Devotion
I Delight To Do Your Will
Frances Taylor
When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we say "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In this psalm, we pray that we delight to do God's will. I wonder if we really mean what we pray, or if we just say the words. First, we need to think about what God's will really is. When we read the Scriptures we see certain themes – justice, peace, and especially, love. These themes run through the Old Testament as well as the New. We are told to take care of the poor, the most vulnerable in our society. We are asked to remember that we were once strangers in the lands we now occupy. We are told to treat others the way we want to be treated, to forgive. These are not easy tasks and sometimes we do not "delight" in doing them. We want justice but not if it interferes with our comfort. We want peace, but our speech is often loaded with violence. We say we want to be forgiven but find it hard to forgive. We don't always welcome the stranger, and we sometimes suspect the poor of being responsible for their situation. When we continue to read this psalm, we read a confession of sorts admitting that we often fail in doing the will of God. We also hear the author asking for God's mercy and faithfulness. We need to look at ourselves with honesty and see how we can work better to bring about God's will on earth as it is in heaven.
Prayer
Lord, you are my help, do not delay! Amen.
Devotion
Remember What The Lord Has Done
Frances Taylor
Jesus has just cured a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years, lying beside the healing waters of Bethesda with no one to put him into the water. After Jesus heals him, he finds him to warn him against sinning. Does this seem weird? Well, let's think about it. A man who can't walk can't get into too much trouble. Now, he has choices and he may be tempted to make poor ones. God answers our prayers too. When we are in trouble and praying for God's help, our focus is on God and trying to work things out. Once everything is great again, we often forget about God and get back into the same trouble or worse. Many people have prayed to become rich, to win a lottery or get an inheritance, and then what happens? In the majority of cases, the money can lead to a spending spree, a dissatisfaction with one's spouse, job, home, etc, and the person loses what he has gained and more as the family, the job, the home, etc. are now gone. God's ...
Morning Prayer
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
Inspiration
It is better to be a Christian who does not have much in this world, in comparison to being a wicked person who abounds in wealth. There will come a day where all of these earthly things will pass away and we will be faced with what matters the most – our eternity. The wicked will have to account for their actions and face their consequences and their wealth will not be able to get them out of it.
Prayer
Dear God, I pray that I will never lose sight of what truly matters in this life. May my mind always be concerned with your Kingdom, Lord, and not in amassing wealth on this earth. I know that everything I attain on earth is temporary. May my mind never lose sight of what truly matters – spending eternity with you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
