Daily Devotion for September 26, 2010
Elijah teaches Jezebel's priests who really controls the “elements.”
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.
This is great Bach! One of his most tuneful and popular organ works, the Little Fugue in G Minor, performed by Ton Koopman in an unidentified German Baroque church.
To Keep Christ in Mind During the Day
Oh Lord Christ, it is so, so very difficult sometimes to keep you at the front of my mind and in the center of my heart, to let you guide my thoughts and actions during the pressure and rush of the day. Much of the time I completely forget you; I act from my own mind and heart, living in this world. It is so bad on some days that I will rush through whatever prayers I say, or fail to read your Word with any conviction.
This is not how I want to live. Please, Lord God, so fill me with your Holy Spirit that I have you in mind with my every thought and act. Lead me to take that first step every day to open my Bible, and to fold my hands and close my eyes. Let me put you first, Lord God, and realize that the pressures of the world are illusory: but your Word is forever.
For Mercy
All-merciful Lord, have mercy upon all Your faithful, on those who are mine and on those who are strangers; on those whom I know and on those whom I know not; on the living and on the dead; and forgive all my enemies, and those who hate me, the trespasses that they have committed against me; turn them from the malice which they bear towards me, that they may be worthy of Your mercy. Have mercy upon Your Creatures and upon me, a great sinner.
Meditation
They were looking for a king
To slay their foes and lift them high;
Thou cam'st, a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
~ George McDonald
Blessing of Mark
O Sovereign and almighty Lord, bless all your people, and all your flock. Give your peace, your help, and your love unto us your servants, the sheep of your fold, that we may be united in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one hope of our calling, in your divine and boundless love.
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.
Psalm 108:1-4 (NKJV)
O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your mercy is great above the skies,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
Matthew 6:13 (KJV)
The Lord’s Prayer [Part 6]
“For thine is . . . the power”
Notes on the Scripture
he “power” belongs to God. This is the easiest concept of the three to grasp when we pray it, but often the most difficult to remember after we say our amens. So many things and people have power over our daily lives. Our boss or a parent or a policeman or an armed criminal tells us to do something we don’t want to do. They have power over us. They can deprive us of money, liberty, or life; they can put us in pain or kill us. They can humiliate us. A big dog or the driver of an automobile can kill us in a matter of seconds.
And we have power over things and people. We can work, we can create. We can have ideas. Some of us command others, and all of us influence others constantly. The simple action of buying a pack of gum directly influences a sales clerk to take actions and has a wide variety of milder influence: over the store owner, over the gum manufacturer and its suppliers, over some person sitting in an advertising agency somewhere, and so on. And if we throw the gum wrapper on the sidewalk, it has a very small influence on a number of people.
But where does this power come from? A foolish scientist might act like he knows the answer. He will eventually trace back the source to the sun. If you ask him where the sun gets its power, you will probably get a dissertation on hydrogen fusion. And if you keep asking him, he will trace the power source back to the creation of the universe (possibly the “Big Bang”), and he might even give you some hypotheses about when, how and why the Big Bang happened. But, eventually, if he is at all honest, he will say “nobody knows” (at least if he is an atheist or agnostic).
But we know. It comes from God. We don’t understand it but our belief is a foundation of our faith. The Power comes from God. All power, all energy, originates from Him. As John 1 so beautifully puts it:
Most Christians also believe that God continues to control the Power directly to intervene in human affairs, although we cannot comprehend how He chooses when to do so. Certainly He sent Christ into the world.
Because of this, we say that we fear God, even though Christians do not really live in “fear” in the narrow definition. But if we fear the very minor power of a man with a gun, how should we feel about the God who created and controls everything? We should have a deep respect and fear, for he has absolute power to destroy us. But as Christians, our fear is tempered; God has given us means, by which He promises to exercise His power to give us eternal life and joy, even if we have offended his laws.
If our faith were perfect, we would fear nothing, because we would believe God’s promises 100%. So, every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we remind ourselves that the fears we feel during our lives will ultimately amount to nothing, that we do not need to live in fear. Ultimately, the power to hurt or help us comes entirely from God, and He has promised to save us.
