Devotional for October 5

Righteousness Made Clear

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.  Psalm 51:10-13 (KJV)

The Morning Exhortation

Don’t waste your time anxiously searching for the 1% that you don’t have, all the while paying little attention to the 99% that you do have in your hand right now. Most everyone knows what they need to do, but only a few people actually get it done. Why is it so? One reason is the lack of a total commitment. It is hard to understand the power of a total commitment if you have never made one. A total commitment removes the possibly of retreat or turning back. You either swim or you sink. You either do it or you die still trying to get it done. All manner of great things have blossomed from such commitments. When all things are considered as they should be in the light of eternity, a total commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ is a no-brainer. One thing needed is a singleness of heart that pursues the living God and refuses to settle for anything less. Let it not be His gifts that move us to seek His face. Rather, let the desire to know Him mold our thoughts and actions. God has promised that we will find Him when we search for Him with all our heart. The mercy of God has provided the way. We only need to make the total commitment to Jesus Christ, and God meets us with the needed grace to make it happen.

Today’s Bible Reading

1 Kings 8

Ephesians 5

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

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon your church the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.