Tag: October 26

The Chief Aim of Prayer

Jeff2 Comments

Today is Wednesday, the 26th of October, 2022, in the 30th week of Ordinary Time.

May the peace of Christ be with you today!

Day 23,603

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, 
who seek him with their whole heart, 
who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!
(Psalms 119:2-3 ESV)
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, stand at our side and protect us in all our days on earth. Grant us an understanding of the honor that belongs to God. Help us see that you are sent so that heaven and earth shall one day bow down before God's almighty will. Stand by us so that we may hear, understand, and accept your Word. Stand by us all our lives. Be with us in suffering and in our last hour when death comes to us. May your grace be with us. Help us at all times to be firmly rooted in the will of our God and Father in heaven. Amen.
(Daily Prayer from Plough.com)

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
(John 17:11 NIV)

Today I am grateful:

  1. for Jesus’s prayer for unity among His followers of the future
  2. for the blessing, honor, glory, and power that belongs to our Lord
  3. for the great compassion that God has for us
  4. that the chief aim of prayer is the glorification of God
  5. that Jesus intercedes for us
I love the LORD, because he has heard 
my voice and my pleas for mercy. 
Because he inclined his ear to me, 
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
(Psalms 116:1-2 ESV)
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; 
our God is merciful. 
The LORD preserves the simple; 
when I was brought low, he saved me. 
Return, O my soul, to your rest; 
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 

For you have delivered my soul from death, 
my eyes from tears, 
my feet from stumbling; 
I will walk before the LORD i
n the land of the living.
(Psalms 116:5-9 ESV)
What shall I render to the LORD 
for all his benefits to me? 
I will lift up the cup of salvation 
and call on the name of the LORD, 
I will pay my vows to the LORD 
in the presence of all his people.
(Psalms 116:12-14 ESV)

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,”
(Exodus 34:6 NIV)

As a father has compassion on his children, 
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 
for he knows how we are formed, 
he remembers that we are dust.
(Psalms 103:13-14 NIV)

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
(Romans 9:15 NIV)

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
(Luke 22:31-32 NIV)

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
(Romans 8:34 ESV)

Time is short, this morning. I want to briefly focus on the majesty of God. Yet, in His majesty, He is compassionate toward us. As He passes in front of Moses, who is hidden in the cleft of the rock, He declares about Himself, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

All glory and honor and power belong to Him. As Handel’s Messiah sings, “Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto Him, be unto Him!” He is worthy of all of our praise and worship.

And yet, He is compassionate. He loves us. He desires fellowship with us. He knows our human condition; He remembers that we are dust, and that we will stumble. Yet He picks us up, dusts us off, and sets us back on the right path.

To help us along, Jesus, the Son, sits at His right hand, interceding for us. He prayed for Simon, that his faith would not fail. He prays for us, as well. He prayed for all of us in John 17, in the “high priestly prayer.” He continues to pray for us today. And when we pray, we participate in His life.

“Prayer is participating on earth in the life of Christ in heaven.” (Andrew Murray)

And the chief aim of our prayers should be that God be glorified.

Father, thank You for the prayers of Jesus for us! It is great comfort to me to know that He intercedes for us at Your right hand. It is great comfort to me to know that You remember that I am merely dust. Thank You for hearing our prayers. By right, You don’t have to do that. You are the Creator. All glory and power and majesty belong to You. I praise You for Your compassion.

May all of my prayers have the aim of Your glory.

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV)

Grace and peace, friends.

The Sacrifice of Christ

Jeff

Good. . . um. . . afternoon. It is Saturday, October 26, 2013.

Today is “Howl At the Moon Day.”

Oh, that’s “BARK At the Moon.” Sorry. Not quite the same. 😀

I finally have sound on my ‘puter! Turns out, Asus, in their mind-numbing brilliance, has mis-labeled the jacks on the back of the computer. The sound is actually coming out of the “line in” jack instead of the speaker jacks. Oh, well, I got a new set of speakers out of the deal.

While we were getting new speakers (we went to Radio Shack), Christi decided she wanted a new phone. Since they do phones for several different providers at RS, we decided to go ahead and take care of that there. As is our custom, we used someone else’s upgrade eligibility for Christi’s phone, in this case mine (I used Stephanie’s back in June). Christi’s is up in December, so Stephanie will probably get on of the new iPhone 5sC phones (or whatever they’re called) for Christmas. But don’t tell her. It’s a surprise. Anyway, in the process of doing this, I got up this morning and tried to call Kroger Pharmacy and discovered that my sim card is inactive. Whoops! If only I had tried to call Stephanie from the store last night, like I was supposed to. . . Now we have to go to the AT&T store and get a new sim card for my phone. This is the danger of upgrading on a family plan, using someone else’s upgrade eligibility. I don’t blame the poor girl at RS. Her computer was acting up and she was having to do things manually instead of the right way. Besides, she is geekily adorable and lots of fun to talk to.

Then Christi and I stayed up WAY too late (I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out why the speakers wouldn’t work on the computer), and didn’t get up until 11am today. After I finish this blog entry, we will go have lunch with Steph, then go to the AT&T store, library, and grocery store. Game 3 of the Whirl Serious is tonight, coverage beginning at 6:30pm CDT. That reminds me. Next Saturday night, the time changes back to real time, and we all get an extra hour of sleep. Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!!!

(From Great Stories from History for Every Day)

This date in history seems to have a strange political orientation. In 1759, Georges Jacques Danton was born. He was a French revolutionary who had a leadership role in the overthrowing of the monarchy, voting for the execution of Louis XVI and “later was head of the notorious Committee of Public Safety that rooted out anyone with even the smallest royalist (or indeed moderate) leaning.”

In 1879, Lve Bronshtein was born. Of course we know him as Leon Trotsky, which, apparently, was a name he “adopted from a forged passport when he escaped from a tsarist prison in Siberia when he was 23.” Upon fleeing to London, he met up with one Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov. We know him as Lenin.

While Trotsky was trotskying around Russia, in 1916, a child was born to a stationmaster and his wife, in Jarnac, France. This child, named Francois Mitterand, would become the country’s first Socialist president, in 1981. He died of cancer in 1996.

On the day that Mitterand turned 31, in 1947, when he had just become a cabinet minister, “a girl named Hillary Rodham was born in Chicago.”

All of these events occurred on October 26.

Today’s birthday is Carey Elwes, born on this date in 1962, in England. Carey will always and forever be remembered best for his role as “Farm Boy,” (aka Wesley, and the Dread Pirate Roberts), in The Princess Bride.

Honorable mentions go to Keith Urban, 46, Seth MacFarlane, 40, Hillary Rodham Clinton, 66, Pat Sajak, 67, Jaclyn Smith, 68, Sasha Cohen, 29, Jon Heder, 36, Jackie Coogan, 1914-1984, Bob Hoskins, 71, Dylan McDermott, 52, Lauren Tewes, 60, Natalie Merchant, 50, C.W. Post, 1854-1914, and Domenico Scarlatti, 1685-1757.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Psalm 96:7-10
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Psalm 95:2
Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. Psalm 31:5
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! Psalm 33:12

Father, may you show me marvelous things as I look into the words of your scriptures. Teach me about yourself as I willingly submit to your guidance and inspiration.

Today’s reading in A Year With God is called “Sanctified Through Christ.” The scripture reading comes from Hebrews 10.

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'” (1-7)
He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (9b-10)

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ rendered the first covenant “obsolete” (see Hebrews 8:13), and initiated a “new and better covenant.” When we accept the “redeeming sacrifice of Jesus,” we begin the spiritual transformation. But progress is not automatic. It is the result of “deliberate and discerning choices.” Just like a marriage, “it is entered into by conscious commitment.”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

May we pray each day for a “fuller understanding of Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for us.”

Father, I pray for a deeper understanding of the sacrifice of Christ and the benefits that it has on my spiritual formation. May I look deeply into this each day as I look into your words, seeking for better understanding, better discernment, and a clearer path upon which to walk. Guide me by your Spirit on this journey, each step being in the right direction, each step drawing me closer and closer to who or what you want me to be in this life. May I do the work that you have given me quietly and effectively, submitting to you in all things, and accepting the role that you have given me, with all humility and diligence.

I pray for the remainder of this day, that we can get everything done that we need to do. I pray for tomorrow’s worship service, that our praise and worship would lift you high, honor you, and glorify you. I pray for the tear down that follows tomorrow’s service, that it will go smoothly and efficiently, and that we will be successful in getting all of our stuff out of the school, in preparation for the move to our new location next Saturday evening.

What does the sacrifice of Christ mean to you? Take time today to meditate on this and seek more understanding of what it means to us.

Grace and peace, friends.