20th. May. 2020. Daily Devotion.
All of us long for goodness in our lives. We are seeing many examples of it as people reach out in love during this pandemic. But we are also hearing of evil and exploitation of lovelessness and carelessness. The only thing we can do about it is to ensure that we maintain our own commitment to goodness which is one of the nine-fold fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22
33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37
“Good people have good things in their hearts.” Matthew 12:35
Name the ten wealthiest men in the world. Name eight people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. How did you do? I didn’t do well either. Apart from trivia hounds, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday too well. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn’t it? And what I’ve mentioned above are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Here’s another question.
Name ten people who have taught you something worthwhile.
Name five friends who have helped you in a difficult time.
Easier? It was for me, too. The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern. From: And the Angels Were Silent(edited).
Prayer
Dear Lord, I give you my hands to do your work; I give you my feet to go your way; I give you my eyes to see as you see; I give you my tongue to speak your words; I give you my mind that you may think in me; I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me. I give you my whole self, Lord, that you may grow in me, so that it is you who lives, works, and prays in me. Amen.
To Show Forth God’s Beauty
Heavenly Father help me to make my faith a thing so beautiful that all men may be won to surrender to its power. Let me manifest in my life its sweetness and excellence, its free and ennobling spirit. Forbid that I should go up and down the world with melancholy looks and dejected visage, lest I should repel people from entering your Kingdom. Rather, may I walk in the freedom and joy of faith and with your new song in my mouth, so that all who look on me may learn to trust and to love you. And this I ask in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Saviour.
Psalm fragment – Psalm 27:1; 4-5; 13-14.
1The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Benediction
Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you direct my way unto you, and make me and all of us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end that we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Amen.
