Daily Affirmations - Day 5 - In the Darkness Shining - Like the Noonday

Day 5: Like the noonday

Come... let us walk in the light of the Lord

... And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).

Our great God of mercy and grace, You have given us Your example of infinite love by laying down Your life for us (1 John 3:16). By this amazing demonstration of love, [we ourselves] have been taught by God to love each other (1 Thessalonians 4:9).

O Lord, we fall so far short! Like Your people of old, we often become preoccupied with the "trappings of religion"— our days of fasting and religious observances— while we forsake the commands of [our] God (Isaiah 58: 2) to be sympathetic, to love one another, to be compassionate and humble (1 Peter 3:8).

Forgive us, God, for all the ways we honor the form and not the substance of faith. Your eyes see past the shallow "seeming" to the rebellion, pride and selfishness that cause us to exploit the vulnerable, to quarrel and [strive], and to strike each other with wicked fists (Isaiah 58:1-4). And all the while, You have explicitly shown us the sincere love that honors You, and shines Your light into the darkness of a wounded, hurting world:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood…?” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

Search us and know us, Lord. Convict us where we are wrong, and expose the selfish motives and attitudes of our heart. We confess to You all the places where worry, fear, greed, idolatry, and selfishness get in the way of sincere love. Free us from the chains and "investments" in the systems and structures of this world, so that we can love deeply from a pure heart.

Give us wisdom, prudence, and a trusting faith that desires to honor You. Use us to bless others, resulting in praise to You. Cause Your light to break forth like the dawn in and through us, so that the healing, the righteousness and the glory of the Lord will be seen, and the night around us become like the noonday (Isaiah 58:8, 10).

Click here to read the main devotional theme