Scripture for Today
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truthcame through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (John 1:14-18)
Prayer for Today
Almighty God, from whom every good prayer cometh, and who pourest out on all who desire it, the spirit of grace and supplication: Deliver us, when we draw night to thee, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thought and kindled affections, we may worship thee in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (taken from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965)
Today’s Devotion
To Know God is to Love Him by A.W. Tozer
God is love, and is for that reason the source of all the love there is. He has set as the first of all commandments that we love Him with all our hearts, but He knows that the desired love can never originate with us. We love him, because he first loved us, is the scriptural and psychological pattern. We can love Him as we ought only as He inflames our minds with holy desire. Yet there is also a love of willing as well as of feeling. Though we may not be conscious of any great degree of inward sensation, we may set our wills to love God and the feeling will come of itself. Let us bring ourselves under obedience to His revealed Word and our love for Him will grow. Obedience will strengthen faith and faith will increase knowledge. And it is a well-known law of the spiritual life that our love for God will spring up and flourish just as our knowledge of Him increases. To know Him is to love Him, and to know Him better is to love Him more. (Taken from the Tozer Devotion website)
Points to Ponder by Fred Smith (Taken from Breakfast with Fred)
The Power of Possessions
My friend and mentor Maxey Jarman wrote a long memo to me responding to a question I posed about the loss of “things.” His summarized it: “A time of reversal and loss is a good time for a person to take stock of himself to see what he really wants out of life, whether he wants things that have eternal value, real value, or whether he particularly wants to have the kind of things that the world puts great value on.” He experienced great financial reversal, yet saw the blessing. Things were temporal; he built on the eternal.
In preparation for a men’s retreat on excellence, I thought about the power of possessions and asked myself and the group the following questions:
- Am I obsessive about things, being either materialistic or antimaterialistic?
- Do I use things as an escape from boredom?
- Do I substitute things for accomplishment?
- Am I able to “sit loose to things,” as Chambers says?
- Is my view temporal or eternal?
- What do things symbolize for me?
- Am I accumulating things that appreciate or depreciate?
- Does my anticipation of acquisition match my enjoyment?
- How often do I use things to impress others?
- How do I define the Christian view of possessions?
- What traditions am I building as a legacy?
- Do I acquire by plan or by impulse?
- How do I define my lifestyle?
- How high a price will I pay to be accepted?
- Would I sacrifice excellence for wealth?
- How would I respond if I lost everything?
This week carefully consider: 1) Which question made me stop? 2) What is my relationship to things? 3) Where is my security?
Words of Wisdom: “Things were temporal; he built on the eternal.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19 NET Bible)
