Benediction II: Devotion for Thursday April 2, 2020

MY DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL

Devotion for Thursday April 2, 2020

Topic: Benediction II                                       

Text: Numbers 6:25 & 26

The grace and peace of God are indispensable in our daily lives. We cannot truly live well when we lack peace and are not supported by the grace of God. No wonder Jesus declared it in John 15:5. Benediction is one way of asking for God’s favour to rest upon His people.

Benediction conveys hope that God will

1) Bless and protect as we read yesterday,

2) Smile on them – be pleased,

3) Be gracious unto them – be merciful and compassionate,

4) Show his favour towards them (give His approval of His people and

5) Give them peace. When we are praying that God should bless us or other people, we are actually asking God to do these 5 things mentioned above.

For God to bless us and be gracious to us, we should always obey His word, meditate on them (Joshua 1:8 & Psalm 1:1 – 3) and live by them. These are the ways to sustain the blessings of God in our lives.

May God Almighty be gracious to you and grant you His peace now and always, Amen.

Food for Thought: Blessing others is a way to show them love, care and encouragement.

Memory verse: Psalm 67:1

Prayer: God, grant that your grace and peace will not depart from me now and always, Amen.

Rend Your Hearts

MY DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL

Devotion for Wednesday May 3, 2017

Topic: Rend Your Hearts

Text: Joel 2:12 – 17 

God hates mere outward religious observance that does not reflect in the spirit. What God desire so much from us is not our outward show (sacrifices) as much as broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:14–19, see Isa. 1:11, 13 & Jer. 6:20). It is only when we have truly repented that our sacrifices will be accepted (Ps. 51:19). Remember what Samuel told Saul in 1 Sam. 15:22. Joel spoke to the Israelites about the need to mortify their affections and serve God with pureness of heart, and not with ceremonies. His focus was that they should not merely rend their garments, but let their hearts be truly contrite.

Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet them with heavier punishment. Let there be the inward sorrow of heart, and not the mere outward manifestation of it by "rending the garment" (Josh. 7:6) because our God is gracious; good and benevolent in His own nature. He is also merciful; pitying and forgiving us when we repent. He is slow to anger. However, when He gets angry, it is fearful to fall into His hands (Heb. 10:31). God desire our true and genuine repentance, and not showing off with our presence, prayers, offering, tithes, etc, when our hearts are actually far from Him. Let there be genuine rending of our hearts.

Food for Thought: A pretender can deceive people as much as he wants but can never deceive God.

Memory verse: Joel 2 verse 13

Prayer: God, make to repent truly and never to be a pretender in your presence.

BE MERCIFUL

DEVOTION FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2016

Topic: BE MERCIFUL              

Text: Matthew 5:7         

The blessed state for the merciful as Jesus used it here, does not promise outright laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity rather the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. Romans 9:15 tells us that God shows mercy. Mercy means capacity for holding oneself back from punishing or causing suffering to someone whom one has the right to punish. Just like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13); forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, so we should be merciful in others so as to obtain mercy. Do you show mercy to people who have truly offended you, that you may also obtain mercy? Are you of the group that believes in an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24)? God expects us to be merciful, because He is merciful to us (Exodus 34:6 & 7). If God counts all our shortcomings, who will stand before Him?

If you desire the blessedness of God in this life, joy; the deepest form of happiness and peace of God which passes all understanding, then you must be ready to show mercy to people you meet on regular basis.  You must follow the example of Jesus to the woman caught in the very act (John 8:1–11). Always show mercy and you will also receive it.

Food for Thought: Mercy imitates God, and disappoints Satan - St Chrysostom.

Memory verse: Matthew 5:7

Prayer: God, sow in me the spirit of mercy and grant me the grace not to retaliate when people offend or hurt me.