At the profoundest depths in life, men talk not about God but with him. (D. Elton Trueblood)
This Week’s Scripture · Lamentations 1:1-6 · Psalm 137 · 2 Timothy 1:1-14 · Luke 17:5-10 Adoration Luke 17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty (verse 1) Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity! (Take time now to offer God your praise and worship.) Confession Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. (2 Timothy 1:8-12) (Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness. Ken Boa) Thanksgiving Accept, O Lord God, our Father, the sacrifices of our thanksgiving; this, of praise, for Thy greater mercies already afforded to us; and this, of prayer, for the continuance and enlargement of them; this, of penitence, for such only recompense as our sinful nature can endeavor; and this, of the love of our hearts, as the only gift Thou dos ask or desire; and all these, through the all-holy and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ Thy Son our Savior. (John Donne) (Ask the Spirit to search your heart and mind and then spend some time thanking God for who he is and the many ways he has poured out his goodness and grace in your life.) Supplication (Petitions – prayers for yourself) · Relationships with Others o Greater love and compassion for others o Loved ones o Those who do not know Christ o Those in need · My activities for this day · Special Concerns (From Ken Boa’s Handbook to Prayer) Supplication (Intercession – prayers for others) · My family · Evangelism o Friends o Relatives o Neighbors o Coworkers o Special Opportunities · Special Concerns (From Ken Boa’s Handbook to Prayer) Almighty God, give us grace, that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, (in which thy son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;) that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the holy ghost now and ever. Amen. (Thomas Cranmer)
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I love this poem by George Herbert. My daughter purchased a framed version of it for me last year. Herbert “gets it.” He understands the human condition. And he understands grace and the love of God. Below the poem I am including two recitations of it. Let me know which of the two you prefer. I have enjoyed both. Blessings. Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back, Under A Swift Sunrise The title of this post (and a book I have written) comes from one of my favorite lines in, The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Toward the end of the story, Frodo finds himself at the Grey Havens, ready to sail off to the undying lands. After saying goodbye to his friends, we find these words, "And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise." In the movie, Peter Jackson placed these words in the mouth of Gandalf, in an exchange with Pippin at a crucial moment in the story when all seemed to be lost. Here’s the beautiful conversation between the two characters, Pippen: "I didn’t think it would end this way." Gandalf: "End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it…" Pippen: "What? Gandalf, see what?" Gandalf: "White shores and beyond; a far green country under a swift sunrise." Pippen, with a smile of consolation: "That isn’t so bad." Gandalf: "No, no it isn’t." (here's the clip) In reading back over those words, I find they do not do justice to the exchange as it took place on screen. I would encourage you to read the book, watch the movie, or at the very least, watch the clip above. I find it to be a deeply moving scene. The Journey Gandalf was right, of course, we are all on a journey. In fact, many of my favorite stories highlight the idea that this life is a journey, one each of us is traveling, and death is part of it. As Gandalf put it, “death is just another path, one that we all must take.” I don’t know about you, but I long for what is beyond the journey of this temporal life. I long for my true home, which is to say, I long for God. I love Gandalf’s faraway look in the movie, as he reflected on that place he had already been. And when Pippin told him it didn’t sound all that bad, Gandalf knowingly replied, “no, no it isn’t.” Was that the response of Lazarus when his life was being threatened again? He had been there and done that. What about death could possibly scare him now? Gandalf’s smile, faraway stare, and deep sigh assured Pippin that death would not have the last say. There was so much more awaiting them. And us. Restless Hearts King Solomon wrote, [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Great saints of God have beautifully, if feebly, attempted to capture the height and depth and weight of such a majestic verse as this. In his Confessions, Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Pascal’s oft-quoted idea that people have a God-shaped vacuum in their hearts only God can fill strikes a similar note. We do have a restless longing in our hearts for eternity, or better, the God of eternity. Perhaps C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory best expressed this deep desire of our hearts. He wrote, In speaking of this desire for our own far-off country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness… I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each of one of you – the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence… We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. …The books or music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things – the beauty, the memory of our own past – are good images of what we really desire, but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing in itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” Homesickness Eternity has been placed in our hearts by the King of eternity. Our longing is a homesickness of sorts. For though this is our Father’s world and was created good, it is now fallen. And when touched by the Holy Spirit we can no longer remain content with the things of this world alone, things that are temporal and destined to fade away. Perhaps some do not experience such a longing for their true homeland because their hearts and minds are not yet set on things above where Christ our King is seated. Perhaps the ravages of sin have so infected their hearts and minds that a shadow has veiled their sight. We can only pray that the same gracious and sovereign Spirit who touched and re-created us will do the same for them. In the end there is no end, for we were created for eternity. We are pilgrims and aliens traveling in a foreign land, longing for the City of God, not built with human hands, but eternal in the heavens. To be sure, we should not seek to hurry to the day we stand before the Lord, for each day of this life is a gift and is sacred, given us by the King of eternity to use for his glory. Yet, as 17th century pastor and author, Richard Baxter assures us, there is for those who know Christ, an indescribable rest. Can you imagine anything better than to rest in the very presence of God himself? Thus, I will enjoy the life God has given me in the here and now. I will seek his glory each day. But one day, when the Lord calls me home, I will look forward to that far green country under a swift sunrise. I pray the reflections you read throughout this devotional blog will encourage you for living in this world, even as I pray, they will prepare you for the next. May the longing of our hearts for things unseen serve as our true north, that we might one day arrive Home. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) 2 Peter 3:1-10 – Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Bede the Venerable – “All those who love our Lord’s return must have a balanced approach to the whole question. We must not think that it is so near that it will come before time, but neither must we think that it will not come until much later. Rather we must be careful to make sure that, whether Christ comes sooner or later, he will find us ready and waiting for him when he appears.” Gracious God, we give you thanks for the coming of our Lord, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ. You remind us in the gospels that he would be named Jesus for he would save his people from their sins. He is Lord and King of all and Savior of all who call upon him. That you love us and are mindful of even us, we give you our thanks this day.
Father, in a day when “scoffers” will come and deny and/or reject the proclamation and truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray for your protection and edification. Strengthen us to stand firm. Yet we pray for loving and tender hearts that help us to not turn our backs on such scoffers, but to patiently reach out to them with the good, life-giving, and life-transforming news of the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remind us of that time, when things looked bleakest during those three days our Lord was in the tomb, that it was also your plan to raise him from the dead. Remind us again that there will be those who cry out, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” Remind us through your Spirit and inspired Word, that life and history are moving according to your providential plan, and thus, we needn’t worry or turn away from the path you have set before us. As the venerable Bede put it, “Rather we must be careful to make sure that, whether Christ comes sooner or later, he will find us ready and waiting for him when he appears.” Furthermore, we are able to wait because we know that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.” Father, you are caught off guard by nothing; our universe, and all within it, move according to your gracious and sovereign will. Moreover, you are “patient with [us], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Therefore, in one sense, let us rejoice for every “extra” day our Lord does not return. Let us think of each day as a day of grace, a day for disciples of Jesus Christ to boldly and lovingly declare to scoffers and seekers alike that today can be the day of their salvation. Let us encourage them to put their trust today in the babe of Bethlehem, the Lord Jesus Christ. How good our God is to exercise such patience with us and “delay” his return so that “everyone” may turn to him in repentant faith. Father, one day it will be too late for us to turn to you in repentance and faith. We pray for each and every person who has not yet done so. We pray that today would be the day of their salvation. Move them through your Spirit. Give them eyes to see and ears to hear. Speak through us and others whom you have redeemed and reconciled to yourself. Our lives are different now because of who you are and what you have done in our lives through Christ the Lord. Let our words and lives awaken others to that possibility in their lives. For it is your desire. We ask this in the name of the One whose first advent we celebrate and who will one day come again in glory. Amen. |
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