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Psalm 19

02 Oct

Psalm 19

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.

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right,
    bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
    giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
    lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
    each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
    even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
    even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
    a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
    Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
    and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Dear God, so verses 8-11 are the psalm for the day for the Catholic church. I don’t normally pay attention to the psalm of the day too much, but they caught my eye today. Seeing the stuff about your laws I immediately wondered if they were from Psalm 119. Then I saw they were actually from Psalm 19, which David wrote.

I just stopped to read this psalm out loud, and it was, frankly, beautiful. The poetry is beautiful. The way he runs the theme “this gives this” in verses 7-11 is artful. The description of your glory through describing the audible silence of your creation in verses 1-6 moved me. And the idea of not sinning intentionally so I can have a clear heart and cleansing me of my hidden sins hit home. David had some game when it came to poetry and psalm writing. I wonder what his poetry scroll looked like. I can’t imagine how many were never published.

I guess I need to talk about this really quick. I had a dream last night about which I can’t remember the details, but I know at one point someone was trying to sell me a pill that would cause me to hate. They were literally selling hate and they told me I’d love it. Appalled, I woke up soon after that and as I thought about it I wondered if that isn’t what I’m sold by a lot of media and politicians every day. It might not be in pill form, but it’s right there. So many people want me to hate something or someone. And then they want me to stew on that hate so I will become addicted to it. And hate is addictive. It makes you feel so good and superior in the moment, but like a drug it leaves you feeling empty afterward. And you feel a little guilty about having hated, just like you feel a little guilty about having done the drug. So you go to the first thing you can think of. No, it’s not repentance and creating a clean heart with me. It’s to hate again. To stoke the fire. The fire drowns out the guilt, just like the drug does. And then the cycle repeats.

Father, I guess this does tie back to this psalm. The sins I commit intentionally and the unknown sins that are cluttering my heart must be stopped. I must love my neighbor. I must worship you. I must love my enemies. I must care as much or more about them as I do my own family and friends. I’ll confess that I am overwhelmed and tired right now. It’s been a hectic few weeks, and I don’t see a break on the horizon. Help me, Father, to get my feet under me, worship you and love others, keep sin far from me through being so busy worshipping you and loving others that I don’t have time to purposely or accidentally sin, and then accomplish exactly what you need me to accomplish. Do it all through me, but not for me. Do it for you and your glory, not mine. May I decrease and you increase.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 51

29 Mar

Psalm 51

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
    with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
    Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Dear God, it’s so remarkable we have any of this. That David’s sin was known, recorded, and then maintained in a way that I would know about it today. That David was confronted and humiliated by Nathan. And then to not only know that he repented of his sin, but that his repentance, at least in part, is recorded in this psalm. He was not only broken, but he vulnerably shared his brokenness with the world at the time and the world for all time. They took this repentant psalm, labeled it for exactly what it was, and then gave it to the Israelites to use when they had their own repentance to do. Like I said, it’s remarkable.

I guess the two questions I have this morning are, 1.) how good am I at truly searching my heart and repenting and 2.) how willing am I to publicly repent and give others not only an example of a flawed fellow sojourner but also an example of what to do about it?

Scale of 1-10, I would say I’m about a 5 on searching my soul and heart, discerning the sin in my life, and then repenting. One thing I’ll say about the “reconciliation” (i.e., confession) in Catholicism is that it makes you think about it, name it, and then claim it out loud to another person. I don’t believe it is something that has to be done for absolution from you, but I can see the value in it. As for my “Baptist” way of doing it, it can awfully easy to take the light approach and just think of something, tell you I’m sorry about that, and then not think of it anymore.

Regarding sharing my sin with others, I would say it depends on the sin. If it’s something that I’m really ashamed of, I just keep those between you and me. But should I? Should I be more open about sharing all of me with others? For my sake as well as theirs.

Father, as I search my heart and soul this morning, I can feel the sin of self-pity that I’ve given a special space in my heart to occupy. I also feel the sin of selfishness and lethargy. The sin of unintentionality. I am too unintentional about some of my activities, and that leads to slothfulness. I’d love to say I’m just doing “Sabbath” when I’m being slothful, but that’s not really what I’m doing. I’m just being selfish. I will claim some victory over some temptations I’ve had recently that you enabled me to withstand. But there are others that I’ve jumped right into. Undue anger. Judgment of others. Slander. I am sorry. I am really sorry. Help me to be intentional today about Sabbath, worship, loving others, and the work you’ve given me to do, even in my rest.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Collect for Mass of the Day – March 28, 2025

28 Mar

Pour your grace into our
Hearts, we pray, O Lord,
That we may be constantly
Drawn away from unruly
Desires
And obey by your own gift
The heavenly teaching
You give us.

Collect for Mass of the Day – March 28, 2025

Dear God, I decided to start with Sister Miriam’s reading from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation instead of just starting with the text presented and going off on my own from there. I liked this paragraph from her commentary today. When speaking of “unruly desires,” she said:

We commonly get stuck at the level of “disordered desire,” and as we mentioned earlier, we try to manage that desire or the sin without exploring with the Lord the deeper roots. Christianity is not about sin management or mere behavior modification but rather a complete transformation unto glory. Christ came to help us with these places and to heal our sin and division. He came to bring us into his own divine life.

I had a relative text me a couple of days ago about their 44th anniversary of sobriety from alcohol. I think he would say that his addiction and addressing it a process of addressing some of the things in his life or psyche that he was numbing with the alcohol.

So how do I numb myself from pain, insecurity, or fear? Do I lash out in anger towards others? Do I create noise around me that keeps my mind from being still and feeling the “feels” that are tormenting me? Honestly, these prayer times with you are some of the few moments of the day that I allow for quiet and self-reflection.

Father, yes, I have disordered desires. Help me to address them. It’s not just a matter of repenting for them. It’s also a matter of bringing them to Jesus with the Holy Spirit and seeking the healing he offers from the life he lived, the death he suffered, and then his resurrection. Now, he stands there ready to love on me, comfort me, and heal me. Holy Spirit, walk with me today and show me moment to moment how to experience this healing.

I pray this to the Father in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 119:133

26 Mar

133 Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalm 119:133

Dear God, the last part of this one verse is so powerful. My iniquities and their influence over my life is a concept that overwhelms and humbles me. How many of the frustrations I’m experiencing now are a result of my iniquities? My sins?

It doesn’t say that David wrote this psalm, but my first thought goes to David and how his dalliance with Bathsheba (rape?) and then murder of Uriah seems to be the touchstone for his family problems later. That iniquity, though repented of in Psalm 51, seemed to have dominion over the rest of his life and even flowed into history. Amnon was the rightful heir to the throne, but Absalom killed him, led a revolt that ultimately led to his death. And Solomon would never have existed if not for David’s relationship with Bathsheba.

So, what can I pray for this morning? Well, somehow, Solomon was the pathway to Jesus through lineage. There was redemption for this somewhere down the line. Can you somehow use the ripples of the sins I’ve committed to do something positive in this world? Can you protect me from my iniquities and keep them from having dominion over me?

Father, I want to be at peace with the sorrows in my life. I can see where I made mistakes that played a role in my current sorrows, but I still don’t know how I ended up in them to the level I’m at. And it hurts. I hurt. So please be in these situations. Don’t let my mistakes and sins (sometimes mistakes aren’t sins) have dominion over me, the ones I love, or the plans you have for us. Help me to know the path forward, which starts with my very next step.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Collect for Mass of the Day – March 17, 2025

17 Mar

O God, who have taught us to chasten our bodies for the healing of our souls, enable us, we pray, to abstain from all sins, and strengthen our hearts to carry out your loving commands.

Collect for the Mass of the Day – March 17, 2025

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning I thought of the Serenity Prayer from AA: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” In the case of the Collect, it is talking about disciplining ourselves under your “loving commands” so that our souls can be healed and our hearts strengthened. And I know this is true. When I am able to discipline myself to avoid sin and pursue you, the peace that passes understanding almost always follows. But when I allow sin and the shame that comes with it to enter into the picture it is hard.

I talked to someone a few years ago who tried another approach. He rejected you because he saw you as the rule maker and, therefore, the source of his guilt. If he got rid of you then he was able to get rid of the guilt he felt. I don’t know how or if that is still working for him, but it’s something that has always stuck with me as a unique solution to the problem of guilt. I pray for him this morning that he might be at peace and find that peace in you.

Sister Miriam kind of describes this guilt/peace situation in part of her commentary in today’s entry from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation when she says, “We see this in Genesis with Adam and Eve, before and after the Fall and the entrance of original sin. Before the rupture of sin, Adam and Eve experienced wholeness, communion, and integration of themselves with God, within themselves, with each other, and with creation. After the rupture of sin, this turning away from love, they experienced the disintegration of every aspect of their being.”

Father, I want to be fully integrated with you. Help me to be that today. Help me to “abstain from all sins,” and “carry about your loving commands” so that my soul might be healed and my heart strengthened in your service.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 17, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 51

13 Mar

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Dear God, as I think of David’s state of mine while he wrote this poem, this psalm after Nathan’s confrontation, I think of the devastation he felt. How unique it is to get this kind of a view of the heart of a man when he is confronted with his grievous sin: murder, adultery, rape?, lies, secrets, manipulation, corrupting others (Joab, messengers, etc.). And not only did David write this down before you, but he shared it. The part of the poem that says, “13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you,” really touches me because this is him saying that he and his pride are at your mercy. If it takes humiliating himself to achieve your forgiveness, he’ll do it. He didn’t want this pain to be wasted. He knew it was too late to rectify what he had done to Uriah, Bathsheba, Joab, the messengers, and even Nathan. They were forever damaged. He could apologize privately, but to do this publicly and show his remorse publicly like this was a huge step.

The downside is that there was no stopping him losing the moral high ground with his children. When his eldest son Amnon rapes his daughter, Tamar, David has nothing to say. When Absalom kills Amnon in revenge, David has nothing to do but exile Absalom. Then Solomon grew up knowing how David treated his mother and her first husband before he was born, and that likely impacted his view of women. The repentance was good, but there was still unfixable damage.

Sister Miriam in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verses 10 and 12 today. It’s interesting because she takes those and then focuses on how your covenant with us is unbreakable by you. And that’s all good and well. And I’m grateful that you love me through Jesus life, death, blood, and resurrection. Without that, I’m not sure what my life would even be about. Why I would even be here. Without my relationship with you, I would have no reason to do anything for anyone else. Why love my neighbor when that is a waste of the years I have here on earth. Without you, then my life should be all about me and my happiness.

Father, oh how grateful I am that I do have you! Being part of you and having you in me makes it okay that I’m so small. It makes it good to give others around me as much love as I can. “I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King in what you hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.” (Shout out Laurie Klein for her song.)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 13, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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1 Corinthians 10:12-13

18 Jan

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Dear God, I was talking with my wife last night about this generation and how the perspectives of a 20-year-old now seem so different that how a 20-year-old would have seen the world 20 years ago. But then, hasn’t that been true with every generation? Rounding off to even numbers, I am sure a 20-year-old in 2020 sees the world very differently and has a much different philosophy of life than did a 20-year-old in 2000. The same would be true for the 20-year-old in 1980, 1960, 1940, 1920, and 1900. The 20-year old in 1960 saw the world much differently than did the 20-year-old in 1940.

So, while I might want to scoff at Paul’s comment that the temptations we experience are no different than the temptations others have experienced, the truth is, they all have the same root. The temptation delivery system might be different. Porn, alcohol, and illicit drugs might be more accessible now, but there is also much less privacy and it’s harder to hide our bad actions. It still comes down to the fact that we allow selfishness, self-gratification, and a need to escape reality to take us away from you and from the life you intended us to have.

Back in September, I made a list of the things that I need to do, as a minimum, to maintain my relationship with you. Here is what I came up with:

  • The prayer journals. Spending 15-30 minutes a day in a concentrated time of prayer like this has become a “have to” for me. And it didn’t used to be that way. A year ago I would have said that I need to do it 4-5 times a week. But since Lent I haven’t missed a day because I know I need this time meditating on you, listening to your Holy Spirit, and learning from the bazaar thing you left us called Scripture.
  • Giving. Ten percent of our gross is a minimum. Not that we are giving away even 20%, but we try to be generous when we see needs arise. Giving 10% is a floor.
  • Intentional time in conversation with my wife at least once a day is a floor. If we are available around each other at a meal, we each make it a priority to sit with each other, even if one of us isn’t eating at the time.
  • At least one sermon/Bible teaching a week. I need to hear someone else I trust teaching me the Bible in a way I wouldn’t see on my own (this homily is a perfect example of that).
  • Communication and contact with at least one of the two male friends I have. It doesn’t even have to be a conversation, but I need to touch their lives in some way–even if it is to text about sports.
  • Avoiding sexual temptation/lust. This has to be a floor. When you look at the lists of sins Jesus and Paul talk about, it’s always on there. I must do this.
  • Exercising at least four times a week. I am mentally better when I am taking care of myself physically. I should probably make better eating habits a floor, but I haven’t chosen to do that yet. Perhaps it will be one day.
  • Doing the things I know bless my wife like fixing things around the house, managing our money and then sharing with her what our status is, doing my laundry, making the bed, etc. Even listening to things I like but I know she doesn’t care for on my headphones instead of subjecting her to it. There’s a whole set of “floor” issues for my relationship with her that are important for her to feel loved.

Then I came up with kind of a bonus list of things that are good if I add to it:

  • Church. A lot of Christians would probably disagree with me on this one. While I feel like it is important to have a church you belong to and to be involved in that church, I don’t feel like the foundation in my life is cracking if I miss a week.
  • My extra writing projects. I get joy from writing and thinking about how to bless others, but it’s a “get” to and not a “have” to.
  • Teaching. Similarly, I enjoy taking what I get from you during my prayer journal time and sharing it with others through preaching or teaching, but those occasions happen infrequently, and, while they help me and teach me, they aren’t the floor.
  • Engaging healthily through prayer and action in my community. This is close to a “have” to because it is part of me loving others as I love myself, but it’s not something that is foundational. Well, maybe it is. It actually might belong in the “have” to list.
  • Listening to Christian music. I mix it in during the week, but I also listen to secular as well.
  • Listening to Christian podcasts. Similar to music, I mix it in, but it’s a “get” to.

Father, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. The temptations are different now, but their delivery system is. I can do so much in the privacy of my home that people might never know about. Save me from that. Help me to maintain the boundaries of my “floor” and then build on that floor with walls a roof made up of the other things I added to the list later. And do all of this so that I might fully experience you in my life–at least as fully as humanly possible on this side of the death divide. I want to experience the fruit of your Holy Spirit now as much as possible because you are the only true source of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Help me to live into that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 18, 2025 in 1 Corinthians

 

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Joy to the World by John Piper – Advent Day 24

24 Dec

7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 

1 John 3:7-8

Dear God, first, when I just sat down and saw the words “Joy to the World” for the title of this collection of daily readings, it made me think of the Keith Green song “Easter Song.” The chorus: “Joy to the world! He is risen. Halleluiah!” This is just the beginning of the bigger story. The plan is in motion. It had always been in motion, but now human eyes are starting to see it take shape. You are coming forth from Mary. The incarnation! And you will die. And you will rise again. And Satan will be destroyed along with his works.

I have to say, it doesn’t feel like he’s been destroyed yet. My wife and I cried together this morning over a sorrow in our lives. No, his works are not destroyed. They are still causing all kinds of problems. And we seem to hold onto them.

Our small town weekly paper does a page this time of year for local pastors to write something for the community. I think there were six pastor messages this year. I read them all. The one I am holding onto today is the last one. He encouraged us to have the faith of Mary. Mary accepted Gabriel’s charge. And yes, she might have had some buyer’s remorse and fear after the angel left, but she still had faith. She still pressed on. And she lived a hard life. And she suffered. She had sorrow. She had pain. A sword pierced her very soul, as Simeon predicted in Luke 2:35.

Father, I don’t understand how you defeated Satan’s plans or what that looks like from your perspective, but I do not have to understand. As I prayed with my wife this morning: I believe. Help my unbelief. I have faith. Help my lack of faith. I worship you. Help me me to worship you well and sin no more. And may it all be for the sake of your name being made hallowed, your kingdom coming to earth, and your will being done on earth as it is in heaven. You have given me more than my daily bread in terms of material needs, but give me my daily bread of emotional needs and healing. Comfort. Keep me from temptation and deliver me and those I love from Satan’s plans. Deliver us all from Satan’s plans. All glory and honor are yours, now and forever, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2024 in 1 John, Advent 2024

 

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Jeremiah 23:21-22

25 Jun

“I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds.
Jeremiah 23:21-22

Dear God, am I a false prophet? Sometimes I get my scripture for the day from Bible Gateway’s verse of the day. Today’s verse was actually verse 24, but when I went back to get the context for it the words in verses 21 and 22 really hit me. Do the things that I do turn people from their evil ways?

It seems like Paul wrestler with how this works with the New Covenant too (Galatians 4 and 5, for example). He would talk about freedom from the law, but then how that didn’t mean we just had a free pass to sin. When it comes to finding that line, I think I heard Andy Stanley put it well recently (I think it was him). He said something to the effect that you aren’t sitting up there giving us these rules to satisfy you, per se. They are for us. They are for our good. The evil we do hurts you because it hurts us and it hurts others. It hurts your creation and that evil/damage is something you can’t abide. Yes, the New Covenant includes an aspect of grace, but there is still damage being done.

Father, I’m a believer in the idea that the more I encourage someone into relationship with you and the more they dive into you the more the Holy Spirit will teach and convict them. I suppose my role is to be willing to call out the damage someone is doing to themselves through sin that I see in their life, but do it through love and concern. “Hey, I see you hurting yourself through this,” and that sort of thing. So give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2019 in Jeremiah

 

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2 Corinthians 5:16-21

26 Mar

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 [NLT]

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Dear God, there is some work for us to do here. We have a task set out for us—to reconcile people to you through our knowledge of who Jesus is and what He did. We are Jesus’ ambassadors, and you use us to make your appeal to people. And what’s our message? That Jesus came to bring us freedom through the release of our sins by His own sacrifice.

There is a billboard out on the highway about five miles outside of my town. It’s says something like, “Jesus can free you from your sin.” I’ve had a negative initial reaction to it. Going back to my marketing training, I’ve wondered what I would say instead. For me, it all starts with the four questions a man taught me back in 1995. These are what I ask myself before I write a piece:

  • Who am I talking to?
  • What do they think?
  • What do I want them to think?
  • How do I get them to think that?

In the case of this billboard, part of my “what do they think?” answer is that I think the word sin has a lot of baggage and, for the purposes of this billboard, I probably would have avoided it. People are miserable in their sin. They hide it. The deny it. They hold onto it because it pretends to offer them what they think they want. What they don’t want is to be judged by me or preached at by a billboard.

So what would I put on that billboard? I heard a sermon on the gospel from Andy Stanley back in December, and this thesis was, “I understand not being able to bring yourself to believe in the Jesus of the Bible, but I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t WANT it to be true.” That’s probably where I would go with this billboard. As your ambassador, I think my message should be, “The Jesus of the Bible can set you free!”

Father, help me to live this message to those who come across my path today. There are times when I feel like I am a terrible ambassador for you. I let way too many opportunities pass me by. I’m sorry for that. Please give me your eyes to see, ears to hear, courage to act, and words to say.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2019 in 2 Corinthians

 

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