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Psalm 123 A Prayer for Mercy
A song of the stairway
1 
O God-Enthroned in heaven, I lift my eyes toward you in worship.
2 
The way I love you
is like the way a servant wants to please his master,
the way a maid waits for the orders of her mistress.
We look to you, our God, with passionate longing
to please you and discover more of your mercy and grace.
3–4 
For we’ve had more than our fill of this scoffing and scorn—
this mistreatment by the wealthy elite.
Lord, show us your mercy!
Lord, show us your grace!

The psalmist declares his intention to seek the Lord instead of allowing the surrounding circumstances to rule him. When believers are afflicted we turn to the Lord; we know he is our Source of help. It can be tempting to obsess about some things that distress us, but we should not linger there. It is spiritually, emotionally, and physical unhealthy to do so. The world is not a source of mercy, but heaven is rich with it. Let’s remember the grace of God provides all we need. Some days we will witness and experience more than our fill of nastiness and wickedness while in this world. So, when we are opposed and ridiculed for our passion and devotion to the Lord, we must ask for and wait for God’s mercy and grace that is more than sufficient to care for us.

Prayer: Lord, I remain devoted and submissive to you and your will for my life. May I always turn to you for the mercy and grace I need to remain strong. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Matthew 24:29-35 TPT
In our passage today, Jesus has been sharing with his disciples the truth about the timing of his return. He explains before his return, the world will face deception, wars, and threats of wars, as well as nations at war. There will be famines, earthquakes in many parts of the world. Believers will be hated, betrayed, and sin will be running rampant everywhere. False messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders that add to the deception; even many of God’s chosen ones will believe the lies. Jesus tells his disciples, “See, I have warned you about this ahead of time” (Mat 24:25).

The Appearing of the Son of Man
29 “Then immediately this is what will take place: ‘The sun will be darkened and the moon give no light. The stars will fall from the sky and all the cosmic powers will be shaken.’[a new order/new glory] 30 Then the sign announcing the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn over him. And they will see the Son of Man appearing in the clouds of heaven, revealed with mighty power,[warriors] great splendor, and glory. 31 And he will send his messengers with the loud blast of the trumpet, [universal announcement] and with a great voice [shout] they will gather his beloved chosen ones by the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other!”

According to the Word of God and the writings of the prophets, some of these persecutions written about in Matthew 24, know as the Olivet Discourse, have already come to pass, but there are still some events yet to take place. Now is the time for people to turn their hearts toward Christ, because soon we will witness the unmistakable return of our loving Messiah. Believers will rejoice as they are gathered and unbelievers will mourn because of their choice to reject the salvation offered, as well as the commands of the Son of Man—Messiah.

Prayer: Lord, as we wait for your return, please help us, as your children, to live true to your commands. As well, Lord, help us to draw more people toward your heart by how we live. We know you do not want anyone to perish. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nehemiah 8:1-3
1 all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey.

2 So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. 3 He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.

If you are unfamiliar with the Book of Nehemiah, I will take just a minute to refresh your memory as I am sure you have heard a bit about this industrious man. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem—the homeland of his ancestors. He finds broken walls needing repair and broken lives needing the healing Word of the LORD; the people have lost their security and spiritual way. Nehemiah starts his work by rallying the people to unite in order to rebuild the walls. He faces a great deal of opposition during this time of building, but through prayer, perseverance, and sacrifice he keeps the project moving forward for the glory of God. When the walls are rebuilt, Nehemiah gathers the people—men, women, and children—to listen once again to the Book of the Law being read by the priests in order to heal their lives and give them the proper vision for a future in Yahweh’s care.

Believers are called to build God’s Kingdom. Like Nehemiah, if we are determined to build something for God’s glory, we will face opposition and difficulties. We should not be surprised by conflicts or challenges. Instead, we should realize great victories rarely come without troubles. The Word of God keeps us moving with the right vision. In Nehemiah’s many prayers, he confesses the need for God’s help, places the results in God’s hands, reveals trust in God for his own well-being, entrusts justice to God when he is treated wickedly, and sets his motives before the Lord by asking God to take away his temptation to seek revenge. In our world, we can be builders or destroyers. If we are going to continue building God’s righteous Kingdom, we must faithfully pray like our brother, Nehemiah and trust God with the results.

Prayer: Lord, we confess we need your help as we continue to build your Kingdom in this world. We place all things in your hands and we trust you to keep us in your perfect shalom—peace. Justice is yours, so when we are mistreated by others, we will rest in you. Please put a watch over our minds, wills, and emotions; keep our motives right before your holy presence. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Psalm 78:1-8
1
O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2
for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3
stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
5
For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6
so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
7
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8
Then they will not be like their ancestors—
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.

In our passage today, the psalmist reminds us we must incline our hearts toward God; to place our hope anew in his faithfulness to lead us in the paths of righteousness—right loving and living according to his Word. If we do not keep our focus on the heart and commands of Yahweh—the LORD—not only will we forget the wonderful things he has done for his people in the past we will neglect to surrender our lives to the work of the LORD who alone can make us holy. As believers, we do not live for the pleasure of our flesh or this world; instead, we live for the exaltation of our righteous Messiah.

Pleasing the flesh of people and the demands of culture is not God’s vision for unity; rather, God’s vision for unity is that we would all be made in the righteous likeness of Christ. God’s Word teaches us Israel’s first king, Saul, erred by pleasing the people rather than the LORD. This disobedience brought deception and set Saul up to be rejected by God. May we read the Word of God and take in the Truth in Jesus’ name.

Prayer: Lord, I set my hopes anew upon you. My ears are open to the Truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Matthew 15:1-9 Jesus Breaks Religious Traditions
1Then the Pharisees and religious scholars came from Jerusalem and approached Jesus with this question: 2 “Why do your disciples ignore the traditions of our elders? For example, they don’t ceremonially wash their hands before they eat bread.”
3 Jesus answered, “And why do you ignore the commandment of God because of your traditions? 4 For didn’t God say, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever abuses or insults his father or mother must be put to death?’
5 “But you teach that it’s permissible to say to your parents when they are in financial need, ‘Whatever gift you would have received from me I can keep for myself, since I dedicated it as an offering to God.’ 6 This doesn’t honor your father or mother. And you have elevated your tradition above the words of God. 7 Frauds and hypocrites! Isaiah described you perfectly when he said:
8 
These people honor me only with their words,
    for their hearts are so very distant from me.
9 
They pretend to worship me,
    but their worship is nothing more
    than the empty traditions of men.”

Good hygiene is necessary for keeping us healthy. We have learned how to wash our hands well during 2020 haven’t we? However, good hygiene is not what the Pharisees and religious scholars are concerned about as they approach Jesus and point to his disciples’ sin—not performing ceremonial hand-washing. These religious folks are simply offended that Jesus does not enforce the traditions of men the way he exalts the commands of God. Jesus knows their hearts, so he answers their question with an accusation and confronts them with the Truth.

Religion does not clean us up before God, friends. Only Jesus can do the job of making us clean and give us access to the Father. We know we have fellowship with God when we love and deeply care for one another. The Pharisees and religious scholars had found a way around God’s command to honor their parents. For example, if these religious folks declared all their goods or money was a gift from God and dedicated to God, then basically there were no resources available left to help their parents. Sounds like they were loving God with all they had, but what about loving their neighbors—their parents as God commanded? In their traditions there is an appearance of being near to God, but in actuality they failed to demonstrate God’s revealed Word of love. We will always find ourselves in trouble if we try to exalt empty traditions or our selfish and worldly ways above the commands of God.

Prayer: Lord, you created humanity to worship you, but deception has tried to cover the Truth. May we, as your children, stop pretending to worship you and begin to live extravagantly in the covenant of grace that calls us to love and care for one another. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amos 2:4-5 The Message
4-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Judah
    —make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They rejected God’s revelation,
    refused to keep my commands.
But they swallowed the same old lies
    that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads.
For that, I’m burning down Judah,
    burning down all the forts of Jerusalem.”

God calls the prophet Amos and uses him to warn six gentile nations to stop their sin and wickedness; judgment will be coming. Following these warnings, God turns his attention to Judah. The same judgment that God will pour out on the rebellious gentile nations, he will also pour out on his beloved Judah because they have abandon their covenant with Yahweh.

Sometimes church people think only unbelievers will experience the judgment of God, but that is not necessarily true. We must live according to the commands of God, because that is how we identify ourselves as believers, faithful followers, and lovers or our Messiah—the Christ. The enemy always tries to get God’s people to reject the Truth of his Word; however, when we listen to his lies we set ourselves up as standing against the Lord. May we welcome God to “burn down” anything in our lives that is not of him. God requires obedience to his commands, so let’s welcome the Spirit of Truth.

Prayer: Lord, your message is clear for your spiritual family. Help all your children live in obedience to your commands and Word. Cause us to run from the lies of the enemy, because he seeks to rob us from enjoying your blessings. Holy are you, Lord! Please make us holy, too! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Joshua 10:12-14
12-13 The Lord was helping the Israelites defeat the Amorites that day. So about noon, Joshua prayed to the Lord loud enough for the Israelites to hear:
“Our Lord, make the sun stop
in the sky over Gibeon,
and the moon stand still
over Aijalon Valley.”
So the sun and the moon
stopped and stood still
until Israel defeated its enemies.
This poem can be found in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still and didn’t go down for about a whole day.

14 Never before and never since has the Lord done anything like that for someone who prayed. The Lord was really fighting for Israel.

Since crossing over the Jordan, God has been partnering with Israel to defeat her spiritual enemies. A confederation of five Canaanite kings and their armies are coming to make war against the Israelites. They have heard about Israel’s God who brings freedom, as well as fights for them and delivers them. In partnership with the Lord, Israel will face and fight this Canaanite rebellion against Yahweh and His ways. The Lord commands Joshua, “Fear not!” And then God gives Joshua a promise, “I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.” So, Joshua responds with faith and calls his men to march all night (20 miles) towards Gibeon; the location of the spiritual battle. God causes the enemy to retreat away from Israel and He sends a hailstorm from heaven that rains upon the enemy and destroys many of them. Joshua wants to fight for the Lord, so he continues in faith.

The Canaanites worshiped pagan gods associated with nature. When God begins to destroy evil with the hailstorm, Joshua is so filled with gratitude and love for the Lord—the commander of heaven’s armies—he prays a very bold prayer. He asks God to make the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon over Aijalon, so Israel can accomplish a complete victory against the sin, wickedness, and demonic spirits that have been ruling the Canaanites. God answers Joshua’s courageous prayer. No one really knows how God caused the sun and moon to remain still in the sky, but it did. Maybe it was an eclipse; definitely it was a miracle God used to provide time. Everyone looked up and no one missed the message that Gibeon would now be under the command of Almighty God—Yahweh—the Lord of heaven and earth!

Prayer: Lord, you are the God of all miracles and we come and bow before you today. You love us and care for us. You do not tolerate evil; you never will. We, too, should be intolerant of the evil that tries to rob us; the work of evil to dishonor your leadership in our lives and in your world. Help us to have the faith of Joshua and to pray boldly to partner with you in taking down the sin in our lives, as well as the wickedness and demonic spirits that occupy this land. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Joshua 6:1-5 The Fall of Jericho
6 Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. 2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. 3 You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. 4 Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. 5 When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”

In this passage, God’s method of warfare is very different from how typical military intelligence would come against the fortified city of Jericho! It is obvious to us that Israel would have to totally depend upon and trust God for the victory. Can you imagine being Joshua, a military strategist and leader, telling his leadership team and the nation of Israel their “marching orders?” I imagine it messed with their heads, because it would mess with ours. God’s ways are not our ways and we have to accept it. However, a constant remains for Joshua and for us today: our focus must be on the Lord (the Ark of salvation) if we are going to gain spiritual victories.

The Lord told Joshua right up front that He had already given Israel the victory, but Joshua still had to obediently walk through the process with God’s people. That is our message for today. God has promised us the victory over our spiritual enemies; He is doing battle on our behalf. Our part is to follow the lead of our Lord—to be in sync with His instructions. God did not need the Israelites to take down the walls of Jericho, but he wanted to reveal His power and manifest His promise to love Israel. This lesson is about laying hold of a true relationship with God; for Israel and for all of us as believers.

Prayer: Lord, today is a very important election day for the United States. We face many spiritual enemies that have come against the form of government you put into place, as well as your Wisdom for legislation, so we humbly bow to your lead. As you did with Joshua, please go before us Lord. Our focus is upon you and your will for this country. Our country is spiritually sick because we have rebelled against your Word and righteous commands of love. Therefore, we must repent. Holy Spirit, please draw us into repentance. We pray for an elected commander-in-chief to take office who will obediently bow to your authority. We pray for elected representatives and senators to take office who will also obediently bow to your authority. We stand against the spiritual enemies of division and we call for a wave of humility and collaboration to overtake our leaders. We pray for the people of this land to bow and honor your righteous rule. This election is a test and will reveal the spiritual future of this country. Bring revival to this land, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Joshua 4:1-6 Memorials to the Jordan Crossing
1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

In our passage today, these stones that made up the memorial would remind the children of Israel that their God was a miracle-working God to whom nothing was impossible. Stones represent Truth and the people would need to remember the true power of God working in their behalf. God was with them, but it did not mean an easy life. For Israel, the Promised Land would require a great deal of trust, because it would also be a place of spiritual battle. God’s people would need to remember the truth of His love, trust He was with them and opening up opportunities for growth, and have faith that beyond the challenge they would find the promised blessing. We, too, must allow God to conquer our spiritual enemies within before we can lay hold of His many blessings. Don’t allow yourself to forget the great things God has done in your life to make you more like Christ.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for helping me spiritually cross the Jordan River to be led by your Spirit. I will remember you as Truth; you are my Cornerstone. As well, I will remember the many great things you have done in my life to bring me closer to my Father. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Matthew 23:23-24
23 “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 24 You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with minuscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]!

Relationships are absolutely key to a fruitful spiritual life. In order to honor God’s precepts or commands, we need a vibrant and growing relationship with the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. This is how we can love and obey God with our whole heart, soul, and mind (Mat. 22:37). Loving God in a proper way is the only way we can turn to love our “neighbors” which is also a part of God’s precepts or commands we must honor. We need to cultivate our relationships with family, friends, and extend compassion to everyone else including those with whom we would rather not (because we don’t like them!)

I frequently remind people it is easy to love those who agree with you and never unsettle or mistreat you. Yet, you don’t need a “heap of amazing grace” for the easy relationships. The times we need a miraculous “heap of amazing grace” is when we find ourselves cornered, disliked, maligned, condemned, etc., because God says we have only loved others the way he loves us when we offer justice to the unjust, mercy to the unmerciful, and faithfulness to the unfaithful.

God expects his children—believers who are being made in his image—to reflect his character in relationships. We should be especially kind and compassionate to other believers. So, the next time someone treats you unjustly, remember you must live righteously with God, neighbors, as well as natural creation. When someone refuses to extend you mercy, remember God spilled his mercy and compassion over you even when you rejected him. And, faithfulness is all about adhering to the truth of God’s love. Every day we would be wise to pray and welcome God into every moment, because sure enough at some point you will need that miraculous “heap of amazing grace” in order to reflect the character of our Father to someone else. If we fail to extend justice, mercy, and faithfulness to others, we have ignored and violated God’s precepts and commands.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes the people who think they are the most righteous are really the most unkind. Please help me to be an example of the justice, mercy, and faithfulness you always extend to me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.