Devotion
Job’s faith tested
David Jacobs
When I was 22, I experienced one hardship after another and was unable to focus on anything positive for a long time. At that time, I truly began to think that nothing mattered and life had no meaning. My best friend had died of cancer at the age of 21, and I had to witness him waste away until he was just skin and bones. My oldest friend died when he fell out of a window, an incredible stroke of bad luck. My best friend's mom, mere months after his passing, also was diagnosed and suddenly died from cancer. Egotistically, I thought about my role, blaming myself for their deaths in one way or another: what could I have done differently? Why did God hate me? Worst of all, I hated God.
Satan puts Job to the absolute test, making my misfortunes seem almost insignificant. Within a span of a few verses, one messenger after another approaches Job with worse and worse news: first the cows were stolen and servants killed, then the sheep and fields were burned, then the camels and more servants were killed, and, the icing on the cake, all of his children were killed when the house collapsed. It would be enough to break any man. More than just break, it would be enough to send most men away, a new ally of Satan.
Somehow, Job's faith is strong enough. He realizes that he was born alone and will die alone, except accompanied by God. He has a good point too: we were alone saving for God upon birth, and do we look upon it as terrible? The same could be true of death, yet we seldom view it as such. Our time on earth is fleeting, like water vapor: here one second, gone the next (James 4:14).
Prayer
With a strong faith and trust in God, we are promised life eternal. For a stubborn man like me, and a stronger man like Job, it may take some time, but the choice is clear.
Night Prayer
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Inspiration
Sin rules our lives until we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. When we invite Him into our lives, our old sinful heart dies, and God creates within us a new one, where sin no longer rules our life; God does! Our thoughts and actions begin to change because we no longer desire a sinful lifestyle. We joyfully devote our lives to serving Him and inviting others to understand His promise of salvation.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we are sinners born again and recreated to live according to Your will. We are grateful for Your love and the peace we experience by abolishing our old sinful self. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
Satan Has Been Defeated
Frances Taylor
Salvation and power have come with Christ and Satan has been defeated. Sin and death have been conquered by the actions of one man, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, both human and divine who came into the world to bring the Good News of salvation by living, dying and rising for us. As Christians we claim to believe this but our actions sometimes deny it. Unfortunately, people seem to resurrect Satan all the time. We allow him to lead us away from God, forgetting the way to the Father that is love, and giving in to Satan's path of hatred, anger, pride, lust, chaos and destruction.
Satan, of course, doesn't present these as bad things, he makes them seem attractive. He presents sin as goods to be desired, as things to make us happy or give us pleasure. It can be hard to stay on the path that leads to God when the world seems to be crowding us and pushing us off of it. How easy it is to forget the sacrifice that bought our freedom! Which of us ...
Morning Prayer
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Inspiration
It is right for us to defer to others and to rejoice with others when they have cause to rejoice over some blessing in their life, instead of sorrowing before them over some problem in our life. It is right also to weep with those who weep, showing compassion and feeling for them in their grief instead of "dancing joyfully before those who mourn" as if insensitive to their sorrow.
Prayer
Give me a discerning spirit, Lord, to know when to rejoice and when to weep. Let me show concern for others and their situation and life events instead of just focusing only on my own. Let me show true compassion and genuine joy in the right way and time to others. Amen.
