Our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to Himself to belong to Him and to follow Him. He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness that imprisoned us in sin’s mastery, misery and condemnation. He has brought us into His kingdom of light and life, the very ground and reason for our worship (1 Pet. 2:9f.). Through Him we are sons and daughters of the living God, servants of the Most High.
Hope. To us belongs a hope, not a “hope-so” hope of wishful thinking but a hope of confident expectation, assured conviction and vibrant certainty. Ours is not futile hype, but a fertile hope grounded in the historical work of Jesus Christ. As the writer of Hebrews puts it: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” (Heb. 6:19-20a). This hope points to the finished, victorious, redemptive work of Jesus on our behalf that secures our salvation and secures us as heirs of eternal life. The apostle Peter exclaims the praises of such a God who graciously gives us new birth into a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3), in which our inheritance is held for us (1 Pet. 1:4) and we are held in His mighty hand for our inheritance (1 Pet. 1:5). We live out our days in anticipation of the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Every day of our lives we live as the redeemed of the Lord, children of hope (1 Thess. 5:5), different from those of the world who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). As we walk by faith, God fills our lives with faith, hope and love, causing us to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13).
Driven By Hope
(Excerpt from Community Houses of Prayer Ministry Manual, Outreach Orientation, p. 11)
Addicted to Connectivity
I toyed with the idea of getting a smart phone. To be honest, I fantasized about it. All those cool apps. Constantly connected. Then I thought of the downside. All those cool apps. Constantly connected. I could see myself becoming infatuated with the apps I had and wanting to know what else was available. I envisioned myself constantly checking my email to spend time on things that could easily wait until I got to my computers at home or office. Plus, I had seen the distractions the smart phones could be for others in classes I had taught.
Yet, the idea of constant connectivity does seem a positive thing when it comes to our communion with God. Whether the blogging of dialog with God in our journals or prayer closets (Neh.9), or tweeting expressions of thanks or praise or help as the occasion prompts (Neh. 2:4; 4:9), or posting the events of life in the friendship of His grace (Neh. 1:4-11), constant fellowship with God seems a good and necessary dimension of life with our Heavenly Father.
After all, we are to pray without ceasing.
Yet, the idea of constant connectivity does seem a positive thing when it comes to our communion with God. Whether the blogging of dialog with God in our journals or prayer closets (Neh.9), or tweeting expressions of thanks or praise or help as the occasion prompts (Neh. 2:4; 4:9), or posting the events of life in the friendship of His grace (Neh. 1:4-11), constant fellowship with God seems a good and necessary dimension of life with our Heavenly Father.
After all, we are to pray without ceasing.
Junk Food Spirituality
We are a nation addicted to junk food. In this I count myself chief of sinners. As big a concern as that may be, it pales in comparison to its spiritual parallel.
The psalmist spreads before us the feast of God's love:
"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds to men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things." (Psalm 107:8-9)
We understand those "good things" as God's redemptive mercies and the glories of his grace bound up in Jesus Christ. In her Magnificat, Mary reveled in the realized promises of God, declaring that God her Savior had "filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53).
Who are these hungry? They are those longing to be filled the Bread of Life, whose spiritual palate has been awakened to God's provision of enduring Manna. Isaiah speaks to those so awakened, giving both promise and warning:
"Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Isaiah appeals to those aware of their need, bringing the invitation of God to take and eat.
"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Yet the empty calories of the world's offerings compete and attract.
"Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David." (Is. 55:1-3)
We are to listen intently to God. As we do we find the issue is not physical nourishment but spiritual. The richness of the food speaks to the substance of salvation, bound up in the Son of David, the Chosen One, the sole covenant keeper, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, the one Mary was told would inherit the throne of his father David and whose kingdom would never end (Luke 1:32f.)
The Spirit of God has opened our eyes to taste and see that the Lord is good, to savor the Savior. The question we need to ask ourselves, though, is, what is our daily diet? Or, to put it more pointedly, with what are we filling ourselves? Where are we trying to satisfy our thirst? Or perhaps more clearly, of whose love do we drink deeply?
Our heart hungers, our restless spirit searches. And we turn to the lures of evils on the internet to satisfy. The latest electronic gadget makes us salivate. Our eyes widen and taste buds pop as we read the sales circulars. We find "rich" food in the offerings of the world that at best offer empty calories and at worst poison for the soul.
Just as we find life in Christ, so we must feed upon Christ in communion with him, in delight of his blessings and in full enjoyment of his love. Only then will we be strong in the Lord and worthy instruments in his service.
The psalmist spreads before us the feast of God's love:
"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds to men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things." (Psalm 107:8-9)
We understand those "good things" as God's redemptive mercies and the glories of his grace bound up in Jesus Christ. In her Magnificat, Mary reveled in the realized promises of God, declaring that God her Savior had "filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53).
Who are these hungry? They are those longing to be filled the Bread of Life, whose spiritual palate has been awakened to God's provision of enduring Manna. Isaiah speaks to those so awakened, giving both promise and warning:
"Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Isaiah appeals to those aware of their need, bringing the invitation of God to take and eat.
"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Yet the empty calories of the world's offerings compete and attract.
"Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David." (Is. 55:1-3)
We are to listen intently to God. As we do we find the issue is not physical nourishment but spiritual. The richness of the food speaks to the substance of salvation, bound up in the Son of David, the Chosen One, the sole covenant keeper, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, the one Mary was told would inherit the throne of his father David and whose kingdom would never end (Luke 1:32f.)
The Spirit of God has opened our eyes to taste and see that the Lord is good, to savor the Savior. The question we need to ask ourselves, though, is, what is our daily diet? Or, to put it more pointedly, with what are we filling ourselves? Where are we trying to satisfy our thirst? Or perhaps more clearly, of whose love do we drink deeply?
Our heart hungers, our restless spirit searches. And we turn to the lures of evils on the internet to satisfy. The latest electronic gadget makes us salivate. Our eyes widen and taste buds pop as we read the sales circulars. We find "rich" food in the offerings of the world that at best offer empty calories and at worst poison for the soul.
Just as we find life in Christ, so we must feed upon Christ in communion with him, in delight of his blessings and in full enjoyment of his love. Only then will we be strong in the Lord and worthy instruments in his service.
That the Church would be the Church
As promised, here is the full text of the prayer of confession for our National Day of Prayer service, stemming from the idea that the best thing for America is for the church to be the church.
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On this National Day of Prayer in which the eyes of our nation are directed to you, the living and true God, we your church gather in the name of Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, to confess that
· we your people, called by your name, do not humble ourselves and pray but instead go about our business in prideful self-sufficiency and willful neglect of your commandments and decrees, unconcerned for the name of Jesus Christ that we bear and inattentive to his design for us as his disciples;
· we do not seek your face nor turn from our loveless indifference and worldly preoccupations, actually tolerating and even enjoying the corruptions of this world to the dishonor of you who has called us to be holy as you are holy;
· we are not salt and light to our nation, nor do we desire to be, content to dabble in “Christian” practice and use you for our ends;
· we do not seek first your kingdom and righteousness, instead looking to devote our affections and dedicate our resources to seeking first our own kingdoms and glory, happy to build bigger barns to hold our goods, forgetting that all we have comes from you our God and that it all, along with our very selves, belongs to you;
O Lord, our sin abounds. Yet your grace super-abounds. In Christ, our sins are forgiven, our guilt is atoned for and the wrath we deserve is spent. Yet shall we continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be! Work in us the grace of repentance and bring forth in us the fruit of that repentance. Make us to be a light to our nation, shining with the truth of your Word, glaring with the brilliance of your glory, conspicuous as a display of your grace.
Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayers of your servants and to our pleas for mercy, and for your own sake. O Lord, make your face to shine upon us. Renew us. Refresh us. Restore us. Bless and transform this nation through our faithfulness to your purpose for us as your church.
Gracious God and Father, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, the disrepair of your church and the disability of the people that are called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy bound up in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your church and your people are called by your name.
For Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
--------------------
On this National Day of Prayer in which the eyes of our nation are directed to you, the living and true God, we your church gather in the name of Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, to confess that
· we your people, called by your name, do not humble ourselves and pray but instead go about our business in prideful self-sufficiency and willful neglect of your commandments and decrees, unconcerned for the name of Jesus Christ that we bear and inattentive to his design for us as his disciples;
· we do not seek your face nor turn from our loveless indifference and worldly preoccupations, actually tolerating and even enjoying the corruptions of this world to the dishonor of you who has called us to be holy as you are holy;
· we are not salt and light to our nation, nor do we desire to be, content to dabble in “Christian” practice and use you for our ends;
· we do not seek first your kingdom and righteousness, instead looking to devote our affections and dedicate our resources to seeking first our own kingdoms and glory, happy to build bigger barns to hold our goods, forgetting that all we have comes from you our God and that it all, along with our very selves, belongs to you;
O Lord, our sin abounds. Yet your grace super-abounds. In Christ, our sins are forgiven, our guilt is atoned for and the wrath we deserve is spent. Yet shall we continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be! Work in us the grace of repentance and bring forth in us the fruit of that repentance. Make us to be a light to our nation, shining with the truth of your Word, glaring with the brilliance of your glory, conspicuous as a display of your grace.
Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayers of your servants and to our pleas for mercy, and for your own sake. O Lord, make your face to shine upon us. Renew us. Refresh us. Restore us. Bless and transform this nation through our faithfulness to your purpose for us as your church.
Gracious God and Father, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, the disrepair of your church and the disability of the people that are called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy bound up in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your church and your people are called by your name.
For Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
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