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Daily Devotion for July 29, 2017
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.
Our Saturday Oldie features a traditional hymn recorded by two Nashville greats, back when Willie Nelson had short hair. (His photos in the video are from later on.)
I am weak, but Thou art strong,
Jesus, keep me from all wrong,
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more,
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom's shore, to Thy shore.
Traditional
For a Steady Mind While at Prayer
O Lord, take from me idleness of spirit, which destroys time; and vanity of thought, which hinders Your presence and distracts my attention to prayer. And if, while in prayer, I turn away from You in my thoughts, help me to return to my purpose; so that I might not avert my heart from You, during the few precious moments I dedicate to talking with You.
And grant me this day, dear Lord, that You may never be completely out of my thoughts. Let me carry you as a voice to guide my every step as I slip down the path of this precious day, that I might always remember Your will, and lighten the world around me. Help me to make every moment of my day, every word from my mouth, a prayer, that I might live in Your presence.
For God’s Protection
O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Benediction
Oh God who has made me, oh God who keeps me, oh God who will be my Lord through all eternity, shine down Your blessings and wisdom upon me like the sun upon a field; and may I keep You in the forefront of my every thought and deed, throughout this day, and evermore.
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.
Today’s “Remember the Bible” Question
Name the Verse: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Using Your Strength
When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
~ Audre Lorde
1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)
Christ Our Advocate
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Notes on the Scripture
irst off, we need to understand the word “propitiation,” for it is a long word that is almost never used any more. “Propitiate” is a transitive verb, that is, you have to use a direct object with it. You cannot say, “I will propitiate for my error”; you have to say, “I will propitiate so-and-so for my error”. The definition of propitiate in the World English Dictionary is “to appease or make well disposed; conciliate”.
It means to make someone who is angry with you happy with you, to take away someone’s anger. So, if you ran over your neighbor’s mailbox, you might propitiate him by buying him a new one.
Sin makes God angry. The Jews in the Old Testament propitiated God by making sin offerings on an altar, sacrificing grain or meat; but the problem with this practice is that, as soon as one makes such a sacrifice, one immediately sins again. The Jews tried very hard not to sin, but this proved fruitless. In fact, the purpose of the law of Moses was to show mankind that they could not follow God’s law. We need help.
So, a propitiation in this context is something that takes away God’s anger towards our sin and reconciles us with Him. That was why Christ came to earth, because it isn’t something we can do effectively for ourselves. So Christ made one last, final sacrifice: Himself. That is why He is sometimes called “the Lamb of God”; lambs were often sacrificed as sin offerings.
It is important not to just mouth the words or let the sentences flow over us, feeling only some vague notion about Christ. Christ’s role as the propitiator of God, on behalf of anyone in the whole world who sincerely follows Him, is real and specific.
