Inside my mind a constant prayer runs,
That drowns the violent voices and beating drums
Of self-destruction and Satan’s half-truth lies.
The prayer’s a plea — my desperate plea —
To not look right or left or down or behind,
But straight ahead in Jesus’ shining path.
The prayer’s a fervent plea for his return,
For the end of trials and time and pain and death,
For the new creation promised by the Lord.
The prayer’s a cry that God will save us all:
Both friend and foe, my house and every house,
The ignorant man in Amazonia’s hut.
The prayer’s a hope — and not the vaguest wish —
To be secure in what the Cross has wrought,
That mine is not the hand in Jesus’ dish.
And the Lord Added
Any bride beginning a new marriage would have trouble if she only spent 1-3 hours with her husband, spoke to him only when she needed something, made excuses to not study him, and never wanted to spend time with his family. Yet, that’s often how we treat our relationship with our Bridegroom, Christ (Acts 2:42-47).
I. Ephesians 5:21-24. Our work in our relationship with Christ is to devote ourselves to Him. One of the words used to describe how we are to work in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is ‘steadfast,’ which is the way that the KJV translates how early Christians approached their new relationship with their Bridegroom. Other translations use ‘devoted,’ which Paul and James say is to wholeheartedly submit to our Husband (James 4:7-10).
II. Ephesians 5:25-27. There’s mutual benefit when both work in a relationship. Jesus sanctifies His bride, the church, so that it can glorify Him. He died for us to give us life, so we set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4). When someone’s hobby, such as fishing or cars, is his life, it’s obvious. Christ is our life now, and so this ought to be obvious in what is important to us and how we live. This was obvious with the early Christians.
III. Ephesians 5:28-30. Faithfulness and steadfast love being the foundation of God’s character (Psalm 89:14), He never changes in our relationship with Him (2 Timothy 2:11-13). He equips us out of love with what we need, but our job is to grow in Him (Ephesians 4:15-16). In the ‘Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, we can see the dating phase that with our Bridegroom’s authority, we are to make disciples. The wedding occurs as they are baptized and the Lord adds them to His bride, the church.
Then, the marriage begins as we work to keep them as disciples with Jesus’ help. Any relationship takes much work to maintain. How are you growing in yours?
For in You I Trust
Where do we go when our lives are handfuls of broken pieces? Like Charlie Brown once again running towards Lucy to kick the football, the world yanks what we need away and we regret that once again we have put our trust in it. Why do we not trust God more? David answers this in Psalm 143.
I. Psalm 1:1-3. Because his enemy is pursuing his soul and crushing his life within him, David prays for mercy, appealing to God’s great faithfulness, righteousness, and steadfast love to grant it. But, David is conscious of how he is living before God as well when he asks Him not to enter into judgment with him and then spends much time recalling what God has already done for him while yearning for a closer relationship with God.
II. Romans 8:13-14. If God does not answer him quickly, David knows that his spirit, already fainting within him, will fail. Because it is only in God that he trusts, longing to hear of God’s steadfast love as He answers David’s prayer and gives guidance by morning, David has to be patient. Often we find it harder to trust God when the world offers a quicker or easier “fix.” Perhaps we fear rejection by the world or hope it will leave us alone if we blend in with it?
III. Romans 8:3-8. David appeals to the relationship that he has with God for his life to be preserved. As God’s servant, he submits to God’s will and trusts fully in Him and Him alone, choosing to be led by His Spirit. Therefore, since he belongs to God, he asks God to guide and save him “for [God;s] name’s sake.” There’s certainty in David’s trust of God. Because of his close relationship with Him, David knows his enemies will be destroyed.
The Japanese art of kinsugi mends pottery with gold and lacquer and brings more value to a piece than before it was broken. Only God can take our brokenness and turn it into a beautiful-mess. Trust Him.
Standing on the Promises
What would be the theme song for your life? “Standing on the Promises” would be a good one as it calls for glory and praise to go to God. As Christians, we’d all like to be known for that.
Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Thro’ eternal ages let His praises ring; Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.
But, if we were honest, we might have to change a few letters for it to be sung as “Sitting on the Premises.” Ouch! Have we withdrawn so much into the walls of our church buildings that we only glorify and praise Him there? What do we have to do for us to truly sing that we are indeed “Standing on the Promises” (Romans 12:1-2)?
I. Hebrews 10:19-23. The reason that we can stand on His promises at all is because He is faithful who makes the promises. In Psalm 119, we see that He promises to save (v41), comfort (v50), answer prayer (v58), and to uphold us (v116). We must long for His promised salvation (v123) as He keeps steady our steps (v133), and His promises are well-tried (v140) as He lets us meditate on them (v148). So, we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices to stand on His promises that are needed in life’s storms.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.
Are you standing on the promises that cannot fail?
II. John 5:21-24. Our Father is faithful in His promises, but how about Christ? He makes similar promises to us (John 14:1-3). He is able to fulfill His promises because all that the Father has has been given over to the Son through the cross. Only if we are living in Him can we overcome the world … because He has overcome the world (John 16:30-33). Once baptized into Him, we can begin the transformational process of rejecting the world and living for Christ to truly stand on His promises.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword, Standing on the promises of God.
Are you standing on the promises of Christ the Lord?
III. 2 Peter 1:3-11. Once standing on the promises, are we ever able to step off? It is by His divine power that God has given us everything for life and godliness. His glory and excellence has given us His “precious and very great promises.” But, here it speaks also of the process we must go through to hold onto them or “never fall.” We must “make every effort” to add certain “qualities” to our faith in “increasing” measure. This is walking with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25) and lets us test what is God’s will.
Standing on the promises I cannot fall, List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call, Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God.
Are you standing on the promises so you cannot fall?
So, is the chorus of your theme song “Standing on the Promises” or is it sung more like this:
“Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises, Sitting on the premises of God my Savior; Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises, I’m sitting on the premises of God“?
Work Out Your Own Salvation
After the wedding is over, who does the work in the marriage relationship? The answer is both … if the marriage is to be successful. So it must be when we enter into a relationship with Christ. The Bridegroom has conquered sin and death by the cross and the tomb, but believers meet Him at the altar by obeying the gospel. In baptism the wedding is over, how now can the marriage work?
I. Galatians 3:26-29. When we enter that covenant, we become “heirs according to the promise.” No longer separated by our sins from God, we become children of God, “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). Some of that suffering comes from choosing to walk according to Scripture instead of in the way of the religious world around us. It’s a very narrow path to navigate (Matthew 7:13-14). Stray a little too much towards ritual and our faith becomes a Checklist Christianity; a little too much towards relationship and it becomes Cultural Christianity. Rather, true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
II. Philippians 2:12-16. For our part, we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. And it is hard work indeed. Maintaining any good relationship is. We must not grumble or argue to not wreck our influence for the gospel of Christ. There is a process of partaking in the divine nature and escaping the corruption of the world. We must add various virtues one to another in increasing measure and practice them with diligence to not fall and find a rich welcome in the Kingdom of God (1 Peter 1:3-11). Only you can strengthen or destroy your own relationship in Christ.
III. Hebrews 10:38-39. For His part, God promises to work in you, to work and to will for His pleasure. So, as you are working out your own salvation, He is molding and shaping you into His Son’s image. So, faithful living requires many moment-to-moment decisions to walk as Christ did (1 John 2:6). We can no longer live for ourselves but rather make it our aim to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). As two become one in marriage, we are, as members of Christ’s bride, united with our Bridegroom in death and so also life (Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6:5). Therefore, we do not shrink back but live by faith
What Prayer for Simon Jesus Made!
The eve when Judas Iscariot betrayed,
What prayer for Simon Jesus made! —
Before the apostle Peter denied,
Before he left and bitterly cried.
Where now to go? What would he do?
Without the Lord, having been untrue?
His only chance he’d roundly missed,
Go fish! What’s left? — Give up, desist!
But when Simon sees the Lord ashore,
His hopes destroyed immediately soar.
Into the sea he dives — what dare!
Does he recall that earlier prayer?
O Jesus, also pray for me
That I might serve you faithfully,
That faith on trial might never fail;
O Savior, in my heart prevail!
Watch for prayers and poems, coming soon, on Forthright Press.
Courage to Face the Cold
What courage to face the cold and chill
Of winter’s water, a pool unheated!
O Father, bless this soul — fulfill
This faith refusing to be defeated.
And when her heart would lose its zeal,
When trials of faith will surely fall,
May she love’s warmth and welcome feel,
To waver not in giving her all.
When friends forsake and foes revile,
When loved ones turn their shoulder,
When Satan tempts her heart with guile,
Let not her love grow colder.
May always courage be hers to last
As she possesses to now begin,
Whatever without, in drought and draft,
To trust your spiritual powers within.
Watch Forthright Press for an upcoming release of prayers and poems in verse.
Your Gentle Breeze
Come to me a word, O Lord,
a word of faith and love and power,
to lift me up and place me high
upon a safe and solid place.
You see my zeal for You, O Lord,
as God who leads the hosts of heavens —
your hunted servant nearly dead,
among a people who spurn your Name.
They turned their backs upon the covenant,
refused to obey, and served false gods;
Their worship’s vain, by man’s traditions,
they seek to silence and maim your servants. Continue reading “Your Gentle Breeze”
For the Children of Your Saints
For the children of your saints we pray,
That in all things, O Lord, they might obey,
Not ever swerving to the right or left,
And never of your righteous grace bereft;
O Father, may they humbly teach their own,
Pass on the one true gospel faithfully,
Both while they’re young and even when they’re grown,
Fulfilling all their duties joyfully.
Move Me Close
Open my ears, O God, to hear you.
Move me close, for me to be near you.
Every thought and action please you,
Faithful till my spirit sees you.
Christ is Lord! Help me to obey him.
Never may my heart betray him,
No excuse to fail or fault him.
Make my life and words exalt him.