Daily devotion 2: Run From Pride

"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
    and perverted speech I hate." - Proverbs 8:13

"Run from pride, for it is a passion more treacherous than any other. Covetousness and love for wealth spring from it as well as hatred, wars, and fights. For those who want more than they have will never be able to stop. Their desires come from nothing other than their love of displaying their accomplishments….  If we cut off pride (the head of all evil), we would kill all the other members of wickedness with it. Then nothing could keep us from living on earth as though it were heaven. Pride doesn’t just thrust its captives into wickedness, but even co-exists with their righteousness. When it can’t get rid of all their virtues, it severely damages their ability to exercise them. It forces us to work hard and deprives us of the fruit. . . . Therefore, if we want to earn glory, we must flee from human glory and only desire glory from God. Then we will obtain and enjoy both through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ." - Chrysostom 

How many times today have guarded your pride? Maybe you have guarded your position. Maybe you have strived for wealth far beyond what you need so that someone else might look at you as being better off than the next person. As God's Word says, and Chrysostom describes so eloquently, a believer's pride can be one of the most devastating of sins, yet it can be the one sin that we so easily do not see. May God guard us from our pride and humble us in the Spirit.

Daily Reading: Leave Your Children Virtuous Not Rich

"Let us then not consider how to leave our children rich, but how to leave them virtuous. For if they have the confidence of riches, they will not mind aught besides, in that they have the means screening the wickedness of their ways in their abundant riches. But, if they find themselves devoid of the comfort to be got from that source, they will do all so as by virtue to find themselves abundant consolation for their poverty. Leave them then no riches that you may leave them virtue. For it is unreasonable in the extreme, not to make them, whilst we are alive, lords of all our goods, yet after we are dead to give the easy nature of youth full exemption from fear. And yet while we are alive we shall have power to call them to good account, and to sober them, if they make an ill use of their goods. But if after we are dead we afford them, at the time of the loss of ourselves, and their own youthfulness, that power which wealth gives, endless are the  precipices into which we shall thrust those unfortunate and miserable creatures, so heaping fuel upon flame, and letting oil drop into a fierce furnace. And so, if you would leave them rich and safe whial, leave God a debtor to them, and deliver the bequest to them into his hands. For if they receive the month themselves, they will not know even who to give it to, but will meet with many designing and unfeeling people." (St. Chrysostom, Homily VII). 

May we as parents always remember today the importance of what we leave with are children is much more than riches or successes. But that we would wish on our children virtue as they grow up into the knowledge of the Lord. 

Grace and peace to you today as you teach your children to be virtuous.

#3 - The Early Church Was Displeased With Themselves

Quote of the day:
"What you are must always displease you, if you are to attain to that which you are not." - St. Augustine

The early church was displeased with themselves... This sounds bad, but it's not that Augustine is indorsing a form of self-loathing, instead he knows that we as Christians tend to think to highly of ourselves.

These moments... we all have them... these moments that we think we have made it are the moments when we surely have not made it. In fact, its the times when we are most pleased with ourselves that really we are the most detestable to be around.

Paul says it this way, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." - Philippians 3:13

Although we aren't perfect, we don't despair, we press on, knowing that we can never be pleased in ourselves through our own actions, but knowing that we have the righteousness of Christ imputed and infused to us.... we have God's righteousness and we are becoming righteous like God.

May we always be displeased in ourselves, yet always pleased with Christ in us. 

#2 - The Early Church Preached The Gospel First & Last

Quote of the day: 
"We want no curious debate after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the gospel" - Tertullian

Although there was much debate over how much philosophy should influence the church and be used in sermons, one thing is clear: the early church preached the gospel first and last.

How many of our churches actually preach the gospel? Did you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ this Sunday in your church, or did you hear gospel + philosophies of the world? Gospel + law? gospel + politics? Gospel + pop culture? Gospel + moralism?

Many of us should take the advise of Tertulllian; its not the debates of the world and the issues of the world that will change hearts, but the gospel. It's not the morals of the bible alone that will change hearts, but the gospel.

Let us remember that the hearts of men need the gospel, the gospel of repentance unto forgiveness of sins is what the early church taught, and it is what we should teach (Acts 5:31, Acts 10:43, Acts 13:38, Acts 26:18).

In your preparation for your ministry this week, whatever it may be, remember we should give the gospel first and last.

#1 - The Early Church Prayed

Quote of the day: 

 "As our body cannot live without nourishment, so our soul cannot live without prayer" - St. Augustine

In our churches, how many times do we forget to really pray. So many times prayers are used for transition purposes or program purposes rather than intentional. I have sat through many program meetings for churches where prayer was added solely to allow time for the band to come up, transition between a song, or to change a key.

Is prayer actually part of your service? Or is prayer just used for your service? This is a question to ask yourself.

Ask yourself, for this Sunday, or the next, will you intentionally put in a time to pray. I know that in our modern day, speedy culture, the idea of taking a time to pray in a service is thought to be archaic, or we are afraid it might put people to sleep, but prayer cannot be more important for the church.

In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul focuses on prayer as being an essential part to the service.

How can you, in your church tomorrow, push for prayer as a central part of the service? If our soul cannot live without prayer, surely the church should be a place where it is practiced.

Let us not forget the roots of our history, where prayer was an essential part to the community of the church.