Daily Devotion for January 29, 2026
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.
The Gaithers recreate an old outdoor “camp” meeting, and the song is especially appropriate: When we think of the harsh lives farmers led 100 years ago, being able to anticipate the glory of heaven must have been an enormous uplift.
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Chorus:
What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There'll be no sorrow there,
No more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain,
No more parting over there;
And forever I will be,
With the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
The Morning “Lorica” (Prayer) of Saint Patrick
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today through the strength of Heaven
the rays of the sun,
the radiance of the moon,
the splendor of fire,
the speed of lightening,
the swiftness of the wind,
the depth of the sea,
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rock.
I arise today through the power of God:
God’s might to comfort me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to lead me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s Heavenly Host to save me
from the snares of the devil,
from temptations to sin,
from all who wish me ill,
from near and afar,
alone and with others.
May Christ shield me today
against poison and fire,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may fulfill my mission
and bear fruit in abundance.
Christ behind and before me,
Christ behind and above me,
Christ with me and in me,
Christ around and about me,
Christ on my right and on my left,
Christ when I lie down at night,
Christ when I rise in the morning,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
For Agriculture
Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“The person who bears and suffers evils with meekness and silence, is the sum of a Christian man.”
Blessing
The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, this day and evermore.
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.
Romans 7:7 (ESV)
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Galatians 3:13-14 (DP Bible)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
DP Parallel Bible (3-Column) - Galatians 3
Notes on the Scripture
We dug into verse 13 of this passage yesterday; verse 14 is just as dense and full of hidden meaning as 13, so let’s investigate.
Abraham lived before Moses; there was no law. (There were a few random laws and guidelines given orally by God. For example, prohibitions against murder and the drinking of animal blood and/or eating live animals. Gen. 9:1-7.) All Abraham had as a guideline for his conduct were several specific direct revelations on how he should behave in order that God would fulfill his covenant. First, to be circumcised and to have other males in his household circumcised (Gen. 17:1-14), and second, a very specific order that his son Isaac be given as a sacrifice by Abraham’s own hand; if for some reason you do not know the story of Abraham and Isaac, you need to read it (in Genesis 22) or you will have no idea of what Paul is talking about. (Genesis 22)
Note that the idea of killing and burning an animal on an altar as a thanksgiving to God was a practice already known by the tribe who would become the Hebrews. The origins of this form of worship are not given to us. But the practice began very early; for example, Noah gave a burnt offering on an altar after the flood receded, and God was pleased. (Gen. 8:20-21.)
The Bible does tell us that Abraham was “reckoned righteous” before God, as early as Genesis 15:6; in Christian terms, it seems that he was justified — he was “saved” and given the benefits of eternal life. Possibly there were other ancient figures deemed righteous by God, such as Enoch. (Gen. 5:24.) Abraham’s life with God after his death was so strongly believed, among the Jews, that they many of them thought the righteous would be taken into the “bosom of Abraham” after they died. (See Luke 16:19–31.)
Elijah
The details are sketchy about the relationship God created with these nearly prehistoric patriarchs. But for certain, it ended with the giving of the Law of Moses. The law effectively prevented people from going to heaven. Nobody could follow it. It was not a means of salvation; it was a means of showing mankind that we are incapable of behaving well enough to satisfy God. The only person who managed it, in the entire Bible, was Jesus.
(There are some special cases that are hard to characterize, especially the mysterious Elijah, who was taken up in a whirlwind. Was Elijah righteous before God? Possibly, because the Bible does not tell us. But if he was, it was not by the Law, because Paul tells us that nobody was made righteous by the Law.)
It was, therefore, a curse. It ended the period of righteousness through primitive faith. Of course, Abraham did what God told him to do. But Paul’s first point is that Abraham was reckoned righteous, not because he followed the few rules God had given him — and certainly not because he followed the Law, because the Law did not exist. Rather, it was Abraham’s utter faith in God that made God smile on him; and God promised that his seed would inherit the Kingdom of God.
Abraham
So Abraham’s faith made him righteous before God. It is important to see that the relationship of humanity and God changes over time. God makes the covenants, and He changes them when the time has come for the next step. He made it impossible for the Hebrews to be righteous when He announced the covenant of Moses. That is why Paul calls it a “curse.”
The Law created sin, in one very specific manner of speaking (although it did not create sin in the broader and more important sense of disobedience to God, which began with Adam and Eve). If this does not make sense to you, think about an ancient primitive civilization. Theft is punished only if the victim catches the thief and is strong enough to punish him. It is not a crime. But when a government is formed and passes a law forbidding theft, then and only then does it become a “crime.”
Coveting a neighbor’s sheep was always displeasing to God. But it did not become a known “sin” until God announced it as a law. Once they knew it was wrong — when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses — people became fully responsible for their transgressions of the law against coveting.
