24th. September 2020. Daily Devotion
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds,
25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
All people who connect in fellowship are a community. A community does not merely represent people who are grouped in proximity. It also means people who join together with a common interest such as a choir, a church, a club, an exercise, support, or a charity group.
God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a community in and of Himself. Richard Rohr, in his book The Divine Dance, summarizes the words of Richard of St. Victor, a 12th-century mystic, by saying, “For God to be good, God can be one. For God to be loving, God has to be two, because love is always a relationship. But for God to share ‘excellent joy’ and ‘delight,’ God has to be three, because supreme happiness is when two persons share their common delight in a third something—together,” and this is what defines “community.”
God created us for the community. The equation of God, others, and ourselves, is a threesome triangle, an association as one kindred that reaches globally and through all time. The distancing and quarantining in this pandemic, causes us to suffer somewhat because God made us with His relationship nature. The saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” gives us time to ponder how we treat others. Let this time remind us of the importance of kindness, patience, and forgiveness as we choose, through Jesus, to live in His joint alliance of life, love, harmony, and peace. ~J Calvert.
Thank you, Father, for making us a community with you and with others. Helps us to treat others with love.
Amen.
Ancient Prayer – For Support of the Holy Spirit
O Educator be gracious to thy children, O Educator, Father, Guide of Israel, Son and Father, both one, Lord. Give to us, who follow thy command, to fulfil the likeness of thy image, and to see, according to our strength, the God who is both a good God and a Judge who is not harsh.
~ The Dove of the Holy Spirit Sebastiano Bombelli, 1703.
Do thou thyself bestow all things on us who dwell in thy peace, who have been placed in thy city, who sail the sea of sin unruffled, that we may be made tranquil and supported by the Holy Spirit, the unutterable Wisdom, by night and day, unto the perfect day, to sing eternal thanksgiving to the one only Father and Son, Son and Father, Educator and Teacher with the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
~ Clement of Alexandria (150–215 A.D.)
Prayer of Thanks for Patience in My Tasks
Lord, I thank you for teaching me how to live in the present moment. In this way I enjoy each simple task as I do it without thinking that I must hurry on to the next thing. I do what I am doing with all my ability and all my concentration. My mind is no longer divided, and life is more peaceful. Thank you for teaching me how to do this, and please help me how to show others the way to learn to trust you more completely and to do everything which has to be done at your time and your speed. Amen.
A prayer for my family and friends
Loving God, bless my family, my friends and all in my heart today.
May they be safe and well and kept close to your peace and love.
Help me to know that you are with me as I show love and care to others.
Amen.
Pray for the coronavirus to stop spreading.
Almighty God, we know that everything is in Your sovereign control. We ask that You keep this new coronavirus from continuing to spread. Give government officials the ability to safely handle people arriving from other countries. Help people decide to stay home instead of traveling or going out needlessly. Holy Spirit, remind people to wash their hands properly. And while it may be heart-breaking, comfort families as they decide to keep their distance from elderly or other high-risk family members.
~ Prayer from World Vision.
