Devotion
Jesus - The Manifestation of God’s Love
Chipo Biti
Jesus Christ is the manifestation of the fullness of God's love for all mankind. When the world was at its worst, God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and set us free from the bondage of the enemy. There was no one else who could have done this for us without any ulterior motives. God simply did this because of His love for us. We didn't deserve it. Humanity was a mess at the time Jesus came to the earth. There was a mixed multitude of people - those who knew God but had chosen to turn their backs on Him, those who did not know God at all, and those who walked around with their noses in their air as they depended on their self-righteousness.
But they all had one thing in common: sin. There was nothing no man could do to resolve it. Many had tried to fulfill their law in their own power but they could not do it. All the sacrifices that were done to atone the sins of the children of Israel were done on a regular basis because they were unable to stop sinning. Sin had a powerful grip over the people and it brought out the worst in them.
Prayer
We were redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, reconciled to God, the Father. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be children of God. There is no other way. Our lives have been justified by the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on our behalf. All of this done out of love and nothing else.
When you think about the magnitude of this great gift, it is more than enough to make you want to dance for joy for as long as you can. When we think of the love of God, all we have to do is think of Jesus because that is where it is all shown. Jesus Christ is the evidence we have of the loving Father that we have.
Devotion
His Loving Kindness Endures Forever
Frances Taylor
Psalm 136 is a list of all the wonders that God had done for the Israelites from creation through the deliverance from Egypt and into the land promised to them, providing them with all that they need. I challenge you to write a psalm listing all the things that God has done for you using the same format. Several years ago, I did this myself and it was a wonderful reminder of all that God had done for me. "I give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his mercy endures forever; he has provided me with a family that loved me, his mercy endures forever; he hears me when I call to him, his mercy endures forever; when I was in trouble he rescued me, his mercy endures forever." I listed all the gifts he has given me and continues to give me and I thanked him for all the times that I was in pain and he healed me, and the times when I needed to be rescued. I'm sure if you take up my challenge and compose your own psalm, you will discover ...
Morning Prayer
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Inspiration
To reject the truths taught in God's Word, spoken by his prophets and apostles and by Jesus Christ his Son, is a grave offense. In the days when Hebrews was written, there were still true prophets in the Church, speaking from God. Today, we have his written Word as our "prophet. " If a preacher preaches truly according to the Book, we are in a grave sin if we reject it.
Prayer
Help me, O Lord, to discern when your Word is being taught correctly and when it is not. Teach me to embrace your truths and love them. Help me to walk in them and meditate on them. Let me not sin in rejecting the plain teachings of the Bible. Amen.
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.
