Jennifer A

Intro: During this Lenten season, every devotional will begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis (author and theologian), followed by two readings: 1) A passage from the Psalter and 2) a writing from one of the Old Testament prophets or New Testament authors. We will look at both passages as a whole through the fulfilling work and wisdom of Christ—Truth.

Our soul depends on our desire or appetite for Jesus!

“All Christians know something the Jews did not know about what it ‘cost to redeem their souls.’
(C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms)

Psalm 25 is titled, “A psalm of David” and it is a wonderful expression of David’s heart for the Lord. In these verses we see David’s spiritual appetite for God. He knows that his soul is dependent on the Lord. “David is pictured in this Psalm as in a faithful miniature. His holy trust, his many conflicts, his great transgressions, his bitter repentance, and his deep distresses are all here; so that we see the very heart of ‘the man after God’s own heart.’” (Charles Spurgeon)

David helps us to understand that God is all loving, merciful, and faithful to those who humble themselves to except His teaching. We must remember that God’s teachings always include correction, instruction, and guidance for our highest and spiritual best. Even when it doesn’t feel like it or when it doesn’t feel good, God is focused on the best for our spiritual path. David tells us that God is a friend to those who fear Him. Pastor Mary teaches often on the fear of the Lord. It is a place of reverence that can only be experienced by those who have salvation in Christ; for “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Friends, in verse 22 we see David’s great concern for the souls of all of God’s people, not just for himself. As believers we must keep our eyes fixated on God and love Him with our entire self, and then we must love our neighbor as ourself. It is in this selfless place we allow God to guide our souls (our minds, wills and emotions) to do what is best through us for His Kingdom.

Psalm 25:8-22 (NLT)

8 The Lord is good and does what is right;
he shows the proper path to those who go astray.

9 He leads the humble in doing right,
teaching them his way.

10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

11 For the honor of your name, O Lord,
forgive my many, many sins.

12 Who are those who fear the Lord?
He will show them the path they should choose.

13 They will live in prosperity,
and their children will inherit the land.

14 The Lord is a friend to those who fear him.
He teaches them his covenant.

15 My eyes are always on the Lord,
for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.

16 Turn to me and have mercy,
for I am alone and in deep distress.

17 My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!

18 Feel my pain and see my trouble.
Forgive all my sins.

19 See how many enemies I have
and how viciously they hate me!

20 Protect me! Rescue my life from them!
Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge.

21 May integrity and honesty protect me,
for I put my hope in you.

22 O God, ransom Israel
from all its troubles.

It is important to know that all four Gospels teach “Jesus Clears the Temple” (Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, & John 2:13-16 (this passage is similar, but it is thought to be the clearing of the temple courts). If this lesson is contained in all four Gospels, I think we can all agree that it is something we not only need to know, but that we need to understand and live by it. There are so many lessons within this teaching, but for today we are going to focus on what Jesus is teaching about our salvation and our soul and please note how it directly connects back to David’s message from Psalm 25.

When you and I welcomed Jesus into our lives, we welcomed Him into our hearts and scripture tells us that His sole purpose is to cleanse us and to make us a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Prior to that welcome, our soul belonged to this world, but after our souls belonged to Jesus and we became a part of His Temple. God’s Temple is holy (and the Temple is Jesus), so now you and I are a part of that Temple, and we need to be seeking holiness or seeking to be more and more like Jesus (1 Cor 3:16-17). Our souls need to be under the minute-by-minute guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In today’s passage when Jesus cleared the Temple, he was clearing out the sellers and the buyers. Keep in mind these transactions were all taking place in a house of prayer to God (to Jesus, Himself). It wasn’t a marketplace for sales (which aligns with this world), it was a house of prayer (a holy place)! There was a clear spiritual battle going on between the earthly realm and the heavenly realm. The sellers were selling animals for approximately 20x the typical cost, and the buyers were there to either purchase or to witness, and either way, Jesus viewed them as one in spirit with the sellers, and not One in Spirit with Him (they too were defiling the Temple…their own souls).

Friends, the company we keep and what we do, say, think, feel, and believe is all tied to our soul…which needs to be either sold out for Jesus, or it is in direct company with this world which is run by Satan. It is that simple!

Luke 19:45-48 (NLT)
Jesus Clears the Temple

45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for being in control of my soul. Holy Spirit, I need your minute-by-minute guidance for my soul. My mind, my will, and my emotions can grow weary, and so I need Your help. Please allow me to discern when I am wavering and to move back into alignment with You. I do not want the things or ways of this world. I want to be One with You, Jesus. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

“You are certainly under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, or you wouldn’t have come where you now are.”
(C.S. Lewis; Love Expands)

King David wrote today’s psalm, and he wants us to consider the vast glory of God; and so, he places the world that God created on display for us to be reminded of His limitless glory.

Think for a moment, the same God that created the universe, day, night, sound, heaven, and the list goes on and on, created YOU & ME! So, when we sit in awe of His creation, we really should be in awe of ourselves as a strategic part of that same creation.

We cannot fully travel the path that God has for us until we fully realize that we are a part of His vast creation and strategic plan. “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31)

Psalm 19:1-6 (NLT)

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.

2 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.

3 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.

4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.

6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

Now that we are reminded of the infinite measure of God’s glory, how do we, as the Church, resonate His glory since it is clearly a part of our Family’s mission.

Think for a moment about when the Apostle Paul wrote today’s letter to the church in Ephesus, which was probably sometime between AD 60 to 100. The Church was growing, and the Light of Christ was being spread like fire by the Holy Spirit. Now think about your work for the Church. Do you aid in growing the Church, are you on fire for Jesus, and how often do you allow the work of the Holy Spirit to spread that fire for Christ through you? You might be thinking, well, I am not gifted the same way as Paul or the other Apostles, and that is fair…but, are you using your God given gifts as explosively as the Church did during the time that today’s letter was written?

Remember, YOU are a glorious creation, a one-of-a-kind masterpiece from the Master Himself, and within you are gifts He chose specifically for you to use to further grow our Family, and so those gifts need to be shared for the glory of God’s Kingdom. Never ever forget your value and open yourself up all of the time for the Holy Spirit to move through you.

Ephesians 4:7-13 (NLT)

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people.”

9 Notice that it says, “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we cannot thank You enough for choosing to make us as a part of Your creation. Please forgive us, Father, when we do not consider our value in Your Kingdom. Help us to grow in our understanding of the specific plan that You have for each of us, and how it fits into Your vast plan for Your Church. Holy Spirit, please guide us to know our gifts and to be able to grow in using them for the greater good of God’s Kingdom. Also, help us to value the gifts in others and to work as One for the Family. We ask all of this in Your Holy and Glorious Name, Jesus. Amen.

Intro: During this Lenten season, every devotional will begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis (author and theologian), followed by two readings: 1) A passage from the Psalter and 2) a writing from one of the Old Testament prophets or New Testament authors. We will look at both passages as a whole through the fulfilling work and wisdom of Christ—Truth.

As we patiently wait to reside within our Eternal Home in the heavenly realm with Christ, we must hold firmly to His joy which is within us and surrounds us no matter what is going on, because the dark misery of this world will stop at nothing to try to extinguish the hopeful Light of Christ within each one of us.

“Either the day must come when joy prevails and all the makers of misery are no longer able to infect it; or else forever and ever the makers of misery can destroy in others the happiness they reject for themselves”
(C.S. Lewis; The Great Divorce)

In today’s psalm, David comes to the Lord in prayer and he gives his entire life to the Lord, so he gives his: soul (mind, will, emotions), body, heart, and spirit. He relinquished his own strength and placed his trust in God. When David did this he was surrounded by pagan nations, and so he knew that in order to remain faithful to the Lord that he could not trust or turn to anyone except the Lord, because He was the only One Who would guide David on the right path, others, who did not know God, would seek to steer him away from God.

You and I are in the exact same situation as David. We are surrounded by a pagan world that is seeking to deceive us so that the Satan can work to extinguish the Light of Christ within us. This realization is not something to fear, Paul teaches us about that within the next passage of today’s devotion, rather we are to remain joyful because we belong to Jesus, Who is the only One Who saves us and offers us His unfailing love.

Psalm 25:1-7 (NLT)

A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

4 Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.
Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.

Paul tells us to do exactly what David did, we are to be led by the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit); and in order for the Spirit to have His reign within us, we must give all of ourself fully over to God. If we do not give our entire self to God we leave openings for Satan.

Paul goes on to talk about how our suffering now is nothing compared to our future glory. The closer we find ourselves to Jesus, the more we begin to see how He reveals to us those things that are from Him and those things that are of this world. The Holy Spirit guides us with a spirit of discernment to be able to spiritual know what is Truth and to follow it, it also guides us away from that which is not Truth.

Personal Story: My family traveled last week to celebrate my daughter’s accomplishment of being the valedictorian for her 2023 high school class. Although we had a beautiful time, there were so many moments that I found myself praying, more than normal, for the people around me. We were in a “big city” and although some people might think I’m being “dramatic” I felt the Holy Spirit continuously pulling on me to spiritually see what was happening around me. There were so many people hustling, and not just those who were working hard, but many who were attempting to work over one another. I witnessed a woman distraught after being pickpocket. I saw so much substance usage and heartbreaking homeless in freezing weather. People struggled to smile and to simply connect to one another. I’m not saying all of this is because I was in a “big city”, I’m saying this because the joy of the Lord in you and me (the Light of Christ) must prevail, because Satan’s misery can absolutely destroy in others the happiness they reject for themselves…and that “happiness” they reject is Jesus into their hearts. Friends, our Light of Christ MUST shine brighter than ever before, in big cities, small cities, our communities, our centers of influence, and in our own homes. PEOPLE NEED JESUS! if they aren’t exposed to Him than we aren’t doing what He commissioned us to do! If they reject Him, love them anyway, so a seed is planted that can one day serve as a reminder of Jesus’s unfailing love for them!

Romans 8:14-25 (NLT)

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

The Future Glory

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Prayer: Jesus, we need Your help. Please guide us to be the ambassadors that You call us to be for Your Kingdom. Allow Your Light to shine brightly through us to expose the darkness of this world so that You can bring hearts to You! Help keep us filled with Your joy and to preserve through the things of this world that are painful, because they are temporal, but our future glory with You is eternal in our real Home, thank You for that Truthful reality. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Intro: During this Lenten season, every devotional will begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis (author and theologian), followed by two readings: 1) A passage from the Psalter and 2) a writing from one of the Old Testament prophets or New Testament authors. We will look at both passages as a whole through the fulfilling work and wisdom of Christ—Truth.

All that we do and say must be for the glory of God…if it is not for the Most High God, then it is in alignment with the one who rules this world, and he is Satan.

“All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest, and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not.”
(C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory)

During yesterday’s time of worship, we looked at the first two verses of Psalm 91 and today we will look at some more verses. I mentioned that the traditional Jewish thought is that Moses might have written Psalm 91 during the 40 years of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Since there is no title, the author remains unknown, and others believe it shares some of the similar messaging found in a few of the Psalms written by King David.

Either way, the author repeats the promise of deliverance and the assurance of victory as long as you and I make the Lord our refuge in all that we do and say. When we are living our lives fully for the Lord He promises to rescue us, to be with us, and to reward us.

Psalm 91:9-16 (NLT)

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,

10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.

11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.

12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.

15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.

16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

I read that as Christians we live as “the already but the not just yet”…meaning we are already redeemed, but not just yet completely redeemed. So, we must wait with both patience and eagerness for our resurrected bodies and our completion into the Heavenly realm of all Eternity with Jesus. In the meantime, while we know that all that we do and say must be for the glory of God, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we desperately need the Holy Spirit’s help because we have moments (and sometimes, we have many moments) of weakness. None of us are exempt from weakness, and so we need what the Holy Spirit does for us, in us, and through us because He is always in alignment with God’s will and His plan for our lives. We must remember that God uses ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them (v. 28).

As Pastor Mary reminded us yesterday, we need to let Jesus drive the car of our lives. He wants what is best for us, and in that highest place no one can ever be against us. Even when (not if, but when) they are against us, we have peace (shalom) because the Highest God is for us, so nothing anyone says or does matters above the love of our God.

Romans 8:26-34 (NLT)

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Prayer: Jesus, please help me to do things that are in alignment with what You would do, and please help me to say things that You would say. I want my actions and words to glorify Your Holy Name. Please forgive me for not allowing the Holy Spirit free rein over my actions and words all of the time. Help me, Father, to press into You so that You can nudge me to call on the Holy Spirit more and more, and to trust the direction He is guiding for my life. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Intro: During this Lenten season, every devotional will begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis (author and theologian), followed by two readings: 1) A passage from the Psalter and 2) a writing from one of the Old Testament prophets or New Testament authors. We will look at both passages as a whole through the fulfilling work and wisdom of Christ—Truth.

While the world is fleeting and those who remain attached to it will never know True wisdom, the Heavenly realm is steadfast for Eternity for those who give their lives, through salvation, to Christ Jesus and as the children of God, they may call on their Father’s wisdom at any moment.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”
(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Asaph, who is said to have written psalm 74, stresses the importance of God’s sovereign authority over all of creation. Within today’s passage, he uses many examples of God’s divine power, strength, and wisdom. The first example is when God parted the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites to protect them from the Egyptian army. I don’t know about you…but, when I reflect back on my life, I can testify that God has protected me SO many times. I did absolutely nothing to deserve His covering of grace, but I want people to know that His protection is available for them too, because God longs for all of His creation to return Home to Him for eternity.

Psalm 74:12-17 (NLT)
A psalm of Asaph.

12 You, O God, are my king from ages past,
bringing salvation to the earth.

13 You split the sea by your strength
and smashed the heads of the sea monsters.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and let the desert animals eat him.

15 You caused the springs and streams to gush forth,
and you dried up rivers that never run dry.

16 Both day and night belong to you;
you made the starlight and the sun.

17 You set the boundaries of the earth,
and you made both summer and winter.

In studying Godly wisdom, I found that “this invaluable virtue is deep, immeasurable, priceless, and rare”. So, how do we gain more of God’s wisdom? Well, James tells us that “if you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” (1:5) In other words, we must be praying for wisdom all of the time. Paul tells us in today’s passage that human wisdom is foolish, and God’s wisdom is what will save us as believers. Through our salvation Christ has been made wisdom for us, and thus, we must call on His wisdom to guide us ALL of the time!

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (NLT)

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, there are no human words sufficient enough to thank You for grafting me into Your vast creation. Thank You for forgiving me when I have dismissed that tremendous gift. Please cover and guide me with Your wisdom each day. Earthly or human wisdom is no longer attractive to me. I want to keep growing with You, Jesus, and understanding more of Your Truth as uncovered by Your wisdom within me. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Intro: During this Lenten season, every devotional will begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis (author and theologian), followed by two readings: 1) A passage from the Psalter and 2) a writing from one of the Old Testament prophets or New Testament authors. We will look at both passages as a whole through the fulfilling work and wisdom of Christ—Truth.

God is calling us to replace our discouragement and sins of the past with His abiding and eternal love.

“What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring.”
(C.S. Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress)

Today’s psalm comes from the sons of Korah. Jealousy had led Korah to start a rebellion with 250 community leaders against his cousins, Moses and Aaron. God judged Korah and his leaders and they all died when “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.” (Numbers 16:32) By God’s mercy, the sons of Korah did not die and thus we can begin to understand their great reverence for God. We can also understand the pain from their past, but God does not want that pain to bring them discouragement; rather, God wants them to learn from that pain so that they may move forward in serving Him and growing His Kingdom. God wants to love each of us into wholeness. Our past is merely a tool for God to use for our good and for the good of others. He can only do that as we grow up in our faith and call on the Holy Spirit to bring us Godly wisdom and overshadow our soul; our minds need to think like Jesus, our will needs to be in alignment with Jesus’s will, and our emotions need to be rooted in Jesus’s Truth so that they are bathed with His love.

Psalm 42:1-8 (NLT)
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.

2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?

3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”

4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!

5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.

7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.

In today’s psalm, we know that God’s mercy and love saved the sons of Korah. That same merciful and loving God sent His only Son, Jesus, to save you and me and “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus lovingly laid down His life so that you and me would be forgiven of our sins; as a result of that pure love, we have the opportunity through our salvation to abide in God and His love, as He abides in us and eternally loves us. John makes sure, in today’s passage, as he does in most of his writings, to express that God is love, and when we invite Jesus, Who is love, into our lives, then and only then can the Holy Spirit guide us to experience true and everlasting love.

1 John 4:7-16 (NLT)
Loving One Another

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for laying down Your life to save mine. That sacrificial act of pure love is the greatest gift. Help me, Lord Jesus, to be more like You. I want a heart that loves like Your heart. Forgive me for my sins, please use those places of sin that have once been a great discouragement for good and to further grow Your Kingdom. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Today, we are looking at eight of the seventy-two verses from psalm 78, which is the second longest psalm next to psalm 119. Four of the verses are from the first half of the psalm and the next four verses are from the second half.

Israel’s past is presented within psalm 78 as a lesson for the present generation, and so the next generations to come will set their hope in God and not forget His glorious miracles for their ancestors and obey His commands (v. 7). The generations to come need to learn from Israel’s stubbornness, rebellion, unfaithfulness, and refusal to give their hearts to God (v. 8).

You and I can look back and clearly see how God rescued the Israelites, His people, from slavery in Egypt and how He led them safely through the wilderness. Miracle after miracle was being displayed for God’s people so He could lead them home. God remained faithful, even when His people lacked faith in Him.

God remains unchanged and faithful to you and me, His people. He wants us to be transformed by our salvation in Christ and to grow more and more faithful each day. Many times, you and I find ourselves within the wilderness, and as Pastor Mary explained during yesterday’s sermon, “each one of us will find ourselves suffering in some way for our commitment to Christ, because God is wanting to bring transformation of His glory through our suffering.” She went on to explain that some of us will receive the transformative work of God and others will not. I don’t know about you, but I want to be transformed by the Holy Spirit each day and for my heart to be growing more and more like Jesus’s heart. I pray all of the time that until God leads me Home, that my heart will never harden and that I will remain faithful to Jesus.

Psalm 78:17-20, 52-55 NLT

17 Yet they kept on sinning against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18 They stubbornly tested God in their hearts,
demanding the foods they craved.

19 They even spoke against God himself, saying,
“God can’t give us food in the wilderness.

20 Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,

52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
guiding them safely through the wilderness.

53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.

54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this land of hills he had won for them.

55 He drove out the nations before them;
he gave them their inheritance by lot.
He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for remaining unchanged and faithful to me. Help me to grow in my faith each and everyday, and allow my heart to be more and more like Your heart. Please use all of my suffering to transform me so that you can use it for the good of Your Kingdom. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

As followers of Christ, we should have a radically different perspective of how we handle suffering than how nonbelievers handle suffering. In today’s passage, James urges us to consider each moment of suffering as an opportunity for great joy.

I know that it sounds odd, to be joyful in the midst of suffering; but, as Christ followers, you and I have something that nonbelievers do not have, and that is Jesus. When our faith is firmly rooted in Jesus, Whom we know is sovereign over every fiber of our being and aspect of our life, then by our faith we should trust in Him and His purpose, plan, and provision for each moment, which includes moments of suffering. Remember, God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Friends, our faith should be growing daily. How? Well, we should be in the Word of God all of the time and praying for His wisdom to grow us closer to Him and away from this dark world. During yesterday’s sermon, Pastor Mary spoke about a call to obedience. You and I cannot be people who are divided in our loyalty. We need to make a choice, we either choose God or we choose this world. Once we choose God, and in order for our faith to grow, we cannot simply just attend a Sunday service once a week and expect that when a storm of suffering comes our way that our roots of Truth are deep enough to not only withstand the pressure of the storm, but to be joyful in the midst of it. The only way that we can stand joyful and endure the pressure of a storm is if we are standing loyal and obedient to God and against the ways of this world in our faith, at all times, then we get a chance to continue to grow with Jesus.

James 1:2-8 NLT
Faith and Endurance

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for being our source of joy. Help us to continue to grow in our faith with You so that we can endure through the toughest storms until we cross over to be with You in eternity. Keep us rooted in Your Word each day and help us to fixate our spiritual eyes on You, Jesus. We ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Today we are looking at the entire chapter of Philemon, which is a 25-verse letter from Paul to Philemon. This small book is packed full with lessons of Christ’s kindness, forgiveness, redemption, favor, grace, and love. It does not matter which person you look at within this situation, you can see Jesus through their faithful and changing hearts.

So, Paul wrote this letter to his beloved friend, Philemon, while he was still imprisoned in Rome. We see how much Paul loves his friend and brother in Christ, through the prayer of thanksgiving that he offers to the Lord for him. It’s believed that Paul had led Philemon to faith in Christ during one of his visits to Asia Minor and he stayed at his home. Paul knows that Philemon and his family pray for his ministry, as well as they have their own ministry by hosting a church in their home. 

Paul is with Onesimus, who was a runaway slave of Philemon, and he has Onesimus deliver this letter to Philemon. All of us today can agree that slavery is absolutely horrific. Now Philemon, who was a slave owner, is being asked by Paul to accept Onesimus, his fugitive slave, back but now as a partner in Christ (or as he would accept Paul) because his heart has been changed through salvation in Christ.

Friends, Paul is helping us to see that we need to forgive, and not just on the surface and hold onto a grudge, but sacrificial forgiveness like Christ did and does for us. We also need to let go of the past, because we are no longer a slave to it, we are fully redeemed and free by our salvation in Christ. Finally, we need to be praying for our growing and changing hearts and praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If there is a brother or sister that bother, you…great…pray for your heart to grow and change and pray for that brother or sister. Paul is very clear in this letter that Philemon and Onesimus are equal in Christ. We need to stop thinking that we are better than one another, that is sinful, as we are all one body in Christ. 

Philemon (NLT)

Greetings from Paul

 

¹ This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker, ² and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house.

³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

 

⁴ I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, ⁵ because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. ⁶ And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. ⁷ Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.

Paul’s Appeal for Onesimus

 

⁸ That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do. ⁹ But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.

¹⁰ I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison. ¹¹ Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us. ¹² I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

¹³ I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf. ¹⁴ But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced. ¹⁵ It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever. ¹⁶ He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹ I, PAUL, WRITE THIS WITH MY OWN HAND: I WILL REPAY IT. AND I WON’T MENTION THAT YOU OWE ME YOUR VERY SOUL!

²⁰ Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.

²¹ I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more! ²² One more thing—please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon.

Paul’s Final Greetings                                  

 

²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. ²⁴ So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.

²⁵ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Prayer: Jesus, I cannot thank You enough for saving me. Lord, please quicken my heart with forgiveness. I want to be forgiven and thus I need to forgive. If there is someone I need to forgive, please help me to do it. I am no longer a salve, I am free in You, and You offered me forgiveness and I want to completely forgive others. I ask all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.

Today we are reflecting on a section of Psalm 27. In the beginning of the Psalm, King David states his confidence in the Lord. Yet, around verse 9, we begin to see that although he is committed to God by faith, he is still human and is struggling with fear. David is pleading with God for His protection.

You and I need Jesus with every breath that we take. When life is moving along smoothly, and things seem just fine, in an instance, what seemed to be perfect can be turned upside down and become a complete disaster.

So, what do we do? Well, David tells us in verse 14 to “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” We see throughout the Old Testament, within Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, Lamentations, and Isaiah where we are instructed to “wait” and to be “patient” for the Lord. Waiting for the Lord within the Old Testament isn’t just about waiting on the coming (birth or return) of Jesus the Messiah, it is also about waiting for God’s timing. God has and is being patient with us, remember, we had to choose our salvation in Christ, which took time. So, it is completely wrong for us to be impatient with God? Especially, when we consider that He is all knowing, that He knows what is best for us, that He loves us more than anyone could ever love us, and that His timing is always right and it is not our timing. Peter tells us, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

We may not have God’s individual plan for our lives “written out on paper”, but we do have the Holy Spirit, which is willing to guide our hearts along that plan that God has for us. We need to cry out to the Spirit and ask for the impartation of Jesus’s strength so that we can be brave and courageous during our times of waiting. We have to ask for Jesus’s peace so that we can be patient in our times of waiting. We need to ask for Jesus’s wisdom so that we can learn from His Word. We need to ask for guidance so that we can ensure that we are following God’s path and not a path laid out by anyone else.

Psalm 27:7-14 NLT

7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!

8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

9 Do not turn your back on me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
O God of my salvation!

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close.

11 Teach me how to live, O Lord.
Lead me along the right path,
for my enemies are waiting for me.

12 Do not let me fall into their hands.
For they accuse me of things I’ve never done;
with every breath they threaten me with violence.

13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I am here in the land of the living.

14 Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for Your patience with me. Please forgive me for my impatience at times and for wanting to jump ahead or off of the plan that You have for me. Help me, Jesus, to trust in You and Your plan for my life. Cover and fill my soul with Your Holy Spirit so that I can understand that I am merely a part of Your vast plan. I am humbled to be included and thank You. Strengthen my faith, fill me with Your peace, and guide me with Your wisdom so that I can remain steadfast with You on this path. I ask all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.