Spurgeon on “Fiery Trials” ~ 2 Minute Devotional

When I visited Pompeii years ago I was struck by the suddenness and completeness of the destruction of the city by the Vesuvius volcano. People were found frozen in position. Artifacts were preserved by the covering ash.

Some volcanoes move more slowly, as in Hawaii. The hot lava spews from vents as in the picture and moves slowly down the mountain to the sea.

Intense heat, pressure, explosive power and widespread destruction describe some of the physical effects of a powerful volcano. I imagine these effects in a spiritual sense when I think of fiery trials.

The severity of the trial can become so intense that we may fear for our very lives. We can’t imagine any escape from the pain, or can we? The fiery furnace in Daniel 3 is a great illustration of God’s power to override even the forces of nature to protect his children.

Spurgeon reminds us in this quote that God’s presence is both our comfort and safety. “Fear not, for I am with you” is God’s promise to us.

I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Acceptable in thy Sight – Psalm 19 ASV 2 Minute Devotional

I love peaceful scenes like the one in the picture. A glassy lake, the ocean in the morning, fog settling over the mountaintops, a quiet evening at sunset are the times I remember.

With the busyness of life we enjoy the peaceful times that God gives us. As I have time to relax and enjoy a quiet moment I try to remember and be thankful to God for his blessings and provision.

In the peaceful times, and even in the hectic ones, may the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in God’s sight. I am so thankful he is my rock and my redeemer.

I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 19 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ASV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Uncountable Blessings – Psalm 139 NASB 2 Minute Devotional

I’m always interested in contests where we are asked to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. I might make an attempt to count some of them through the glass, but soon give up in frustration. Usually I make a wild guess, which turns out to be nowhere the real number.

I’ve never seen a contest where the challenge was to guess the number of grains of sand in a jar. Somebody has to actually count all the grains, and even a small jar of sand has a huge number of individual grains.

As we read the scripture and listen to God’s word preached we can begin to understand some of God’s precious thoughts toward us.

There’s a lot of sand in this world, and even trying to number the grains of sand in this image is an impossible task, for the number is too great for us to comprehend.

Consider our infinite God who would bend his thoughts toward us in infinite detail. Our only response can be worship and praise!

I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 139 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes NASB iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or  Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will Rogers on Government Aid

The image shows Will Rogers doing one his trademark rope tricks – the big crinoline. Rogers plays out the lasso into a huge loop, not only encircling his horse, but the entire baseball team as well.

The quote: “Things in our country run in spite of government. Not by the aid of it.” still rings true today. In many cases the unintended consequences of legislation make the problem worse, not better.

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Spurgeon on “Light Without Darkness” ~ 2 Minute Devotional

This world is stained with sin. We can’t get away from it, no matter how hard we try, or how far we go. It manifests itself personally in our lives, and in nature.

In our personal lives and relationships, we see pride, envy, lust, hatefulness, and all sorts of sin that manifests itself in our lives each day. We might be able to overcome some sins through the sheer force of will, but sin itself is so deeply embedded in our being that it can never be overcome completely.

In nature we see imperfections and decay everywhere. Our own bodies wear out after a period of time, even though the average lifespan has increased in recent years. Natural phenomena such as tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and many other events indicate that this earth is unstable. Pain and suffering are all around us.

But Spurgeon (and the Bible) talk of beauty and perfection that doesn’t exist on this earth. In a place called heaven we will find it.

When Jesus came to this earth, he showed us that He could reverse the effects of sin in this world. Jesus healed many people reversing the effect of disease in their bodies. He controlled the weather by calming a storm, and he controlled evil spirits by casting them out of the people they tormented. He also preached the gospel, which by faith, can cleanse sin from our lives.

Dear Lord, Only with your grace can we reverse the effect of sin in our life. Only by faith can we prepare for heaven, where sin shall be no more, and we will see your “glory without cloud.” Amen.

I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will Rogers on “Put Out the Fire!”

For whatever reason we don’t seem to take notice of problems until they become a crisis. Government seems to be especially bad about this, and the news media knows that crisis headlines sell.

Will Rogers makes a great observation with this quote. In fact, sometimes it seems that the government prohibits putting out the fire and then proceeds to throw gasoline on it – remember the subprime mortgage disaster?

The image in this iPhone screenshot comes from Rogers’ movie “An Unwilling Hero.” I love that hat!

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will Rogers on “Nothing but Interest & Taxes”

Will RogersI suppose you could say that interest in taxes is on everybody’s mind these days. These topics dominate the political talk shows and dinner parties, and for good reason. Nobody knows what in the world the lame ducks are going to do about taxes.

Businesses don’t know what their tax liability is going to be next year, so they scale back. The fat cats are cutting back on charitable giving and trips to Las Vegas in case the tax bill is higher next year. The thin cats are even cutting back expenses. With the “death tax” in limbo some folks can’t even plan their own funeral.

Everybody is cutting back it seems, except the boneheads in Congress. They’ve had two years of stimulus and wild spending while normal people are tightening their belts and getting laid off. Now Congress wants to raise the tax rates to pay for it all.

Old man interest is right around the corner and will strike with a vengeance. If Will Rogers’ quote was true in 1931, it is even more so today. “Nothing ever happens in our country but interest and taxes.”

Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will Rogers

Will Rogers on “Where’s the Money Coming From?”

Will RogersWill Rogers is famous for his good old-fashioned common sense. If there was ever a Will Rogers quote that highlights the utter foolishness and irresponsibility of the way the Congress has spent our taxpayer money, and borrowed against our future generations, it is here.

Since Will Rogers published this quote in 1932, Congress hasn’t learned this simple lesson – “don’t spend money, if you don’t know where it’s coming from.” I don’t know what the opposite of common sense is, but Congress has taken it to the extreme.

So how does Congress get away with such reckless spending? Easy, call it by some fancy sounding name. How about “stimulus” or Keynesian Economics.

Only the very brightest economic minds in Congress and the administration should be making such important decisions on the economy, Right? Only they are qualified to make such important economic decisions for the rest of us. In fact, right now we are hearing that the massive stimulus spending “worked” and we need to spend more to “finish” the job!

In the meantime, the rest of us balance our checkbooks every month and carry the freight for the lack of common sense in Congress.

Image Information: This picture was taken during the Will Rogers-Wiley Post ill-fated Alaska trip in August of 1935. These would be some of the last pictures of Will Rogers.

Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will Rogers

Product review for iPhone Daily Psalms

Here’s a review for the Daily Psalms iPhone applications in The iPhone App Review.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord – Psalm 55 ESV 2 Minute Devotional

Don’t you wish you could be like the sea otter in the picture? Not a care in the world. Even catching food looks like a game for these fun-loving creatures.

Burdens come in many forms, relationships, financial, school work, pressure at the job, child rearing, and many others. They stick to us like Velcro to felt, and in many cases, we learn to live with them.

Suppose you are a busy housewife with a couple of toddlers at home. Exhausted, you answer the door, and a friend offers to watch the kids and pick up the house so you can get some rest. Later, you wake refreshed and find the house clean and the kids happy. Your friend took your burden willingly and gladly.

What relief, what joy, when the burden is cast away! We are not alone, gentle reader. We can cast our burden on the Lord, and He will sustain us. We can put our trust in Him.

Dear Lord, Help me to cast my burden upon you, the cares and worries of this life that weigh me down. Most importantly, lift the burden of sin from my life, that I might know you and trust you more each day. Amen.

I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 55 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Spurgeon on “True Humility and God’s Glory” ~ 2 Minute Devotional

I’m proud to be humble pretty much summarizes my belief that I can grow spiritually through my own efforts. Because I say it, means it is so.

Spurgeon’s quote helps me realize that all that I do, and all that I am is because of God, not me. Not that I am a bystander, but because God has given me abilities and gifts, plus God directs the outcome for His glory. This is true humility, giving God credit for everything.

For a clear picture of true humility, I think of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2. The king had asked his wise men to interpret a dream. This wouldn’t have been a problem, except King Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t tell them what the dream was, or perhaps he didn’t remember. If the dream couldn’t be interpreted by the wise men (including Daniel) of Babylon, the king would put them all to death.

Daniel and his friends prayed for God’s help, and in this passage, God reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel, along with the interpretation in a “night vision.” Daniel’s first response was a psalm of praise, found in verses 20-23.

Daniel’s meeting with King Nebuchadnezzar must be one of the most dramatic moments in all of history. When asked if he could tell the dream and its interpretation, Daniel acknowledged that no person could do such a thing, except “…there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…” Daniel even goes on to say that “…this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have…” This is true humility before God and man.

The beautiful flower in the picture points to the glory of it’s Creator. When we look at it, we know it didn’t create itself, and the flower contains no power in itself, except what was given to it by God. May we always direct others to our great savior and creator.

Dear Lord, Help me to acknowledge you first and always, in all that I am, and in all that I do. Amen.

I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will Rogers on “The only difference between death and taxes”

“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.”—Will Rogers

It’s just a simple printing press, but it just happens to be the printing press in Washington that prints our money, and it’s got the whole world upset. Everybody knows printing more money brings trouble. Let’s hope the “smart men,” as Will Rogers says, can figure it out.

If Will Rogers knew this 80 years ago, how come “smart men” are still making the same mistakes today?

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will Rogers on “Public Speakers”

Have you ever listened to a political speech and wondered what in the world was that guy talking about? Perhaps you fell asleep during a speech and woke up to find out you didn’t miss anything.

Will Rogers had heard his share of political speeches. He regularly attended the conventions of both parties and reported the results to his readers with his characteristic humor.

Image Information. Will was a skilled horseman and he loved to ride.  When he first started his own stage act, a live horse was part of the act as he demonstrated his skill with the lasso. He even had a polo field built at his California ranch.

The equestrian statue at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum is a fitting tribute to Will, since horses were such an important part of his life. I took this picture at sunset, and you can see some of the glow in the clouds as they passed over this magnificent statue. It is the focal point of the beautiful walkway and gardens at the museum.

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will Rogers on Holding Back Relief

Who knows what our economic condition is these days – Depression, recession, economic malaise? Whatever it is, a committee has been formed to investigate it. I’m sure their report will tell us what we already know, and will be issued when it is politically convenient.

Are you as amazed as I am that Rogers saw the same problems in 1933 as we face today? Not only is congress holding back relief, as Rogers says, but they caused the financial crisis to begin with!

Perhaps the relief we need is from politicians that care more about themselves than the country.

The picture is from Rogers’ 1921 silent movie, An Unwilling Hero. He plays Whistling Dick, a hobo who loves everything but work. He travels south to New Orleans for the winter and is befriended by Nadine, the daughter of a plantation owner. Dick finds out about a robbery plan and warns Nadine’s father. Out of gratitude he is offered work on the plantation, which inspires him to leave at his earliest convenience.

I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.