Devotion
Preparing For My Resurrection
Frances Taylor
We say we believe in our "resurrection from the dead." Have you ever given any thought to what that might mean? What about preparing for your resurrection? This is our question to consider today. After giving it quite a bit of thought, I began to wonder what eternal life might be and how we could prepare for it. The answer I came up with was to love. We know that God is love. If we are to live with God, doesn't it make sense to learn how to love? We know that children who do not experience love early in their lives find it difficult to love, or to accept love, as adults. The most important thing parents can do for their children is to love them, to tell them they will always love them and to let them know that there is a God who loves them and will also be with them no matter what. As one of my co-workers pointed out, love is cyclical. When we open ourselves up to receive love, we are better able to love others. The more we love others, the more we are able to experience their love as well as God's love. And we shouldn't forget to love ourselves as well! I guess that our preparation for our own resurrections will depend on how we envision eternal life. Jesus made sure he spent some time with his friends. I like to think that I, too, will spend time with those I loved on earth. What are your thoughts?
Prayer
Loving God, you have promised us eternal like. Scripture tells us that "eye has not see, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love him." Help us to love better so that we may experience the love of God for all eternity. Amen.
Devotion
His Loving Kindness Endures Forever
Frances Taylor
Psalm 136 is a list of all the wonders that God had done for the Israelites from creation through the deliverance from Egypt and into the land promised to them, providing them with all that they need. I challenge you to write a psalm listing all the things that God has done for you using the same format. Several years ago, I did this myself and it was a wonderful reminder of all that God had done for me. "I give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his mercy endures forever; he has provided me with a family that loved me, his mercy endures forever; he hears me when I call to him, his mercy endures forever; when I was in trouble he rescued me, his mercy endures forever." I listed all the gifts he has given me and continues to give me and I thanked him for all the times that I was in pain and he healed me, and the times when I needed to be rescued. I'm sure if you take up my challenge and compose your own psalm, you will discover ...
Morning Prayer
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Inspiration
To reject the truths taught in God's Word, spoken by his prophets and apostles and by Jesus Christ his Son, is a grave offense. In the days when Hebrews was written, there were still true prophets in the Church, speaking from God. Today, we have his written Word as our "prophet. " If a preacher preaches truly according to the Book, we are in a grave sin if we reject it.
Prayer
Help me, O Lord, to discern when your Word is being taught correctly and when it is not. Teach me to embrace your truths and love them. Help me to walk in them and meditate on them. Let me not sin in rejecting the plain teachings of the Bible. 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.
