Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness
before a fall.Proverbs 16:18, NLT

Reflection:

Proud people take little account of their
weaknesses and do not anticipate stumbling
blocks. They think they are above the frailties of
common people. In this state of mind they are
easily tripped up. Ironically, proud people seldom
realize that pride is their problem, although
everyone around them is well aware of it.
Ask someone you trust whether self-satisfaction
has blinded you to warning signs. He or she may
help you avoid a fall.

(Life Application Daily Devotion)

Scripture:

Mark 14:12-25

Reflection:

Let me ask you a question if I may? If you were with
your pastor and other church leaders and someone
said," one of you is going to betray their faith today,"
would you ask," Is it me?" I think I would be certain
I was doing the right thing and more likely ask," Who
is it, We are all faithful Christians."

So I wonder about the disciples, weren't they as
confident in their faith as I try to be? They were
apostles, after all. You would think they would have
whispered to each other." It's got to be Judas-he's
been acting funny." But their response is enlightening.
They didn't assume it was someone else. One by one
they said to him," Surely, not I?" (v. 19). Instead of
being weak in their faith, they were strong enough to ask
if they were doing something wrong.

If the disciples were willing to question themselves,
we would be wise to ask how we HOW WE CAN IMPROVE.
We need to listen with open hearts and follow the example of
Jesus Christ's followers at the Last Supper, asking,
" IS IT I ?"

Prayer:

Lord, show me where I need to improve.
Amen.

(The Covenant Home Altar daily devotions April 2012)

"So stay awake... if he comes unexpectedly,
he must not find you asleep" (Mark 13:35,36).

The pastor of a large urban parish did a TV series
called "The Kingdom of God." Each week on the
morning after the show aired he would visit sick
parishioners in the hospital. On one such visit,
he received an unusually enthusiastic greeting
from a man who had been hospitalized for weeks.
Said the patient, "You'll be glad to know that we
all watched your program last night. There was
only one TV available in the ward, so we had to
decide by majority vote what programs we would
watch. During your time-slot, it came down to
'The Kingdom of God,' or 'American Idol.' You
won by one vote." Said the pastor later, "I thought
to myself that when we can beat 'American Idol'
with 'The kingdom of God' at, last, we're headed
in the right direction!"

"Don't ask me about what was, but what is to
come," the Apostle Peter told the early Christians.
He was pointing them in the direction of the
coming again of Christ. We present day Christians,
if we are true to our calling, are pointing in the
same direction.

ARE YOU POINTING IN THE SAME DIRECTION?

(The Staff and editors of Sunday Sermons Online)