Devotion
The Real Walking Dead
David Jacobs
Much worse than committing one's sins, God abhors those who do not acknowledge their mistakes or ask for the forgiveness of their transgressions. If you fail to embrace your mistakes, ask for forgiveness, or work towards positive change then you are in fact living a lie. We are born with sin, we learn, we grow, we reflect, we repent, and then we are reunited with our creator.
Failing to acknowledge our sins and working to repair our relationship with God is the real zombie apocalypse. We have turned our back on the Lord's light to become brain dead consumers without direction and free will.
This is how more than one tribe or city has perished in the past. So often the lie is even worse than the original transgression, for it is committed out of cowardice to answering for our own actions, or to hide from our own consciences our true selves.
Prayer
By becoming the lie, we lose ourselves. If your life is a lie, then the true you is dead.
Cleanse yourself for the Lord! He does not take pleasure in wishing to punish you, but rather wishing for you to cleanse your soul with the truth and live!
Devotion
It’s Never Enough
Frances Taylor
Complain, complain, complain! First it's not enough water, then no food and now not enough of a variety! The Israelites remind me of my children, especially when they were teenagers, opening a refrigerator and saying there was nothing to eat, even though they could have heated up leftovers or made a sandwich, etc. I guess that freedom from slavery wasn't enough for them. God continued to be generous to the Israelites and provided them with meat. When we complain, God continues to be generous with us as well. The question is, when is it enough for us?
Think about a Christmas morning with a pile of gifts in stockings or under the tree. You may have a very small child and another about six or seven years older. How often does the older one count the toys the little one gets and compares the amount to those he or she gets without even considering the amount of money spent on the gifts he or she gets? In fact, you probably spent more money on the ...
Morning Prayer
And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Inspiration
The Jews of Jesus' time understood about the glory of the Messianic Kingdom, but they seldom understood that the Messiah would also suffer and die for the sins of the world. When Jesus openly declared this, Peter began to rebuke him and say these things must not occur. But Jesus rebuked Peter. Jesus came into the world to be God's suffering Servant and to lay down his life as a ransom for many.
Prayer
O Father, you have called us to be servants and often called us to suffer. You do not allure the world with promises of health and wealth but offer us a cross. If suffering for you offends us, we are not of the right spirit of mind. Humble us, Lord, for why should we be "too good" to suffer when even your Son suffered so much? Amen.
Night Prayer
And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Inspiration
Samson's power came from God, not from his beautiful locks of hair! He knew the origin of his strength and called out to the Lord to help him abolish his enemies. We have the power to overcome obstacles and hardships in our earthly life. We must remember that our strength comes from the Lord and contribute our tenacity to Him. We are grateful for His gracious character as He gifts us with skills to battle our enemies.
Prayer
Dear Father, We are grateful for the strength You have instilled in us. We could not stand against sin alone and we praise You for gifting us the power to conquer our sin. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
