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Daily Devotion for September 24, 2010
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.
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high,
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on,
With hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
You’ll never walk alone.
Music by Richard Rogers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein
To Wield the Sword of Faith
Flood me with your Spirit, O God. Drown Satan in a deluge of your mighty power! Shake the foundations of hell. Let the beauty and love of Christ pour through me like a cataract. Let me wield the Sword of Faith. Renew me, empower me, purify me this day to your Great Commission.
Prayer of Clement of Rome
You, Lord, through your works have revealed the everlasting structure of the world. You, Lord, created the earth. You are faithful throughout all generations, righteous in your judgments, marvelous in strength and majesty, wise in creating and prudent in establishing what exists, good in all that is observed and faithful to those who trust in you, merciful and compassionate; forgive me my sins and my injustices, my transgressions and my shortcomings.
Do not take into account every sin of your servant, but cleanse me with the cleansing of your truth, and direct my steps to walk in holiness and righteousness and purity of heart, and to do what is good and pleasing in your sight and in the sight of my rulers. Yes, Lord, let your face shine upon all your servants in peace for our good, that we may be sheltered by your mighty hand and delivered from every sin by your uplifted arm; deliver us as well from those who hate us unjustly.
Give harmony and peace to me and to all who dwell on the earth, just as you did to our fathers when they reverently called upon you in faith and trust, that we may be saved, while we render obedience to your almighty and most excellent name, and give harmony and peace to our rulers and governors on earth.
Meditation
[“It is finished!” (John 19:30)]
Benediction
Oh Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your apostles, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you”; I pray that I and your whole church, the body of all faithful people, will know your peace, and live in harmony and unity, one with another, in accordance with your wishes. This I pray to you, who lives and reigns forever.
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.
From a Tortured Genius
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
John 16:12-15 (ESV)
The Spirit of Truth
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Notes on the Scripture
f you find yourself making excuses in your own mind, it is probably because you have done something wrong. If you find yourself justifying your conduct, you should remember that you are not justified by your arguments; you are justified by your faith.
The voice you are arguing against is the Holy Spirit. It is just like Christ is standing beside you and giving you guidance, and you are arguing with him. The Spirit takes Jesus’ message and tells it to you.
We say things like “boys will be boys,” “I have to make a living,” “the other guy was completely out of line”—well, the rationalizations for sinful conduct are many and almost automatic. When we have done something wrong, we find ourselves rehashing the situation in our mind. But who are we arguing with? Who are we trying to convince?
We are arguing with the Holy Spirit within us and, therefore, Christ. We are trying to tell Christ why we are without fault. But Christ knows our faults. We aren’t fooling God.
To live in true faith, we must seek forgiveness, not self-righteousness. For example, if you get angry with your brother or sister for doing or saying something wrong, does that really make you right? Not usually. Rapists, murderers, and wife-beaters are famous for justifying their actions. It is easy for us to see how ridiculous their justifications are; yet, we do the same thing every day. We yell at another motorist for running a red light; we tell ourselves that he was wrong, and therefore, we were right. But the logic is false. We are justifying our own sin of anger by concentrating on the sin of another.
John 16 repeatedly tells us that the Holy Spirit is given to us so that we might avoid this mistake. If we listen to him, we will not justify our sins. We will recognize them. We must have faith in God’s plan; every time we avoid blaming others for our mistake, or refuse to rationalize our sinful conduct, we express our faith in God and we are blessed.
