7th. January. 2021. Daily Devotion.
1 The 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?
2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.
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. Psalm 27:1-5
What do we do with our disappointments? We could do what Miss Haversham did. Remember her in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations? Jilted by her fiancé just prior to the wedding, … she closed all the blinds in the house, stopped every clock, left the wedding cake on the table to gather cobwebs, and wore her wedding dress until it hung in yellow decay around her shrunken form. Her wounded heart consumed her life. We can follow the same course. Or we can follow the example of the apostle Paul. His goal was to be a missionary in Spain, … however, God sent him to prison. Sitting in a Roman jail, Paul could have made the same choice as Miss Haversham, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “As long as I’m here, I might as well write a few letters.” Hence your Bible has the Letters to Philemon, the Philippians, the Colossians, and the Ephesians. M. Lucado.
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I am helpless and cannot change without your restoring power. Restore my life and help me to praise you for coming to triumph over death for our sake. Amen.
To Walk in God’s Sight
Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: I humbly pray you so to guide and govern me by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of my life I may not forget you but may remember that I am ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer Against Hypocrisy
Lord God, I understand your holy Word well enough. I study your Word, but I do not follow it. Christ has told us that those who love Him follow His commandments; yet, who actually does this?
Help me to find you, Lord. Help me not to read your Word and then ignore it in my actions. I expect to be saved by my faith; and yet, you tell me bluntly that faith without works is dead. Help me Lord; I love you; I give myself to you. Affirm my sincerity and help me to see my vast hypocrisy and, by the power of your Almighty Spirit, overcome it. In Christ’s name, I pray this. Amen.
Coronavirus Prayer
Almighty God, healer of the sick and strength of the weak, look with mercy on all those who suffer at this time.
Bring healing to those who are sick, bring peace to those who are anxious, bring strength to those who care for them, and bring wisdom to our leaders that our whole society may journey together through this difficult time with determination and generosity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
