Devotion
Show thyself a man
David Jacobs
Two of the earliest memories that I have of my parents involve them giving me advice. First, I remember my parents telling me to "look both ways before crossing the street." I used to walk with my brother to our primary school, and we were quite proud to be able to do it by ourselves. The other piece of advice I remember is "always wear your seatbelt." This good piece of advice from my parents to a young child, and again, it involved me being excited and proud to finally be able to get out of a car seat and use a seat belt on my own.
King David has reached his final days and must choose one of his many sons to be an heir to the throne. His sons have killed each other (2 Samuel 13) and his sons have died in an attempt to overthrow him (2 Samuel 18), so some of David's top choices may have already died. However, he chooses his son Solomon, the son of his wife Bathsheba. Solomon is wise and his father imparts some final words of wisdom: be strong, be a man, and listen to God as he did.
I am not sure how David interpreted his father's message to follow the commandments of God considering he is the son of Bathsheba, the woman that David committed adultery with and then was responsible for the death of her husband, but we can certainly understand that Solomon realizes the responsibility that his father is bestowing upon him. For all of David's faults, he always came to God for counsel. David has always been the character with which I most easily identified in the Bible: he has his good moments, and he has his bad (really, really, bad moments), but he always clings to his relationship with God.
Prayer
The relationship with our natural parents and our Father in Heaven is where we should turn in times of trouble, just as King David did, just as Solomon will do. What advice have your parents given you? More importantly, what advice have you learned from God? Seek his counsel in prayer and you will hear His lessons.
Night Prayer
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
Inspiration
Often, we speak before we have to opportunity to think about our words. In the heat of the moment, we immediately express negative feelings without analyzing the situation first. We jump to conclusions when directing meetings and speak in haste with our children before evaluating all sides. As leaders in any setting, we must be tactful and make decisions by weighing all details. Instead of expressing emotions with our authority, we must seek to mediate justly and reflect the mercy of God with our decision-making.
Prayer
Dear Lord, Please forgive us when we jump to conclusions and fail to lead with mercy and grace. Guide us to reflect Your character when You place us in a position of authority. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Devotion
A Simple Creed
Frances Taylor
Although the last verse of this passage is considered to be a portion of a hymn prayed by the people in the communities around Ephesus, I think of it as a creed, a simple statement of beliefs. It lets us know that they believed that Jesus was God, coming in the flesh, who was justified, or vindicated as another translation has it, by the Holy Spirit, seen by the angels, which could mean actual angels in heaven, or that he was seen by the disciples and others considered to be holy, preached by those disciples to reach out to a world that believed in the message of the Good News and was received by the Father into heaven where he would reign. Of course, I could be wrong about the actual meaning of the hymn, but it really doesn't make any difference. It makes me think about creeds, or statements of belief. I know there are a few formal ones such as the Apostles' Creed, or Baptismal Creed, and the Nicene Creed which expands a little on the first. But ...
Morning Prayer
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
Inspiration
It may seem that the lives of some non-believers are often much easier and carefree than our own. Unshackled to principle, they may float free between pleasures with no particular conscience. But this 'freedom' is not true freedom, and one shouldn't mistake it for what it really is; being lost in the wilderness. This 'freedom' of the non-believer does not extend into the afterlife, and is in fact, shackled only to this, our material world. Since they have not had to endure the call of their consciences, they will not find our God's eternal peace.
Prayer
Lord God our Creator and Father, let me endure all that is sacred, just and fair in this world. Help us understand in facing our sufferings that we are doing so for you sake, in your glory. Thus, give us grace and show us mercy, for in answering to our consciences, we know we are doing your work. Help us stay pure ...
