Devotion
Teach Your Children
Frances Taylor
God, through Moses, tells us that it is our responsibility to pass on our faith to our children. It's not the job of others although others certainly will help you and can add to what you have taught them. But, the primary job is ours. We do this in words and by our actions. We talk to them about God, we tell of the glory of creation that the Father has given us, we talk about the salvation earned for us by the Son, Jesus, and we talk about the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and all who believe. We let them know that we are all God's children and we have a responsibility to love others as Jesus loved us, that we have a responsibility to care for all of God's creation and that includes not being wasteful or destroying the land. It's telling them that God comes first and that sports or money or pleasure are not gods to be worshipped. And this message goes beyond just the telling, these words are to be written on our hearts, carried with us when we're home or away, at work or at play. God should be first in our thoughts in the morning and the last thing we think about before going to sleep. In order to teach our children, we need to learn this for ourselves.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you are first in our lives, in our minds and in our hearts. May we always keep you there and share the wonder of you with others. Amen.
Night Prayer
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Inspiration
Sin will enslave us and become the master of our lives if allowed. Sin binds us in darkness, and we become submissive to our fears. Jesus is a light in the dark, and we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. Sin has no control over us! We have repented our sinful ways and surrendered our lives to the will of God. Serving Him replaces a life of misery with joy and peace.
Prayer
Dear God, we ask forgiveness for our transgressions. We surrender our lives to You and will serve You instead of our sinful desires. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
Are You Wise or Foolish?
Frances Taylor
Today's gospel concerns a group of bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom to come and whether or not they will be prepared. Five are pretty sure that the bridegroom will show up when expected and so do the least they need to do and the other five decide that something may come up and want to be prepared just in case. What about ourselves? Whether you are sick or healthy today, you don't know what tomorrow brings.
I remember when my father was ill. He would enter the hospital, then somehow rally and be sent home. When this happens more than once, it is easy to be lulled into a sense of false security and believe that he would always rally. That kind of thinking can make it harder when the final day comes. My son rarely had a sick day in his life and yet was cut off while riding his motorcycle and was dead before he even had a chance to be afraid. It has always been my hope that both were wise and had lived their lives prepared to meet the ...
