Dec 7 - Food of Life

Daily Devotion

Food of Life

I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

Those were My words to My Disciples in the early days of My Ministry. Later I was to lead them on to a fuller understanding of that Majestic Union of a soul with God in which strength, life, and food pass from One to the other.

Meat is to sustain the body. To do the Will of God is the very strength and support of Life. Feed on that Food.

Soul-starvation comes from the failing to do, and to delight in doing, My Will. How busy the world is in talking of bodies that are undernourished! What of the souls that are undernourished?

Make it indeed your meat to do My Will. Strength and Power will indeed come to you from that.

"Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work." John 4:34

 

 

Prayer 4 Today

Prayer 4 Today

Lord Jesus, often the daily grind is not appealing as I awaken each morning to the tasks before me.  Sometimes the routine seems endless and at times pointless.  I find myself lacking fulfillment in this aspect of my life and yet it requires the majority of my time and focus.  Jesus, please help me to find the hidden strength that only comes from seeking You to deal with the negative attitudes that tempt me daily.  Help me also to look beyond the immediate to the deeper meaning of each day's task.  Above all, help me to keep my eyes on spiritual truths as I meditate upon Your Word and apply its meaning to my life each new day. It is in this faithful practice of placing You at the center of my focus that I can rise above the difficulties that come my way.  May You restore to me, this day, the joy of Your salvation and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

 In Jesus' Name, Amen.

 

 

Dec 6 - Expect Temptation

Daily Devotion

Expect Temptation

Lord, give us Power to conquer temptation as Thou didst in the wilderness.

The very first step towards conquering temptation is to see it as temptation. To dissociate yourself from it.

Not to think of it as something resulting from your tiredness, or illness, or poverty, or nerve-strain, when you feel you might well excuse yourself for yielding, but first to realize very fully that when you have heard My voice ("the Heavens opened," as it were) and are going to fulfill your mission to work for me and to draw souls to me, you must expect a mighty onslaught from the evil one, who will endeavor with all his might to frustrate you, and to prevent your good work. Expect that.

Then when these little temptations, or big ones come, you will recognize them as planned by evil to thwart Me. Then for very love of Me you will conquer.

"And lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever." Matthew 6:13

 

 

Prayer 4 Today

Prayer 4 Today 

O God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your mercy endures to all generations.  Your truths are timeless and Your provisions are abundant to those who call upon your name.  Help us to declare Your faithfulness to our generation and the generations that follow.  Thank you that my great-grandfather, Isaac, proclaimed the faithfulness of God to His children.   And I now have the blessing and responsibility to proclaim your faithfulness to my child.   Generation by generation we proclaim the salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  

Amen.

 

 

Dec 5 - Law of Supply

Daily Devotion

Law of Supply


The first law of giving is of the spirit world. Give to all you meet, or whose lives touch yours, of your prayers, your time, yourselves, your love, your thought. You must practice this giving first.

Then give of this world's goods and money, as you have them given to you. To give money and material things, without having first made the habit daily, hourly, ever increasingly, of giving on the highest plane, is wrong.

Give, give, give all your best to all who need it.

Be great givers--great givers. Give as I said My Father in Heaven gives. He who makes His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Remember, as I have told you before, give according to need, never according to desert. In giving, with the thought of supplying a real need you must closely resemble that Father in Heaven, the Great Giver.

As you receive, you must supply the needs of those I bring to you. Not questioning, not limiting. Their nearness to you, their relationship, must never count. Only their need is to guide you. Pray to become great givers.

"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Matthew 5:43

 

 

Prayer 4 Today

Prayer 4 Today

 

Jesus, as we earnestly seek and follow You our minds are being renewed daily.  Our ambitions, goals, and affections are being transformed into Your likeness.  The ways of the world have less grip on us as we transfix our thoughts upon the Author and Finisher of our faith.  It is in dying to the world that we become alive unto Christ and it is through Your mercy that we offer our lives today as living sacrifices.  

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 4 - Man of Sorrows

Daily Devotion

Man of Sorrows

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3

That these words strike a note of Beauty in the hearts of those attuned to hear the Beautiful, shows truly that the heart recognizes the need for the Man of Sorrows. That it sees nothing contemptible in One despised by the world. That it recognizes the vast difference between the values of Heaven, and those of the world. Fame and acclamations are accorded to earth's great, contempt and rejection to the Son of God.

One of the things My disciples must ever seek to do is to set aside the valuation of the world, and judge only according to the values of Heaven. These are not for you.  Do not seek the praise and the notice of men. You follow a despised Christ. See the mob is hooting, throwing stones, jeering, and yet in that quiet little throng there is a happiness and Joy the reviling crowds could never know.

Follow that little throng with stones and gibes, and it appears to be of men, mean, ludicrous, contemptible.  Be one of the throng, and you feel the Majesty of God in the presence of Him, Who was despised and rejected of men. Wreaths around His Brow, and shouts of applause, would belittle that Majesty.

In your dark hours, when human help fails, keep very close to the Man of Sorrows. Feel My Hand of Love press yours in silent but complete understanding. I, too, was acquainted with grief. No heart can ache without My heart aching too. "He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world ....  For all that is in the world,  ... is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:15-16