Devotion
Is The Holy Spirit Working In Your Life?
Frances Taylor
Answering this question implies that you look for the Holy Spirit's action in your life! So, take a few minutes and think about the past week or two. What opportunities have you had to help someone? What gifts of yours have been called upon? Did a friend or relative need a shoulder to lean on? Have you had to make any serious decisions lately? What moments of sheer joy have you experienced? Did you receive an answer to prayer? These are all examples of places where the Holy Spirit is present. We don't always recognize the Spirit. The disciples of Jesus had an experience of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost that changed not only their lives but ours as well. Without their witness and the witness of those that came after them, we would never have known about the saving act of Jesus. We would still be fearful of suffering death believing that that was the end, that there was nothing and no one waiting for us in the afterlife. We will probably never have so profound an experience of the Spirit as they did, but that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't present in our lives. When we share our experiences of God, when we open ourselves to others we are also witnesses that can give others hope. Where is the Holy Spirit present in your life? The Spirit is present; all we need to do is look.
Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, fill us with the joy and understanding with which you gifted your disciples on Pentecost and came to us at Baptism. Help us to appreciate this gift and give us the courage of the apostles to testify to our faith. 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.
