A Prayer of Adoration & Corporate Confession

Lord God, King of kings and Lord of lords, we praise you that in a world where we despair of our leaders, you have the government on your shoulders.

We praise you that in a world where the poor and marginalized are treated with contempt, you are a God of justice who shows no favouritism.

We praise you that in a world obsessed with nationalism and wealth, you abolished borders, laid aside your rights and modeled generosity

We praise you that in a world beset with scandal, and abuse of power, that you used your power to serve others; you took the shame and became the scandal, so that we might be guilt-free.

And yet Lord our hearts are heavy and we come here yearning for forgiveness and to hear again your words of life. SO hear us as we confess our sins this morning

Gracious God

Our sins are too heavy to carry

Too real to hide

And too deep to undo

Forgive what our lips tremble to name

And what our hearts can no longer bear

Set us free from a past

That we cannot change

Open us to a future

In which we can be changed

And grant us grace

To grow more and more

In your likeness and image

Through Jesus Christ

The light of the world, we pray

Amen  (Rev David Montgomery)

A Prayer for the New Year

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above;
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven, another year for Thee.

Frances Havergal.

Thoughts for Christmas morning.

Johann Christoph Blumhardt

We are called to prove in our own lives that Christ is born, that God is with us. But we are constantly in danger of going about our business without Christ. We keep to our old ways of life and do not allow God to enter our daily affairs.…We should never rest until all obstacles are cleared out of the way for him who is born to us, and who is to come.

“So much wasted time!”

Last Tuesday David Cassidy died at the age of 67. He is remembered for his role in the 1970s sitcom “The Partridge Family.” According to his daughter Katie, his last words were, “So much wasted time.”

Sooner or later we all come to the end of our earthly journey. What will we have to show for our time on earth? No doubt we can all look back on too much wasted time.  When I thought about David Cassidy’s final words, I remembered these lines by Benjamin E. Mays:

I have just one minute
Only sixty seconds in it,
Forced upon me—can’t refuse it
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute—
But eternity is in it.

Dr. Mays was right about that–it may only be a minute, “but eternity is in it.”

Famed missionary C. T. Studd said it this way:

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

One day all of us will pass from this life into the presence of God. What will we say on that day? More importantly, what will the Lord say about us?

God help us to redeem the time we are given.  Ray Pritchard (A Word for Today)

Lord Jesus, since eternity is in every minute, may we not waste our brief time on earth but make it count for you. Amen. 

The real Black Friday

The real Black Friday
There was only one Black Friday.
It was not the day after Thanksgiving.
It was not a day when self-oriented consumers
bumped into
climbed over
pushed into
screamed at
and hated the other consumers who were
in their way.
No, all the action of the one Black Friday
was on a hill of death
outside the city
where three souls hung on crosses,
two criminals and the Messiah
doing what he came to do
and what the world was desperate for.
That Friday the world went dark
the Father turned his back
graves opened
the veil ripped in two
the Son carried the Father’s anger.
Death was offered so life could be given.
Darkness fell so light would shine.
Payment made
freedom given
redemption accomplished.
There was only one Black Friday.
No need to shop anymore for a
Savior. – Paul Tripp

Jon Bloom on the real Secret Code of the Bible!

The Most Repeated Command in the Bible

Article by

Jon Bloom

Staff writer, desiringGod.org

What do you think is the most repeated command in the Bible?

It’s not any of the prohibitions or warnings. It’s not about sex, or money, or power. The most repeated command in the Bible will probably surprise you: Be happy. God tells us more than anything else, in different ways, to “praise the Lord,” “do not be afraid,” “rejoice,” and “give thanks” — all of which are commands, in essence, to be happy.

Don’t move past this too quickly. Let it sink in: more than anything else, God commands us to be happy. God wants you to be truly, deeply happy. Not just in heaven someday. Not when circumstances take a turn for the better. Not when the sorrow or the darkness finally lifts. God wants you to taste real joy today. Now.

I in no way mean to trivialize the trials you may be experiencing. The suffering may be exquisite, the sorrow almost drowning, the fear near paralyzing. The Bible is as real-life as it gets. God says a lot about sin, sorrow, grief, pain, betrayal, failure, fear, horror, and wretchedness. But if you can believe it, God’s dominant theme is joy.

God wants us to know the kind of hope that has the power to produce joy in us even in painful places. He repeatedly commands us to be really, truly, deeply happy.

Why Does God Repeat Himself?

When God repeats himself, pay attention. Repetition implies importance.

That doesn’t mean that the most repeated commands are necessarily the most important commands. We know from Jesus that the most important commandments are that we love God with our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:29–31). But most repeatedcertainly means something important. And if we’re paying careful attention, we’ll recognize that the most repeated commands are means of obeying the most important commandments.

That bears repeating because of how important it is: God’s most repeated commands are means of obeying God’s most important commandments. This is amazing. There is a direct connection between loving God supremely, loving others as ourselves, and our being authentically happy. We don’t sacrifice one for the other. When God commands us to love him with all we are, or to love others with the same care and concern and grace and compassion and patience with which we love ourselves, he is not commanding us to sacrifice real, lasting, true, satisfying happiness. He’s commanding us to pursue our real, lasting, true, satisfying happiness.

Is this true? Let’s examine four oft-repeated commands in Scripture and ask what God really wants from us.

“Praise the Lord”

When God commands us to praise him, what does he want? We know he’s not after our empty lip service while our hearts wander off somewhere else (Isaiah 29:13). He’s commanding us to look at him, through what he’s revealed to us about himself, until we see some aspect of his glory that transcends the paltry or corrupt things clamoring for our attention right now — glory that produces an awe-filled joy we can’t help but express in praise.

Our delight-filled praise not only glorifies God and gives him pleasure, but also lovingly points others to the same glory we’re seeing and the same delight we’re feeling — because we always praise (to others) what delights us. God is commanding us to love him, love others, and be happy.

“Do Not Fear”

When God commands us to “not be afraid,” what does he want? He wants us to meditate on some promise he’s made us until we experience the paralyzing effects of fear melting away and our courage rising.

This bold, happy confidence in God is not only an expression of trusting love in him; it also makes us feel lovingly expansive and encouraging toward others because we’re filled with hope in God. We can’t help but want to comfort and encourage others with the comfort and courage we have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). God is commanding us to love him, love others, and be happy.

“Rejoice”

When God commands us to rejoice, what does he want? He wants us to remember that no matter what happens, nothing will separate us from his omnipotent love for us in Christ (Romans 8:38–39), that he will work all these things for our good (Romans 8:28), and that he will rescue us from every evil deed and bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18).

We express our love for God as we faithfully rest in his sovereign reign over all things — the sweet and the bitter — and we love others as we help them also faithfully rest in God’s sovereign reign too. God is commanding us to love him, love others, and be happy.

“Give Thanks”

When God commands us to give thanks, what does he want? Like John Piper says, God is not after the kind of thanks a six-year-old is forced to say to his grandma after getting black socks for Christmas. God wants us to look past the things that frustrate, anger, disappoint, discourage, sadden, and depress us, and to see his grace — his all-sufficient, abounding grace (2 Corinthians 9:8) — the grace flowing to us right now, whatever our circumstances(1 Thessalonians 5:18).

When we see his grace and trust his wise purposes, loving thankfulness rises toward him and pushes out our negative, sinful emotions and grumbling, replacing them with peace. And this gratitude-inspired peace lovingly overflows to everyone else we interact with, often helping them overcome their own temptations to grumble. God is commanding us to love him, love others, and be happy.

Secret Code

Once we put these lenses on, we begin to see that this secret code is contained in all of God’s commands, not just the most repeated ones: faith-filled obedience leads us to joy. God only commands his people what will bring them ultimate happiness. That’s why, for those who discover the secret, “his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). David discovered this secret and broke out in a love song to God’s commands:

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7–11)

The commands of our Lord are more to be desired than gold because they make us happier than gold. In keeping them there is a far greater reward than gold: loving, enjoying, admiring, praising, thanking, and rejoicing in God forever (Psalm 16:11).

That is why God has filled the Bible with repeated commands to praise him, to not fear, to rejoice always, and to give thanks always, and every other command that pertains to us. He wants us to be happy. “The God of hope [wants to] fill [us] with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [we] may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13). Today. Now. And forever.

 

Jon Bloom (@Bloom_Jon) serves as author, board chair, and co-founder of Desiring God. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heart. He and his wife live in the Twin Cities with their five children.

Are we drinking salt-water?

Steve Hoppe says – “In our nagging state of thirst for paradise lost, what do we drink? Saltwater. We consume things that look and feel and sound like they can quench our thirst. They promise unmatched pleasure. They promote limitless comfort, joy, strength, peace, and excitement. They vow to remove our fears, tears, worries, guilt, and shame. They pledge to fill the voids in our hearts and soothe our aching souls. They promise paradise. But they can’t deliver. We drink them, but our thirst remains unquenched. In fact, we are left thirstier. And we experience devastating hangovers — negative spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational consequences — as a result.”

He describes the ‘salt-water’ cycle we often fall into when we elevate God’s good gifts to idol status –

“First, we listen to a lie; second, we take a drink; third, we suffer. We listen to the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil and believe that we can be satisfied with what they offer. Then we take a drink, we believe the lie, we look for satisfaction, we make gifts into gods. Then, inevitably, we suffer the consequences. We feel guilt and shame and sorrow and promise never to do it again. The cycle repeats.

What is this saltwater? “This saltwater doesn’t come from the ocean. It comes in a variety of forms from the world around us and our hearts within. It comes in the form of money, sex, control, or comfort. It comes in the form of busyness, people, food, or works. It can come in the form of anything. … Even though we are thirsty for paradise lost, we drink saltwater instead — in a million different forms.”

The hope, of course, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is his joy to deliver us from this endless cycle of discontentment so we can be contented in him. He lets us see that he himself is the living water that quenches our deepest thirst.”

The death of a patient

Source: The death of a patient

Food for thought…

“No matter the jarring, a jar of fresh water can’t spill filthy water. When you’re upset, you upset what’s really in you.” Ann Voskamp

Some thoughts….

1. Each village along the highway Christ walked had someone waiting to be helped. His pulpit was the hillside, His congregation a woman at a well. His work was everywhere; His workshop was the world. One’s associations of Christ are all of the wayside. We never think of Him in connection with a church.
2. He was the Son of Man. His was the highest life ever lived. So simple a thing it was, so natural, so human, that those who saw it first didn’t know it was a religion, and Christ did not pass among them as a very religious man