Devotion
The price of greed
David Jacobs
I go to a gym regularly. At my gym, you need to pay to buy a card in order to use the showers. One day I saw a shower card on the ground, and I took the card and thought little of it. I figured that I could use it sometime and the person that lost it might not care or notice. A few days later, the gym asked if I had found the card, and feeling guilty for doing so, I had to sheepishly turn in the card with less money on it. It was a moment of weakness and embarrassment, and I have hopefully learned my lesson.
In these verses, Naaman comes to Elisha expecting to be immediately cured of his skin disease. Elisha tells Naaman to clean himself in a nearby river, which Naaman eventually does. Naaman is thrilled to be cured of his disease and offers to pay Elisha a considerable amount for curing him. Elisha does not accept the offer, but one of the followers of Elisha, Gehazi, quickly follows Naaman and lies, saying that Elisha has changed his mind and wants the reward after all. When Elisha asks Gehazi what he has done, he lies again, and Elisha curses him with the skin disease that he had just cured Naaman of.
"What goes around comes around" is a phrase you may have heard. If you inject positive energy, generosity, and love to the world, that is what you shall receive in return. If you emit negative energy, sin, and take from the world, that is what you will receive in return.
Prayer
Nobody is free of sin, myself included. Is some reward money or a shower card at the gym worth knowing that what you did was wrong? Repent, learn, and repeat. Ask the Lord for forgiveness. He is waiting.
Devotion
My Refuge, My Fortress
Frances Taylor
When we are in trouble, where do we turn? Is God our first thought? Do we really believe that God is our fortress, and our refuge? From the beginning Scripture tells us to trust in God. From Adam and Eve, we find human beings want to trust in themselves first. When we fail, then we turn to God. Ever wonder what it might be like to turn to God first? If we turn to God and place our trust in him, it would save us a lot of unnecessary anxiety. The key is trust. We need to trust that God knows best, that he is with us through whatever is going on, that our prayers are being heard. The difficulty is that we think we know what's best and we can get upset when God has other plans. We pray and don't like the answer, or don't want to wait for the answer.
I remember a story once told me about how we can miss God's answer because it wasn't the answer we wanted. A woman had to work to pay her bills and her mother got sick and needed full time care. She ...
Morning Prayer
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )
Inspiration
I must admit that in times of trouble I have demanded that God show me a sign, talk to me, anything to reinforce my faith in him. What an ego I have! We are blessed to be given the gift of life on earth and life everlasting. It is through his mercy that we have the opportunity to be saved at all. Seek this opportunity and ye shall find it.
Prayer
Father! My heart cries out to you for mercy! We are the clay, and you our potter and all of us are the work of Your hand. Our ancestors have praised you, and now it is our blessing to do the same. I pray that you will use me as a tool for good, and deliver me from sin. I wish to do all things in your holy name, as your son, Jesus Christ, did for us. In his name I pray, Amen.
