Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
June 7, 2024
1 Timothy 4:6-16
6 If you point these things out to the believers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus who has been trained by the words of faith and the good teaching that you’ve carefully followed. 7 But stay away from the godless myths that are passed down from the older women. Train yourself for a holy life! 8 While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come. 9 This saying is reliable and deserves complete acceptance. 10 We work and struggle for this: “Our hope is set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe.” 11 Command these things. Teach them. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Instead, set an example for the believers through your speech, behavior, love, faith, and by being sexually pure. 13 Until I arrive, pay attention to public reading, preaching, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the spiritual gift in you that was given through prophecy when the elders laid hands on you. 15 Practice these things and live by them so that your progress will be visible to all. 16 Focus on working on your own development and on what you teach. If you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you.
Good Morning! Take time to be holy!
As a child, I wanted to learn to play the piano. It was a new skill I was eager to acquire. What do we do when we want to learn how to do something? We try it out, and then we spend time each day learning this new thing. Each day, I practiced and worked to learn the songs that I was assigned. Admittedly, there were those days when other things would get in the way, and I would forget or choose not to practice. The more I applied myself, the better my skills became.
So many years have passed since my first lesson. I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t sit down and play. To me, playing the piano is like breathing; it is something I do to sustain life. When I play, I talk to God and find great peace and joy. Despite sixty years of playing, I must continue to play, or my skills become rusty. When I want to learn a new piece, I must go through the same process of practicing that I learned as a child.
Similarly, in our spiritual journey, we are constantly learning and growing. The same applies to our faith. We must actively engage with it, learn from it, and practice it daily. Reading the Bible, praying, meditating, and communing with God are ways to keep our faith from becoming rusty. As we yearn to learn more about God, we return to those same practices we learned as children to walk our faith journey with Christ.
Sustaining God, Thank you for this beautiful gift of life. Help us encourage each other to practice our faith and spend time with you each day. We thank you! In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: Practicing spiritual disciplines daily draws me closer to God.
Spend time with God every day! Pastor Liz
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