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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  Be Cleansed by the Redeemer Bible Reading:    Psalm 51 Key Verse Vs 10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me”. Vs 10 DEVOTION Psalm 51 is very familiar to all of us. As Sunday school students, most of us learned this psalm by heart and recited it countless times; and even now most of us recite it on a daily basis. This psalm occupies a significant place in our worship. In our liturgy this psalm assumes a prominent role in almost all our sacraments. In fact, Psalm 51 has an important place in the liturgies of most mainline churches. This psalm is referred to as the psalm of Repentance or Penitential psalm. The background of this psalm is detailed in II Samuel chapters 11 and 12. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba who was Uriah’s wife. David then tried to cover up his act by having Uriah killed in the war. He was an adulterer and murderer at the same time. This psalm was written by King David as a confession, a cry for cleansi...
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  From brokenness to Hope Bible Reading:     Lamentations  5:15-22 Key verse :   Vs 19    Vs 19  But you  O lord  reign for ever. Your throne endures to all generations. DEVOTION The book of lamentations  is a collection of five laments bewailing the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Jerusalem’s broken walls mirror the broken spirits of the community.  What was once thought to be strong and stable now looks empty and weak. They have lost hope  But  God does not abandon them fully. He wants them to recognize their loss, their weakness and same and turn to God. Faith always begins with reconciliation and  awareness of truth. Lamentations ends with the plaintive cry for restorations Vs  22 reads “ unless  you have utterly rejected us  and are angry with us beyond measure. Even when they lament they have hope in their God. Vs 19 reads   O Lord reign for ever: your throne endures for gener...
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  Living from the New Spirit Within Bible Reading:  Ezekiel 36:25-32 Key verse :   Vs 26 "And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you."  DEVOTION In Ezekiel 36:26, God promises, "And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you." This declaration stands at the center of understanding the profound transformation that God offers His people. God's Response to Israel's Defilement Almighty God, who consistently reconciles and vindicates His people, spoke to Ezekiel about the behavior of the men of Israel. They had defiled His name through their actions and ways, becoming unclean and deserving of His wrath and punishment. Their worship of idols, pursuit of false prophets, and involvement in various sorceries led to their scattering among the nations and dispersion through different countries. Despite their rebellion, God—Jehovah—remained concerned for His Holy Name and declared that He would vindicate His holiness b...
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  The Goal of Creation and Redemption Bible Reading:  Hebrews 4:1-11 Key verse :   Vs 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest  so that no one may fail by the same sort of disobedience. DEVOTION Today’s scripture is drawn from Hebrews chapter 4, vs 1-11.  Some of the Jewish Christians who received this letter were close to giving up the chance to rest in Christ. Their situation was like the Israelites in Moses’ time, who turned back instead of entering the promised land. In both cases, present troubles made God’s promise seem far away. When life became hard, they stopped trusting that God would do what God had promised. The same thing can happen to us. When we depend on our own efforts instead of trusting Jesus, we become tired, anxious, and discouraged. Our own strength is never enough. Only Christ can carry us through. This shows us God’s purpose from the beginning. God did not create people just to follow rules. He created them to live in peace with Him....
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  Sabbath leads to the fullness of creation Bible Reading: Mark 3:1-6 Key verse :   Vs 5 b He stretched it out  and his hand was restored . DEVOTION Our scripture portion for today focuses on Mark 3:1-6 where Jesus heals  the man  with the shriveled hand on sabbath. The Pharisees accost him to accuse him of ignoring God’s commandment given to Moses. The Pharisees were meticulous about religious rites and ceremonies. They believed their careful observance of the ancient Mosaic law  was the truest  expression of faith. Yet their religion often became little more than an outward display -precise ,impressive and empty of compassion. Nowhere was this more evident than in our understanding of Sabbath. According to their rules a person could be helped on a sabbath day  if  their life was in immediate danger. When Jesus healed on the Sabbath it was not in moments of emergency. He could have waited for another day. But to do so would have meant submit...
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  Christ the fulfilment of Sabbath and New Creation Bible Reading: Colossians  2: 13-19 Key verse :   Vs 16 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or about a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. (Colossians 2:16) DEVOTION This passage emphasizes the importance of understanding the nature of mission of Christ, which provide as a firm footing for believers to deal with the challenges they face. Today we are reflecting on a powerful truth from God’s word. We are a new creation in Christ. Many believers continue to live under the weight of the past, old sins, mistakes and old identities. But scripture reminds us that when we come to Christ everything changes.  2ND Corinthians 5:17, it says “therefore if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here. Take a moment and let that truth settle into your heart. Being a new creation does not mean self-improvement or simply trying harder, it mea...
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Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  A Resistance of “Enough” Bible Reading:      Genesis 1:31–2:3 Key verse :   Vs 31  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (NIV) DEVOTION In today’s passage we see the working of the One True God of Genesis. The entire Old Testament continuously contrasts the One True God of Genesis with the gods of the prevailing civilizations. If we consider the gods of Egypt as an example, under the Pharaoh, who was regarded as the human manifestation of divinity, the mantra of the nation was always “more”; more bricks - less straw, more work – less rest, more demands - less sustenance. In that ...
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