Thursday, October 3, 2019

#2 The Spirit of Devotion


   Andrew Murray: "Pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father  . . .  shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:6). We use the word devotion in two ways—with regard to prayer in our private devotions and with regard to that spirit of devotion, or devotedness to God, which is to mark our daily life.

    If we meet our Father in the inner chamber, He will give us the open reward of grace to live our life to His glory and devote our whole being to His will. (Google image, Praying woman) 

   The act of devotion secures the power for that spirit of devotion which is to fill our daily life to His glory.

    The classic passage on the law of devotion is Leviticus 27:28: "No devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord . . . shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord."

    Devotion is the wholehearted and irrevocable giving up to God of something which may never be taken back again. The person or thing, becomes most holy to the Lord.

    Aids to devotion may be given in more than one way. The simplest would be to suggest helpful ways to prepare us for worshipping God in truth.

    We could discuss some of the chief hindrances to effective prayer and Bible study or some of the reasons that these hindrances have such power over us.

    We may read a series of Scripture meditations to strengthen faith. The Word will become a joy to us and give us the humble trust that our devotions are pleasing to God.

    Another way is more difficult, but it has some advantages. It does not deal directly with the act of devotion, but with that spirit which is to rule us all day and fill every action with true devotion to God.
  
   The goal is to encourage the personal involvement of the worshipper, stirring him to inquire as to what is the true meaning of a life wholly given up to God, His will, and His glory.

    He may think of his successes or failures in the past and their causes. He can then determine the measure of effort and self-denial necessary to succeed in the pursuit of true devotion.
Learning to Think

   The goal of a good teacher is to stimulate the mind of the pupil to action. When a pupil is awakened to realize his powers and led to taste the joy of victory over apparently insurmountable difficulties, he has been given the key to discover truths for himself. 

   No one can do us a greater favor than stimulating our desire to seek with our whole heart a spirit of life and devotion which is most pleasing to God.

   Socrates has been called the greatest teacher (after Christ) the world has ever seen. He communicated no knowledge. He simply asked questions and helped his scholars to see their own ignorance and then to know their powers of thought and reason.

   Finally, he led them to understand that the real value of knowledge lay in its moral power, as the truth was received in the heart and life.

   Today, men claim to have little time for personal meditation on divine truth. Perhaps we need a Socrates to awaken us by his questions to find out whether we really understand the words we use and honestly believe the truths we profess.

   The unbelieving Socrates could teach many Christians the meaning of true religion and help us in our devotion.

   Our lives must be as holy as our prayers. Our prayers prove their reality by the fruit they bear in the holiness of our life. True devotion in prayer will assuredly be rewarded with the power to live a life of true devotion to Jesus and His service.

   Let Jesus Christ Himself, our blessed Teacher, guide us to find out whether our devotion is what He desire from us—a full surrender to God and a full devotion to His glory every day.
(Chapter one, pp. 7-9)

Receiving Power from God 
Copyright © 1984
 Andrew Murray
 by Whitaker House. 
Use by permission of Whitaker House. 

~ Tracy Joy "I remember as a child seeing my mom, in varying stages of life, sitting quietly in her armchair and prioritizing time with the Lord. I am thankful for those little snapshots of faithfulness. I am glad that a deep part of me says, “This is the way a Godly woman walks with God.” Her little acts of random faithfulness, done in the midst of the home where her little one’s could see, has had generational implications!" 


Personal testimony by Jean: While visiting my brother years ago, one morning as I passed by his bedroom, I saw him kneeling at his bed in prayer. I've never forgotten that image, and it has helped me stay faithful to the Lord these many years.
Let's pray-

   Father, our lives are marked by our devotion to You in our daily times of prayer and reading Your Word. It is the time we meet You in our inner chamber, which gives us grace to live our lives to Your glory, and which helps us devote our whole being to doing Your will for us.

   Our devotion is the wholehearted and irrevocable giving up of ourselves to You, the act which becomes most holy to You. Our goal, then, involves our reading the Bible and meditating on the verses we read, which can become a joy to us and give us the humble trust that our devotions are pleasing to You.

    We may think of our successes or failures in the past and their causes, but then we must be determined to measure our effort and self-denial necessary now to succeed in the pursuit of true devotion.

    This is our prayer, and we ask for the Spirit's help as we make time to spend with You, Father. It will make a difference in our living, for sure.
   We ask this in Christ's name. Amen


Today's Bible verses-

       PSALM 37:5 "Commit your way to the Lord, 
       trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."

        Prov. 15:23 (NKJV) "A man has joy by the answer 
       of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, 
       how good it is!"

        Prov. 4:7 (NKJV) "Wisdom is the principal thing: 
       therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, 
       get understanding."


Today's quote-
 Oswald Chambers:

"Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning." (From My Utmost for His Highest, Updated Edition).

Words of wisdom-

 ~ Our challenge is to enjoy today, relaxing in God's Presence and glorifying Him by proclaiming that He is with us.
~ The Lord invites us to experience His vast love. When our hearts and minds are quiet, we can hear Him inviting us to draw near.
Today's guest teaching-   by Max Lucado

Prayer is a Habit Worth Having

   Do you want to know how to deepen your prayer life? At the risk of sounding like a preacher—which I am—may I make a suggestion? Why don’t you check your habits?

   In Romans 12:12, Paul says, “When trials come endure them patiently; steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.” Prayer is a habit worth having. Don’t prepare to pray. Just pray. Don’t read about prayer. Just pray. Don’t attend a lecture on prayer or engage in discussion about prayer. Just pray.

   Posture, tone, and place are personal matters. Select the form that works for you. But don’t think about it too much. Don’t be so concerned about wrapping the gift that you never give it. Better to pray awkwardly than not at all. And if you feel you should only pray when inspired, that’s okay. Just see to it that you are inspired every day.


Today's great marriage hints-


"I Have mentioned before that just as a woman desires to feel loved, men equally desire to feel respected.  Respect, in all forms, speaks volumes to men and often results in them feeling worthy of their wife’s affections."




List of recent sermons of CFC ministers. CFC Potsdam NY church has a live service at 10 am Sunday's for shut-ins. If for some reason you can't make it to the church you usually attend, click on the above link, and still get fed!

Upcoming posts-

      10 Prayers God Always Answers
5th- Saturday's post by Carrie Lowrance

      #3 The New Testament Standard
8th- Tuesday's post by Andrew Murray

      #4 Stepping Into Spiritual Life
10th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray

           True Christianity
12th- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes
Sunflower patch


     









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