Daily Devotion for March 11, 2016
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.
From the love of my own comfort,
From the fear of having nothing,
From a life of worldly passions,
Deliver me O God.
From the need to be understood,
From the need to be accepted,
From the fear of being lonely,
Deliver me O God.
Deliver me O God.
And I shall not want, I shall not want,
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.
From the fear of serving others,
From the fear of death or trial,
From the fear of humility,
Deliver me O God.
Deliver me O God.
And I shall not want,
I shall not want.
When I taste Your goodness
I shall not want
Music and Lyrics by Audrey Assad & Bryan Brown
Prayer for the Morning
Heavenly Father, I thank you this morning for all that I have. Even if I have problems with my health, I am alive today. If I have money problems, I will eat today. I have clothes to wear, a roof to protect me, and air to breathe.
Let me never take for granted these gifts of life, oh Lord, but always remember that they come from you; without you, no man could make the sun shine or the tree bear its fruit. I pray to live this day in joy and thankfulness for what I have, remembering always who made me and who keeps me. In the name of Christ I pray,
Meditation
[The tree bears its fruit.]
Prayer to Know God's Will
And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be, rather
I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.
I pray Thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,
I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire -
See in my quiet places, wishes thronging -
Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.
Community of Prayer
I pray to you, dearest Jesus, for all the graces I need to know you, to love you and serve you faithfully unto death, and to save my soul. Give me a tender and fervent devotion to your sacred passion by which I was redeemed, venerating you each day in prayer, and teach me how to unite sorrows and sufferings of my life with your own.
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 5:11-12 (ESV)
Let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
Let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Matthew 24:37-44 (ESV)
Stay Awake!
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Notes on the Scripture
William Barclay, a popular Scottish Bible commentator in the mid-20th century, told of the following fable:
There were three apprentice devils coming to earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, chief of devils, about how they would ruin men and women in their trial. “I will tell them there is no God,” said the first, but Satan was not impressed. “You will get some souls, but there are many who believe and will not change,” he said.
“I will tell them there is no hell,” the second said. But Satan was even less impressed with this plan. “Most people realize there is a hell,” he replied. “You will deceive very few like that.”
“I will tell them there is no hurry,” said the third. “Ahh,” said Satan, “now there's a plan. Go quickly, for you will ruin countless thousands.”
If we stay always prepared for Christ to come, it is no great burden. Those who are so attached to the things of this world that they cannot let Christ into their lives simply do not understand the joy of righteousness through grace. But we cannot rest on our laurels, so to speak.
This may come as a shock to many, but there is no clear test given in the Bible of who is saved and who is not. We are not called to making decisions about salvation; we are not called to creating theologies; we are called to obedience.
It doesn't matter which church we go to or what our feeble minds might think about who is and is not saved. Salvation is beyond logic and beyond the human mind to understand. What we can understand are the simple, plain words of what we should do.
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Luke 10:25-28 (ESV).So we must stay ready, every minute of every day. We must love God today. We must love our neighbor today. And we must have faith that if we do all that we can to obey Christ's teachings, His grace and mercy will save us from our sin when the time of judgment arrives.
