North Queensferry Church

30th. July. 2021. Daily Devotion.

2 Timothy 2:23-24

23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Why? Oh why, do we so many times put great emphasis on trivial things, and forget the matters of so much more value? Such as: Where is your heart and whom do you serve? Have you given Jesus your life? Have you come to Him in repentance, asking for forgiveness? Do you trust and obey Him? Do you love Him? Do you love others as you love yourself?

This is why there are so many different denominations of Christians. One believes this, another believes that. Even within a church, quarrelling can start in business meetings. Bickering in a church should never happen. It sets such a poor example of Christ-like attributes. Proverbs 20:3 says, “It is to one’s honour to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.” Discourse resulting in division, hurts the church, and can damage its witness.

If one feels more comfortable in a church without walls or one with ornate walls, so be it. If one feels more comfortable in a church without instruments, or one with every instrument imaginable, so be it. If one feels at home in a church that speaks in tongues or one that does not, so be it. If one is more fulfilled in a charismatic service, or maybe one that’s more sombre, so be it.

We should attend a church where God meets our needs, and the needs of our family, remembering to keep peace with our fellow Christians belonging to other churches. If their foundation and cornerstone is Jesus, and they have believed in their hearts, and confessed with their mouths, Jesus Christ, then they are our brothers and sisters. Christians are the church, no matter what building they attend. Remain united in Christ because a church that is united, is much more powerful than one that is divided.
~ Jenny Calvert

Dear Father, We are sorry we spend so much time arguing, instead of loving. Help us! Amen

To Awaken in Christ’s Body

I awaken in Christ’s body as Christ awakens my body, and my poor hand is Christ. He enters my foot and is infinitely me. I move my hand, and wonderfully my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him (for God is indivisibly Whole, seamless in His Godhood). I move my foot, and at once He appears like a flash of lightning.

Do my words seem blasphemous? Then I must open my heart to You and let myself receive the One who is opening to me so deeply. For if I genuinely love You, I wake up inside Your body where all my body, all over, every most hidden part of it, is realized in joy as You, and You make me utterly and real. Everything that is hurt, everything that seemed to me dark, harsh, shameful, maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged, is in You transformed and recognized as whole, as lovely, and radiant in Your light. Awaken, Beloved Son of God, in every last part of my body Amen. 

 ~ Adapted from a prayer by Simeon the New Theologian, ca. 990 A.D.

For Those in Need of Strength

I pray, Lord, for all who will need strength and courage in the day ahead: For those who face danger. For those who risk themselves for others. For those who must make an important decision today. For people who are seriously ill. For those facing persecution or torture. I ask you, Lord, to give them the power of your Spirit,  Amen.

Coronavirus Prayer

For all whose day starts with anxiety, as they leave the security of home worrying about the risk of infection; particularly those whose health or age classifies them as vulnerable. Loving God, be close, keep them safe, along with all whose tasks today
includes the care of frail and elderly. And for all of us, grant wisdom to make sensible choices, not just for ourselves, but for everybody.  Amen.