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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 to Follow God's Will Today (by Chas. Haddon Spurgeon)

O  God, the author of all good, I come to You for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without You I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Your power.

Hold me up O God and I shall be safe. Preserve my understanding from subtlety of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Your blessing, and in which I cannot invite Your inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments.

Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food suitable for me, lest I be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or be poor, and steal, and take Your name in vain. May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Your will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to You, O God, be the glory.

by Chas. Haddon Spurgeon

Save Me Lord

My Savior, do you invite me to share in the glory of the resurrection? Stay with me as I struggle to see how accepting the crosses of my life will free me from the power of the one who wants only to destroy my love and trust in you. Help me to be humble and accepting like your son, Jesus. I want to turn to you with the same trust he had in your love. Save me, Lord. Only you can save me.

Creighton Edu 3/15/2015

Meditation

[Accepting my burdens in life will free me from Satan’s power.]

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.

~ Job 1:21

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.

Comforts

1 Corinthians 14:26-33 (ESV)

Orderly Worship

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

Notes on the Scripture

eetings of the early church in Corinth must have been a madhouse. At least several people would talk at the same time, some of them giving personal revelations, some of them giving prophesy or teachings, while some would speak in tongues and, apparently, more than one at a time, with no attempt to “translate.” Today’s passage has little to do with theology. Someone with authority simply needed to set down some guidelines of basic group meeting protocol.

One thing has changed, and possibly for the worse: In these early Christian meetings, unlike most services today, the congregation did not sit passively, without any active participation except to sing an occasional hymn (in most cases, barely audibly) and to pray en masse following a printed text. It is easy to see that individual action by personal initiative would be unworkable in a large congregation. But unless we have a smaller “Sunday School” class, or a prayer group, or something of that nature, we can go our entire lives without ever witnessing to our faith in public.

This is clearly a mistake. Faith in Christ cannot be delegated to a professional worshiper, not completely. If we do not speak our hearts and our faith in public, as an individual, we lose much. There is nothing that reinforces our faith so powerfully as giving witness, nothing that will validate our beliefs and give us a deep feeling of community. We hide our thoughts from the entire world. And we never feel the human support of someone saying “Amen” to our testimony.

This is an odd sentiment to express on an internet devotional site where, by the very nature of the medium, we cannot interact with each other face-to-face. We are relegated to a written “Comments” section. But at least, any of us who want to make personal testimony before others can do it.

Daily Inspiration

“The Importance of Works”

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