Daily Devotion for March 28, 2017
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.
With my head bowed low,
In the darkness as black as could be.
And my heart felt alone
and I cried, oh Lord,
Don't hide your face from me.
Chorus:
Hold my hand all the way,
every hour every day,
From here to the great unknown.
Take my hand, let me stand,
Where no one stands alone.
Like a king I may live in a palace so tall,
With great riches to call my own;
But I don't know a thing
In this whole wide world
That's worse than being alone.
Music and Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong,
Frank E Wright, III, and Michael Pritchard.
Prayer of Love
God, my Father, may I love you in all things and above all things. May I reach the joy which you have prepared for me in Heaven. Nothing is good that is against your will, and all that is good comes from your hand.
Place in my heart a desire to please you and fill my mind with thoughts of your Love, so that I may grow in your wisdom and enjoy your peace.
Prayer to Live in the Moment
Lord Christ, I have puzzled long and hard over your words, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” But I get the gist of it: we have enough to worry about today. You have tomorrow covered.
Leaving the future in your hands is hard; I want to worry. Please, Lord Christ, show me the way. Teach me to live in the day, in the moment, so that I might focus myself on whatever is at hand.
Thy will be done, my Lord and God; I leave my destiny to your guidance. Help me to surrender myself to you in faith and clear my mind of confusion. Let my attention on your will be undivided, I pray, for my only hope lies in You.
Benediction (from Colossians 3)
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within me all this day; and whatever I do in word or deed, may I do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
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.
Today’s “Remember the Bible” Question
What Bible verse tells us Christ came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
Proverbs 14:25 (NKJV)
But a deceitful witness speaks lies.
Genesis 20:14-18 (ESV)
The Story of Abraham [30] - Abimelech
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.
And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Notes on the Scripture
bimelech was a common name among the kings of the Philistines, and the tribe living in Gebar might well have been one of their predecessors. At any rate, the name is some sort of Semitic dialect, part Hebrew and part something else. Nobody is positive what it means, although “my father was a king” and “my father is Molech” are two good guesses. Molech (or Moloch) was a particularly horrible heathen god. Worship of him required children to be burned alive in sacrifice. To the Jews and especially early Christians, the name Moloch became synonymous with “devil,” one of Satan's evil minions.
We have no information that Abimelech was unusually evil, but his interaction with God (Yahweh) is unusual. As so often happens in the Old Testament, God must bring physical suffering upon a heathen king in order to compel him to action. Here, God has not only spoken to Abimelech in a dream, telling him he would die if he did not give Sarah back; he has also caused the women of his household to become infertile.
Unlike Pharaoh in the story of Moses, Abimelech comes into line quickly; he is impressed with the power of God. He not only gives Sarah back untouched, but also sets Abraham up with land, livestock and servants.
Moloch
This depiction of an ancient statue of Moloch shows that he was hollow, with an oven inside for burning sacrifices. The fire would also cause it to glow red.
