Devotion
Faith
Frances Taylor
This passage gives us the connection between faith and hope. When I turn on a lamp, it is with faith. When my son turns on a lamp it is with the knowledge of an electrician. Faith is based on the unknown, once we have knowledge we no longer need faith. We were not there when the world was created, we have no knowledge of how it was done. But we believe, we have hope, that God is the author of creation. We were not there to walk with Jesus and listen to his preaching about the kingdom, but we have faith based on the word of God we find in Scripture. We trust the writings of the apostles. We have hope in his message.
Faith is an interesting virtue. What gives us the ability to have faith? Actually it begins in our infancy. We learn faith from our parents. Parents who tend to their child's needs teach that child that there is someone who can be depended on. This gives them courage to believe. If you have ever known a child whose parents were not present or neglectful, you know that this child has a problem depending on anyone but himself. This inability to trust, to have faith, in anyone can last into adulthood, bringing many problems into his life. When you think about it, parents are the gods in a child's life. The first prayer most of us learn is the Lord's Prayer. How does it begin? Our Father, who art in heaven. If our parents have taught us to be fearful or them or to be unable to depend on them, what must they think of God? Faith must also be nurtured. By sharing with others the ways in which God has worked in our lives, we are nurturing the faith of others. When we listen to the faith stories of others, our faith is nurtured. May we always give witness to the faith and hope that lives in our hearts.
Prayer
Gracious God, you come to us each day with reasons to keep believing in you. Help us to be nurturers of faith for others so that they too may have hope in experiencing the your goodness. Amen.
Devotion
True Prophecy
Frances Taylor
Peter is warning the people against false teachers and false prophets. There were false prophets among the Israelites and there would be again. Men, then, and men and women today who would lead people away from the will of God in order that they might exert influence over the leaders of the times to achieve their own ends. In ancient times, the prophets worked to bring the people back to living as God wanted them to live. The false prophets wanted to keep their jobs as the favorites of the kings and kept telling them not to listen.
Today we have many false teachers as Peter predicted who try to turn the words of Scripture to their own agendas. These people have often called for hate instead of the love which Jesus asked for. They have called for vengeance instead of forgiveness or mercy. They bring about division instead of unity. The true teacher will be attentive to the word of God and do his or her best to make Jesus law of love more visible in ...
Morning Prayer
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Inspiration
I constantly compare myself to Jesus Christ. Although I think that it is a good thing to contemplate how you live and compare it to Christ, it can also be very difficult. Jesus is the Son of God. It would be impossible for us to ever be as good as him because he was created without flaws. God sent him to earth as a mortal man, as a sinner, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5: 21) It is an impossible standard to reach, but is there any other person that you would rather be more similar to?
Prayer
Divine God, powerful creator of both Heaven and earth, I pray that these words convey my sincere gratitude to you for sending Jesus to us. Forgive me, Father, for I am selfish and weak, acting directly against your heavenly mandate. I know that Jesus Christ has shown light on a darkened ...
