arrow to previous dayarrow to next day
Welcome back, Friend.

Daily Devotion for August 19, 2015


<i>Angelus</i> by Jean-François Millet
Angelus by Jean-François Millet, ca. 1859

Prayers

Scripture

250 people in our community are currently praying with you.

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.

Amen.

A Latin/English Gloria with a Brazilian Samba flavor? Only the BTC!




Prayer for the Morning

You are ushering in another day, untouched and freshly new, So here I come to ask You God if You'll renew me too?

Forgive the many errors, that I made yesterday, And let me try again dear God, to walk closer in Thy way.

But Father, I am well aware, I can't make it on my own. So take my hand and hold it tight, for I can't walk alone.

Amen.

To Help Others with Their Faith

Lord, I am so full of doubt and sin that I sometimes forget: There is always someone weaker in their faith than I am, some brother or sister whom I can help, someone I can support and lift up in their journey. I pray that I might be aware that my fellow saints may need encouragement and that I be qualified to give it. Let me not be critical or judgmental, but supportive and helpful to those struggling.

And I pray, let me always remember that someone might be hiding a struggle, a fear, a sorrow; let me offer words of encouragement and support freely. Let me remember that there are people who hide their insecurity behind a wall of serenity, or defensiveness, or even antagonism, to whom a word of support might make a world of difference.

In Christ's name, I pray,

Amen.

Meditation

[People who look happy on the outside can be miserable.]


Closing

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Amen.

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.



Illuminated manuscript page from Bath Abbey
An illuminated Bible at Bath Abbey (England). This page has text beginning at Mark 16:5.

Proverbs 17:24 (NKJV)

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

Blue Latin Cross

Isaiah 42:1-9

A Light to the Nations

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.



Notes on the Scripture

Isaiah here gives a great poetic tribute to Christ. His words are equally applicable to the Hebrews and to Christ's disciples. If you read the passage with the thought that he is talking about Christ, Israel, Paul, or yourself, it makes sense.

lighthouse, light unto the nations

The third paragraph is something that has confounded people for thousands of years. Many Hebrews expected that their Messiah would come with a sword; the appearance and divinity of Jesus was a shock to them. He preached a doctrine of peace and humility. He did not raise armies to conquer by force; instead, he submitted to force and, even in death, conquered the world by truth and goodness.

The battle continues to rage in our lifetime, as it has since Christ's ascension. We are torn between two mighty forces. One is the law of nature, the survival of the fittest. It teaches us to build weapons, fight and kill if necessary, to promote ourselves and make our abilities and accomplishments as public as possible. Few people are humble on television. The world preaches its doctrine in the language of anger and pride.

The other is the law of God, the survival of the meek, whom Jesus promised would inherit the earth. It tells us not to "cry or lift up [our] voice, or make it heard in the street." We should be so gentle that we would not even break the most fragile thing possible, which Isaiah calls "a bruised reed".

There have been people with the strength of faith to practice this doctrine in life. Quakers would die before they would go to war, even refusing to defend themselves. But very few can live lives of pacifism. People don't want to die; they don't want to be conquered by other nations; they don't want to be walked over during their lives by people of less ability and fewer scruples.

We must do the best we can with this. If you ever begin to feel self-righteous, like you are a paragon of Christian virtue, just ask yourself if you have followed this, the hardest of all the Bible's teachings.

When others assault you, physically or verbally, do you turn the other cheek? When someone sues you for your shirt, do you give him your cloak as well? Or do you hire a lawyer and defend your property? We all sin and fall short of the glory of God; but we can at least be truthful with ourselves about where we have fallen short and confess our shortcomings, rather than pretending they don't exist.



endless knot

Daily Inspiration

“Strike a Blow to Myself”

Current Memory Verse     Remember the Bible

Print Today’s Devotion





Today in Daily Prayer

Memory Verse

2 Corinthians 7:1: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.



About Daily Prayer



Follow us on Facebook
Join the Daily Prayer Group.


If you are new to Daily Prayer, welcome. This page provides a non-denominational, Bible-based devotion every day, including prayers, Scripture, Bible study, music, and art, designed to be usable for worship and the deepening of faith by any person who confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

We hope you will take a look around at some of the features. Registration and membership-dependant features have been disabled, temporarily, while we add new security features. You should be able to use our Daily Bible Quiz, but Match-a-Verse , and Memorize Favorite Bible Verses won’t be back for a while.

We do not email anything, except replies to emails from readers.

“The mind of God is greater than all the minds of men, so let all men leave the gospel just as God has delivered it unto us.” ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon





Comments


Register for the Forum  Post a Comment


Our Community Around the World: Visitors July 1, 2009 - January 1, 2022


US  74,618,330
PH  5,277,754
CA  4,903,669
UK  3,347,801
AU  582,260
MY  103,677
ZA  102,555
NZ  98,931
SG  96,313
NG  81,473
IN  79,221
AE  66,880
SA  62,278
TT  59,321
KE  69,561
BB  54,010
JM  50,484
FJ  44,356
KY  41,644
CN  36,375
DE  30,516
HK  29,772
KR  26,339
GH  21,404
DM  21,025
IT  20,763
FR  20,313
TZ  16,068
BM  16,045
BS  15,664
MW  12,524
ID  12,141
LC  11,836
ZW  11,422
GU  11,319
PK  10,699
CZ  7,448
CO  7,411
UG  7,223
HN  6,991
VC  6,314
QA  6,208
MX  5,089
KW  4,226
BR  4,124
NL  3,956
TH  3,888
BZ  3,647
BW  3,456
OM  3,451
BG  3,450
BO  3,120
EG  4,782
CH  6,919
NA  2,422
ES  2,419
AW  2,335
PR  12,563
LK  3,282
IE  2,964
IL  2,551
GY  2,539
ET  2,312
TW  2,310
CM  2,242
BE  2,038
DK  6,333
LB  1,682
ZM  1,503