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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
May 27, 2024
The Invitatory
The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: O come, let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
I was a month shy of graduating from college when my mother died. Since I was the principal beneficiary under her will, I was very involved in the administration of her estate. In other words, I became acutely aware of how she had provided for my inheritance. At the same time it also caused me to make the same preparations for the disposition of what she had left to me. As I have grown older those provisions are applicable, for the most part, but since I have no children, I have also thought very differently about other arrangements that I will make, new beneficiaries of inheritance, if you will. Just the other day, when I paused to look at the photographs I have of my parents on my dresser (as I do every day), I realized that no one would probably want these pictures. And yet, for me, they keep my memories of my parents and our love for each other alive in me. It saddens me to realize that that inheritance cannot be passed on directly. Nothing
Those adults who lived in Biblical times had the same concerns and sense of responsibility in attending to who would inherit their worldly possessions. Of course, at that time the father was the sole person responsible for such disposition. A mark of such responsibility was that the gift of the good father to his children was to provide for the property to be handed down through the family line. In the writing of the New Testament. greater emphasis was placed upon the growing exercise of faith.In the New Testament what is focused upon is the inheritance of God’s as the kingdom of God, eternal life, salvation. The certainty and joy of this particular inheritance is used to motivate one to generosity and goodness..
The use of the imagery of inheritance for us underscores the close relationship of the Christian’s inheritance to God himself. The effect of the use of this imagery is to elicit praise from God’s children as they look at the present experience of their inheritance and look forward to receiving the future fullness of God’s gift. The appropriate response is unceasing praise for God’s glory. For this is surely an inheritance that we could not and did not craft for ourselves. It is the result of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who won for us freedom from our sins.
This is why Peter in this Letter notes that we have hope, for hope expresses our present confidence in the reality of future redemption established by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The present experience will be consummated in the future.. Those who inherit proceed forward to the future reward that will be revealed in eternity.
Prayer for those we Love
Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to thy never failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that thou art doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for,, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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