Devotion
Hope in the Trials
Chipo Biti
We are at peace with God, the Father, as a result of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us when He came to earth to fulfill the will of God. Through faith, which is expressed through receiving salvation and submitting to Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives, we activate that personal reconciliation with God. We have to make an active and conscious decision to be saved. It won't fall on us from the sky.
The Bible states, in Romans 10:9-10, that the one who confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and they believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead then He will be saved. This all has to do with the actions we take to affirm our salvation. Confessing and, most importantly, believing the gospel in our hearts.
Through Jesus Christ, we have access to the grace that we did not merit in any way. This grace is what has made us children of God. It is by grace we can look at our futures with eager expectation of the glory that is to come.
It is because of Jesus Christ, and the peace that we have with God, that we can rejoice and be steadfast in times of trials and tribulations. Instead of shaking and cowering away, we stand boldly because we know that God is with us. Our hearts are strengthened during the challenges we face. We build up patience so that the next time a similar trial comes our way, we will confidently endure.
Prayer
That is what we call experience. Experience is when we are familiar with a situation that has come our way. We won't shake or fret as much. If anything, we will be far more confident because we know that we got out of it the first time, we will get out of it again. This is what we call hope. Knowing that we are safe in the loving embrace of God, never to fail or fall away.
Christ is the source of our strength. In Him, we can face all things, boldly knowing that we will come out just fine.
Night Prayer
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Inspiration
Sin rules our lives until we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. When we invite Him into our lives, our old sinful heart dies, and God creates within us a new one, where sin no longer rules our life; God does! Our thoughts and actions begin to change because we no longer desire a sinful lifestyle. We joyfully devote our lives to serving Him and inviting others to understand His promise of salvation.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we are sinners born again and recreated to live according to Your will. We are grateful for Your love and the peace we experience by abolishing our old sinful self. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
Satan Has Been Defeated
Frances Taylor
Salvation and power have come with Christ and Satan has been defeated. Sin and death have been conquered by the actions of one man, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, both human and divine who came into the world to bring the Good News of salvation by living, dying and rising for us. As Christians we claim to believe this but our actions sometimes deny it. Unfortunately, people seem to resurrect Satan all the time. We allow him to lead us away from God, forgetting the way to the Father that is love, and giving in to Satan's path of hatred, anger, pride, lust, chaos and destruction.
Satan, of course, doesn't present these as bad things, he makes them seem attractive. He presents sin as goods to be desired, as things to make us happy or give us pleasure. It can be hard to stay on the path that leads to God when the world seems to be crowding us and pushing us off of it. How easy it is to forget the sacrifice that bought our freedom! Which of us ...
Morning Prayer
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Inspiration
It is right for us to defer to others and to rejoice with others when they have cause to rejoice over some blessing in their life, instead of sorrowing before them over some problem in our life. It is right also to weep with those who weep, showing compassion and feeling for them in their grief instead of "dancing joyfully before those who mourn" as if insensitive to their sorrow.
Prayer
Give me a discerning spirit, Lord, to know when to rejoice and when to weep. Let me show concern for others and their situation and life events instead of just focusing only on my own. Let me show true compassion and genuine joy in the right way and time to others. Amen.
