By Grace Through Faith

Today is Thursday (pre-Friday), the fourth of March, 2021, in the second week of Lent.

Peace be with you!

Day 23,002

31 days until Resurrection Sunday

Ah, the taste of Twisted Pine Hawaiian Blend coffee!!

I can’t think of anything personal that needs to be shared, this morning, . . .

Wait. I thought of one thing. My work place has issued a statement that, in spite of the governor’s proclamation, the other day, we will still be required to follow Covid-19 protocols while on the premises. I am very happy about that. The nation is still having over 50,000 new cases a day, which is still higher than when the initiatives/mandates were first put in place. For the record, I was going to keep wearing a mask, anyway.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

To begin, this morning, I wish to share another poem from fellow blogger Daryl Madden, this one called “Mist of Trinity.”

Something beyond the light
This dawning here surrounds
A sacrament of Spirit
Is laid upon the ground

Dew of the anointing
Of Holy view to share
The mist of trinity
Of light, water and air

A moving of the Spirit
Vision of a prayer
Swirling, drifting, rising
Caressing soul with care

Blessing of consuming
A treasure of beauty
Wrapped in sweet surrender
A sacred place to be

I set your instructions to music and sing them as I walk this pilgrim way.
(Psalms 119:54 MSG)

Today I am grateful:

• To be spending this sweet time with Jesus, this morning
• That I am alive and breathing
• For the presence of the Holy Spirit
• For the faithfulness of the Father
• That by grace I have been saved through faith, and it is all Your work

Scriptures and Prayers from Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year

LENT – DAY 14

INVITATION

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.
(Psalms 145:13 NIV)

Meditate, this morning, on the eternal nature of the Kingdom of God, and the imperishable nature of our spiritual inheritance.

BIBLE SONG

Of David.

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
(Psalms 27:1-5 NIV)

BIBLE READING

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
(Romans 4:13-17 NIV)

DWELLING: SILENCE AND MEDITATION

Once again, we are reminded that our promise comes through faith and not through the “law.” If our salvation was by keeping the law, there would be no use for faith! And, we would all be damned for eternity, because no one, outside of Jesus, has been able to keep the law perfectly, and the only way to gain salvation by law would be to never have sinned. And every single one of us sinned before we were even aware of sin.

“The promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace.” “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” And even that faith is a gift from God, that no man can boast of having earned it himself.

Father, I praise You for this great salvation, for which I had nothing whatsoever to do. All I did was believe, and that belief was placed in my heart by You. Even the very faith that I utilized to be saved by grace was given to me by You. Thank you, O my Father!

"Father,
I praise you for the story of salvation
you reveal in the Bible.
Good news spills out on every page - 
in the created goodness of Eden,
through your promises to Abraham
and the pointed proclamations of the prophets,
even in the strange sacrifices and ceremonies
of the law.
And of course,
I hear the gospel most clearly
in your dear Son,
Jesus.
In his name I pray,
amen."
(Heidelberg Catechism 19)

BLESSING

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
(Psalms 130:5 NIV)

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.
(Psalms 68:4 NIV)

Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
(1 Chronicles 16:30-31 NIV)

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalms 100:1-5 NIV)

More interesting stuff from The Book of Mysteries, quickly, as time is running out. Jonathan Cahn references Isaiah 53:9.

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
(Isaiah 53:9 ESV)

He states that the Hebrew word translated “death” is actually plural. I did a brief amount of research on this and found that there is truth to this claim. This changes a lot in our understanding of the death(s) of Christ.

Of course, He died only once. But that death was unique, a more intense reality than our feeble brains can comprehend. For within that singular death was contained many deaths. “His would be the one life that dies the death of all.” All of our deaths were contained within His one death.

“Every death is contained inside that plural word. It is the witness in black and white that your old life and the judgment thereof is finished . . . in His deaths.”

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
(Romans 5:18 ESV)

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV)

“The Mission: One of the deaths in His deaths is the death of your old life. Give that which is old a eulogy and a burial. Be finished with it and be free.”

(From The Book of Mysteries, by Jonathan Cahn)

Father, I thank You for the death of Christ, in which was contained my death and all of our deaths together. I do not quite understand this, but I embrace it and celebrate it, as I believe that I have, in effect, with Christ, on the Cross, died to sin for all eternity.

Lord, continue to move my soul to a richer understanding of the truths of Your Gospel message. Help me to always know that this kingdom of Yours is available now, and that I am walking in it now. May I experience the fulness of adoption as Your child, today, and impart that knowledge to someone else along the way. I pray, this day, for racial reconciliation in our land and in our world, as all races will dwell together in peace in our eternal Home!

I pray for peace in our nation, peace in our world. I pray for racial injustice to end, and I pray for the pandemic to be over. Above all else, though, I pray for Your will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, 
have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
O, Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,
grant us Your peace.
(Agnus Dei)

Grace and peace, friends.