Devotion
Loving Wounds
Chipo Biti
It is far better to be smarting from the correction of a friend who cares for you, instead of being led on the wrong path by people who try to deceive you with false approval. If you choose to base your life on positive feedback only and you block out any form of correction, you will end up with the wrong people advising you. Positive feedback is great. It can boost you, it can get you motivated, and it can make you feel good. But if that feedback is blinding you from the areas in your life that you need to correct, you will find yourself on that fast track to making a series of mistakes.
Correction is necessary for our growth as Christians. We need correction in our spiritual lives in order to ensure that we are reflecting God and His love and righteousness. We also need correction in other aspects of our life. We can never know everything or get everything right. When we are corrected, we are alerted to the areas in our lives that we need to work on. When we work on those areas, we become better people. If we don't receive that correction, how will we grow?
Correction may be hard to receive, especially from the people we love, but it is worthwhile. The people who love you will always desire to see you become the best person you can be. In order for that to happen, they have to correct you when they see that you are headed in the wrong direction.
People who are trying to use you will not care about what is best for you. They will only be concerned with how you can serve their hidden agenda. They will take advantage of your shortcomings in order to gain a one up on you.
Prayer
Discernment is required when it comes to who you listen to when you are in need of counsel. If you surround yourself with people who will tell you what you want to hear, you will not get very far in life. But if you choose to have honest people around you, who are convicted by the love they have for you and not their selfish interests, you will be able to grow. You should also aim to be the person who corrects, in love. Lying to someone or overlooking their errors in order to make them happy is not love.
Devotion
We will Do It
Why do you obey
Frances Taylor
Moses came down from the mountain and told the people what the Lord had commanded. They all said, Okay! No problem! As we shall see in a few days, that didn't last long. The Israelites said yes over and over to God, and then said, no, over and over again. So much like us! It's a good thing God forgives us over and over again. It is always interesting to read the full account of the commandments and their amplified meaning in Exodus, because it gives an idea of what the civilization was like in those days. The commandments were not all totally new as many of them were based on the code of Hammurabi. The first three commandments were new as they listed the proper behavior towards God. The other seven concerned social behavior and social structure. So, what's the difference between Hammurabi's code and the Ten Commandments other than the first three? The difference is in the why. We don't obey the commandments because they promote civility...
Morning Prayer
Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
Inspiration
Our mouths may be filled with all sorts; idle chatter, gossip, news, profanities or slander. Yet it would be best of all to fill it with praise and love. God gave us our voices to not only communicate, but to choose our words wisely. Don't use it to injure or babble, but to spread his gospel and praise.
Prayer
Lord Almighty I exalt your name on earth as in Heaven. Grant me the wisdom and the will to spread your name and deeds, to use my voice for beauty and truth rather than lies and disparagement. Grant me this Lord, in your holy name I pray, Amen.
