Night Prayer
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Inspiration
Can we praise God with our mouths, and curse men with the same mouths? To do so is to speak contradiction. Man is made in God’s image, and we are called to speak blessings over others. It is in the outpouring of God’s love and grace that the image of man is perfected in God’s likeness. So let us mind our words, so that we may always speak goodness and grace.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for making me in Your image. Help me to always remember the truth that every person I meet is also made in Your image. Even though we all come before You stained and marred, teach me to refrain from words of condemnation. Instead, fill my mouth with words of grace so that the transforming power of Your love may work through me and bring blessing to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Devotion
Spy Wednesday
Frances Taylor
What price do I place on Jesus' head? For Judas it was thirty pieces of silver. I know you're thinking, "Not me!" Stop and think: when was the last time you chose your needs over that of your family? I'm sure you know people just as I do, whose pay check is not always spent on food, rent or mortgage. These are people who gamble, drink, use drugs, of other forms of entertainment and waste the monies that should be used for their families. This is the price that they place on Jesus' head.
For some, money is the god, as it was for Judas. For others, it's fame or pleasure. For others, it's just indifference or apathy. No one sits down and says that their actions, or non-actions, are betrayals of Jesus. But they are. There are other times when we make a choice that goes against everything we say we believe. Whatever the reason for doing this, we suffer the same sense of guilt that Judas felt when he fully realized the consequences of his behavior. Judas ...
Morning Prayer
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Inspiration
Timothy was a pastor, appointed by Paul to care for a congregation of God's people. He was an "elder, " but was not especially "elderly. " Some might be tempted not to listen to him because of his youth and presumed lack of wisdom. But Paul instructs him to preach God's Word boldy and to live out an example all of God's people could desire to emulate.
Prayer
Let us have respect to your Word, O Lord, and not so much to the men who preach or teach it. If we see a Christian living a holy example and teaching us the great truths found in your Book, let us not distrust him because of his youth but rejoice in what God is doing with him. Let us also be quick to learn from and benefit from such a minister of the Gospel. Amen.
Night Prayer
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Inspiration
Sometimes, we needlessly complicate our faith, and that can quickly put us on the wrong path. Fad teachings and new doctrines seem to emerge every day, but we already have God’s word and we already have the Lord’s Supper. We need not reinvent our faith with extraneous rituals, they only lead to polluted doctrine. Instead, let us hold to the simple gatherings and foundational truth that we have already been given.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for revealing Yourself to me in Your word, and thank You for the simple communion that I share with my fellow believers. Please work in these things to build me up, so that I may be satisfied in You. Give me the wisdom to discern unsound doctrine, so that I may remain steadfast in Your truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
