faith

Devotional for April 28

The Love of the Lord Is Everlasting

13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. Psalm 103:13-18 (KJV)

The Morning Exhortation

Eat well and work hard for fitness while always prioritizing the more important things for faith. Faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, consists of facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed, and privileges to be enjoyed. Remember the love of God and His truth are the great tenderizers of the heart and soul. It is a lack of these two that have filled the world with so much suffering. Without love the heart becomes hardened with selfishness. Without holding to the truth the soul becomes steeped with envy, pretense, and pride. Christ Jesus died on the Cross so we could be free from the bondage and burden of all errors of the heart and soul such as these. Wisdom comes from being in a right relationship with God. Only then can we escape the vanity in the world being driven by lust. Fix your eyes on Jesus by faith working through love, and a sure hope in God will see you all the way home to our eternal dwelling in heaven. Faith, love, and hope filling the heart sets the fear of the Lord as the default setting in the mind. Don’t confuse being “afraid (or having no fear) of God” with “the fear of God.” The former is the state of sinners and the later pertains to saints. The fear of the Lord causes a carefulness to avoid anything that is offensive to God out of a sincere desire to please Him who our soul loves. Keeping the fear of the Lord before our eyes acts as a protective boundary through a fully functional conscience that helps to guard us along the way. And these are the signs of those who love the Lord: they obey His commandments and they bear the fruits of the Spirit. (Proverbs 27:20; Romans 3:13-18; Proverbs 9:12, 12:10, 27:23; Matthew 25:14-30; Isaiah 50:10-11; Hosea 10:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Hebrews 11:1-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 4:10-13; 2 Peter 1:2-11; Philippians 4:23)

Today’s Bible Reading

Numbers 5; Psalms 39

Song of Solomon 3; Hebrews 3

The Prayer Appointed for This Week

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that I, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ my Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen. The Book of Common Prayer

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