Devotion
Send Me
Frances Taylor
Is the feeling of unworthiness the reason you don't think you can be a disciple? Isaiah didn't think he was worthy to be a prophet. We are sometimes people of unclean lips and we certainly do live in the midst of people of unclean lips. What made the difference so that Isaiah responded to God's call? He confessed his sin and received forgiveness. The first step is always to recognize our fault and sins, the second is to take responsibility for them and then to accept God's forgiveness. They are all difficult, but the third is sometimes the hardest. Have you ever hurt someone, asked their forgiveness and then been forgiven but you're still beating yourself up over it? It can be difficult to accept forgiveness because we still haven't forgiven ourselves. Isaiah was open to receive God's forgiveness and so was able to accept his assignment to deliver God's message. Once we can accept the fact that God has chosen us in our unworthiness and has made us worthy though his forgiving love, we will be ready to say, yes, to whatever mission God has in store for us.
Prayer
Compassionate Lord, I know I am not worthy to be your disciple, but through your forgiving love, you have chosen me for your purpose. Give me the courage to say, Lord, I am here, send me. 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.
