Devotion
You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased
David Jacobs
I spent a lot of my adult life trying to please my father. He is not the easiest man to please, or at least he says that he is not pleased much of the time. There have been moments when I really drove with all of the energy to please my father, only to receive little to no recognition for what I had done. Unfortunately, I lost my temper on one of these occasions, asking my father why he never could admit to being happy with what I had done. Fortunately, my father is a kind and patient person, giving me exactly what I needed. He told me that he thought that I knew he was pleased with him so much so that he didn't even need to say it. With that, my spirit was lifted, and I never felt this insecurity again.
Any son that has had a relationship with their father knows how much it means to be acceptable in good in the mind of your father. As a child, we look up to our parents so much, and although it may sound ridiculous considering Christ is God and God is Christ, I still believe that the human part of Christ looked up to his father the same way that I looked up to mine. He wanted His blessing; he wanted to be affirmed in his goodness; he wanted God to tell him that He loved him. That is exactly what God does.
Prayer
God doesn't just say it to Jesus; He says it so that the people that witnessed the baptism with John could hear it too. They would go from that place to tell the people about it, and the good news of Christ would begin to spread like a wildfire.
Night Prayer
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Inspiration
Christ's words are everlasting. Though kingdoms around us rise and fall, the Kingdom of God reigns forever. We have faith in every word spoken by our Lord and Savior because He is trustworthy, dependable, and will never break a promise. His promise of salvation brings us hope and happiness; Christ's message is more precious because it is eternal. We are delighted to serve our heavenly Father and will continue to praise Him for His love and dedication.
Prayer
Dear God, You are the beginning and end. We trust Your Word because You have repeatedly proven Your unconditional love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
False Gods
Frances Taylor
Moses spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain and the people were frightened. Okay, God had performed many feats of power in Egypt to get Pharaoh to let them leave. He blocked the chariots of Pharaoh's army so that they could escape, he dried up the water so that they could reach dry land, fed them with manna and fowl in the desert so they wouldn't go hungry and they promised to obey God's commandments, and now they were worshipping a golden calf. What had God not done that they didn't trust him? We can look at them and say that they were fools, but they could probably look at us and say the same. When we remember all that God has done for us, why don't we trust him? Now we don't go out and carve an idol out of gold, or even wood, but we do manage to find idols just the same. Sometimes the idol is ourselves because we feel that we are the only one we can trust. For some the idol is money which people think can solve all the problems of the ...
Morning Prayer
To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
Inspiration
What Jesus Christ did through his death on the cross and his resurrection is something that humans cannot understand. Only God has the wisdom to understand. Yet, it is through our faith that this is real and true that we are saved. The crux of our salvation lies in believing in something only God truly knows. The glory of this mystery will be revealed to us in eternity.
Prayer
Dear God, your works are too amazing to comprehend. As humans, our earthly wisdom is not enough to understand Jesus' death and resurrection, but I believe it is true. As creator of the universe, I know you can do far more than I can imagine. Your ways are not like our ways. While I am living in my earthly home, give me the wisdom I need to share my faith with others in a way that they will understand. In Jesus' name, amen.
