Don't! Please, don't!

Revelation 4-5, Amos 5-9

Amos 8:11 – “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD God, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Lord God, take anything else form me, just not that. Take my goods, my reputation, my property, even my health; take even my family away from me, Lord.  Just don’t take your Word.  Lord, if you take away your Word from me by false teaching or by my own neglect or even by taking away my access to it, then how will I know what you have said?  Then how will I be lead to repent?  Then where will I find forgiveness, peace and hope?  Then where will I get guidance and direction for my life?  Lord, if you take your Word away from me or anyone else, then who can be saved!?!  Lord, don’t!  Give your Word to me, to my family, to al the world.  Let it be taught purely, truly, rightly. Let law and gospel be given in the truth and purity.  Give us your word of peace and forgiveness, of rebuke and repentance, of guidance and direction.  And Lord, especially give us the Word about Jesus, the Savior of the world, even of me.  Let your Word remain, Lord, so that I may be saved. Amen.

Prepare to meet your God.

Revelation 3, Amos 1-4

Amos 4:12 – Therefore this I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

Lord Jesus, keep me from being slow to learn the lessons of love you want to teach me.  When in mercy you send discipline and rebuke, help me to hear it and to quickly turn back.  Keep from excuse making and from rationalizing, even justifying myself.  Send your Spirit on me so that my first reaction is, “Lord, you are right; I’m sorry.”  Break my heart with your Word so that I receive your rebuke.  Heal my heart with your Word so that I am refreshed and restored to serve you again.  Exalt me by your Son so that I can lift up my head with joy and confidence, a joy and confidence that comes from you alone.  Amen.

Just the Right Amount.

Proverbs 30:1-10, Psalm 137-139

Proverbs 30:8 - Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and stand and profane the name of my God.

Lord God, Solomon is so wise.  He shows me that both poverty and riches pose a danger to my soul.  The one leads me to praise myself, the other leads me to curse God. I pray, give me and give my family just the right amount so that we are left to rely on you and on you alone. Give us just what we need so that’s we call on you for daily bread and trust you to provide it. Give us just what we need so that we don’t become self-reliant or boastful. Give us a contented heart whatever provision you give us so that we are happy, thankful, and content in whatever season or blessing you give us.  God, I pray, continue to give us daily bread, each day.  Most of all, dear Lord, help us always to have our hearts fixed on you and full of joy to worship and honor you.  Do whatever it takes in our lives to keep us close to you and believing in you.  Amen.

Hold on!

Revelation 1-2, Joel 1-3

Revelation 2:25 - Only hold fast what you have until I come.

Lord God, through your prophets you preach fire and brimstone, judgment and salvation, hell and heaven.  It is clear.  In fact, judgment seems to be a louder and more frequent theme.  Lord, as I meditate on judgment, I pray, keep me in the faith so that when you return I will be righteous in you.  Lord do the same for my family, for those whom I love.  Make me a better family shepherd for their souls so that they will know you better.  I also pray, give me determination and grit.  My callings from you call for determination and grit to face what is about to come and what is already coming.  Give me an iron-forehead to take on whatever is coming.  Help me to hold on to the truth of your Word.  Help me to meet the challenges of holding on and holding forth the Word of truth in an age and place that seems to grow cold for your Word.  Lord, make this a fertile place to preach and teach, to scatter the seed.  Make me bold and compassionate to share the truth with those who are letting go of the truth.  They need me to speak up and into their lives.  Help me to set my priorities for the sake of my family.  Help me to make the most of the opportunities which you give to share the truth with anyone and everyone whom you put in my path.  Amen.

How can I?

Jude 1, Hosea 11-14

Hosea 11:8 - How can I give you up, O Ephraim?  How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboim?  My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.

Lord God, you heart is so clear in these verses.  Your people had wandered far from you and deserved so much wrath from your hand.  And you were ready to give.  You were ready to pour out the cup of your wrath on your people.  But then you stepped back and your heart warmed and grew tender. You loved your people, rebellious and stiff-necked though they were.   You were compassionate for your people even though they deserved your anger.  O God, you are so patient with me.  I clearly see how I have rebelled from you in so many ways.  It isn’t hard for me to see how I have justly earned your rage.  But then you ask: How can I? How can I hand him over?  And that’s why you handed over your Son. You couldn’t bear to see me destroyed so you handed over your Son in my stead.  It is more than I can fathom.  Thank you Lord! Lead me to ask this today: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness too me? How can I show my love to him who has been so compassionate and loving toward me?  Let my life show my thanks to you for all of your goodness to me.  Amen.

The Day is Coming

2 Peter 2-3, Hosea 5-10

2 Peter 3:11-12 - Since all these things are to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God!?!

Lord God, Peter warns and speaks to me with such urgency and seriousness.  This is an urgent call to action.  There is no time to waste.  Jesus is coming.  Judgment comes with me.  What I want, Lord Jesus, on the last day is to be found in him, not having a righteousness or a goodness that comes from me.  I want to found in him being perfectly pure and totally good through faith alone.  I want to bring glory to you, Lord Jesus, by the life that I live for you, full on, all out, urgent, careful, obedient.  Lord, help me to live, teach, love and obey you with end times urgency and seriousness.  There isn’t a moment to waste. Repentance is not something I can put off until later.  Faith isn’t something I can wait on.  Fruit isn’t something I can wait to bear.  You are coming.  By faith, make me ready for that day. By your Spirit keep my faith living and active until that day when you come down from the clouds.  Amen.

Diligent Practice

2 Peter 1, Hosea 1-4

2 Peter 1:10 – Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Lord God, you’re not done with me yet.  There is so much more that I need to add to my faith.  There are so many areas in which you want me to grow. And I need the reminder.  It’s easy, so easy, God, to fall into laxity in faith, to be content with the way things are.  It’s so easy to even think to myself that I’ve arrived at faith’s final destination.  But here through Peter you remind me that I have a long way to go.  You urge me to add virtue to faith, knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge and more.  You urge me to be transformed by the power of your Word and the working of your Spirit.  And this takes work.  It takes repentance.  It takes study.  It takes meditation.  It takes discipline and practice.  Lord God, help me to keep on working with your Word, to keep on hearing your Word.  Open my heart to keep on receiving the work of your Spirit, the chiseling work of your Word, and the refining work of life’s trials and troubles.  These are the way that you make my calling and election sure.  Keep me from becoming lax or complacent.  Keep me always working in and with your Word and in this way, Lord God, you will make my calling and election sure. Amen.

Surge!

Hebrews 13, Daniel 10-12

Daniel 11:32-33 – But the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.  And the wise among many people shall make many understand.

Lord Jesus, as we live in these last days, the days before you return to judge the world in justice, we see many terrible things on every side.  It’s everywhere and it’s terrifying.  As a Christian and as a church, it’s easy to sit back behind the doors of the church and just try to stay safe.  It’s easy to throw up our hands dejected because “the world won’t listen anyway.”  It’s easy to give up.  But that’s not what you’ve called us to do.  You’ve told us to stand firm and to take action. You’ve told us to take your word and to help people understand you and your Word.  Lord God, there are two options in front of me. 1) Shrink back and be destroyed.  But that’s not who we are.  We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve our souls (cf. Hebrews 10:39). 2) The other option is to stand our ground and even surge forward with the gospel of God and the sword of the Spirit.  This is what Daniel sees the church doing in the last days. He sees us surging forward to help people know God.  Lord God, help me to do this.  Help me to surge forward with boldness and with your gospel. Amen.

Whatever He Wants

Proverbs 29, Psalm 133-136

Psalm 135:6 – The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the sea and in all their depths.

God, your power and might are clearly on display throughout history.  Your mighty acts of righteousness and deliverance are there for all to see.  Even now, generations later, I still marvel at your creative and redemptive acts.  I am in awe.  And what strengthens me and give me hope is the truth, God, that you are still the same God. You are the God who parted the seas and rescued your peoples.  You are the God who created the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that is in them.  And you are the God – for endless years the same – who does the same acts of deliverance and creation in my life.  And you God, are beholden to none.  You never have to ask permission or send it up the chain of command.  You are unlimited and unrestricted in the help that you want to give your people.  All of us, any of us – all the time!  God, sit on your throne and keep doing what you have always done.  Because, that Lord God is always good. Amen.

Don't Delay.

Hebrews 12, Daniel 7-9

Daniel 9:18-19 – O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our please before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Lord God, for the sake of your glory, for the sake of your Son’s name, for us your people who are daily at risk – rise up! Defend us.  Protect us.  Use us.  Do something for your people and for the people of this city who are lost in the darkness of unbelief.  Do what is good in your sight for your people.  Amen.

Better Country

Hebrews 11, Daniel 4-6

Hebrews 11:10 – He was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:16 – But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Lord God, I’ll admit it. We get to settled here.  We live in homes that are very permanent.  We could live in this home for the next 30 years or more and it wouldn’t even be a problem.  Our country has been very stable and settled. Even now, we are very secure and stable.  No one – or very few – is looking for a way out.  We pout down roots and make this place our home.  But what we miss out on is the longing for something better.  We fix our eyes and our hearts here instead of there.  And when these foundations are shaken, then we are shaken.  Lord Jesus, I am very thankful for the stable life that you have given my family and I.  I have lived in this city for a long time and I’m quite settled. Father, I recognize the danger.  I fix my eyes on my slab here on earth and forget about the city above, the city with foundations, the city that you have built.  Lord God, as I live here, set my mind on this city, the city you have built.  Set my heart on things above where you are seated at God’s right hand. Increase in me a longing and a hopeful expectation for my eternal home with you.  And, as I wait, help me to make the most of the time that I have. Not fixating on my earthly home, but storing up for myself a treasure in heaven. Amen.

NOT US. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO US.

Hebrews 10:19-39, Daniel 1-3

Hebrews 10:39 – But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Lord God, keep me from losing confidence in your gospel.  Keep me from losing confidence in its power to save me and to save other people.  Set me on fire to preach it, to teach it, and to make it known.  Let this gospel set your people on fire by the gospel and for the gospel.  Do your work in me by your gospel so that I am set on fire and set free to live for you. Fill me up! Stir in me a gospel centered, Christ centered, Spirit powered confidence.  Inspire me to use that gospel freely and liberally, reckless and frequently, even lavishly.  It is the one thing that has the power to save me and convert everyone else.  Amen.

No more sacrifices

Hebrews 10:1-18, Ezekiel 45-48

Hebrews 10:18 – Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Lord Jesus, it is part of my natural way of thinking to want to work it off, to try to make up for my sin, to make up for my weaknesses and sins. All of the sacrifices of Christian and Biblical times as well as non-Christian shows it all the time. That’s how we end up with animal and even human sacrifices. That’s why we sacrifice ourselves in work, in effort, in time, and energy; we’re trying to make up for things that we’ve done wrong. Today, our sacrifices look very different, but the goal is still the same. I even drift into this. If I put in the hours, if I make the sacrifices of time, of talent, of treasure, then I will make up and atone for sin. This is such a pressured way to live. This is certainly good news for me! Since I have the forgiveness of sins from Jesus, there is no longer any sacrifice or offering for sin. It has all been atoned for.  It has all been forgiven.  Already.  Done. Finished in the past. What a relief! Help me heart to rest in the finished sacrifice of Jesus.  Amen.

More Excellent.

Hebrews 8-9, Ezekiel 42-44

Hebrews 8:6 – As it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.

Lord Jesus, teach me to depend on your grace and mercy above.  All that you have obtained for me is better and more excellent than I could ever achieve on my own, through any earthly work.  Teach me to give up my reliance on my own working and to trust in yours alone. It is better and more excellent than anything I could ever come up with.  Help me live this out as I live and work for you this week.  Amen.

Waiting.

Proverbs 28, Psalm 129-132

Psalm 130:5-6 – I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his Word I put my hope; my soul waits for the LORD more than watchman wait for the morning, more than watchman wait for the morning.

Lord God, I remember when I was waiting for my first child to be born, and then my second and then my third.  It was a joyful and expectant waiting, always hoping and always waiting with excitement for the time to come.  Those watchman waiting for morning must have felt the same way as they longed for sunrise to come.  Lord, I’m waiting for your mercy just like that.  I need your forgiveness and your grace like that every morning.  It can’t come often enough.  It can’t soon enough.  Lord, I’m waiting for your help just like that.  I need it every hour, and more often please.  I’m waiting for heaven, Lord, with the greatest hope.  I can’t wait for that.  I know there is still work to be done.  I know that you’re not done with me here yet.  But Lord, I can’t wait for that day when I’ll open my eyes in heaven.  Turn all my groaning into yearning, and all my sighing into praying, waiting, watching, longing for you, Lord.  Amen. 

No Doubt.

Hebrews 7, Ezekiel 39-41

Ezekiel 39:28 – Then they shall know that I am the LORD, their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land.  I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.

Lord, you made it absolutely clear in the lives of your people that you were at work in their story.  You sent them into exile.  And then, just like you promised, you brought them back home, none were left behind.  Lord God, make it absolutely clear in the lives of the people I know and the people I don’t know that you are God.  Make it clear in their life and even in their hearts that you are LORD.  Work by your Spirit, by your Word, and by your power so that they will know without a shadow of a doubt that you are LORD – their LORD, their Savior, their God and Father.  And give me the same.  Breathe your Holy Spirit into me, O Father, that I may know and be sure that you are Lord.  Breathe into me that I might live with the certainty and confidence that comes from being your child.  Amen.

Anchored

Hebrews 4:14-6:20, Ezekiel 35-38

Hebrews 6:18-19 – We, who have fled for refuge, might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

Lord God, in this world where everything changes as soon as I get it figured out, where my phone or my computer is constantly getting updated, and it still doesn’t work quite right. In this world, things are constantly in flux and on the move, where families rarely stay in one place, in one house, in one city, for their whole life or career, and there is hardly one home in which the family grows up and stays.  In this world, where everything is constantly changing, there is one place, Lord, and one Person, Jesus, where I can find an anchor for my soul and an anchor for my life.  You are that person, Jesus. Your Word is that place, Lord God.  And I am thankful for you and for the anchor and stability that you give me. You are sure and certain.  Your Word is constant and true.  Your love is faithful and new every morning.  Lord, thank you for this certainty, for this sure and certain anchor for my soul.  Yes, thank you for this anchor for my whole life.  You and your Word keep me grounded and close to my eternal home for my entire life. Thank you, Lord God.  Amen.

God’s Rest

Hebrews 3:1- 4:13, Ezekiel 32-34

Hebrews 4:9-10 – So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God rested from his.

Lord God, every single day you invite me to come to you and rest my soul in your finished work.  And it is.  You created this world, perfectly and completely, and you give it to me.  You care for me and pour your care into my life, perfectly and completely, giving me just what I need just when I need it. Just like you care for the sparrows, so you care for me.  I have nothing to worry about.  You give me full and complete salvation, perfectly and fully. You have totally finished the work of my salvation.  I don’t have to worry about judgment. Everything is taken care of – here on earth and for my eternity in heaven.  Lead me to rest in your finished work today so that I rest from my work, just like you rested from yours.  Amen.

They Will Know

Hebrews 1-2, Ezekiel 28-31

Ezekiel 29:21 – On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Lord God, I notice this refrain throughout the book of Ezekiel: “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”  You say it when you’re talking about judgment that you’re bringing on your people.  You say it when you’re talking about the redemption that you’re bringing to your people.  Again and again you make it clear that everything you do in the lives of people is so that we will know that you are Lord.  If we’ve forgotten, you whack us on the side of the head so that we’ll come to our senses.  If we think that you’ve forgotten or abandoned us, then you come to our aid at just the right time so that we know you are the Lord.  O Lord, keep working in my life so that I always know and remember that you are the Lord.  And God, please do the same in the world.  Keep working through hardship and joys so that people will know that you are the Lord, the only one.  Keep working through events in people’s lives and especially through the gospel so that all people will know and believe that you are the Lord. Amen.

Imitate God

3 John 1, Ezekiel 24-27

3 John 1:11 – Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.  Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Lord God, living in this world there isn’t a lot of behavior out there that I’d really like to imitate.  So much of what I see on TV isn’t something that I want to copy, not the language and not the behavior.  So much of what I hear in the language of people and from their behavior isn’t that great.  And it’s everywhere.  It’s easy to fall into a monkey see, monkey do way of living.  I learn to imitate what I see and hear.  Lord, influence me by your Spirit and by your Word so that more and more I imitate you.  Help my words to be influenced by the good things of your Word so that I say what is good, pleasing and pleasant.  Help my actions to be guided by your Spirit into the path of what is good.  Compel all my motives so that all that I do is driven by your love for me.  Work in my, Lord God, from the inside out so that I thoroughly like you in my life.  And, then, Lord God, let your work in me be evident to the world so that when they see me, they see you.  Amen.