Thursday, January 23, 2014

Jet Lag Bad but The Lord is Good!

Margaret and I have recently returned from two months of ministry in the Philippines. Soon after arrival in Seattle, I was asked to travel and speak in church missions service near San Diego, California. I managed to stay awake, by God's grace, during a full Sunday of meetings. Tomorrow we drive to Vancouver, BC, Canada, for their annual Missions Fest attended by up to 30,000 people over the weekend. Margaret and I enjoy reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning Devotional.

Let me share from this morning Jan 23 (slightly adapted):
"I have exalted one chosen out of the people." --Psalm 89:19 
"Why was Christ chosen out of the people?  Was it not that He might be able to be our brother, in the tie of kindred blood? Oh, what relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The believer can say, ‘I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will He allow me to be in need while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother.’ Believer, wear this thought, like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of your memory. He is a Brother born for adversity, treat Him as such.

"Christ was also chosen out of the people that He might know our needs and sympathize with us. ‘He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.’ In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty--He knows them all, for He has experienced all. Remember this, Christian, and let it comfort you. However difficult and painful your road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Savior; and even when you reach the dark valley of the shadow of death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, you wilt find His footprints there. In all places wherever we go, He has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel. So take courage!"

I trust this encourages you today!

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