Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements from CH Spurgeon

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 25 February, Evening

“But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa.”
- Jonah 1:3

Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the Word, as God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God’s servants shrink from duty. But what is the consequence? What did Jonah lose by his conduct? He lost the presence and comfortable enjoyment of God’s love. When we serve our Lord Jesus as believers should do, our God is with us; and though we have the whole world against us, if we have God with us, what does it matter? But the moment we start back, and seek our own inventions, we are at sea without a pilot. Then may we bitterly lament and groan out, “O my God, where hast thou gone? How could I have been so foolish as to shun thy service, and in this way to lose all the bright shinings of thy face? This is a price too high. Let me return to my allegiance, that I may rejoice in thy presence.” In the next place, Jonah lost all peace of mind. Sin soon destroys a believer’s comfort. It is the poisonous upas tree, from whose leaves distil deadly drops which destroy the life of joy and peace. Jonah lost everything upon which he might have drawn for comfort in any other case. He could not plead the promise of divine protection, for he was not in God’s ways; he could not say, “Lord, I meet with these difficulties in the discharge of my duty, therefore help me through them.” He was reaping his own deeds; he was filled with his own ways. Christian, do not play the Jonah, unless you wish to have all the waves and the billows rolling over your head. You will find in the long run that it is far harder to shun the work and will of God than to at once yield yourself to it. Jonah lost his time, for he had to go to Nineveh after all. It is hard to contend with God; let us yield ourselves at once.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 25 February, Evening

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Free Christian Calendars 2011 and Free Christian Planners 2011 with Bible verses:

- Big Wall Christian Calendar in one (1) page - 12 Monthly printable Calendars 2011 January to December (Jan - Dec 2011)

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Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements from CH Spurgeon

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 25 February, Morning

“The wrath to come.” - Matthew 3:7

It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon his Saviour’s head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distil from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible is it to witness the approach of a tempest: to note the forewarnings of the storm; to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it groweth black, and look to the sun which shineth not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning! How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane-such as occurs, sometimes, in the tropics-to wait in terrible apprehension till the wind shall rush forth in fury, tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling-places of man! And yet, sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have as yet fallen, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around you, but God’s tempest is gathering its dread artillery. As yet the water-floods are dammed up by mercy, but the flood-gates shall soon be opened: the thunderbolts of God are yet in his storehouse, but lo! the tempest hastens, and how awful shall that moment be when God, robed in vengeance, shall march forth in fury! Where, where, where, O sinner, wilt thou hide thy head, or whither wilt thou flee? O that the hand of mercy may now lead you to Christ! He is freely set before you in the gospel: his riven side is the rock of shelter. Thou knowest thy need of him; believe in him, cast thyself upon him, and then the fury shall be overpast for ever.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 25 February, Morning

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Free Christian Bookmarks Templates:

Various Bible verses , Birthday Prayer , All things for good , God is our refuge and strength , God's Grace , Strength from God, Prayers , With God all things are possible , God holds my tomorrow , Help me to remember, Lord, nothings gonna happen today that you and I can't handle together , The Cross in My Pocket , Whatever our need , When there seems no way out, let God in , You are never alone , Chinese Bible verses

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- Big Wall Christian Calendar in one (1) page - 12 Monthly printable Calendars 2011 January to December (Jan - Dec 2011)

Free Christian Cards Templates:

A Special Birthday Prayer for You , Christian cards with Bible verses , God holds my tomorrow , Whatever our need , With God all things are possible , Your Friendship is a Blessing

NZ quake sends 30 million tons of ice loose from glacier

Tourists on a boat watch an iceberg, broken off from the glacier after Tuesday's earthquake, in the Tasman Lake, 200km (124 miles) southeast of Christchurch

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand on Tuesday, killing at least 75 people in Christchurch, also shook loose 30 million tons of ice from the nation's longest glacier, sending boulders of ice into a nearby lake.

The glacier is 200km (125 miles) away from Christchurch, near the west coast of the South Island, in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

The ice was dislodged on Tuesday afternoon, just after the earthquake struck. The piece of ice was 1.2km (0.75 mile) long, 300m (330 yards) high and 75m (80 yards) wide. (Right: ice sheet with iceberg out to right of it)

The ice has broken up into icebergs now floating in the Tasman Lake, one of which is 250m long.

Tour boat operators in the area said parts of the Tasman Glacier calved into the Tasman Lake immediately after the quake, breaking into smaller icebergs and causing 3.5 meter-high (11-foot) waves. A group of tourists were on a boat in the lake at the time and were thumped by giant waves caused by the ice drop. The tourists were not in danger and were not injured.

"It was approximately 30 million tons of ice, it's just a massive, massive, massive scale," said Denis Callesen, the General Manager of Tourism at Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village. (Right: iceberg in Tasman Lake after quake)

He added the ice fall or 'calving' was expected, given the large amount of recent rain, the changing of the dynamics of the lake and the La Nina weather phenomenon, a factor in higher levels of rainfall.

"We have known for some weeks that an event was coming, what is just a complete curve ball, left field, is that it was the earthquake that set it off and caused the calving," Callesen stated. (Left: Tasman Lake)

Callesen added that icebergs now cover a quarter of the five km by two km Tasman Lake, which is about 200 km west of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island.

Source:
Reuters,"NZ quake sends 30 million tons of ice loose from glacier",by Amy Pyett, accessed February 23, 2011
TNT Magazine, "Christchurch earthquake causes ice to fall off Tasman Glacier", accessed February 23, 2011

Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements from CH Spurgeon

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 24 February, Evening

“O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem? ... And the Lord answered the angel ... with good words and comfortable words.” - Zechariah 1:12, 13

What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for thee; thy time of travail shall soon be over; thy children shall be brought forth; thy captivity shall end. Bear patiently the rod for a season, and under the darkness still trust in God, for his love burneth towards thee. God loves the church with a love too deep for human imagination: he loves her with all his infinite heart. Therefore let her sons be of good courage; she cannot be far from prosperity to whom God speaketh “good words and comfortable words.” What these comfortable words are the prophet goes on to tell us: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.” The Lord loves his church so much that he cannot bear that she should go astray to others; and when she has done so, he cannot endure that she should suffer too much or too heavily. He will not have his enemies afflict her: he is displeased with them because they increase her misery. When God seems most to leave his church, his heart is warm towards her. History shows that whenever God uses a rod to chasten his servants, he always breaks it afterwards, as if he loathed the rod which gave his children pain. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” God hath not forgotten us because he smites-his blows are no evidences of want of love. If this is true of his church collectively, it is of necessity true also of each individual member. You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so: he who counts the stars, and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting his own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made, or the only saint he ever loved. Approach him and be at peace.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 24 February, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Free Christian Bookmarks Templates:

Various Bible verses , Birthday Prayer , All things for good , God is our refuge and strength , God's Grace , Strength from God, Prayers , With God all things are possible , God holds my tomorrow , Help me to remember, Lord, nothings gonna happen today that you and I can't handle together , The Cross in My Pocket , Whatever our need , When there seems no way out, let God in , You are never alone , Chinese Bible verses

Free Christian Calendars 2011 and Free Christian Planners 2011 with Bible verses:

- Big Wall Christian Calendar in one (1) page - 12 Monthly printable Calendars 2011 January to December (Jan - Dec 2011)

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Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements from CH Spurgeon

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 24 February, Morning 

“I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
- Ezekiel 34:26

Here is sovereign mercy-”I will give them the shower in its season.” Is it not sovereign, divine mercy?-for who can say, “I will give them showers,” except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds, and bid them beget the rain. Who sendeth down the rain upon the earth? Who scattereth the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord? So grace is the gift of God, and is not to be created by man. It is also needed grace. What would the ground do without showers? You may break the clods, you may sow your seeds, but what can you do without the rain? As absolutely needful is the divine blessing. In vain you labour, until God the plenteous shower bestows, and sends salvation down. Then, it is plenteous grace. “I will send them showers.” It does not say, “I will send them drops,” but “showers.” So it is with grace. If God gives a blessing, he usually gives it in such a measure that there is not room enough to receive it. Plenteous grace! Ah! we want plenteous grace to keep us humble, to make us prayerful, to make us holy; plenteous grace to make us zealous, to preserve us through this life, and at last to land us in heaven. We cannot do without saturating showers of grace. Again, it is seasonable grace. “I will cause the shower to come down in his season.” What is thy season this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. “As thy days so shall thy strength be.” And here is a varied blessing. “I will give thee showers of blessing.” The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings God will send. All God’s blessings go together, like links in a golden chain. If he gives converting grace, he will also give comforting grace. He will send “showers of blessing.” Look up to-day, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 24 February, Morning 

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Free Christian Bookmarks Templates:

Various Bible verses , Birthday Prayer , All things for good , God is our refuge and strength , God's Grace , Strength from God, Prayers , With God all things are possible , God holds my tomorrow , Help me to remember, Lord, nothings gonna happen today that you and I can't handle together , The Cross in My Pocket , Whatever our need , When there seems no way out, let God in , You are never alone , Chinese Bible verses

Free Christian Calendars 2011 and Free Christian Planners 2011 with Bible verses:

- Big Wall Christian Calendar in one (1) page - 12 Monthly printable Calendars 2011 January to December (Jan - Dec 2011)

Free Christian Cards Templates:

A Special Birthday Prayer for You , Christian cards with Bible verses , God holds my tomorrow , Whatever our need , With God all things are possible , Your Friendship is a Blessing

Fuel leak hits Norway's coast near nature reserve

Oil from an Icelandic container ship (at left) that ran aground Thursday night has come ashore on the coast of southern Norway near the country's only marine national park, Norwegian authorities said Friday.

"We don't know much about how big the oil spill is. This morning we had our airplane surveying the area to gather information," said Paal Are Lilleheim, spokesman at the Norwegian Coastal Administration.
"We don't know how much oil is left in the tanks. There is still much uncertainty."

The Norwegian coast guard said oil from the Godafoss came ashore at Aker Island, a seabird reserve at the mouth of the Oslo Fjord in the North Sea, less than 20 km from the Swedish border.

Norwegian media reports said leaks were coming from two tanks with a capacity of 250 tonnes each, but that it was unclear if the tanks were full.

The daily Aftenposten said the leaking fuel had drifted 2.5 miles west-southwest of the ship near the Ytre Hvaler oceanic national park, a rich underwater ecosystem containing corals and kelp forests.

Norwegian response crews were trying to put containment booms around the stricken vessel, local media reported.

The ship's owner, Eimskip, said the Godafoss (left) was stranded on a reef near the port of Fredrikstad.

"At the current time the vessel will not be vacated as the weather conditions are good in the area," Eimskip said.

Source:
Reuters,"Fuel leak hits Norway's coast near nature reserve ",accessed February 18, 2011

Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements from CH Spurgeon

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 23 February, Evening

“Take up the cross, and follow me.” - Mark 10:21

You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it; you are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance, or trample on it in vain-glory, or fall under it in despair, or run away from it in fear, but take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire? The Via Crucis is the way of safety; fear not to tread its thorny paths.

Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers, or lined with velvet, it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders; but it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colours, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere you fall asleep this night, that waking with to-morrow’s sun, you may go forth to the day’s cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the Crucified.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 23 February, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Free Christian Bookmarks Templates:

Various Bible verses , Birthday Prayer , All things for good , God is our refuge and strength , God's Grace , Strength from God, Prayers , With God all things are possible , God holds my tomorrow , Help me to remember, Lord, nothings gonna happen today that you and I can't handle together , The Cross in My Pocket , Whatever our need , When there seems no way out, let God in , You are never alone , Chinese Bible verses

Free Christian Calendars 2011 and Free Christian Planners 2011 with Bible verses:

- Big Wall Christian Calendar in one (1) page - 12 Monthly printable Calendars 2011 January to December (Jan - Dec 2011)

Free Christian Cards Templates:

A Special Birthday Prayer for You , Christian cards with Bible verses , God holds my tomorrow , Whatever our need , With God all things are possible , Your Friendship is a Blessing