24th. November. 2020. Daily Devotion.

Overcoming Temptation

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13

M. Barge wrote:

I used to be fairly superstitious, I’d say about average. One of my biggest superstitions was the number 13. “Triskaidekaphobia,” meaning fear of the number 13, is a good trivia word. (And it you want to joke “that’s easy for you to say,” it’s actually true. I’ve studied Greek and “triskaideca” is Greek for 13!)

But anyway, I had a good solid superstition. If I went to bed and the clock said 12:13, I’d sit on the edge or do something else until the clock changed. If I saw a subway car with the number 13, I’d walk down and get on another one. A fair amount of my behaviour would change.

But God sent me a Spirit. I read Exodus 23:19b, “Do not boil a kid in the milk of its mother.” This is a pretty easy verse just to skip over, since it seems like just another weird food taboo from the Law of Moses. But I was moved to investigate and discovered that this was a Canaanite ritual to ensure fertility. What God is telling the Hebrews in this is to remember, in all respects, that power is His. The Canaanite fertility ritual is both meaningless and ineffective, and plus, it is idolatrous.

And then I realized what the ritual was: it was a superstition. An act that was meaningless in both science and Christianity, ineffective in both the natural and the supernatural realms. God was telling the Hebrews, “Do not indulge superstitions.” And I was cured. I can now sit in seat number F-13 at the theatre without a single qualm; my previous superstition was ridiculous, and God provided me with an escape.

There is no temptation so great that somebody else has not faced it. There is no temptation so great that God cannot overcome it. There is no temptation that God will not help you resist it: you just have to ask Him enough, for a spirit sent by God is the most powerful force in the universe.

Lord, let me always remember that you will give me the power to overcome any temptation. Amen.

For Each New Morning

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
I thank thee. Amen. (From a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Teach Me to Love

O holy Christ, your life was perfect in constancy. You have never failed those who loved you, for your love is eternal, perfect and unfailing. You never change, never weaken, never vary. Teach me the steadfastness of your love, mighty Saviour. Teach me your humility, your selflessness. Teach me to be a devoted servant.

Look with grace, I pray, on my small and tarnished loving; protect it, foster it, strengthen it, that my love may be less unworthy to be offered to you and to your children. O Light of the world teach me how to love. Amen.

God’s healing hand
To our brothers and sisters who have contracted
and are suffering due to the Coronavirus Disease,
we pray that God’s healing hand may rest upon you.
To medical doctors, nurses and the supporting staff
who are in the frontline of the fight against COVID-19,
may the Good Lord sustain you and inspire you
to render your life-saving services with due care, love and compassion.
To all those who have lost their loved ones due to the Coronavirus outbreak,
we convey our deepest sympathies.
We pray that their souls, through God’s mercy, may rest in eternal peace.
We pray that God may grant all bereaved families his consolation and strengthen their faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.
Amen.
Prayer adapted from the 2020 Easter Message of the Catholic Bishops of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.