Devotion
Lift you up
David Jacobs
I can still remember one day when I made a huge lapse in judgment. I said something that I should never have said to my girlfriend at the time, making her incredibly upset. It seemed as if I said the thing solely to make her upset and sad, and it made me questions what I was doing with my life and with her. To make matters worse, I didn't want to admit fault, didn't want to admit my mistake to her, because it made me rehash the pathetic behaviors that I had displayed. Our relationship ended soon after, but it took me 2 years to apologize to her for the remarks that I made. At least it was better late than never, or that's what I told myself.
Everybody falls down. Everybody makes mistakes. It is not about falling down, it is about how you get up. With a strong faith in God, when we fall, He will strengthen us through His divine word. We will have the power that we do not even know exists, fortified by our rock, redeemer, and strength. As Isaiah says, we will be lifted up on eagles wings, and when even the young fall after growing faint and weary, the Lord will lift them up, and they will be strengthened.
Prayer
Think of a time where you stumbled mightily. How did you respond? Were you cowardly like I was? Or did your faith in God strengthen you, lifting you up faster than you fell?
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.
