Devotional for September 11

I Will Sing

1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Psalm 81:1-10 (KJV)

The Morning Exhortation

Never let your heart be kindled with desire for any woman not your own, nor elevated by any drug, nor seduced by the luxury of riches or the self-satisfaction of pride. To do so is to feed the sinful nature of the flesh. And the flesh kills all those who indulge it. Addiction is but the slave-like bondage to something that promotes death. An addiction is a hidden idol of the heart. All who call on the name of the Lord can be sure it is the will of God that we be free of all such sins. So pray, have faith in God, and let your faith be strengthen by each trial that God permits in your life. In hearing the Word, we receive the necessary knowledge. In believing the Word, we mix that knowledge with faith. This is not of the external world of which the flesh is a part, this is of our inner being reborn so that the whole life may be conformed to the imagine of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Believe with complete confidence that it is the will of God for you to walk in the Spirit. Choose life and turn from all that leads to death. Do this and the grace of God will provide the power to demolish any sinful strongholds in your life. Stand firm in faith, and the truth of Christ Jesus shall make you free. 

Question

How do we come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

Answer

First, we must come to understand the matter of fact knowledge about the Savior (Scripture). Second, we must believe the good reports of the many eye witnesses (Scripture). Third, all relationships grow as time is spent together (Scripture). Spend much time cultivating the presence of God through inner worship according to the pattern of the kingdom of God (Scripture). A personal relationship with Christ comes with our deepening experience of the presence of God as we go about daily living, and not just by acquiring knowledge of and believing the Scriptures alone (Scripture).

The Prayer Appointed for This Week from the Book of Common Prayer

Grant me, O Lord, to trust in you with all my heart; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.