Devotion
Showing Love As A Disciple
Frances Taylor
There are so many ways in which we show love to others every day. Doing something nice for a friend or family member – or even a stranger – is showing love. Praying for others is love. For me, one of the most powerful way we show love as a disciple of Jesus is forgiveness. In 1970, a movie came out called "Love Story." In it, there was an often quoted line: "Love is never having to say you're sorry." I believe that "Love" is just the opposite. I have a feeling that Jesus would agree with me. Jesus told Peter that we must forgive "seventy times seven." We are told in The Lord's Prayer that we will be forgiven as we forgive, and the most powerful sign of love and forgiveness is when he forgave the soldiers who were nailing him to the cross. Family, friends, co-workers, even the person who cuts you off in traffic, or takes the parking space you were waiting for give us an opportunity to show love through forgiveness every day. And, because we are human and often offend others, we need to seek forgiveness from those we may have hurt. Each one of us will have a different opinion as to how we show love as a disciple, but I hope each of us has forgiveness near the top of the list.
Prayer
O Lord, it is so hard to forgive sometimes. Even the people we love can hurt us, our spouses, our children, our friends, and yet forgiveness is one of the greatest signs that we love. Help us to let go of wrongs and open our hearts to the fullness of love. Amen.
Devotion
Don’t Judge
Frances Taylor
This is a pretty consistent theme in the New Testament. Jesus certainly makes it clear that judging is unacceptable. In more than one Gospel the message is clear: don't judge. We humans do it though! We judge for lots of reasons. One of the not so nice reasons is to make ourselves feel better. If we can judge someone to be worse than ourselves, it can make us feel superior. Often people caught doing something will turn and say that it's not as bad as what "so and so" does. Other times, we make a judgment and spread whatever we think we know about another's behavior as gossip. It gives us a sense of power to act like we "know" everything. And often we are wrong in our judgments. Spreading gossip can ruin a person's reputation often without any substance behind it. We also tend to make judgments based on color, race, gender, age, ethnicity, all sorts of things that bias us. If you were sick in a foreign country, would you trust the doctors? If you see...
Morning Prayer
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Inspiration
Our victory, as believers, is not by our might or by the height of our intellect. Nothing in our own power can ever make us righteous. We are where we are, as children of God, as a result of the Spirit of God residing in us. The Spirit of God is able to reside in us so easily because Jesus Christ justified and sanctified us by his blood. Isn't that glorious?
Prayer
Dear God, I thank you that it is never by my might or power that I am saved and victorious in you. It is because of your son, Jesus Christ, that I am able to have access to the Holy Spirit who enables me to function as your child. Lord, may I always take heed to the guidance of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, I pray. ...
