Daily Devotion for February 28, 2018
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.
John Doe singing Bob Dylan’s best-known Christian song, Pressing On
Refrain:
Well I'm pressing on
Yes, I'm pressing on
Well I'm pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.
Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind,
Say, "Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign."
What kind of sign they need when it all come from within,
When what's lost has been found, what's to come has already been?
Shake the dust off of your feet, don't look back.
Nothing now can hold you down, nothing that you lack.
Temptation's not an easy thing, Adam given the devil reign
Because he sinned I got no choice, it run in my vein.
Words and Music by Bob Dylan
To Keep Christ in Mind During the Day
Oh Lord Christ, it is so, so very difficult sometimes to keep you at the front of my mind and in the center of my heart, to let you guide my thoughts and actions during the pressure and rush of the day. Much of the time I completely forget you; I act from my own mind and heart, living in this world. It is so bad on some days that I will rush through whatever prayers I say, or fail to read your Word with any conviction.
This is not how I want to live. Please, Lord God, so fill me with your Holy Spirit that I have you in mind with my every thought and act. Lead me to take that first step every day to open my Bible, and to fold my hands and close my eyes. Let me put you first, Lord God, and realize that the pressures of the world are illusory: but your Word is forever.
Prayer for the World
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
Now the God of patience and consolation grant to me, and to all who pray in the name of Christ, to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That we may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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 we should accept Christians as brothers and sisters, rather than arguing over points of theology, even if we are sure we are right?
Answer: Romans 14:1
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”
The Rope to God
Prayer is the rope that pulls God and man together. But, it doesn’t pull God down to us: It pulls us up to Him.
~ Billy Graham
1 Corinthians 15:35-41 (ESV)
The Resurrection of the Dead [4]
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
Notes on the Scripture
Apparently, someone has attacked the idea of human resurrection by asking about what kind of body the resurrected would have; Paul’s response shows that the question is not an honest one, but a sarcastic one. But it is also an honest question that we might wonder about.
o discuss our physical form after the resurrection, he uses an analogy: a farmer planting a seed. It appears to die and disappears from our sight, but from it comes a new form. It isn’t a perfect analogy, but the idea is not hard to grasp. We see a caterpillar become a pupa, seeming to be a dead, inanimate piece of trash; and then, one day, a butterfly emerges.
Paul doesn’t really answer the question here, though; most likely, our mortal minds cannot fully grasp the answer. Jesus, we know, appeared to be resurrected in His mortal flesh, as he was just before he died — remember, Thomas possibly put his finger into the wound in Jesus’ side — but He was a special case.
The gist of what Paul says here is: Don’t worry about it. Our form when we are resurrected will be better and more glorious than the form we have as humans. Change is unsettling or even frightening, especially when we don’t know what the change will bring, but we must trust in God; He is going to do something wonderful when the trumpet sounds.
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