Devotion
Stay and Wait
Frances Taylor
Wouldn't you love to be able to ask the apostles what they were thinking during these days of waiting? They really had no idea what it would mean. They had all run away when Jesus was arrested. Only John was at the foot of the cross. They stayed in the upper room when they were in Jerusalem, or back in Galilee as Jesus had asked. Now Jesus was leaving them and he told them to wait for something or someone but they didn't have any idea what it would be. What we do know is that they waited, prayed, and chose someone to replace Judas. Sometimes we want Jesus to act in our lives now, and we hate to be told to wait, but God doesn't work in our time frame. Often we need to wait. What do we do while waiting? Do we gather with others to pray with us? Do we ask the Holy Spirit to help us? Or do we try to solve our problems ourselves without waiting for God to be with us? It's easy to think that we can do a better job with taking care of our lives than God, after all, we know ourselves better than anyone, right? Well, how does that work for you? I know it doesn't work for me. Patience is not a gift I have an abundance of. However, I have learned from experience that God does know what's best for me and it would have saved me a lot of trouble if I had waited for his lead. How about you?
Prayer
Lord, you asked the apostles to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit before they went out to preach. You often ask us to wait for the guidance of the Spirit in our lives as well. Give us the grace to do as you have asked us to do. 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.