Soon

Today is Wednesday, the eighth of June, 2022, in the tenth week of Ordinary Time.

Peace be with you!

Day 23,463

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

Demand of Love, by Daryl Madden

In the Christian life
Through Jesus we see
We’re loved as we are
And what we’re called to be

Love is an action
It’s not always easy
To die unto self
Love sacrificially

Turn the other cheek
To show great mercy
To carry your cross
Love your enemy

Let us ask the question
Our great calling of
What is the present
Demand of His love

Please visit Daryl’s site to see more of his poetry.

Lord our God, we wait for you night and day. We believe in you and we long for your righteousness. You will answer our prayer. Bless us, we pray. May your name be kept holy and your kingdom come. O Lord our God, may your will be done among the nations. May your will be done in each of us and be plainly seen, as it is in heaven. Look upon the nations. Watch over all humankind. Let a new path be broken so that a peace that passes all understanding may come, a peace from you, the Lord our God. Amen.
(Daily Prayer from Plough.com)

The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
(Proverbs 10:28 NIV)

Today I am grateful:

1. for the hope of new paths to peace in our world
2. for the joy that comes from knowing God
3. that loving another fulfills all the law (Romans 13:8)
4. for grace upon grace from our God; may I clothe myself with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12)
5. for the Psalms, for "by them, we can see" (Eugene H. Peterson)

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.
(Romans 13:1-7 NLT)

Sing praises to God and to his name! 
Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. 
His name is the LORD—rejoice in his presence! 
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
this is God, whose dwelling is holy. 
God places the lonely in families; 
he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. 
But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
(Psalms 68:4-6 NLT)

Today’s prayer word is “soon.”

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
(Romans 16:20 NLT)

There is another well-known “soon” in the Bible.

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
(Revelation 22:20 NLT)

The Greek word that is used in both of those instances is tachos. Or tachu, which seems to be a different form of the same word. No, Jesus is not bringing tacos.

But I and at least one other sister in Christ have begun to wonder if they thought that word means the same thing we think it means. I mean, both Paul and Jesus said that a couple thousand years ago.

But there is one important thing that we have to remember, lest we begin to lose hope and think that Jesus was just “pulling our leg,” as it were.

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
(2 Peter 3:8 NLT)

So, when we think “soon,” it helps to remember that.

Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
(Proverbs 19:11 NLT)

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
(Colossians 3:12 NLT)

From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.
(John 1:16 NLT)

I don’t think I need to elaborate on these Scriptures.

The Psalms have long been my favorite book of the Bible. I have said before, and will no doubt say again, that I do not think it coincidence that they are in the exact center of the Scriptures as we have them. (Unless you have one of those huge study Bibles with all of the references and articles and maps and stuff at the end, in which case Revelation is more likely the center of that book.)

“The Psalms give us access to an environment in which God is the pivotal center of life and everything else is peripheral.” I admit that I had not considered this before today. But maybe that is why I am drawn to them the way that I am.

Everything else, “all other people, events, and circumstances in our lives become third parties. Existence–all of it–is suddenly illuminated in direct relationship to God himself.”

I’m getting serious chill bumps as I read and type this, folks. When we make our dwelling place in the Psalms, everything else takes either a back seat or at least is on the side of the stage. Only God matters, and His perspective on things. In the Psalms, the psalmist “gives himself to personal intensities that become awe and intimacy before God.” The Psalms are one of God’s best gifts to us.

“By them, we can see.”

(From On Living Well, by Eugene Peterson)

Father, my time is short, this morning, so my prayer will be quick. At least the one I type. May it continue as I drive to work, and throughout my day.

Thank You for Your wonderful grace and mercy in my life. May I clothe myself with those things in Colossians 3:12. May those things be evident in my life.

I thank You for the Psalms, Father, and how You have drawn me into them, in recent years. Help me to dwell in them, to learn from them, and in them to gain a sense of awe and intimacy with You that is ever-increasing.

Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!

O LORD, you have examined my heart
 and know everything about me. 
You know when I sit down or stand up. 
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. 
You know everything I do. 
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. 
You go before me and follow me. 
You place your hand of blessing on my head. 
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
too great for me to understand!
(Psalms 139:1-6 NLT)

Grace and peace, friends.

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