Devotion
Hey buddy, you have some dust in your eye!
David Jacobs
It is not easy to be criticized, even if it is constructive. My lovely wife, who I love more than anyone except my children (don't tell them), gave me a healthy piece of advice that maybe some of you have heard as well: "Honey, why don't we join a gym?" She wanted me to be healthier and live longer, but her question made me defensive: why should I join a gym if she doesn't go to the gym? It made me sad that this was my initial reaction because I realized eventually that she was not trying to tell me that she thought I was unattractive. She was telling me that she wanted someone to go to the gym with her! I was quite embarrassed that I felt the way I did...luckily I kept my mouth shut.
We don't always receive constructive criticism; sometimes it is destructive. Have you heard the phrase, "the pot calling the kettle black"? It means when someone tells you that you act a certain way, generally with a negative connotation, that they also exhibit. It reminds me of these verses from the gospel of Matthew. If King David said to his sons, "I can't believe you committed adultery. That is so bad," I can only imagine how they would roll their eyes considering the actions of their father (2 Samuel 11). We should focus on our own problems rather than criticizing the problems of others. All this criticism does is fall on deaf ears and get flung back in our face because it is like a black pot calling a black kettle...black.
Nobody is perfect, yet we all have a chance to be redeemed. We should focus on our own salvation and in doing so, led by example.
Prayer
Do not put others down and try to tell them how to live their lives; live your own life as we know we should: according to the word of God, following the path lain out by his son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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.
