Lord, hear our prayer:
Lord, we come because you have made us. We come because in Christ we have been made new. We come because you have given us life. We come because through the risen Christ we have received new life. We come as your sons and daughters, to be filled with the Spirit, to hear your promise of eternal life, to worship and be sent out for your glory.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Wednesday Reflecting
“You will not be forgotten by Me!” – Isaiah 44:21.
He may leave you long without succor. He may allow you to toil against a tempestuous sea until the fourth watch of the night. He may seem silent and austere, tarrying two days still in the same place, as if careless of the dying Lazarus. He may allow your prayers to accumulate like unopened letters on the table of an absent friend. But at last He will say: “O man, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”
~ F. B. MEYER
Wednesday May 3, 2023
John 14:27
“My peace I give to you.”
Here lies the secret of abiding peace—God’s peace. We give ourselves to God and the Holy Spirit takes possession of our breast. It is indeed “Peace, Peace.” But it is just then that the devil begins to turn us away, and he does it through our thoughts, diverting or distracting them as occasion requires. This is the time to prove the sincerity of our consecration and the singleness of our heart. If we truly desire His Presence more than all else, we will turn away from every conflicting thought and look steadily up to Jesus. But if we desire the gratification of our impulse more than His Presence, we will yield to the passionate word or the frivolous thought or the sinful diversion, and when we come back our Shepherd has gone, and we wonder why our peace has departed. Failure occurs often in some trifling thing, and the soul failure has occurred in some trifling thing, usually a thought or word, and the soul which would not have feared to climb a mountain has really stumbled over a straw.
The real secret of perfect rest is to be jealously, habitually occupied with Jesus.
Astronaut James A. McDivitt, who orbited the earth 62 times with Edward H. White II aboard Gemini 4, said in a talk at the Foreign Press Club in Rome: “I did not see God looking into my space-cabin window, as I do not see God looking into my car’s windshield on earth. But I could recognize His work in the stars as well as when walking among flowers in a garden. If you can be with God on earth, you can be with God in space as well.”
When I was a boy, my dad took me to his construction site, and told me, “Don’t look directly at the welding light; it can blind you.” But a welding flame is cool and dangerous. As my father was talking with the foreman, I fixated on the light. I saw spots for the rest of the evening, but didn’t tell anyone. I secretly feared that the radiance had actually blinded me.
The radiance of Christ is blinding—it was for Paul (Acts 9:1–31). In an epic hymn about the work of God’s Son throughout history, the author of Hebrews calls Jesus “the radiance of [God’s] glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all things by the word of power” (Hebrews 1:3). It’s easy to wonder if sustainability is possible, if the world will one day crumble and fall. But in Christ, there is hope.
Jesus is much like the sun. You don’t always notice its power, warmth, or even that it’s there. That is especially the case for the cloudy days. We forget that without the sun, there would be no life. It’s easy to forget that it is warming us even through rain and clouds.
The same is true for Jesus in our lives. It’s easy to forget Him until we desperately need Him. It’s easy to overlook the daily miracles, such as life itself, when searching for something extraordinary. But the extraordinary is always present. It’s here in the work of Christ, every day. His radiance shines upon us, even when we don’t realize it.
*Pastor’s Note: Here’s another poem from our Sister-in-Christ, Susan Latter. She has a Facebook account and the link will be provided below the poem in the credit. Please stop by and say Hi to her and God Bless her for her willingness to share such wonderful creativity for the glory of God.
Song of Solomon 2:11 . . .
2 Corinthians 5:17
Its not about who you are
Its about whose you are
And you are mine
Child
I have called you as my own
Get close to me
Seek my face
For things are going to get more rocky around you
for I’m wrapping things up soon on earth
And calling my own
To be with me eternally
Don’t focus on the storms and dark clouds
not even the lightning
Can harm you
For I have you in the palm
Of my hand
Child
You’re going to make it
Just trust me
Don’t rely on what you see around you
But keep your eyes fixed only on me
Trust, Trust, Trust,
As a child
For I am a Father
Who cares for his own
Just do what I say to do
I’ll carry you through
For you’re my precious
Chosen Bride
Susan Latter © 4-14-2022 – Used with permission.
https://www.facebook.com/susan.latter.90
Scripture References: Colossians 1:21-29
From last lesson: When we can affirm, in the midst of our troubles and despair, as long as we have God (and God has us), we have somebody. That changes everything, doesn’t it? When we know we have “someone who never leaves us,” somebody who listens and cares with us for the long haul, our outlook is unavoidably changed.
A right relationship with God becomes a possibility, and if we enter into this relationship, persevering in spite of the tendency to fall back into our old ways and standing “in the faith, grounded and steadfast,” then we are transformed. Instead of being estranged and hostile, our lives are characterized, according to Paul, as “holy, and blameless, and above reproach.” These qualities are goals for faithful and forgiven children of God, and together these terms describe persons who have been reconciled to God as those who are free from reproach in terms of morality and integrity. No longer trapped by or slaves to evil, we are free to receive the love of God and live as whole and God-directed folk. Trying to live in obedience to God, trying to live in ways that bring honor to God, there should be no basis for reproach either from God or from people who know us. The basis for the kind of perseverance which makes such living possible is hope, hope that things really are the way God says they are; we must never let ourselves be “moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven.” Not that everybody literally has heard, but that the message is for all people. In Christ, all people have the right to be hopeful about their lives and about their world. We’re a long way from realizing that, though, aren’t we?
But that’s a good deal of what we’re to be about as God’s people, helping to make this kind of world a reality because God didn’t promise magic in place of hard work. Along with our work to make people’s lives worth living, we spread the good news. We have to find our way to participate in what Paul said was his “divine office.” We must find our way to put people in touch with the hope of Christ:
according to the stewardship from God which was given . . . to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. – Colossians 1:25–28.
The proclamation of such hope must become our passion, and we will say with Paul: “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” – Colossians 1:29.
Contemporary with Paul and the early expansion of the Christian church were pagan religious groups known as “mystery religions.” Paul is speaking to them and to the Colossians who were a little too enamored with the practices of the mystery religions. Paul used the word “mystery,” but gave it a new turn. Instead of using the term to mean that which was hidden from all but a few, he employed it to refer to that which God had revealed openly.
However, it remained a mystery in the sense that what God was offering to all people could only be fully understood by those who received it through a born-again relationship with Jesus Christ. As Paul put it: “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” the second of the key phrases in our passage.
As members of Christ’s body we have His life, His Spirit, within us. We therefore have a sure hope that we will share in that fullness of glory yet to be displayed on the day of “the revealing of the children of God.”
Hope in the present for God’s people is undeniably attached to the future hope that all the riches promised for that time and place “out there” have already begun to trickle into our lives right now, even into this defective and painful world where hope for the day is hard to come by.
Don’t move away from the hope that is rightfully yours. Cling to it; keep hold of it with all your might; Christ is in you, and that means nothing in your present or future can separate you from the love and the presence of the living God.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Lord, we come from a world full of so many things to tempt us and lead us away from you; from a world full of despair and anguish and pain. We come with our own concerns and doubts and fears. We come hurting, tired with the struggle and strain of just living. We come feeling lost and uncertain and just as we are. We come because you called us. We come because we must. We come to give you worship, and honor and praise. We come to make confession and to be made whole. We come because you came and go on coming, our living Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Tuesday Reflecting
This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise. – Isaiah 43:21.
I have read of an author, who, whilst he was writing a book he was about to publish, would every now and then look back to the title to see if his work corresponded thereto, and if it answered the expectation raised thereby. Now, the use I would make hereof, and would recommend to you, is for thee, O sinner, to look back every now and then, and consider for what thou wast created; and for thee, O saint, to look back every now and then, and consider for what thou wast redeemed.
~ ASHBURNER
Tuesday May 2, 2023
Zechariah 6:13
Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory.
This glory is undivided glory. In the church of Christ in heaven, no one is glorified but Christ. He who is honored on earth has some one to share the honour with him, some inferior helper who labored with him in the work; but Christ has none. He is glorified, and it is all his own glory. Oh, when you get to heaven, you children of God, will you praise any but your Master? Calvinists, today you love John Calvin; will you praise him there? Lutherans, today you love the memory of that stern reformer; will you sing the song of Luther in heaven? Followers of Wesley, you revere that evangelist; will you in heaven have a note for John Wesley? None, none, none! Giving up all names and all honors of men, the strain shall rise in undivided and unjarring unison “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto him be glory for ever and ever.” But again; he shall have all the glory; all that can be conceived, all that can be desired, all that can be imagined shall come to him. Today, you praise him, but not as you can wish; in heaven you shall praise him to the summit of your desire. Today you see him magnified, but you see not all things put under him; in heaven all things shall acknowledge his dominion. There every knee shall bow before him, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. He shall have all the glory. But to conclude on this point; this glory is continual glory. It says he shall bear all the glory. When shall this dominion become exhausted? When shall this promise be so fulfilled that it is put away as a worn out garment? Never.
Galileo, the most profound philosopher of his age, when questioned by the Roman Inquisition as to his belief in the existence of God, replied, pointing to a straw on the floor of his dungeon, that from the structure of that object alone he would infer with certainty the existence of an intelligent Creator.
Genesis 38 interrupts the climax of the Joseph narrative with another tale: Judah and Tamar. Switching protagonists is surprising enough, but the tale itself shocks us. We’re hardly given time to process the strange cultural practices of the ancient Near East, prostitution, deception, and the sudden death of those who displease God before we’re returned to Joseph’s struggles in Egypt.
The story is additionally confusing because it seems to lack a hero. Judah uses Tamar, as his two sons did—though he at least acknowledges his actions. Tamar uses her wits and risks her life to secure a future for herself, but she does so through deplorable means.
Attempts have been made to justify the characters and put it all in perspective, but there is no neat packaging. The characters in this story face dire circumstances and a unique cultural context—one that is nearly impossible for modern readers to understand. But we don’t need a lesson in ancient Near Eastern cultural studies to see that they are fallible, and that they exploit others for their own ends. And we don’t need a history lesson to be able to identify with them. An honest look at ourselves reveals our own sins—subtly deplorable, and respectably wrapped.
So, why is this story in the Bible? Why this tale of woe? Surprisingly, there is a hero. As we read, we see that God also uses people for redemption, not exploitation. Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar, is one in a long list of names that will lead to the birth of Christ. Through unlikely characters like Judah and Tamar, God prepared a way out of the sin that defined us.
Just like these characters, we are unlikely recipients of His favor.
*Pastor’s Note: Here’s one from our dear Sister-in-Christ, Kathy Boecher. Remember, the link to her site and to the individual poem used will be linked in the post. She has years of poetry and Paul, her husband, has many, many wonderful paintings showcased on her site. Please visit them and let them know you stopped by. As always, Glory to God for all of the creative gifts He gives so bountifully for us to share. God Bless!
atimetoshare.me – Home
ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©
Golden glow arises at dawn, kissing the trees awake,
Brilliant tints inhabit the sky, shades for heaven they make,
A ripple effect explodes there, shadows and light descend,
The chill in the air refreshes, all sadness soon will mend,
A new day appears as promised, God’s love it will provide,
When life leaves scars on our heartstrings, and tears fall from our eyes,
The Lord has made His covenant, life will go on today,
He carries us through the waters of trouble and dismay,
He lifts us when we’ve fallen down, He heals our broken hearts,
He generates hope and wisdom, and gives us a fresh start,
Each day becomes a heritage to pass on to our sons,
New life comes after our last breath, through what our Lord has done.
Kathy Boecher © 5-01-2021 – Used with permission.
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Scripture References: Colossians 1:21-29
The more we can open ourselves to the will of God, the greater chance there will be that the world will begin improving around us. If that could spread and multiply, think about the world impact!
In spite of these principles which we may very well believe in theory, mustering hope in this world and from where many of us sit today is an overpowering challenge. We may feel like the character, David in the movie, Every Time We Say Goodbye. He was a young American soldier serving in the British armed forces in Jerusalem during the early 1940’s, when threats of invasion by Hitler’s troops hung heavy there. Sarah, the young Jewish woman with whom he was falling in love, asked David to tell her more about his father who was a Presbyterian minister in the United States. David began by describing his father as a good man whom he was bound to disappoint; Sarah wonders why.
David explains: “Because my father believes that God is just and merciful and that the world can be remade in His image.”
Sarah asked, “And you don’t?”
After a pause, David confesses, “I think God has a lot to answer for. And I don’t think He can change the world—not much anyway.”
David may have been onto something. There are always new stories which seem to contradict hope for a better world. Still, as hard as hope may be for us, hope in the Christian heart is treated in much of the New Testament as a foregone conclusion. That is true of our New Testament lesson today.
There are two related and important phrases in what Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians: “. . . if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Colossians 1:23), and “. . . Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). These are not synonymous by any means, but they do support one another.
The first phrase is directly related to reconciliation in relationship to God which the Colossians had experienced, what we all experience when we come into a right relationship with God. Paul reminds them of the “before” and “after.” He called to their attention that there was a time before their reconciliation with God when they were busily involved in doing evil deeds; it was a time when they were “alienated and enemies in [their] mind” (Colossians 1:21). They were estranged from God and many of the people around them. They undoubtedly felt isolated, alone, and as if they didn’t belong.
We all know these kinds of feelings, and we know them too well; the isolation, loneliness, and no sense of belonging. Even on “this side” of reconciliation with God, these feelings still creep into our lives from time to time, but before meaningful relationship with God, they were surely heightened, leaving us with an overpowering sense of hopelessness about life and the world. Of course, living at odds with God, the center and the foundation of our being, creates a sense of alienation rather that belonging; we feel rejected rather than loved. This surely has something to do with being “enemies” to which Paul also refers. Because of our separation from God, perhaps we see God as the enemy; thus there is a “deep distrust of others, and a desire to hurt or destroy them.”
Paul asks the Colossians, and he asks us to remember what that was like, especially in contrast with the recollection of what having been reconciled with God has meant. Now Jesus Christ “in the body of His flesh through death, present[s] you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Colossians 1:22). Paul challenges the feeling of being unloved. Jesus Christ has brought about the opportunity of being made right with God, by His living out in the flesh the love of God though it meant His own suffering and death on our behalf. When we are confronted with these realities, it’s much more difficult for us to pout and nurse our anger, off by ourselves in some lonely corner of life. That’s the basis of being made right with God because it begins at once to dissolve both our sense of hopelessness and the emptiness of alienation that drives us and keeps us in the foreign land of hatred. When we can affirm, in the midst of our troubles and despair, that as long as we have God (and God has us), we have Somebody. That changes everything, doesn’t it? When we know we have “Someone who never leaves us,” Somebody who listens and cares with us for the long haul, our outlook is unavoidably changed.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Father, we come to you not because we are good enough to come, or because we have anything of our own to give you. We come to confess that everything, everywhere, belongs to you, including ourselves. We come, not simply because it is our duty to come, but because we long to offer you our worship. We come with joy and thankfulness because Jesus has opened the way into your presence. We come to crown him as King of our lives and to praise him as Lord of all.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Monday Reflecting
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench. – Isaiah 42:3.
He dost not wait until we are at our fairest and best. He stoops to help us at our deadest and dullest, our poorest and worst, when life is almost gone out and the fire is at its last spark. He can help us and keep us in the most trying circumstances, however bleak winds blow, whatever biting frosts come. A most gracious, gentle, pitiful Saviour is He, and as mighty as He is gentle. Press up to Him; go on your way communing with Him. Cleave to Him, your Life; rest in Him, your loving Lord; exult in Him, your Almighty Saviour.
~ MARK GUY PEARSE
Monday May 1, 2023
Psalm 16:8
I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is
at my right hand I shall not be moved.
The certainty that God is always near us, present in all parts of His world, closer to us than our thoughts, should maintain us in a state of high moral happiness most of the time. But not all the time. It would be less than honest to promise every believer continual jubilee and less than realistic to expect it. As a child may cry out in pain even when sheltered in its mother’s arms, so a Christian may sometimes know what it is to suffer even in the conscious presence of God. Though “alway rejoicing,” Paul admitted that he was sometimes sorrowful (2 Corinthians 6:10), and for our sakes Christ experienced strong crying and tears though He never left the bosom of the Father (John 1:18).
But all will be well. In a world like this tears have their therapeutic effects. The healing balm distilled from the garments of the enfolding Presence cures our ills before they become fatal. The knowledge that we are never alone calms the troubled sea of our lives and speaks peace to our souls.
Thomas Edison said: “No one can study chemistry and see the wonderful way in which certain elements combine with the nicety of the most delicate machine ever invented, and not come to the inevitable conclusion that there is a Big Engineer who is running this universe.”
Sometimes recognizing our sin for what it is can throw us into deep shame. In Matthew, we find that two of Jesus’ disciples experience this moment of remorse—Judas after he betrays Jesus, and Peter when he denies Jesus. From their responses, we learn what true repentance looks like.
Judas is remorseful when he realizes the enormity of his betrayal. But he doesn’t move from remorse to repentance. He tries to absolve his guilt by returning the payment he received for betraying Jesus—an attempt to buy back his innocence. And when the “blood money” is refused and he is unable to eliminate the guilt, Judas hangs himself (Matthew 27:5).
Peter, the disciple with an impulsive, childlike loyalty to Jesus, denies his Lord when questioned by a mere servant girl. When Peter remembers Jesus’ prediction, he leaves, “weeping bitterly.” However, the Gospel of John tells us that Peter glorified God in his death (John 21:15–19).
When sin is exposed, stopping at realization and remorse is tempting. Reveling in self-hate and self-loathing can seem fitting—we feel like inflicting punishment on ourselves will somehow absolve our guilt. But this is simply another form of relying on ourselves—it is pride in disguise. We diminish the sacrifice that Christ has completed. We deny the freedom from guilt and shame that Jesus has bought for us at a costly sacrifice.
It’s only when we reach the end of our self-reliance and pride that we can look to the one who actually bore the guilt for us.
*Pastor’s Note: Here is an inspirational poem from our Sister-in-Christ, Deborah Ann Belka. Please remember that Sister Deborah has her own website and you can find her links below. As always, Glory to God for all of the creative gifts He gives so bountifully for us to share with one another. God Bless!
CHRISTian Poetry by Deborah Ann – Home
The Lord will guide me,
this I haven’t any doubt
but it’s up to me . . .
not to shut His voice out.
I will need to be open,
to His divine leading
and to His written Word
I’ll need to do some heeding.
The Lord will lead me,
all I have to do is ask
but, it’s up to me . . .
to be ready for the task.
I will need to be at peace,
wherever He may take me
for, only He truly knows
what my future is to be.
The Lord will guide,
lead me continually . . .
but, I must trust Him
with my life constantly!
~~~~~~~~
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.”
King James Version
Public Domain
Copyright 2018
Deborah Ann Belka
~ to GOD be the GLORY ~
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 