Devotion
What God Requires
Frances Taylor
I love this passage from the prophet Micah. What does God require of me? The answer is simple yet profound. He wants us to work for justice, to love and to be humble, remembering that God is God and we are not. I remember many years ago when my mother was still alive, we both belonged to the same political party and there were two people running for a place on the ballot. We both wanted the same end result, but we voted for two different people because we believed our candidate was the best choice to bring about the justice we wanted to see. Working for justice isn't always an easy choice. Love seems easier, but we've already seen that not all are lovable and that we are called to love those we don't necessarily like and even to love our enemies. Maybe walking humbly with our God is the easiest. Well, what does it mean to be humble? True humility does not deny the gifts we have been given, in fact it means using our gifts to the best of our ability while all the time giving God the credit. To give yourself a quick humility check, think about how you react to a compliment. Do you just say "thank you" or do you play it down as if you don't deserve the compliment? The humble person says thank you and if another person also deserves credit as well, they mention it. But to put one's self down is to deny God's gift and is false humility. And just when we thought we had an easy answer.
Prayer
Loving God, you have blessed us so much. Help us to give you what you require, a loving heart that will work for justice knowing we owe everything we have to you. Amen.
Devotion
Abraham is Father of All
Frances Taylor
There are questions in every age about the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. Abraham is considered to be the Father of Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims. We forget that it was Abraham who believed in the doctrine of only one God. It is through him and his descendants that this tradition comes down to us. Another fact that we can overlook is that Jesus was Jewish. He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, died, rose and ascended into heaven as a Jew. Because we believe that he was the Messiah, the Christ, and we follow him, we are called Christian. Without the Old Testament, we wouldn't understand the promise of salvation; we wouldn't understand why it was important for Jesus to be of the family of King David. We would not understand his teaching either, because Jesus quoted from Scripture – the Old Testament – frequently. He told us that he came to fulfill the Scriptures, not to abolish them. In the same way, we can ...
Morning Prayer
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Inspiration
We have a responsibility, as Christians, to abstain from the sinful practices we partook in before we became saved. While it may be a gradual process of change, we should ensure that we are putting in our best to play our part in resisting temptation. God enables us to resist temptation, but it is up to us to actually resist.
Prayer
Dear God, I pray that I will always be a person of action. Father, I take delight in my new life in you and I do not desire otherwise. I pray that in times of temptation, may I act on the strength you have given me to flee and/or resist. May I never rely on excuses or procrastination, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Night Prayer
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Inspiration
We have chosen to surrender our lives and serve the Lord. We serve Him by witnessing, completing missionary projects, and ministering to those in need. There is always work to do and a world full of people to help. We will look for opportunities to provide for our brothers and sisters in Christ by any means necessary. We are servants to one another as a service to the Lord; He will never forsake us.
Prayer
Dear God, Help us see the world through Your eyes. We desire to serve those around us by reflecting Your love through our actions. You will never forsake us, and we will continually lift praises of thanksgiving to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
