O Lord God, You are high and lifted up, yet You invite us to speak with You, to call to You, even to cry to You. We praise You for being an approachable and inviting God who makes good on every promise in Your word. I exalt You for reaching to us in our frailty and weakness, giving us Your power and presence.
Lord God, as we look to the establishment of the new administration, I pray for the President- and Vice President-Elect, that they may honor and acknowledge You in every part of their new administration. May they turn to You on calm days and in times of trouble alike, seeking to consult with You in all their plans. Let them know beyond all doubt that You promise to hear and answer when they pray to You. Thank You, mighty God, amen.
My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word. Verse 81
It's review day, so I'll look back over the last six devotions to see what God taught me.
DAY 267--NO SMALL THING--1 Corinthians 5:1-6
Sin that is tolerated in the body of Christ is compared to yeast in the dough. A small amount gradually spreads throughout the entire batch, growing exponentially. Sin is serious, and must be dealt with before it affects the whole body.
DAY 268--RISKING SOMEONE'S ETERNAL RUIN--1 Corinthians 8:7-9
We must all take each other's lives into consideration when we exercise our "freedoms" in Christ. Something this ok for me may not be ok for you. Therefore, it is my responsibility to not do that thing in front of you, or to boast about doing that thing around you. And likewise if something is ok for you, but not for me. This falls into the realm of "love," which we will discuss in the near future. We must consider each other to be more important than ourselves.
DAY 269--EXPERIENCING GOD'S WONDER AND GRACE--1 Corinthians 10:1-10
How do we respond to the many examples of God's wonder and grace that come our way? The Israelites witnessed first-hand some pretty amazing things as they wandered through the wilderness. Yet they continuously forgot about them and did some pretty stupid things (golden calf, much?). We, sadly, aren't much different. We use the excuse that the Israelites were right there and witnessed things. Well, so do we. I witness small miracles everyday. A few times in my life, I have witnessed some pretty big ones. I have watched two children be born. I have seen a potentially tragic car accident be averted by what can only be explained as an invisible angel.
Yet my life is a roller coaster ride of faithfullness mountaintops and sinfulness valleys.
I need to recapture that spirit of wonder at God's mercy and grace in my life and live as though I recognize them.
MY BODY, BROKEN FOR YOU--1 Corinthians 11:23-29
This passage describes Paul's instructions about Communion that he received from Christ. I was asked to consider the last time I observed Communion and to remember if there was anything remarkable about it, or was it just routine. I didn't like what I came up with. I intend to make sure the next one is "special." If only by making myself meditate on what is going on during the Communion time. This is a celebration of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, our savior, which was sacrificed for us. Nothing "routine" about that, is there?
DAY 271--BANKRUPT WITHOUT LOVE--1 Corinthians 13:3-7
This is the devotion about love, using what is probably the most famous Bible passage dealing with the subject. There's a list of qualities of love in this passage. I went down the list and considered how well I do on each one. I wasn't impressed. I encourage you to do the same. I plan to keep that list in front of me for a while and try to improve on my "love quotient."
DAY 272--DON'T HOLD BACK--1 Corinthians 15:51-58
1 Corinthians 15 deals exclusively with the second coming of Christ. It is a very exciting and encouraging chapter. Toward the end of it, Paul says this: With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
And that's exactly what we all need to do...throw ourselves into God's work. "God's work" is different for each and every one of us. Don't let anyone else tell you what "work" you need to be doing. (Unless, of course, they are a trusted friend to whom you might have gone for advice.) You need to decide where God has gifted you and what "work" you need to be throwing yourself into.