Daily Devotion for October 20, 2015
Prayers
Scripture
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
A live performance by Kim Walker, “I Need You More”, at the Bethel Church in Redding, California.
I need you more, more than yesterday;
I need you more, more than words can say.
I need you more, than ever before;
I need you, Lord, I need you, Lord.
More than the air I breathe, more than the song I sing,
More than the next heartbeat, more than anything.
And lord, as this time goes by, I'll be by your side
Cause I never want to go back to my old life.
We give you the highest praise . . .
Music and Lyrics by
Lindell Cooley and Bruce Haynes
Prayer for the Morning
Heavenly Father, let me live this day as the gift it is, for You have truly blessed me to live it. And if I may suffer, I will carry with me the certainty that one day I will see You face to face, a day when all things will become clear and my pain will be made whole through the grace of Christ, my God. Blessed be you, oh Lord my God, and blessed be the day you have given me.
For All Who Serve Others
O Lord our heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; I pray for your blessing on all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of their fellow men. Endue them with wisdom, patience, and courage, that they may strengthen the weak and raise up those who fall; and, being inspired by your love, may worthily minister in your name to the suffering, the friendless, the lost, and the needy.
Inspire them with perseverance; when they feel unappreciated, comfort them in knowledge of the blessing they earn by their service; and to those who teach, let your Holy Spirit guide them in their teaching, that they always know and speak the truth of your Word. For the sake of him who laid down his life for us, the same thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, I pray,
Meditation
[Our calendars and credit cards reveal what we worship.]
Benediction
Now all glory to God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time,
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Inspirational Quote
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
~ Epictetus
John 6:41-51 (CEB)
Bread of Life (3)
The Jews grumbled about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
They asked, "Isn't this Jesus, Joseph's son, whose mother and father we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"
Jesus responded, "Don't grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless they are drawn to me by the Father who sent me, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.
I assure you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that whoever eats from it will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Notes on the Scripture
This passage is often cited by those who espouse the doctrine of predestination. Specifically, the phrase "nobody can come to me unless they are drawn to me by the Father" seem to indicate that it is God, rather than our free will, that determines whether we will be saved by Christ's grace.
redestination is especially associated with the Swiss reformer John Calvin and the Calvinist Church. Most Presbyterians will find it familiar territory, as the Presbyterian Church originated in Scottish Calvinism (although in the United States today, there are a wide range of beliefs among Presbyterian scholars and communicants on this subject, and it is no longer emphasized). Lutherans also teach it in a milder form although, again, it has become much less important over time. Basically, the doctrine of predestination holds that since God knows all things, he knows before you are born whether you will be saved or damned; and since He is all powerful, it is He who decides your fate in advance.
It is a logical and seductive argument, and it has formed a huge body of debate, with a host of associated belief systems. If you like, you can spend your life arguing about predestinarianism, process theology, Pelagianism, Augustinianism, superlapsarianism, Arminianism, and a whole host of tongue-twisting theological terms and ideas.
But what does it matter? Christ himself has promised us that if we believe in Him, we will be saved. The mind of God is unfathomable to man; we must accept that our minds and thought are insufficient to know God as He truly is. This is one of the benefits that Christ brought to us: by Christ, God Himself has spoken directly to us, as one human being to another, in terms that even the simplest mind can understand. It is vain and fruitless to speculate, to argue various ideas about the nature of God and salvation, because there are no ideas in heaven; there is only truth.
And God has given us a truth that we can understand and follow. Believe in Christ, and follow Him, and God will take care of the rest. Jesus has promised that He will be there for us and will never abandon us; He will stand as our advocate and justify us before God. The road to salvation is not thought, but belief.
