Verse for the week:
“…the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has
immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or
can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. I
Timothy 6.15-16
Prayer: “O Lord,
our most gracious Redeemer and King, dwell and reign within us, take possession
of us by your Spirit, and reign where you have a right to reign, and spread
your kingdom throughout the world, now and forever. Amen” (Father John of the Russian Church , nineteenth
century, in Fox, A Chain of Prayer,
p.104).
Bible reading for the day: Matthew 25.31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before
him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate
people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right,
but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King
will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was 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, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a
stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And
when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the
King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the
least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then
he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I
was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no
drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome
me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit
me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he
will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of
the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life.”
Prayer (based on
T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for
not leaving us with a bad king. Thank
you for claiming us as your sheep and sending Jesus to be our Shepherd
King. While we live in this world that
often disputes Christ as the King, repent us of being grumpy, greedy
sheep. Exercise your reign over our heart,
mind and purse so that our neighbor experiences your love through our skin…and
on the Last Day each of us may hear you say: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared
for you since the creation of the world.” In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
“I believe in the
Holy Spirit…”
What does this
mean?
I
believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my
Lord or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel,
enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true
faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole
Christian church on earth, and preserves it in unity with Jesus Christ in the
one true faith. In this Christian church, he daily forgives abundantly all my
sins and the sins of all believers. At the last day, he will raise me and all
the dead and will grant everlasting life to me and to all who believe in
Christ. This is most certainly true!
(The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther,
Reclaim 2010©)
Benediction: The
God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in
hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. (Romans 15.13)
*There are many patterns for devotions. This pattern has been followed by God’s
people for centuries.
**The T.R.I.P. approach to
prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray. It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid
Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria , MN
www.dailytext.com). The method is founded on scripture and easy
to remember:
T:
thanksgiving
R:
repentance
I:
intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P:
plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and
then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s
prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on
God’s Word and talk to God.
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