All tagged beginnings

The Catalyst in Prayer

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Beginning with Prayer

This morning my devotional reading spoke of the effect that prayer has on our hearts and, through our hearts, and it dealt with our fervent nature that seeks God. E.M. Bounds wrote that "Prayer in times of trouble tends to bring the spirit into perfect submission to the will of God, and delivers from everything like a rebellious heart or a critical spirit.... Prayer so prepares the heart that it softens under the disciplining hand of God." The Lord uses trouble in our lives as a tool to discipline and instruct us, but prayer is the catalyst that brings us into submission and knowledge.

Our Promise of Good, and a New Beginning, in Christ

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , New Beginnings

Today is the beginning of a new year, and like so many new undertakings it offers us a chance for a fresh start, and a new beginning. All those disappointments, and challenges, that nagged at us, or nipped at our heels last year can be left behind if we will only realize two things. The first is that God never withholds good things from us if we will lovingly obey Him, and walk righteously. The second is that in Jesus we are transformed, made new, and leave the old behind, therefore in Christ we have entered into a new year, and the old should be forgotten.