His Own

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Adoption, Christianity, Comfort, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Faith, God, Hope, Joy, Pandemic, Peace, Providence, Strength

“But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him” (Psalm 4:3, ESV).

            David began the fourth Psalm with a plea to God to hear his prayer, twice repeated with a reflection on God’s past mercy between (v.1).  Men are dishonorable and deceptive (v.2); but, he declares in this verse, God is faithful to those who love Him.  Thus, David is assured that God will hear his plea and once more have mercy upon him.  The past faithfulness of God, and the character of God, combine to make the basis for the psalmist’s assurance.            

People let us down, but God is wholly reliable, wholly righteous, wholly good.  Those who follow Him can have the utmost assurance that He will never falter or fail.  All who belong to Jesus Christ have been set apart as God’s own, and given the wonderful privilege that Jesus communicated to His followers when He taught them to pray: the privilege to call upon Him as Father.  Our Father hears us when we call.  Lift up your heart to Him today.

Easter, Noon

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Christianity, Easter, Holy Spirit, Holy Week, Hope, Joy, Life, Praise, Prayer, Resurrection

Spirit of Life, fill us ever fuller with this newness you have brought. Spirit of Hope, draw us daily to the cross, daily to the living Lord; confirm in us your hope undying. Spirit of Glory, be glorified in this day of joy. Be glorified in your power, in your holiness, in your love, in your wisdom and presence and work. Praise and worship and honor be yours, now and forevermore—Amen.

Bright with Hope

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Art, Bird, Christianity, Comfort, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Easter, Faith, God, Holy Week, Hope, Joy, Life, Painting, Pandemic, Peace, Poem, Resurrection, Spring

“Bright with Hope”

How you sing,

Here in our gloom and tragedy,

Proclaiming Spring—but

All we see is

Sickness and fear,

No sense of solace, no glimmer

That God is near.

How you sing!

You are the hint

Of better things in view

Of life renewed, bright tints abloom,

Of newness springing through, beyond

Our grief and gloom.

Here you sing,

Amid our sorrow,

Unabashed, bright with hope

Resurrecting.

The Parable of Spring

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Comfort, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Eschatology, Faith, Hope, Joy, Life, Nature, Pandemic, Peace, Poem, Resurrection, Spring

Rain is in the air,

and green upon the grass, upon

the lichened limbs and trunks of trees,

green of impending spring, eager

from the wash of rain; the buds chafe

to blush with lush again

and earth and sky forgets the plague,

forgets the curse, so breathless

to rehearse the yearly pageant of

the fall’s reverse.

Prophesy, you cleansing rains,

you greening fields and prickling buds!

Make of our memento mori

the promise of new life to be.

Our All

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Comfort, Discipleship, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, Joy, Life, Peace, Redemption, Salvation, Truth, Union with Christ, Vision

“But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of the Christians is a God of love and consolation: he is a God who fills the soul and heart of those whom he possesses: he is a God who makes them inwardly aware of their wretchedness and his infinite mercy: who unites himself with them in the depths of their soul: who fills it with humility, joy, confidence and love: who makes them incapable of having any other end but him.” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees, Penguin Classics Edition, p.169)

So often people do not hear or grasp the depths of salvation and the character of God.  We neglect the wonder of the gospel, the great treasure that in Christ God draws us to Himself, as Pascal says, “unites himself with them in the depths of their soul”.  Christianity is a whole-life thing; it is a re-centering of the whole life around God.  This is not some tragic loss–the world only offers emptiness and death anyway.  This is a wonder of joyful transformation, that we may be made “incapable of having any other end but him.”  We do not grasp salvation unless we grasp this glory of redemption, that in salvation God makes Himself our all.

Christmas Vigil

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Advent, Christmas, Christmas Eve, God, Gospel, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Joy, Peace, Prayer

Bless this vigil of advent, God Most High, and look upon us with love. While we wake, let our hearts rejoice in the greatness of your gift, the joy of Christmas, the incarnation of God the Son. While we rest, let us rest in you, the giver of true and eternal rest. Bless our night with the peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ; be blessed in our amazed thoughts and grateful praises—Amen.

God Reaches Down

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Advent, Annunciation, Christmas, God, Gospel, Grace, Jesus Christ, Joy, Light, Mary

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.  The virgin’s name was Mary.  (Luke 1:26-27, NIV)

Thus begins the story of the Annunciation.  This follows on the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to announce that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to John–the forerunner of the Messiah.  But what a powerful contrast is formed between that scene and the one that follows.

The wonderful work of God is unexpected.

Gabriel announced the birth of the forerunner to Zechariah, a priest of good standing, in the temple of God, in Jerusalem the political and religious center of Israel.  But Gabriel was sent to announce the birth of the Messiah Himself to an ordinary peasant girl in a backwater village.

Thus God shows that His purposes do not unfold in the ways of the world.

Galilee is far from Jerusalem, and a region of some suspicion to other Israelites; Nazareth is a town of some suspicion to other Galileans (see Jn. 1:46)!  But here in an insignificant and inauspicious setting, God chooses the mother who will bear the Savior.

What do we know of Mary?  Very little.  She is twice described as a virgin, and in the context of her engagement we may infer that she was in her young teens–the normal age for marriage in that place and time.  As the narrative unfolds, we see her courage, character, and faithful submission to God.  But she is no one the world would regard as powerful or important.

Joseph, though a descendant of David, is nowhere close to the throne.  He is, we may say, a good blue-collar Jewish man.

Through such ordinary faithful people, God sent His Son into the world.  The very setting of the Annunciation prompts us to reflect on the wonderful grace of God, who reaches down to us in our sin and darkness.

Light has come into our darkened world; and it has come through and come to ordinary men and women who follow God in faith.

Blessed Anticipation

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Advent, Christmas, Glory, God, Jesus Christ, Joy, Praise, Prayer

Father God, I turn my eyes to Bethlehem in anticipation of the celebration of your wonderful work. This blessed Incarnation, this miracle of salvation, is dear and more dear with every passing year’s remembrance. Be glorified, O Glorious One, O Glory come down to live and walk among sinful men for our salvation. Sanctify this day of anticipation to your glory, and let it be a joy in my heart as I go about my tasks.

More than Enough

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Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Gratitude, Joy, Life, Society, Truth

Blaise Pascal, Pensees, trans. A.J. Krailsheimer (Penguin, 1966), 124:

Saints have their power, their splendour, their victory, their lustre, and do not need either carnal or intellectual greatness, which has no relevance for them, for it neither adds nor takes away anything.  They are recognized by God and the angels, and not by bodies or by curious minds.  God is enough for them.

God is enough for them.  Shouldn’t that be the heart of every saint?  And isn’t that the secret to unassailable joy?  God is enough for them, more than enough; God is the consuming reality around which the joyful life is ordered.

We see this in the apostles, who joyfully endured prison and punishment for the sake of Christ.  They had Him–they needed nothing else.  He was enough.

We see this in the martyrs and the heroes of the faith.  They stood in front of lions, and would not be denied their chance to testify that God is enough.  They walked strange and lonely paths, through darkest danger, and overcame because God is enough.

And we are so easily worried, so easily frightened, so quickly discouraged.  God have mercy on us, give us the grace of satisfaction in Yourself.  You are enough.  Teach us to be unafraid, because you are enough for us.

 

In the Hours Ahead

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God, Joy, Prayer, Strength, Wisdom

Thank you, God, for the gift of a new day. Take me by the hand, and lead me, to please you with the hours ahead. Give me wisdom in my decisions, and sanctify me by whatever burdens I must carry. You know what lies ahead; be my strength to face it honorably, so I may take joy in trials and purity in joys. Grace my path with your presence and peace, O most gracious Lord.