Devotion
Dependence On God
Frances Taylor
The psalmist seems to be in trouble. He is questioning if God is there for him. He asks God to send his "light and his truth" to lead him out of his situation and back to the temple in Jerusalem where he will praise God on the harp for his deliverance. One of the reasons I like the psalms is because they are so honest. "God, I'm in trouble and if you save me, I will praise you." Sounds like something I might say – and probably has said. God, if you do this for me, I will do this for you. I bet you have done the same thing. Unfortunately, I have not always kept that promise for more than a few weeks. We humans do have a bad habit of bargaining with God! Sometimes it's for ourselves, sometimes it's for someone else, but we do bargain. I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing. It tells me that we trust that God is there to help us, that he wants to lead us back to his presence, and that we are willing to thank him. It tells me that we realize we are dependent on God. Even though we might only keep our promise for a short time, God is willing to overlook it, and be with us the next time we need his help.
Prayer
Loving and forgiving God we are so grateful that you are there when we need you and are willing to overlook our failings. We ask you to give us the grace to be more faithful to you in the days to come. 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.
