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Worship
Dawson Links
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Daily Devotions
You can also listen to the devotion for each day by calling (205) 795-7755 Monday, 03/08/10 The American media is being constantly studied and analyzed. According to a recent Nielsen report, our television sets are turned on some seven hours a day. We already knew that when television, radio, newspapers and magazines are combined, we are bombarded with 16-hundred commercial messages everyday…and that’s without adding in all the internet ads. In an average 24-hour day, if there is such a thing, we sleep eight hours, work eight hours, and we are told, we spend almost seven hours with the media. That leaves us about an hour to ourselves. So, today’s question is: how do we best spend that hour? The very best way to spend that valuable time is with God, our Father. As the psalmist directs us:
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage,
Tuesday, 03/09/10 Almost every day, our newspapers tell us about people…people just like us…whose lives are blessed when they serve others. Or, as Henry Ward Beecher reminds us: “There never was a person who did anything worth doing that did not receive more than he gave.” Albert Einstein was more direct in his admonition about giving of ourselves. He said, “It is every man’s obligation to put back in the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.” This is a good day to start giving back and get more than you give. Wednesday, 03/10/10 Are you too proud to ask God for forgiveness? Mark 11:25 says, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” According to the Lifeway publication Stand Firm, “Researchers at the University of Wisconsin studied 36 men with both coronary artery disease and unresolved bitterness. After intense ‘forgiveness training’ (the men) showed dramatic improvement in the blood flow to their hearts. Another study by the Stanford University’s Forgiveness Project linked forgiveness to benefits for the immune system, cardiovascular system and mental well being. That study showed that forgiveness also reduces backaches, headaches, stomach upset and muscle pain.” As the late Dr. Ralph Smith, pastor at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, Texas, would advise, “When you pray, ask that the Lord to forgive your sins even as you forgive those who sin against you.” The peace you will receive is beyond belief. Thursday, 03/11/10 There are some desolate places in this world. No, not all of them are here in Alabama. For example, in the Sahara Desert there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Even so, that is not the driest place on earth. Technically, that is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no rainfall there in two million years. Why would God allow such places to exist? We know that everything he does works for good. Perhaps these very dry places are to provide areas of study the future of earth and its people. For we know, from the Apostle Paul:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? As it is written:
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 03/12/10-03/14/10 Gasoline prices seem never to go any where but up as the cost of a barrel of oil spirals upwards. Add to that talk of about the recession, an upcoming bitter congressional election, and a continuing terrorist threat, and it is easy to become discouraged.
Nobody says we shouldn’t be worried. However, we should never let that worry move us away from God and his plan for us and his love that never ends. As Lord said to the prophet Isaiah:
Cast your burdens on Christ while you attend a worship service this weekend and be sure to invite someone to attend with you.
contributed by Wendell Harris
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