Friday, November 10, 2017 The Acts of Submission Part 6 – Submission to The Broken and Despised: The Discipline of Submission, Part 10 of 11 (Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)
Friday, November 10, 2017
The Acts of
Submission Part 6 – Submission to The Broken and Despised: The Discipline of
Submission, Part 10 of 11 (Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard
Foster)
Scripture:
James 1:27
27 Pure
and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from
the world.
1 John 3:17-19
But if anyone has
the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against
him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word
or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the
truth and reassure our heart before him…
Matthew 25:34-40
34 “Then the King will say to those on His
right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I
was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and
you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you
invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick,
and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then
the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You,
or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And
when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?39 When
did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The
King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that
you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the
least of them, you did it to Me.’
Isaiah 1:16-17
Wash yourselves;
make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease
to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring
justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
Hebrews 13:16
Do not neglect to do
good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Luke 3:11
And he answered
them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever
has food is to do likewise.”
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
“If among you, one
of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that
the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or
shut your hand against your poor brother,but you shall open your hand to him
and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest
there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the
year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother,
and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you
be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be
grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God
will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will
never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open
wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous
to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
Devotional:
This subject is one that holds a special place in my heart.
A gift that my mother gave me as a child was a deep heart of compassion for
those less fortunate than us. She had a
bleeding wound in her heart for homeless. We experienced periods of
homelessness ourselves when my father’s job in construction was all but
nonexistent during a period of intense flooding in 1982. I remember so clearly when our landlord had
to evict us from our tiny duplex, and my parents moved their five small
children to a cold campsite in the mountains and my home became a mildewed army
green tent for a season. The home they were forced to live in with us following
our stay at the campground may have been a more secure shelter, but was in fact
migrant housing for the fruit fields in Central California and in a sorry state
of disrepair in a rough part of town. That year, as I have shared in previous
posts, we were dependent on gifts of food, food stamps, and miracles. That
Christmas was very different from other Christmases, as every gift was a gift
from someone in our church. My parents had to have had a hard time with that—I
would have. God blessed my father over the years after that, and we were able
to find a place of relative footing. It was after that year, too, that our mom
began to love on the homeless in earnest. Every Thanksgiving, we took part in
the feeding of the homeless at our church. One year, my mom even brought home a
single homeless mom with a baby to sit at our Thanksgiving table. I still
remember the smell of patchouli and the feeling of a profound shift as she
bounced her little one on her knee in my brother’s chair at the right hand of
my father, who had moved to a different seat at our table after she plopped
herself down unaware of our family dynamic. There was no resentment, just a
season of unsettling that was so good for all of us. I could not be more
grateful that my mother, in particular, pushed to sow seeds of love and
compassion into all of us.
I’m so thankful today to have my needs met. I’ve been
through a lot of years of hardship, and have thankfully come into a season
where I do not have to beg for food. However, I am so thankful, too, that I do
not sit in this position of provision without the knowledge of what it is like
to be without, to struggle. As I read
the Scripture on God’s heart to the poor and broken, my heart broke anew for
those who are in need. I pray that we all have this same heart as the Lord.
There is not room in this devotional for the number of verses that express
God’s heart toward those in need. If you represent those in need, know that God
has a great love and deep compassion for you. If you are like us at this stage,
and have enough, know that God desires for us to partner with Him to touch the
needs of His children. As we enter into this holiday season, and all year
round, let’s pray and ask God how we can go deeper to be generous to His broken
and despised children.
Prayer:
Thanksgiving:
Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for opening Your heart
of love and compassion today. You are the great Example of how to be.
Blessings, honor, glory and power be to You, our Great and Mighty King!
Confession:
Lord, I confess my need for You. Whether I am in physical
need or in physical comfort, I need You with all my heart, soul, mind and
spirit. I cannot walk out Your call on my life without Your power and anointing.
(Take time to confess sin, struggles, or wrong attitudes. Mine today: It is
that time of the month. I struggle so much with irritability and I can’t stand
the effects of my short-temperedness on my family. It’s not fair to them. I
need You to cover my emotions today and into the next week so that I can be a
blessing and not use PMS as an excuse for being short-tempered and impatient.)
Supplication:
God, I come before You today, wretched and needy. Let me
never lose sight of my need for You. (Take time to lift personal needs. Mine:
Again, today I desperately desire to be loving, patient, kind and pleasant with
my husband and children. Please, Lord, place a guard on my tongue and pour Your
Spirit out on me that I might flow with love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance and faith.)
Intercession:
I lift my children to You this day. They are Yours, and
their needs are Your responsibility. (Take time to lift needs, note progress
and victories. For Chloe today: She is such a joy and a delight. She is also
going through a protracted phase of NOT LISTENING and NOT RESPONDING. I feel
angry and we are struggling. I need to lean on You for strategy with her. My husband
and I will be taking time to discuss a plan for addressing her behavior in
hopes to come together. Give us grace and show us Your Way. For Christian:
Bathrooming and speech. Please help us.)
Thanksgiving and Consecration:
I give You this day and give You praise! Seal this time in
Your Word and in Your Presence. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen!
Blessing and Benediction:
1 Timothy 1:2
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
our Lord. Amen!
Comments
Post a Comment