FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

The Fruitfulness of Friendship – Oswald Chambers

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

thought of day header

For Thursday August 25, 2022:

THE FRUITFULNESS OF FRIENDSHIP

John 15:15 (NKJV)
“I have called you friends.”

We never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we abandon in every particular. Self-surrender is the most difficult thing—‘I will if . . . !’ ‘Oh well, I suppose I must devote my life to God.’ There is none of the joy of self-sacrifice in that.

As soon as we do abandon, the Holy Ghost gives us an intimation of the joy of Jesus. The final aim of self-sacrifice is laying down our lives for our Friend. When the Holy Ghost comes in, the great desire is to lay down the life for Jesus; the thought of sacrifice never touches us because sacrifice is the love passion of the Holy Ghost.

Our Lord is our example in the life of self-sacrifice—“I delight to do Thy will, O My God.” He went on with His sacrifice with exuberant joy. Have I ever yielded in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If Jesus Christ is not the lodestar, there is no benefit in the sacrifice; but when the sacrifice is made with the eyes on Him, slowly and surely the molding influence begins to tell.

Beware of letting natural affinities hinder your walk in love. One of the most cruel ways of killing natural love is by disdain built on natural affinities. The affinity of the saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not sentimental; to love as God loves is the most practical thing for the saint.

“I have called you friends.” It is a friendship based on the new life created in us, which has no affinity with our old life, but only with the life of God. It is unutterably humble, unsulliedly pure, and absolutely devoted to God.

thought of the day footer 4

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986)

The Holy Spirit Always Leads Right

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

nuff-said-header-2
ns 8-25 the spirit always leads right

Posted in 'Nuff Said! | Tagged 'Nuff Said!, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Leads Right, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Sermon in Pictures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Reflecting With God 8/25/2022

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

reflecting with God header
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version

For Thursday August 25, 2022:

So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD. – Leviticus 23:44.

The feasts of the Lord. This was their true character, their original title; but in the Gospel of John, they are called “feasts of the Jews.” They had long ceased to be Jehovah’s feasts. He was shut out. They did not want Him; and hence, in John 7, when Jesus was asked to go up to “the Jews’ feast of tabernacles” He answered, “My time is not yet come;” and when He did go up it was “privately,” to take His place outside of the whole thing, and to call upon every thirsty soul to come unto Him and “drink.” There is a solemn lesson in this. Divine institutions are speedily marred in the hands of man; but, oh! how deeply blessed to know that the thirsty soul that feels the barrenness and drought connected with a scene of empty religious formality, has only to flee to Jesus and drink freely of His exhaustless springs, and so become a channel of blessing to others.
~ C. H. McINTOSH

reflecting with God footer 2

Posted in Reflecting With God | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, C.H. Mackintosh, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Consideration, Contemplation, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, James, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Leviticus, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Meditation, Praying, Reading, Reflection, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Studying, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Daily Prayer & Praise 8/24/2022

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

Prayer for Wednesday 8-24-2022

Lord our God, we long to come into Your glorious light, to live in Your unyielding strength, that we may do what pleases and glorifies You and furthers Your Kingdom on earth. Protect us from evil and do not let us be wounded by the flaming arrows of the evil one. Make paths for us and give us discernment whenever we do not know how to go forward. We always know You are our Father. Because You are our Father, we want to be courageous and persevere to the end so that You can make our lives bear fruit for You, to the glory of Your most holy name. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, we come to You.

Amen.

prayer footer 2

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

Posted in Prayer and Praise | Tagged Body of Christ, Brothers and Sisters, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Church, Comfort, Daily Written Prayers, Divine Plan, Faith, Faith Believing, Fervently, Glory, God, God Almighty, God's Children, Guidance, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Honor, Hope, In Jesus Name, Intercession, Jesus Christ, Light, Lives, Lord, Love, Mercy, Needs, Neighbors, Open Book, Praise, Prayer, Prayer and Praise, Promises, Provision, Redemption, Salvation, Service, Sincerity, Sovereign Lord, Sovereignty, The Church, Truth, Unity, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Red Sea Parting a Mirage?

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

A Pennsylvania State University physicist suggested that the biblical story of the parting of the Red Sea may have been the result of a desert mirage.

The physicist, Dr. Alistair Fraser, said Christ walking on water also could have been a mirage.
He made his comments at a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

Dr. Fraser told the meeting there were photographs that reproduced both phenomena. He said the biblical description of the Red Sea crossing was a particularly accurate picture of a mirage.

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts . . . – 2 Peter 3:3

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version*®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Posted in Food For Thought | Tagged 2 Peter, Anecdotes, Bible, Bible Study, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, God's Plans, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Illustrations, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Moral Stories, Morality Tales, Parables, Religion, Religious Stories, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spiritual Stories, Spirituality, Stories, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Philippians 4:5 – A.B. Simpson

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

thought of day header

For Wednesday August 24, 2022:

PHILIPPIANS 4:5

Philippians 4:5 (NKJV)
Let your gentleness be known to all men.

The very test of consecration is our willingness not only to surrender the things that are wrong, but to surrender our rights, to be willing to be subject. When God begins to subdue a soul, He often requires us to yield the things that are of little importance in themselves, and thus break our neck and subdue our spirit.

No Christian worker can ever be used of God until the proud self-will is broken, and the heart is ready to yield to God’s every touch, no matter through whom it may come.

Many people want God to lead them in their way and they will brook no authority or restraint. They will give their money, but they want to dictate how it shall be spent. They will work as long as you let them please themselves, but let any pressure come and you immediately run up against, not the grace of resignation, but a letter of resignation, withdrawing from some important trust, and arousing a whole community of criticizing friends, equally disposed to have their own opinions and their own will about it. It is destructive of all real power.

thought of the day footer 3

A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truths (New York: Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1897)

Posted in Daily Devotional | Tagged A.B. Simpson, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Quotes, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Daily Thoughts, Encouragement, Exhortations, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Motivational, Philippians, Practical Living, Quotes, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Holy Is The Lord!

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

nuff-said-header-2
ns 8-24 holy is the lord

Posted in 'Nuff Said! | Tagged 'Nuff Said!, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Is God, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Sermon in Pictures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Reflecting With God 8/24/2022

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version

For Wednesday August 24, 2022:

He put the Urim (light) and the Thummim (perfection) in the breastplate. – Leviticus 8:8.

What the Urim and the Thummim actually were no man has been able to find out. But whatever they were, there can be no doubt as to what our Urim and Thummim are. We are not left without light and perfection.… Our Urim and Thummim are the Old and New Testaments. Keep these in the heart; be at home with them in all their wondrous variety of speech, of doctrine, of song, of inspiration, and of instruction of every kind; and then you never can stray far from the path providential that makes its own course straight up to the God who started the mysterious Outgoing.
~ JOSEPH PARKER

reflecting with God footer 2

Posted in Reflecting With God | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Consideration, Contemplation, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, James, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joseph Parker, Leviticus, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Meditation, Praying, Reading, Reflection, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Studying, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Daily Prayer & Praise 8/23/2022

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

Prayer for Tuesday 8-23-2022

Lord our God, we thank You that You have given us an entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank You that You have already begun to give us new vision, that already many things are being transformed, so that we may go gladly and confidently on our way with hope for whatever is still unsolved. May all this live in our hearts and fill us with thanks to You. We want to be courageous and keep in sight what still needs to be changed. Then we can take part as workers in Your vineyard. May the light You have given us continue to shine in us and burn ever more brightly, as You have promised. Humbly, yet fervently in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

prayer footer 2

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

Plagues In The Past

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

Between AD 250–262, a pestilence raged all over the Roman Empire, from Egypt to the Hebrides. In some Italian cities, up to four-fifths of the population were wiped out. Men died like flies. Gibbons says that statisticians of the succeeding age estimated that one-half the human race perished in twelve years!

In the 6th century, the bubonic plague spread to Europe as part of a recurring cycle in the entire Roman world for 50 years. The Venerable Bede mentions four distinct waves between 664–683.

Another most terrible plague was the Black Death of 1347–48. It was estimated that one-fourth of Europe’s population died, about 25 million.

Even as late as 1918, an influenza epidemic killed in four weeks more than twice as many as the warring armies had destroyed in four years.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences . . .” – Matthew 24:7

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version*®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Posted in Food For Thought | Tagged Anecdotes, Bible, Bible Study, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, God's Plans, Gospel, Gospel of Matthew, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Illustrations, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Moral Stories, Morality Tales, Parables, Religion, Religious Stories, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spiritual Stories, Spirituality, Stories, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Five Fears – C.H. Spurgeon

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

thought of day header

For Tuesday August 23, 2022:

FIVE FEARS

Ecclesiastes 8:12 (NKJV)
Yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.

Fear may be yoked into the service of God. True fear, not fearing, but believing, saves the soul; not doubt, but confidence, is the strength and the deliverance of the Christian. Still, fear, as being one of those powers which God has given us, is not in itself sinful. Fear may be used for the most sinful purposes; at the same time it may be so ennobled by grace, and so used for the service of God, that it may become the very grandest part of man. In fact, Scripture has honored fear, for the whole of piety is comprehended in these words, “Fear God”; “the fear of the Lord”; “them that fear him.” These phrases are employed to express true piety, and the men who possess it. Fear, I have said, may ruin the soul. Alas! It has ruined multitudes. O Fear, you are the rock upon which many a ship has been wrecked. Many a soul has suffered spiritual destruction through you, but then it has been not the fear of God, but the fear of man. Many have rushed against the thick bosses of the Almighty’s shield, and defied God, in order to escape the wrath of feeble man. Many through fear of worldly loss have brought great guilt into their consciences; some through fear of ridicule and laughter have not had the boldness to follow the right, and so have gone astray and been ruined. Yea, and where fear does not work utter destruction it is capable of doing much damage to the spirit. Fear has paralyzed the arm of the most gigantic Christian, stopped him in his race, and impeded him in his labors. Faith can do anything, but fear, sinful fear, can do just nothing at all, except prevent faith from performing its labors.

thought of the day footer

C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 1998)

Posted in Daily Devotional | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, C.H. Spurgeon, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Quotes, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Daily Thoughts, Ecclesiastes, Encouragement, Exhortations, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Motivational, Practical Living, Quotes, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

God Has Not Forgotten You!

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

nuff-said-header-2
ns 8-23 God has not forgotten you

Posted in 'Nuff Said! | Tagged 'Nuff Said!, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, God's Promises, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Not Forgotten, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Sermon in Pictures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Reflecting With God 8/23/2022

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version

For Tuesday August 23, 2022:

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone. – Exodus 34:29.

I charge you, be clothed with humility, or you will yet be a wandering star, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Let Christ increase, let man decrease. Remember, “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.” Looking at our own shining face is the bane of the spiritual life, and of the ministry. Oh for closest communion with God, till soul and body, head and heart, shine with divine brilliancy! But oh for a holy ignorance of their shining!
~ ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE

reflecting with God footer 2

Posted in Reflecting With God | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Consideration, Contemplation, Encouragement, Exodus, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, James, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Meditation, Praying, Reading, Reflection, Religion, Righteousness, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Studying, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Daily Prayer & Praise 8/22/2022

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

Prayer for Monday 8-22-2022

Lord our God, as the deer pants for refreshing water, so our souls long for You, Oh God. Our souls thirst for You, for the living God. We stand in Your presence and pour out our hearts to You, our Heavenly Father. We bring before You everything that is painful to us, all our suffering and needs. We also bring You all our hopes and the many proofs You have given us that our lives need not go to ruin but can be directed to greater things. May the light of Your Comforting Spirit shine on us today and always. In the name of Christ Jesus, we humbly ask.

Amen.

prayer footer 2

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

Thoughtfulness On The Elevated Train

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

A young man who rode the elevated train to work regularly noticed that in one place where the train moved slowly, he could see into a room where an elderly woman was apparently convalescing. For several weeks he had observed her there, so one day he learned the woman’s name and sent her a get-well card, signing it, “Just a young man who rides the elevated train.”

A week later as he rode the train homeward through the dusk he noted that the bed was empty and a sign, illuminated by a table lamp, was hanging on the window. It read, “Bless you.”

But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today.” – Hebrews 3:13 (NASB)

Posted in Food For Thought | Tagged Anecdotes, Bible, Bible Study, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, God's Plans, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Hebrews, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Illustrations, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Moral Stories, Morality Tales, Parables, Religion, Religious Stories, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spiritual Stories, Spirituality, Stories, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

I Still Want Them! – A.W. Tozer

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

thought of day header

For Monday August 22, 2022:

I STILL WANT THEM!

Mark 16:19 (NKJV)
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven,
and sat down at the right hand of God.

Is this the final end? Is this all there is?

No, no! This is our answer to everyone in the entire human race: We have wonderful news for you! It is the good news that the God who created us did not give us up. He did not say to the angels, “Write them off and blot them from My memory.”

Rather, He said, “Oh, I still want them! I still want them to be a mirror in which I can look and see My glory. I still want to be admired by My people. I still want My people to enjoy Me and have Me forever.”

So God sent His only begotten Son through the miracle of the Incarnation.

The bells in heaven rang out because lost man had now been redeemed. The way of pardon and forgiveness had been opened for sinners.

On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. Since then He has been at God’s right hand. God has been busy redeeming people back to Himself, back to the original purpose of their being mirrors of His glory.

thought of the day footer 2

Tozer on the Almighty God : A 366-Day Devotional (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2004)

Posted in Daily Devotional | Tagged A.W. Tozer, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Quotes, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Daily Thoughts, Encouragement, Exhortations, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel of Mark, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Motivational, Practical Living, Quotes, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

The Final Authority

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

nuff-said-header-2
ns 8-22 the final authority

Posted in 'Nuff Said! | Tagged 'Nuff Said!, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Encouragement, Final Authority, God, God Almighty, God's Word, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Sermon in Pictures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Reflecting With God 8/22/2022

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

All Scriptures Used are NKJV, New King James Version

For Monday August 22, 2022:

“So be ready in the morning, and . . . present yourself to Me.” – Exodus 34:2.

The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. What meaning there is in the time as well as in the place! This very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let me crush them and drink the sacred wine. In the morning—then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope; I have not to climb in my weakness; in the night I have buried yesterday’s fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy. Give God thy strength—all thy strength; He asks only what He first gave. In the morning—then He may mean to keep me long that He may make me rich! In the morning—then it is no endless road He bids me climb, else how could I reach it ere the sun be set? Sweet morning! There is hope in its music.

Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified. Successful is the day whose first victory was won by prayer. Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount! Health is established in the morning. Wealth is won in the morning. The light is brightest in the morning. “Wake psaltery and harp, I myself will awake early.”
~ JOSEPH PARKER

reflecting with God footer 2

Posted in Reflecting With God | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Consideration, Contemplation, Encouragement, Exodus, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, James, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joseph Parker, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Meditation, Praying, Reading, Reflection, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Studying, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

Give Us To Do Your Will

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

prayer and praise header 3
Francis of Assisi, Prayer for Sunday 8-21-2022

Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, give to us wretches to do for you what we know you to will, and to will always that which is pleasing to you; so that inwardly purified, inwardly illumined and kindled by the flame of the Holy Ghost, we may be able to follow in the footsteps of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by your grace alone come to you the Most High, who in perfect Trinity and simple Unity lives and reigns and glories, God Almighty forever and ever.

Amen.

pp 8-21 francis of assisi

Elliot Ritzema, ed., 400 Prayers for Preachers (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012)

Posted in Prayer and Praise | Tagged Body of Christ, Brothers and Sisters, Church, Comfort, Divine Plan, Faith, Faith Believing, Fervently, Francis of Assisi, Glory, God, God Almighty, Guidance, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Honor, Hope, In Jesus Name, Intercession, Jesus Christ, Light, Lives, Lord, Love, Mercy, Needs, Neighbors, Open Book, Praise, Prayer, Prayer and Praise, Promises, Provision, Redemption, Salvation, Service, Sincerity, Sovereign Lord, Sovereignty, The Church, Truth, Unity, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth, Your Will Be Done | Leave a comment

Centuries of Meditations – First Century 11-12

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Roland Ledoux

devotionals header

Thomas Traherne ( 1637 – September 27, 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. Traherne’s writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works.

The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. Before its rediscovery this manuscript was said to have been lost for almost two hundred years and is now considered a much loved devotional.

THE FIRST CENTURY

Love is deeper than at first it can be thought. It never ceaseth but in endless things. It ever multiplies. Its benefits and its designs are always infinite. Were you not Holy, Divine, and Blessed in enjoying the World, I should not care so much to bestow it. But now in this you accomplish the end of your creation, and serve God best, and please Him most: I rejoice in giving it. For to enable you to please GOD, is the highest service a man can do you. It is to make you pleasing to the King of Heaven, that you may be the Darling of His bosom.

Can you be Holy without accomplishing the end for which you are created? Can you be Divine unless you be Holy? Can you accomplish the end for which you were created, unless you be Righteous? Can you then be Righteous, unless you be just in rendering to Things their due esteem? All things were made to be yours, and you were made to prize them according to their value: which is your office and duty, the end for which you were created, and the means whereby you enjoy. The end for which you were created, is that by prizing all that God hath done, you may enjoy yourself and Him in Blessedness.

devotionals footer 2

Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations, ed. Bertram Dobell (London: P. J. & A. E. Dobell, 1927)

Posted in Classic Devotionals | Tagged Bible, Bible Teaching, Centuries of Meditations, Christ Jesus, Christian, Christian Life, Christian Theology, Christianity, Church, Classic Devotionals, Classics, Comfort, Devotionals, Encouragement, God, God Almighty, Gospel, Gospel-Centered, Heavenly Father, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Instruction, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Life Lessons, Lord, Past Devotionals, Religion, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Scriptures, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Thomas Traherne, Truth, Wisdom, Word of God, Word of Truth | Leave a comment

THE FRUITFULNESS OF FRIENDSHIP

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986)

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

PHILIPPIANS 4:5

A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truths (New York: Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1897)

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

FIVE FEARS

C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 1998)

Adapted from the Daily Written Prayers of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, 1842–1919. In Public Domain

*Where noted, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I STILL WANT THEM!

Tozer on the Almighty God : A 366-Day Devotional (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2004)

Elliot Ritzema, ed., 400 Prayers for Preachers (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012)

THE FIRST CENTURY

Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations, ed. Bertram Dobell (London: P. J. & A. E. Dobell, 1927)

Category Titles

Recent Posts

Archives

* Disclaimer *

Faithlife – Logos

Bible Gateway Plus

Got Questions.Org

Meta

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version*®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version*®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Where noted, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible*®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.