Devotion
I Have Appointed You
Frances Taylor
We have all been chosen to be disciples of God, to spread the Good News concerning the coming of the Kingdom. We might be afraid that we are not up to the task, much as Jeremiah was. But just as God spoke to Jeremiah promising to help him, he is with us as well. The without the witness of the early disciples, we would not know of Jesus. Without our witness, how will future generations come to know Jesus? How will we know what to say? What will others think about us? But God is by our side helping us, giving us the words we need at the right time.
Our job is to look for opportunities. Once on a cruise ship, a woman stood next to me and the conversation turned to God. We had a wonderful conversation about our faith, our trust and confidence in God. I don't know if anyone else heard us, but we didn't care. Sometimes these conversations begin when a friend tells us about a loved one being sick and we offer to pray for them. Sometimes it comes after a political ad or speech. More often a discussion might evolve because of a tragedy, either from a weather incident or after one of the many terrorist attacks the world has dealt with in the past few years. In any case, it's important for us to be open about our faith and also willing to listen to the views of others. We have been appointed; we need to accept the responsibility to spread the Good News.
Prayer
Lord, we are willing to be your disciples, give us the words we need to lead others to you. 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.
