Devotion
How God Reveals Himself
Frances Taylor
When I asked myself that question, I came up with so many answers they were too long to list! However, I will name a few: looking into the faces of my newborn children and grandchildren, watching the waves break on a stormy day, standing in Denali, looking up at Mt. McKinley, a crocus peeking out of the snow, seeing the sunrise and/or sunset over the ocean, seeing the look of love in the eyes of a spouse or a child. I could go on but it's time for you to think about it. One thing I have learned is that you won't see the hand of God unless you look for it. I feel very gifted that I had a grandmother who taught me to look for God when I was very young – three years old! Needless to say, my world was not exactly filled with exciting visions at that point – nor has it been since then, but I learned that God was in the very ordinariness of our days. You are running late and find that you just missed the accident on the highway. You didn't hit the car that came out from behind the snow bank without stopping. God is always there in both the good and the sad times. We cannot stand with Peter, James and John at the top of the mountain but as we continue through Lent, let us challenge ourselves to take a few moments at the end of each day and thank God for God's presence in the ordinariness of our own days.
Prayer
Lord may we see you in the glory of nature, the faces of those we meet and in the ordinariness of each day. Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
