Devotion
In His Hands
Chipo Biti
Trust is a hard thing to come by in the world. When you are surrounded by people who only have their best interests at heart, it can be very hard to find someone you can confide in. The thought of giving a person a glance into your heart and your mind can be daunting.
People are capable of convincing you that you can trust them, but the moment you have finished confiding in them, they are already thinking of the way they're going to tell someone else about everything that you've just shared with them. People are capable of smiling in your face and talking behind your back at the same time. Such things leave very little to be desired when it comes to trying to trust people and letting them into your lives.
Fortunately, with God we don't have such worries. We know that God has our lives in our hands and this gives us peace. It does not scare us and it definitely does not give us any reason to worry. God truly is the only one who has your best interests at heart. Everything He guides you in is for your benefit. This is why he constantly urges us to follow the guiding of His Spirit.
He isn't trying to control us. He is trying to prevent us from experiencing anything detrimental to our health and our livelihood as his children.
Think of an interaction between a child and their mother. A child may walk into the kitchen and tell their mom that they are ready to drive a car. The mother will look at her eight year old child and tell them that they are not ready to drive. The child might become upset and think that their mother is trying to stifle their dreams. But the mother is actually protecting them. If the child tries to drive at their young age, they will end up injuring or even killing themselves.
Prayer
The same thing happens with God. He knows us better than we know ourselves and because of this, some of the things he may guide us to do might not make sense in the moment, but when we take a look at our lives later, we realize that everything actually does make sense.
This is why David could confidently tell God that he has committed his spirit into God's hands. He is the only one who can truly protect us, guide us, and prepare us for anything life tries to throw in our direction.
Devotion
Pray for Leaders
Frances Taylor
How often do you or I pray for government leaders? Paul doesn't say to pray just for the leaders we like, either. If we do want a tranquil and quiet life, we need all leaders to turn to God and work for justice for all their citizens. It's probably even more important to pray and intercede for those leaders who work against justice, than for those who are already doing the right thing. For those who are already on God's side, we should give thanks to God that they stay in leadership and continue to do God's will. The same goes for city, state, and even church leaders as well as our national and international leaders. Good leaders should be supported and others need to be held to account for their behavior. Obviously different countries have different forms of leadership, but that shouldn't stop us from praying for them. God does listen even if the answer doesn't come as quickly as we might like. In the case of democracies, we sometimes need a bad ...
Morning Prayer
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Inspiration
We cannot allow ourselves envy, for it corrodes not only our relationships with others but also the things we already have. The end result is that we neglect to value and appreciate things already in our possession, and thus in turn, being ungrateful to the Lord himself for what he has provided. Rather, our energy would be better placed to focus on giving thanks to the Lord and his gifts, here and now.
Prayer
To my Lord above, my Creator and Heavenly Father, by your grace do I come to thank you for all I have. Teach me not to covet others and their lot, but grant me instead the ability to Love and see the blessings you have already bestowed upon me. In return for your grace, I thus offer up to you my humblest of gifts, my Lord -my heart in obedience, is yours. Amen.
