Devotion
The Diaconate
Frances Taylor
This passage of Acts gives us the institution of the order of Deacon. The purpose of the deacon was to serve. The word for deacon comes from the Greek word for "to serve." This is the first separation we see in those called to spread the Gospel message. The apostles continued their ministry of prayer and preaching the good news. The apostles understood that there was another whole side of ministry and that was to serve the needs of the people. This continues today with some men and women called to a ministry of prayer and preaching and some being called to serve more practical needs. God wants the whole person to be served. Just as he both healed the sick and fed the multitudes and prayed both alone and with others while talking about the coming of the kingdom, Jesus expects us to serve the whole person as well. It is no less a ministry to serve in a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, than it is to preach or to teach.
We are physical as well as spiritual beings and when our physical needs are not met, it is hard to concentrate on the spiritual. When we're hungry, when we can't take care of our families, we need to spend time taking care of these needs. As James says in his letter, what good does it do to wish a person a good day and then do nothing to help him have one. The apostles understood that and so the order of deacons began. Not all of us are called to the order of deacons, but we are called to reach out and help alleviate the needs of the poor as best we can.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for showing us the importance of reaching out in love to the whole person if we want to lead them to you. May we be witnesses of your love in all ways and at all times. 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.
