Today is Saturday, February 11, 2023, in the season of Epiphany.
May the peace of the Lord be with you always!
Day 23,711
I got up early, this morning, and went to a men’s breakfast/Bible study at Living Word Lutheran Church. It started at 7:30, and lasted until close to 9:00. The breakfast was delicious and, I must confess, unusual. The person who cooked made breakfast patty melts, with eggs, sausage, grilled onions, and provolone (I think I heard someone say provolone) cheese on rye bread. Normally, I don’t go for rye bread, but I couldn’t taste the rye on this sandwich. It was quite good.
I do believe I was the youngest person at the gathering, and I’m about thirty days away from being 65. I did enjoy myself, for the most part, although some of the initial conversation was about things about which I have no interest. The Bible study was about prophecy concerning the “Day of the Lord,” and was quite interesting. My only complaint was that the material was read aloud from the paper we were handed. I’m not keen on being read to during Bible studies (outside of Scripture readings, mind you). But there were Scripture passages and questions that were discussed, so that part was good.
These occur on the second Saturday of each month. As to whether I will attend another, at this point, I am unsure. I feel that being involved in choir and orchestra, as well as the Sunday night book discussion, may be enough for me.
But that is why my blog is running late, today. I got home and got a grocery order going, so now I’m finally getting down to this. But I have nothing else on my agenda for today, other than cooking burgers for dinner tonight.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes; for their cunning is in vain. (Psalms 119:118 NRSV)
Dear Father in heaven, grant your Spirit to us, your children. May something from you be revealed on earth so that divine strength and divine truth, not what is only human, are with us in all we do. Keep courage alive in our hearts even when things look dark. May powers of peace and healing be revealed through us because you are near and your kingdom is all around us. You can do all things, also things beyond our understanding. With your help we do what we are able, but we cannot do what you do. We trust in you, and we believe that through your power and your Spirit you will take possession of our whole lives and the lives of the many who sigh in their hearts for absolute truth. Amen.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
(John 16:13 NRSV)
Today I am grateful:
- for the Spirit of truth, who will guide us into all truth
- that God keeps courage alive in our hearts, even when things like dark
- that God is near and His kingdom is all around; may powers of healing and peace be revealed through us, Your children
- that God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves (1 John 3:20, The Message)
- that God’s promises do not fail
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalms 63:1 NRSV)
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: (Psalms 44:1 NRSV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:43-48 NRSV)
"Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalms 82:3-4 NRSV)
Not one of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
(Joshua 21:45 NRSV)
For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
(1 John 3:20 MSG)
We worry ourselves about so many things. Many of the things about which we worry will never come to pass. I’ve mentioned this before, that my mother used to tell me, “Don’t borrow trouble.” Jesus said something similar to that in Matthew 6, when He told us to not worry about tomorrow, because today has enough trouble of its own.
But there are two truths above that purple line that should have a drastic effect on us. First is that little blurb from Joshua that is almost easy to overlook. It’s easy to overlook because it comes at rather tedious (Whoa! Did he just call a Bible passage “tedious??” Yes. He did.) passage about all of the lands that God gave the Levites. It’s a whole chapter that looks like this:
The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasture lands. To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands—four towns. Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands, Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands—four towns.
(Joshua 21:33-37 NRSV)
But then, out of nowhere, comes the gem in verse 45. “Not one of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all come to pass.”
God keeps His promises. He will do what He says He will do.
The second truth is in 1 John 3:20, from Peterson’s The Message. “God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.”
I don’t know about anyone else, but I find the fact that God knows more about me than I know about me to be rather comforting and reassuring. The biggest reason for that is that He loves me, anyway. And, as I have noted in Psalm 103, frequently, God remembers that we are dust. God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, knows whence we came. He will not forget this.
Another thing that should encourage us is found in Psalm 44, up there, where it speaks of how our ears have heard about all of the marvelous works that our God has done in history.
It is in this attitude that I can revel in Psalm 63. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You. If I can free my spirit of worries and concerns, I am free to seek the Lord with “no strings attached.” How beautiful it is to be able to seek Him without underlying worries or ulterior motives. That is not easy for us humans, I know. Too often, and most of the time, to be truthful, we want God more for His gifts than we do for just Him.
Nevertheless, there are times when I can succeed in seeking Him for His own sake. Today is one of those times. As I read Psalm 63, it is almost as if my spirit is transported to another plane of existence. It is truly marvelous. Because right this second, I find that I am not worried about anything at all. That will likely change in a few minutes, mind you. But for now, it is true. And for now, I can seek His face freely.
"O God, You are my God; and I will ever praise You. O God, You are my God; and I will ever praise You. I will seek You in the morning and I will learn to walk in Your ways, and step by step, You'll lead me, and I will follow You all of my days." (David "Beaker" Strasser)
These lyrics have meant so much to me, Father, for so long, now. To hear them sung by a child makes them even more meaningful and appealing. I want to do this, Lord. I want to seek You in the morning, and learn to walk in Your ways, and follow You all of my days. I know that You will make this so, in my life, because You will never let me go. I belong to You, and I have belonged to You all of my life. I can say this because I believe that, according to Scripture, You chose me in Christ before the foundation of the earth. And so, today, I still follow You. I’m not a perfect follower, not even close. But my heart will always seek after You, for all of my days.
I praise You for this, Lord. I thank You that all of Your promises will be fulfilled, and that You will do what You say You will do. This morning, we talked about some of those promises regarding Christ’s return. And we do not lose heart, even though it has been over 2000 years since those promises were made. We believe that, in Your time, everything will be made right.
You are my God, O Lord. And I will ever praise You.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Grace and peace, friends.