Our Daily Bread devotional

[caitlincares]

For this thread please stay on topic of discussing current devotional. Thanks.



I have started reading this devotional again daily.

Here is the link: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

I wanted to share my thoughts with one of our younger awesome Christian ladies.
And thought this would be a good forum to do it in.

For anyone else interested in reading it and sharing your thoughts - please join in.
My plan is to do it when I get home from work so will probably post around 5 PM (EST).



For this thread please stay on topic of discussing current devotional. Thanks.

 

[caitlincares]

This is the devotional from yesterday.

Matthew 25

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Verse 34 stands out to me that our place in Heaven has been prepared for us since BEFORE creation.
I am sure I have never noticed that before.

Verses 35 and 36 are on my CF homepage as one of my favorite verses.
That is why it is so important to always do for others and treat others with God's love.
I have known folks in prison. One of their complaints is the church has left them. Very sad.

"Every believer can do something to help others. Limited as we may be by sickness, old age, or disability, we can still pray, call, or write. No matter what our condition, we can be effective witnesses for Jesus. —Vernon Grounds"

Actual devotional thoughts:

It is so true that we all can do something regardless of our situation.
I know for me I love volunteering - have been doing so since I was a teenager.
But lately have not been able to commit to much outside of the house.

That is why I believe the Lord led me to CF - so I could be used by Him.
Most of the folks on CF are introverts so certainly serving others in public may be difficult.
God made us each different and expects to use us all that are willing to be used.

 

[caitlincares]

http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

Read: Mark 2:1-12

4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, " Son, your sins are forgiven ";

10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ."; He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. " 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Verse 5 reminds us that it is my faith that we are forgiven aka saved.
Verse 10 Interesting Son of Man versus Son of God. Regardless declaring Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.
Verse 12 We should be amazed and praise God when miracles happen. I do believe miracles happen today people just have a hard time recognizing them.

Even though I am an analytical person I acknowledge that miracles still happen.
There have been many times I should have been dead or badly hurt BUT instead nothing happened.
Praise the Lord.

One of my brothers (accidently?) knocked me down the stairs once as a child.
I fell off a float at the state park and realized I was over my head.
I swam out in the YMCA pool and realized I was over my head.
(But yet I never lost the love of swimming although I do not do it much anymore)

In driving situations I have realized afterwards sometimes that there was no logical reason I was not hit.
My dad and I were hit head on once. My knees did go thru the dash board but could have been much worse.
The guy was hung over from the night before and was speeding to get to work (late).

" If I accomplish nothing else in my life, " said the social worker to herself, " I have made a real difference with at least this one! ";

With deep emotion, the woman responded, " No, he's in the penitentiary for one of the foulest crimes a human can commit. I was instrumental in teaching him how to walk again, but there was no one to teach him where to walk. "

The first quote above was after the social worker had helped someone to walk.
The second quote above was many years later.

We must point people to Jesus.
Through Him, those with broken bodies, broken dreams, broken homes, and broken hearts receive wholeness of life.
—Haddon Robinson

My devotional thoughts:

I guess it reminds us that we as humans can only do so much to help others.
It makes it clear that we must direct others towards our Lord and Saviour.

 

[caitlincares]

Full devotional reading: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

Read: Deuteronomy 4:5-14

Deuteronomy 4

6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.

Verse 6 - By obeying the commands of the Lord ; we are to be known by others to be a wise and understanding people.
Verse 9 - And we are remineded to be sure to teach these commands to our children.
Verse 13 - The ten commandments are a covenant but God and us. Our part is simply to follow the commandments.

David Isay, a radio producer, says that in a culture inundated with the stories of celebrities, we need to hear the recorded voices of ordinary people, because their lives and contributions are no less important. Isay is a driving force behind StoryCorps, "a national project to instruct and inspire people to record each other's stories in sound."

My devotional thoughts:

Interesting concept. Nowaday much easier with all the technology available for regular folks.
I remember when we got our first tape recorder we use to tape birthday party greetings.

I like the fact you can get Christian radio and sermons even on the internet nowadays.
Maybe it is not completely personal but God's message is there.

I have a friend, Brenda, her father got one of those books to write down life history and stories.
He spent a lot of time doing that and gave it to her. I believe for Christmas one year.
She really liked it and it is irreplaceable.

 

[caitlincares]

Full devotional reading: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

Read: Revelation 21:1-5

Revelation 21
2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

First of all I have never bothered to spend time reading Revelations.
I know in theory what it is about...
Verses 2-5 indicates the New Jerusalem will come down from the heavens.
And that God will dwell with man. There will be no tears, death, mourning, crying or pain.

I wonder if we'll have a similar feeling when we enter heaven. The dangerous "whiteouts" of our earthly journey will be over. The temptations, stresses, and failures will all be in the past. Best of all, we'll be safe with our Savior.

My Devotional thoughts:

Living in Maine I can totally relate to "whiteout" conditions.
For me any time the roads are icy I am "freaked" out.
I am so relieved to get to my destination.

I certainly can imagine how awesome it will be to get to Heaven.
It will be great to have no pain from my arthritis.

 

[caitlincares]

Full devotional reading: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

Read: Psalm 100

To receive the greatest benefit from a church service, we must prepare our hearts and become active participants. We must become wholeheartedly involved in singing the hymns, silently praying as the pastor leads the congregation in prayer, and worshiping from the heart as the choir sings.

It's easy to blame the pastor if we leave the service feeling empty and discouraged. But he's just one participant; we must do our part. Those who get the most out of worship are those who put the most into it. —Richard De Haan

I love all of Psalms 100.
It is one of my favorites on my CF home page.

I SO agree with this devotional.
It is hard though when NOT everyone is of the same mindset.

I like to go into the sanctuary in silence. I think it shows proper reverence to our Lord.
I like to sit and pray before the service and get in that mindset to receive the message.
I love singing. And I do actually pay attention to the sermon.
And I like to look up all scripture referrences for myself.

Most people at church only see each other AT church so they visit in regular voices before (and after church).
Personally I would like to see that kept out of earshot of the sanctuary.
Let's keep the sanctuary HOLY.

I have been to churches which have fellowship time which includes food and drink between sunday school and worship.
And they wonder why the children can not sit still during the service. Maybe because of SUGAR.
And they actually allow the fellowship items in the sanctuary.

Can we not devote a few hours to worship God?
People ought to be able to go without eating and potty breaks.
(Excluding those with health issues)

 

[caitlincares]

Full devotional reading: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/odb.shtml

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20


Ephesians 6

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

I think verse 10 says it all. We have strength because of the knowing God.
Verses 14 - 17 talk about the six elements of the armour of God.
I also like verse 18 which remind us we should always be in prayer or easily ready to pray.

Whenever I hear fire or ambulance sirens I stop and pray...
I have no idea what the situation is BUT God does.

People often ask for our prayers, but do we faithfully pray for them? Many times we see others in great need but find it easier to discuss their plight with friends rather than to intercede for them. But people need and want our prayers.

Faithful prayer—whether in public or private—is one of the greatest gifts we can give others. —David McCasland

My devotional thoughts:

I have people come to me at work with prayer requests because they know I am a Christian.
It is a very sacred trust to take another's requests to the Lord. We are called to do that.
On the board when someone asks for prayer - I stop and pray for them - and then I post that I have prayed - so they are aware someone else has lifted them up to the Lord.