Daily Devotion for August 28, 2012
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.
The unbelievably beautiful and touching Hosannah from the Soweto Gospel Choir, the famous professional choir from South Africa.
Let the weak say I am strong,
Let the poor say I am rich,
Let the blind say, I can see
what the Lord has done for me.
Hosannah, Hosanna,
Jesus died and rose again.
Prayer for the Day
Holy God, you have given me another day. Bring your Holy Spirit into my mind and my life, so that I may walk this day in your presence. Let me feel your presence throughout the day, remembering always that you sent your Spirit that you might be a living force in all I see and all I do. When I feel temptation or begin to stray, show me your path. Correct me, comfort me, let me live your will; that I may be happy in this life and blessed in the life to come. This I pray in the name of Christ, my Lord.
Prayer of Thanks
O Thou whose bounty fills my cup, with every blessing meet; I give Thee thanks for every drop, the bitter and the sweet.
I praise Thee for the desert road, and for the riverside; for all Thy goodness hath bestowed, and all Thy grace hath denied.
I thank Thee for both smile and frown, and for the gain and loss; I praise Thee for the future crown and for the present cross.
I thank Thee for both wings of love which stirred my worldly nest; wnd for the stormy clouds which drove me, trembling, to Thy breast.
I bless Thee for the glad increase, and for the waning joy; And for this strange, this settled peace which nothing can destroy.
Benediction
May I go in peace, with God and with his other children, and may we love one another. May I follow the example of good men of old, and may God comfort me and help my brothers, both in this world and in the world which is to come.
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.
Poverty of Spirit
God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.
~ Dwight L. Moody
1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (ESV)
Faith, Hope, and Charity [2]
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Notes on the Scripture
There is something that resonates deeply within us when we read or hear this passage. It stirs an emotion hidden in our souls. It feels like a long lost desire from some time early in our life, before we had suffered the hard lessons of the world and were brimming with the hope that life on earth could be something wonderful.
But when we do not find God, when we look to the world to fulfill this fundamental instinct for goodness, kindness, thoughtful and sympathetic sacrifice for others, we become disillusioned and, ultimately, cynical and wounded. We can be bitter when our love is taken and we are kicked in the face for our trouble. Paul's reminder of what love could be then becomes bittersweet, for we always remember our dream.
Looking for redemption in the things of earth is a dead-end. Life is an insoluble maze; whichever way we turn, we eventually find a wall, until we give up, or run out of time.
There is only one path by which we can find our way out; it is narrow, and we are constantly tempted away from it. By a quirk of human nature, sometimes our bitterness at taking a wrong turn makes the temptation even more irresistible. Sometimes people get on the wrong path and out of some misguided streak of determination, or pride, insist on continuing along the same way.
The feeling that wells up within us, when we read something as profound and beautiful as 1 Corinthians 13, is a wonderful opportunity to accept change in our lives, change that we really know we should make. Habits are hard to change, and old lines of thought dig deep grooves in our minds; we slip back into them easily. But our longing for love has the power to bring us out of a sinful habit and into a new way of life, for ultimately, we can only find love in giving it to Christ.
