Daily Devotion for November 21, 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.
Prayer for the Day
Mighty Father God, I thank You for this day — that it even exists, and especially, that I can live in it, that I can know it through the sense you gave me and breathe the air you have made. Your bounty and goodness to me is beyond understanding. I worship and praise you above all things, because you are above all things. Your hand has made them and your love has forgiven me and blessed me.
Keep me and those I love from danger, sickness, accident this day, I pray. Help me to turn my back on evil in all of its myriad forms, to turn aside from the temptation that besets me from within myself and from my reaction to the world outside. Broaden my mind and give me the gift of hearing truth even when I do not want to hear it, when a false thought is embedded in my mind and the truth disagrees with my preconceptions.
Fill me with gratitude. Give me the courage to change the things that are contrary to your Word, even when they are ingrained and it is painful for me to give them up. Let me realize my sin and give me the grace to repent it and seek your forgiveness. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior,
Prayer to Know God
Holy God, who gives me my breath and my life and my being, let your Holy Spirit be with me now. Let me know your truth and comfort in my heart, even in my wretched and sinful life; give me a moment of holiness, by your inexplicable grace. Let me hear your word and know your perfection in the confusion of my unholy existence. Give me a moment of strength to do your will. This I pray in the name of your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Benediction (from the Epistle of Jude)
Now all glory to you, great God, who is able to keep us from falling away and will bring us with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time!
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 that God will help us resist temptation?
Where to Start?
Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to accomplish, your starting point is where you are at this moment.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (JBP)
Temptation
No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance.
He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it.
Notes on the Scripture
very time we read this verse, it has the power to change our lives, for it does not come to us naturally and is easily forgotten. There is no temptation we cannot resist. This is a pillar of steel upon which we can anchor our lives, for it is God’s Word. It is something that needs to be said, and said again.
There may be pain that is beyond our endurance, but this promise does not deal with suffering imposed upon all humanity, such as sickness, or loss of a loved one. This applies to temptation: a desire to do something that we know we should not do.
Simply realizing that we have the power not to follow temptation gives us power beyond measure. So often, someone will throw up his hands. “I just can’t resist.” Does that sound familiar? But once we realize that the words, “I can’t resist”, are a categorical lie, we have a weapon that can change our lives.
As late as 1930, habitual drunkenness was thought to be an incurable mental weakness. Alcoholics, as we call them today, were doomed to a downward spiral of horrible failure and physical deterioration, ending in a horrible death. Then a man from Vermont wrote the words, “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity,” and Alcoholics Anonymous was born. The powerful temptation of addiction could be, and in millions of cases has been, overcome.
But there is temptation that is not as easily seen as addiction, for the consequences of overeating, drunkenness, or other sins of consumption are easily seen. The line is clearly drawn: we eat the pizza or we don’t. For a person with such issues, “just one bite” or “just one beer” is tantamount to failure.
But pride, the Grandaddy of Sins, is easier to hide, and anger, easier to justify; for we can act humble when we are full of our own glory, and we can blame our anger or even hatred on whoever “made” us angry. Society encourages our covetousness and thus our greed. It has become a national hobby. Where we see contention, we choose a side.
Through study and prayer and honesty, we can discover the sin that corrupts our happiness and drives a wedge between us and God. We can eventually learn that guiding our lives away from sin results in a happier life. But in our quest, we need today’s Scripture, for it is a key to living. We only need remember this absolute, positive, infallible truth: There is no temptation that we cannot resist, if we ask God for help.
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