Devotional for January 5

The Kings of the Earth Belong to God

47 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5 God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted. Psalm 47 (KJV)

The Prayer Appointed for This Week

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Morning Inspiration

Training is everything and everything is training. Time makes it so. Sometimes big and sometimes small, but everything has immediate, delayed, and cumulative effects. Happiness is found on the path of accumulated actions that lead to what is good and right. Many small steps in the right direction accumulated over time will cover a great distance. Backsliding is any movement in the wrong direction. Be quick to repent of anything that moves you away from God. The higher life is reached by many small steps of faith, with occasional giant leaps, until at last we arrive at the tipping point where striving ceases. Where difficulties are handled with ease and childish things are put away forever. Ask for light concerning this and you shall receive it. Seek the kingdom of God and you will find it. Knock on the straight gate that leads to eternal life and it will be opened to you. With great patience God has been waiting for you to draw nearer.

Today’s Question to Consider

What is a small step you can take today to move closer to God?