lose sight of the Father's "great and precious promises."

God has faithfully kept these promises through the ages.

This past faithfulness is our reminder that we can trust his promise of the salvation we willfully

experience with him one day.

Even in our darkest night, God has not forsaken us.

He sees and knows what we do and how we feel.

Quite often, however, the LORD is watching to see how we will live in tough times.

He wants us to show that we will be faithful during these times.

He wants us to see that he can be trusted and that he still is at work in our world and in our lives.

So let's be faithful, trusting that the God who preserved Israel and brought through Israel the

promised Messiah will also preserve and bless us!

PRAYER:

In my times of darkest struggle or of loftiest joy, dear LORD,

please help me to be found faithful to you and to your will.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

enjoy many other devotions at www.heartlight.org

Complete Joy!

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands

and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

My command is this:

Love each other as I have loved you."

~John 15:10-12 NIV~

"You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.'

The bride belongs to the bridegroom.

The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice.

That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

He must become greater;

I must become less."

~John 3:28-30~

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love,

if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete

by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than

yourselves."

~Philippians 2:1-3~

I have known exceptionally joyful times.

These include holidays, vacations, special family events, and occasional seasons of worship.

These joyful events involved spiritual highs, intellectual breakthroughs, and once in a lifetime experiences. However, there have been only a few times when I could say that I have truly experienced complete joy:

my wedding day, the birth of my children, the rebirth of my children, and recently when our son was married.

He has known his wife most of her life.

We have known her family since before any of us had children.

They have prayed and prepared and waited and planned.

Their decision to become husband and wife is the answer to numberless prayers, and the fulfillment of lifelong dreams.

What created this completely joyful weekend?

Everyone involved was like-minded.

The only concern of everyone involved was that the weekend would be what the bride and groom wanted it to be. From the flower lady to the flower girl, from the caterer to the videographer, and from the mothers to the brothers and sister, all attention was given to the bride and the groom.

Egos were shelved.

Whatever it took to make it possible for the couple to live their dream is all anyone wanted.

It was their day.

It was their wedding.

It was their time.

Joy is His promise to us!

Sacrifices were made.

Family and friends traveled long distances, went to great expense, and were willing to give whatever

was needed to make the day special.

God was present.

He was present in the ceremony.

He was present in the gift giving.

He was present in the discussions.

He was present in the relationships.

He was present in the promises made by the bride and the groom.

Love was obvious.

You could see it in the eyes of the bride and the groom.

You could see it in the eyes of the parents as they reflected on how swiftly the years have flown.

You could hear it in the verbal expressions of love, respect, and appreciation shared by the friends

and family members.

You could feel it simply by being present.

We experienced complete joy.

You can too, and it may not necessarily involve a wedding.

When we surrender our wills to His, get rid of our egos, sacrifice for the good of others,

welcome God's presence into our lives, and express our love to one another the Scriptures promise

that our joy can be complete.

You can experience it today by giving your life to Him completely.

Joy is His promise to us.

It is time.

The world needs to see it.

Let the joy be complete!

(c) 2008 Tom Norvell

enjoy many other devotions from www.heartlight.org

spend our strength in Love...

"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?"

~Job 38:16~

Some things in nature must remain a mystery to the most intelligent and enterprising investigators.

Human knowledge has bounds beyond which it cannot pass.

Universal knowledge is for God alone.

If this be so in the things which are seen and temporal, I may rest assured that it is even more so

in matters spiritual and eternal.

Why, then, have I been torturing my brain with speculations as to destiny and will, fixed fate, and human responsibility?

These deep and dark truths I am no more able to comprehend than to find out the depth which coucheth

beneath, from which old ocean draws her watery stores.

Why am I so curious to know the reason of my Lord's providence's, the motive of his actions,

the design of his visitations?

Shall I ever be able to clasp the sun in my fist, and hold the universe in my palm?

yet these are as a drop of a bucket compared with the Lord my God.

Let me not strive to understand the infinite, but spend my strength in love.

What I cannot gain by intellect I can possess by affection, and let that suffice me.

I cannot penetrate the heart of the sea, but I can enjoy the healthful breezes which sweep over its bosom,

and I can sail over its blue waves with propitious winds.

If I could enter the springs of the sea, the feat would serve no useful purpose either to myself or to others,

it would not save the sinking bark, or give back the drowned mariner to his weeping wife and children;

neither would my solving deep mysteries avail me a single whit, for the least love to God, and the simplest act

of obedience to him, are better than the profoundest knowledge.

My Lord, I leave the infinite to thee, and pray thee to put far from me such a love for the tree of knowledge

as might keep me from the tree of life.

(Other Sturgeon devotions can be found at www.heartlight.org)

He sees right through...it's a good thing!

But Jesus knew that these men were really trying to trick him.
Jesus said, "Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong?
Bring me a silver coin. Let me see it."
They gave Jesus a coin and Jesus asked,
"Whose picture is on the coin?
And whose name is written on it?"
They answered, "It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name."
~Mark 12:15-16 (ERV)~

KEY THOUGHT:
Jesus' opponents could not play games or trick him.
He knew their hearts.
He knew what was inside people.
He still does!
Rather than trying to play games with Jesus or pretend we are something we are not,why not be honest.
He came so we could be honest with him and with God.
When we are weak, let's be honest about our weakness and vulnerability.
When we are weary, let's go to him for rest.
When we are grief-stricken and sad, let's go to him for comfort.
When we are confused, let's be honest about our confusion and ask for his wisdom and discernment.
When we are angry, let's confess our anger and its source to him.
Jesus knows us.
Let's be honest and come to him for grace and not try to pretend we are something we are not.
Our games may not be based upon the same kind of deceit that his opponents used to try to trick him,
but deceit, dishonesty, and pretension are still tools Satan uses to keep our hearts away from the Savior.

TODAY'S PRAYER:
O LORD God, please forgive me.
I confess to you that I have sometimes tried to be something in your presence that I am not.
Even though I believe you know me through and through, I still sometimes fear bringing you
the darker sides of my personality and the most deeply wounded parts of my heart.
Please cure me of my pretension and deliver me from deception.
I want to be honest as well as reverent in your presence, dear God, my Abba Father.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.

to the Cross...

"Sing, O barren."

~Isaiah 54:1~

Though we have brought forth some fruit unto Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are

"plants of his own right hand planting,"

yet there are times when we feel very barren.

Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops.

We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower.

In such a condition what are we to do?

The text is addressed to us in just such a state.

"Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud."

But what can I sing about?

I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness.

Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ.

I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me;

or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith he loved his people when

he came from the heights of heaven for their redemption.

I will go to the cross again.

Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there.

Go to Calvary again.

Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness.

What is my barrenness?

It is the platform for his fruit-creating power.

What is my desolation?

It is the black setting for the sapphire of his everlasting love.

I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding,

I will tell him that I am still his child, and in confidence in his faithful heart, even I,

the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.

Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones.

Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon;

now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit he will soon cover thee with clusters.

The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visitations are delightful.

A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be,

for in him is our fruit found.

(Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at http://www.heartlight.org)

His child...

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."

~Acts 8:37~

These words may answer your scruples, devout reader, concerning the ordinances.

Perhaps you say, "I should be afraid to be baptized;

it is such a solemn thing to avow myself to be dead with Christ, and buried with him.

I should not feel at liberty to come to the Master's table;

I should be afraid of eating and drinking damnation unto myself, not discerning the Lord's body."

Ah! poor trembler, Jesus has given you liberty, be not afraid.

If a stranger came to your house, he would stand at the door, or wait in the hall;

he would not dream of intruding unbidden into your parlour-he is not at home:

but your child makes himself very free about the house;

and so is it with the child of God.

A stranger may not intrude where a child may venture.

When the Holy Ghost has given you to feel the spirit of adoption, you may come

to Christian ordinances without fear.

The same rule holds good of the Christian's inward privileges.

You think, poor seeker, that you are not allowed to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;

if you are permitted to get inside Christ's door, or sit at the bottom of his table, you will be well content.

Ah! but you shall not have less privileges than the very greatest.

God makes no difference in his love to his children.

A child is a child to him;

he will not make him a hired servant;

but he shall feast upon the fatted calf, and shall have the music and the dancing as much

as if he had never gone astray.

When Jesus comes into the heart, he issues a general licence to be glad in the Lord.

No chains are worn in the court of King Jesus.

Our admission into full privileges may be gradual, but it is sure.

Perhaps our reader is saying, "I wish I could enjoy the promises, and walk at liberty in my Lord's commands."

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."

Loose the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter, for Jesus makes thee free.

(Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at http://www.heartlight.org)

His victory for us...

"The breaker is come up before them."
~Micah 2:13~

Inasmuch as Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had he never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way.
Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior.
Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies.
Dost thou dread sin?
He has nailed it to his cross.
Dost thou fear death?
He has been the death of Death.

Art thou afraid of hell?

He has barred it against the advent of any of his children;

they shall never see the gulf of perdition.

Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome.

There are lions, but their teeth are broken;

there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted;

there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable;

there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire.

The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted;

the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point.

God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us.

Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey,

for all your enemies are conquered beforehand.

What shall you do but march on to take the prey?

They are beaten, they are vanquished;

all you have to do is to divide the spoil.

You shall, it is true, often engage in combat;

but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe.

His head is broken;

he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design.

Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count.

"Proclaim aloud the Saviour's fame, Who bears the Breaker's wond'rous name;

Sweet name; and it becomes him well, Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell."

(Other Charles Spurgeon's devotions can be found at http://www.heartlight.org)