Daily Devotion for September 29, 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.
Raise your head, for love is passing by; Come to Jesus and live!
Lost and left to die,
O, raise your head, for love is passing by.
Come to Jesus, Come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus and live!
Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away,
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus. Sing to Jesus.
Sing to Jesus and live!
And like a newborn baby,
Don't be afraid to crawl,
And remember when you walk,
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus. Fall on Jesus.
Fall on Jesus and live!
Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain,
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus, Cry to Jesus,
Cry to Jesus and live!
O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night,
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus, Dance for Jesus,
Dance for Jesus and live!
And with your final heartbeat,
Kiss the world goodbye,
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus,
Fly to Jesus and live!
Music by Chris Rice
To Keep God in Mind This Day
Lord, let me begin this day in devout meditations, in joy unspeakable, and in blessing and praising You, who has given me such good hope and everlasting consolation.
Lift up my mind above all these little things below, which are apt to distract my thoughts; and keep it above, until my heart is fully resolved to seek You every day, in the path where Jesus has trod before me.
My Soul Clings to Thee
When the lightning flash has lit up the camp dining hall, how feeble seems the light from the lamp. Thus dost Thou, like the lightning, unexpectedly light up my heart with flashes of intense joy. After Thy blinding light, how drab, how colourless, how illusory all else seems. My souls clings to Thee.
Glory to Thee, the highest peak of men's dreaming;
Glory to Thee for our unquenchable thirst for communion with God;
Glory to Thee, making us dissatisfied with earthly things;
Glory to Thee, turning on us Thine healing rays;
Glory to Thee, subduing the power of the spirits of darkness
And dooming to death every evil;
Glory to Thee for the signs of Thy presence,
For the joy of hearing Thy voice and living in Thy love.
Glory to Thee, O God, from age to age,
Meditation
[Every evil is doomed to death.]
A Prayer After Reading Scripture
May the word I have read, Lord, be planted deeply in my mind and heart. Help me not to walk away and forget it, but to meditate on it and obey it and so built my life on the rock of your truth.
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.
The Cross
Is there no other way, Oh God,
Except through sorrow, pain and loss?
To stamp Christ's likeness on my soul,
No other way except the cross?
And then a voice stills all my soul,
That stilled the waves of Galilee,
“Cans’t thou not bear the furnace
If midst the flames I walk with thee?
I bore the cross, I know its weight,
I drank the cup I hold for thee.
Cans’t thou not follow where I lead?
I'll give thee strength, lean hard on Me.”
~ Anonymous
John 17:20-26 (ESV)
The High Priestly Prayer [Part 3]
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Notes on the Scripture
ohn 17 consists of three prayers Jesus said aloud just before his arrest, summing up his teaching: One for himself, one for his disciples, and one for all the people of the world. This final prayer — although not Jesus’ last words, his last teaching — is a prayer specifically for those who had not yet heard his word, for all the people of the world who would come to him through his word. In short, it was a prayer he said for you and me.
Without Christ’s words, we would not know God. As he frequently said, “You have not known the Father; I know him.” (John 8:55) “Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:15) But he promises to include future generations in this knowledge; he tells God, and us, that he will “continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them.” All we have to do is follow his dictate, “Abide in my love.” (John 15:9)
And rather than leave it up to others to pass down his salvation, Jesus leaves a prayer directly addressed for us.
It is like an old man who knows something special, something unique. He knows that he will have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and many generations, who will need what he has. So on his deathbed, he writes a letter to them, even though they are not yet born. He wants to send a message addressed directly to them, so that they will know that his love for them did not die with him. He wants to talk to them first-hand. And he wants to tell each of them, individually, his message, so that they will know that they have a relationship with him.
