Trying something different today. Having my devotion in the morning, in a totally different room. Just a change of pace.
For President Obama to have a strong and spiritually sustaining prayer life
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
�Psalm 5:3(NIV)
Holy Lord God, morning, noon and night, You welcome and respond to our prayers. I praise You that You never rest, and You are working in response to our prayers as we sleep, work, play or pray. You hear our cries no matter what time of day or night they are lifted to You. I thank and praise You for this marvelous truth, loving God.
Today I pray for President Barack Obama, asking that he will turn in faithful and heartfelt prayer, finding strength to lead his team and our nation. Every morning, Lord, may he be drawn into prayerful fellowship with You before anything else, and may he be filled with eager expectation that You will answer graciously and provide him with the peace and strength that come only from You. This I ask in Your powerful name, amen.
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
"According to the care which every man takes to practise righteousness and equity towards his neighbors, so does he actually show that he fears God."
2 Timothy 4:1-8
Here, Paul continues his instructions to young Timothy, and it becomes obvious that Paul believes his life to be close to an end.
One of the warnings he gives Timothy is to be consistent and firm in the message he teaches. Paul tells him that people are going to get weary of solid, Biblical teaching, instead, wanting what Peterson translates as "spiritual junk food--catchy opinions that tickle their fancy." Sadly, there is a lot of that going on in our day, and it's drawing huge crowds to some "mega-churches."
However, that's not the main theme of this selection. The theme that I see running through this passage is a them of keeping it up. "Don't ever quit." "Keep the Message alive." "This is the only race worth running."
That last one especially appeals to me. "This is the only race worth running."
There are a lot of worthy causes in this world today. My youngest suffers from autism (believe me, the whole family suffers!). People have cancer. There are organizations for both diseases. There are charities for diabetes (which I have, type 2). There are charities for every organ in the body, I think. We get calls every month from fund-raising organizations. But Paul tells us this is the only race worth running. The "race" for God's message. God's plan is the only cause truly worth fighting for.
Carpe eternus vita, friends!