Devotion
The Lord Will Be With Us
Frances Taylor
Just as the Lord promised Paul that he would be with him in Corinth, he is with us when we speak of all that the Lord has done for us. God gives us the words we need when we need them.
Have you ever had a friend come and ask for advice or just to share what is happening in his or her life? Sometimes, you are offering them advice or consolation and wonder where the words came from. One of the gifts of the Spirit is understanding, a heart open to the other. When we allow ourselves to open ourselves, we can be open to the other as well. Sometimes we are unaware of our influence on another. I know that there are times when something I heard weeks ago, pops into my head at just the right moment and I'm sure the speaker had no knowledge that his or her words would have such influence. It is the same with us. God gives us the words to say and then they bear fruit in the hearer without our ever knowing about it.
As a teacher, I have had students come up to me years later thanking me for something I said – and I have no idea what they are talking about. God is with us when we are explaining our reasons for our beliefs as well. We needn't be afraid to speak what is in our hearts.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the presence of the Spirit in our lives. The gifts we have received are there for us to make use of at all times, all we need to do is ask. 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.
