Daily Devotion for October 2, 2025
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.
A pretty baptism song for country music fans, sung live by the great Randy Travis, who gave up his career to serve Christ with his music.
The Summer breeze, made ripples on the pond
And rattled through the reeds, and the willow trees beyond;
Daddy in his good hat, and momma in her Sunday dress
Watched with pride as I stood there, in the water up to my chest.
And the preacher spoke about the cleansing blood;
I sank my toes into that cool east Texas mud.
Refrain:
And it was down with the old man, up with the new;
Raised to walk in the way of light and truth.
I didn't see no angels, just a few saints on the shore,
But I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord.
Amazing Grace, oh how sweet the sound;
There was glory in the air, there was dinner on the ground.
And my sins which were many, were washed away and gone,
Along with a buffalo nickel, I forgot to leave at home.
But that seemed like such a small small price to pay
For the blessed peace of mind, that came to me that day.
This road is long and dusty,
Sometimes a soul it must be cleansed,
And I long to feel that water rushing over me again.
Music and Lyrics by Mickey Cates
For Joy Among the Children of God
Heavenly Father, you take no pleasure in wickedness and evil has no place in your kingdom; the boastful will not stand in your sight. You hate all the workers of evil. You destroy those who lie and defraud; you abhor the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
Bless me that I will not be among them, for I would come into your house in the multitude of your mercy. In fear of you and in the hope of mercy, I worship you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness. Make Your way straight before my face. Let all those rejoice who put their trust in you; let them shout for joy, because you defend them; those who love your name, grant them mercy and joy.
And evermore let your word spread throughout the world, and make me your servant in this task. In Christ’s name, I pray,
To Serve Christ
Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous;
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not heed the wounds,
To toil and not seek for rest,
To labor and not to seek reward,
Save that of knowing that I do your will.
Meditation
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
For Faith
Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my mind. Give me a right faith, a firm hope and a perfect charity, so that I may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will.
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.
The Singing Mule?
Man with all his shrewdness is as stupid about understanding by himself the mysteries of God, as an ass is incapable of understanding musical harmony.
~ John Calvin
John 1:1-14 (KJV)
n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
* * *
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Notes on the Scripture
Overview of the New Testament: The Gospels
4. The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John was (most likely) written around 90 A.D., decades after the others, and it is noticeably different from them. Christ’s divinity is presented in all of the gospels, but the Synoptics more fully present Christ’s roles as King, Messiah, Healer, and Teacher, while John strongly emphasizes the divinity of Jesus and the promise of eternal life as a reflection of God’s love.
This distinctive message appears immediately, in the powerful and poetic opening verses. For the first time, we learn that Christ existed before the creation and was, himself, the Creator. This is impossible to understand from the life of Jesus, because while He was human, he had partially separated himself from the power of the Godhead. In Paul’s words, He “emptied” himself, giving up many attributes of his divinity,
(Philippians 2:5-8) While we understand Christ is the Son of God in all of the gospels, John drives home the point that Christ is God. He is and has always been fully God, except that He intentionally relinquished His powers to live as a human being for about 30 years.
The Synoptics all begin with extensive narrative of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, turning towards Judea and Jerusalem just after the halfway mark. But John is set almost entirely in Jerusalem. It has comparatively few miracles, and those it does present are specifically symbolic; it relates seven miracles (pre-Resurrection), each of which constitutes a specific “sign” of Christ’s divinity. The first, the marriage at Cana where Christ turns water into wine, is replete with symbolism of the new covenant. The last, raising Lazarus from the dead, prophesies Christ’s own resurrection. (Both of these miracles are unique to John.)
John does have parables, miracles, and biography, but they are limited in number and secondary in importance to theological discourse. A single long discourse, Jesus’ speech to the disciples on the night before his crucifixion, takes up almost a quarter of the book (Chapters 13-17).
A word count demonstrates the gospel’s distinctiveness. The word “kingdom” appears 65 times in Matthew but only five times in John; on the other hand, the word “life” appears 36 times in John, more than twice as often as the other three gospels combined. Similarly, the word “love” occurs 53 times in John (by my count) and 27 times in the combined Synoptics.
But the difference is far greater than the numbers, because John speaks mostly to the love of God for us, and our love for God, while the Synoptics generally use the word as a human trait, e.g. “love your neighbor as yourself.” This highlights one strong theme: God’s love for humanity. Christ’s ministry and passion are characterized as an expression of this love, a love that will bring us eternal life.
One would be justified in concluding that John wrote his gospel to fill a theological gap in the other three; or perhaps it would be better to say, to complete our understanding, for it does not stand as a single complete work any more than the other gospels.
John is many people’s “favorite” gospel, but it is properly placed fourth; for reading John without first understanding the message of the Synoptics can lead to a lopsided theology of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace.”
