Daily Devotion for March 5, 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.
George Washington's Monday Morning Prayer
O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.
Direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. In the name of Holy Christ, I pray,
For the Human Family
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human race, O Lord; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth.
That, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Meditation
[What will I be like after my resurrection?]
Benediction
Now, oh Lord, I pray that you may lift up the light of your countenance upon me, and give me peace; in my going out and in my coming in; in my sitting down and my rising up; in my work and in my play; in my joy and in my sorrow, in my laughter and in my tears; until that day comes which is without dawn and without dark.
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.
How to Hear God
God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him.
~ Francois Fenelon
1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (ESV)
Victory
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14)
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Notes on the Scripture
o much of Paul’s writing is difficult to follow, and his style so often mundane and prosaic, that it is startling when he suddenly shifts gears and, in a fit of inspiration, explodes into world-class poetic essay. This passage caps the long section on what form we might take after death, and the peoples’ fear of change. Here he gives us, not consolation, but rather a startling leap. Do not be concerned with the death and decay of your body, he might have said, because your body cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
Look at the benefit instead of dwelling in your insecurities. The might and power of God are going to transform you into something incorruptible, someone who will be able to inherit His Kingdom for eternity.
“The sting of death is sin,” he reminds us. Our bodies decay and, ultimately, return to the dust from which they sprang. No longer the house for our soul, they are not needed. They are an old crib that has been outgrown, a skin that a snake has shed, a cocoon from which a butterfly has emerged. The discarding of an unneeded old husk is not a cause for mourning or fear, for the occasion is not an end, but a moment of emergence.
Our fear is not this death of the body, but sin, which will end the lives of our souls. By the merits of Christ, we assure that we will rise untarnished into a form that is incorruptible, beyond the reach of disease or Satan himself.
