prayer

Prayer is an act of worship, submission, obedience, and admission of my condition where I embrace my need.   It is seeking communion with him rather than trying to acquire favors.  It is prayed in an attitude called importunity which is a condition of being troubled or persistent because of urgency.   It is petitionary prayer not declaration.

1. Adore – plunge self into His greatness until my heart becomes dazzled, 50% of the Lord’s prayer is adoring God, not my needs
2. Accept – thy will be done. You must not say I need something until you first say, but you know what I need
3. Ask – being so dependent upon him that you need him to provide
4. Adhering – make me like your son, not give me things

Prayer is abandoning my place in the center of my world and daily surrendering that place to God in heartfelt worship.  Prayer reminds me of who I am, who God is, and what life is all about.  Prayer is surrender to the reality that there is someone more ultimate than me and that life is not all about me.  It surrenders to the reality that I need help and that there is wisdom greater that mine.  It is surrendering my rights to live how I chose.   

True prayer happens at the intersection of surrender and celebration.  You surrender you claim on your life to the greater and wiser plans and purposes of God.  You submit your will to this will.  Then prayer is celebration.  You bask in the wonder of what it means that you actually have a heavenly Father.  You find joy in the reality that he has chosen to give you his kingdom.  You are blown away by the fact that he unleashes his almighty power to meet your needs.  You celebrate forgiving, rescuing, transforming, enabling, and delivering grace.  You find joy in you inclusion in his work of redemption.  You find hope in the glorious future that is to come.  You are amazed by the fact that because Immanuel has invaded your life by his grace, you are never, ever alone.  You find peace in the fact that grace means you are never left to the small resources of your own wisdom, righteousness, and strength.  You meditate on Gods glory and goodness, then celebrate.  You rejoice in the fact that you no longer have to look for life in the people, situations, and locations around you, but you’ve been give n life-life that is eternal.

Preach the gospel to myself every day because no one is more influential in my life than me because no one talks to me more than I do.  What have I been saying to myself or about myself?  What have I been saying to myself about God?  What have I been saying to myself about life, meaning and purpose, right and wrong, true and false, good and bad? Am I preaching to myself a gospel of aloneness, hopelessness, poverty, and inability or the true gospel of God’s presence, hope, mercy, forgiveness, rescue, love, transformation, power, and constant provision?  Am I preaching to myself a gospel that produces fear and timidity or one that propels me with courage and hope?  Am I preaching to myself a God who is distant, passive, and uncaring or of a God who is near, caring, and active?  Am I preaching to myself a gospel that produces panic because it seems like there are no answers to be found or the gospel that causes me to rest in his wisdom? God in His grace has given me His word so that I may preach to myself what is true in those moments when the only one talking to me is me.

PSALM 42 The psalmist pictures his soul thirsting for God like a deer pants after water.  He desired to appear before God (“to see His face”), to receive his blessing and favor in his presence.  To be in his presence is the ultimate reward for the person who is faithful to him.  His cries and tears became his only food which showed the depths of his grief.  He spoke to his soul in an attempt to bring comfort and security.    In answer to the questions focusing on his depression (Why are you cast down, O my soul?), he literally commands himself to hope in God, meaning to wait on Him during a time of crisis, trusting that He will answer prayer.  He was saying to himself that there was no reason for his depression if God was his help.  The fact that he repeated this several times shows the difficulty of internalizing this truth.

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Father thank you for who you are, you are the definition of everything that is wise, good, true, loving, and faithful, and thank you all that you have done for us.  Thank you for your free gift of salvation and for making a way so that we can draw near to you and your throne of grace in prayer, where you hear our requests, and where we can cast our worries and cares upon you (1 peter 5:7), renewing our strength and giving us rest for our weary soul.  Thank you for giving us your spirit and for your (hesed) steadfast and unfailing love towards us which never ceases; and for your mercies that are new every morning (Lam 3:22).  Thank you for your patience with me and for meeting us where we are, meeting us in our doubt and fear, pursuing us when we wander, empowering us when we are weak, and for restoring us when are unfaithful. 

I pray that I will live a life motivated by your promises, emboldened by your presence, and encouraged by your grace.  That my walk will be blameless, that I will do what is righteous, and that I will speak truth from my heart. (ps 15) That I will be a man of integrity, that is transparent, honest, and faithful to their word.  And that you will use the brokenness and mess of my life to honor and glorify you and so that it will become a trophy of your grace. Give me an undivided heart, one that is sincere and resolute.

Help me to focus on your truth instead of the trials.  Help me to give thanks, instead of giving into fear.  Help me to choose joy, instead of anger.  Help me to trust in your power, instead of my plan.  Help me to elevate your name instead of my own.  Equip and empower me with your spirit so I can live the life you have called me to and so that I can so no to selfish desires, wrong thoughts, dangerous emotions, the world’s values, and my desire to control what only you can rule.  Help me to move forward and follow you with a strong and sturdy faith that cannot be shaken, in the midst of my fear, uncertainty, and inadequacies, trusting you with each step that I take, resting in your promises, provision, sovereignty, character, and faithfulness, relying on your strength and not my own, remembering that you are always with me, your hand is always upon me, your never stop watching me, your heart is for me, and you are always accomplishing your plans for me and through me.  I pray that I will acknowledge you as sovereign and creator, that I will bow to your glory, submit to your plan, confess allegiance to your kingdom, rest in your provision, celebrate your grace, and commit to your work.  I pray that I will go where you have called me to go, that I will do what you have called me to do, and I will become who you have created me to be.  I pray that you will allow me to be a part of what you are doing and not in the way of it.

When waves of loneliness, discouragement, frustration, anxiety, depression, shame, confusion, and fear roll over me, I run to you, and you breathe life into my heart and vitality to my soul.  When my hope is fading and my faith is weak, you are not impatient, and you never go frustrated. Help me to remember that I am never alone, because you go before me and you are with me, and that you will never leave nor forsake me, so I have no need to be afraid or discouraged (Deut 31:8).  May I always remember that you are good.  Your goodness is enduring.  Your faithfulness is unending.  That part of who you are will never change, but my understanding is limited, and that is where I ask you to strengthen my faith.  Strengthen my faith and deepen my trust in the areas where I just don’t understand.  Help me to remember that my prayers never go unheard, even though they may not be answered in the time I wish they were.  Assure my heart that you will receive glory and you will deepen my joy the more I trust you, know you, and look to you.  In spite of things that don’t make sense and are hard, help me to see a greater narrative, and would you comfort me in my pain, and would you join me in my tears.  Give me faith to live whatever circumstance I might be in, to your glory.  May my prayer be set before you like incense.  (ps 141:2) and may it be consistent with your will as revealed in scripture (james 4:3)

THEOLOGY PROPER/PATEROLOGY

WHO GOD IS, HIS NATURE, CHARACTER, & ATTRIBUTES

(what comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us,
nothing twists & deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God, tozer)

You give life to all things.  You give us the breath in our lungs.  You are a God of light and there is no darkness in you, and you are the only source of life, and the only source of truth.  You know what is in the darkness and the light dwells with you (Dan 2:22).  You alone are God and there is none like you, and there is nothing to compare you to, or image to resemble you (is 40:18).  You are never surprised or afraid.  You never grow tired or weary, and there is no searching your understanding (is 40:28).     Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; mercy, truth, love, and faithfulness go before you.  (ps 89:14) You are righteous in all your ways, which means you are completely fair and never exploit or abuse, and you are faithful in all that you do. You are the father of mercies and the God all comfort (2 cor 1:3).  You are compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, mercy, and forgiveness.  (ps 103:8) You deliver, rescue, sustain, and restore.  You are a shelter for the homeless and father to the orphan.  You are near to the broken hearted and to all those that call upon you in truth. (ps 34:18) You avenge those who have been oppressed and who are weak and marginalized.      You are the source of all true compassion and the Father of comfort.  You are the tender High Priest who is touched by our feeling of weakness and offer us just the mercy we need in our time of need.  You are an ever-faithful friend and the Father who invites us onto his lap to be comforted by his love.

TRANSCENDANT SOVEREIGNTY – You are the uncreated creator, who created all things, in heaven and on earth.   You are the uncaused first cause.  You created all the complexity of life from nothing.  You hold the world together by your will, and in your hands.  You have power and authority over all things, both physical and spiritual.  You made the earth by your power and established the world by your wisdom (jer 10).   You measured the waters in the hollow of your hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance (is 40:12) You know the stars by name, and you hold the waters of the universe in the palm of your hand.  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  (ps 8) By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by your word, so that the things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear (heb 11:3).  Your will is always done, your plan always succeeds, and everything in creation does your bidding.   Events happen according to your plan and everything in history is ultimately used to fulfill your purposes.  When the kings and rulers of this world came against your anointed, they only did what you predetermined them to do, because you alone are sovereign.  You alone reign, and you rule your creation for your purposes and your plans.   Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations (ps 145:13)  All flesh is like grass before you, but your word shall stand forever (is 40:6). Your word is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.  Your faithfulness continues through all generations, you established the earth and it endures.   Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.  (ps 119:89-91) 

COSMOLIGICAL ARGUMENT – You are self-existent, timeless, eternal, non-spatial, and immaterial because you created time, space, and matter, so you are outside of those things, which means you are without limits and infinite.  You are unimaginably powerful (omnipotent), since you created the entire universe out of nothing.  You are also a personal and living God that can be known, since you chose to convert a state of nothingness into the time-space-material universe.  You are not just some remote force which has no ability to make choices.  You are ever present, everlasting, self-sufficient, heavenly, divine, transcendent, perfect, unchanging,  and incomprehensible.

TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT – You are supremely intelligent, since you designed life and the universe with such incredible complexity and precision.  You are purposeful since you designed the many forms of life to live in this specific and ordered environment.  You are perfect in knowledge and wisdom, You are all knowing (omniscient).

MORAL ARGUMENT – You are completely just, righteous, holy,  and spotless in purity.  You are the unchangeable standard of morality by which all actions are measured.  This standard includes infinite justice and infinite love.  

IMMANENT SOVEREIGNTY – Your rule is individual and detailed.  You are reachable, touchable, and near.  Everything we do is part of your plan, yet we are never coerced and we are completely responsible for our actions.  This keeps me from being stressed by believing its all up to us how our lives go, and also from thinking that our choices don’t matter.  You are sovereign and I am responsible. 

All things work together for our good and for your glory, for those who love you, and who have been called according to your plans and purposes.  (rom 8:28) Although I have no control over my life, I find rest and comfort in you who does, the one who is never confused or dismayed.  So many of my circumstances don’t make sense to me, but they make sense to you. You are over all the trouble that confounds me and you rule every moment of every situation. My times are in your hands (ps 31:15).  Help me, like David, to rest in that. You take disasters in our life and make them tools of your redemption.  You take our failures and employ them as tools of your grace.  You use death in this fallen world to motivate us to reach out for life.  You let pieces of creation die in our hands, so that we are increasingly freed from asking the earth to give us what only you can give.    You forgive my past and hold my future in your hands.  You harnessed the forces of nature and controlled the events of history to deliver us.  

You made us in your image and likeness, and in you, we live and move and have our being, we are your offspring (acts 17:28), and you have given us the world you created to care for, as your agents.  You have made us rulers over the works of your hands and put everything under our feet.  So justice towards everyone stamped with your image, brings glory to you.  We have failed miserably at this, but on the cross your son experienced the cruelest and most unjust thing that has ever happened, and yet at the same time it became the best thing that has ever happened, and you planned it all.  Now you have put all things underneath his feet.  He will conquer and subdue everything including the last enemy which is death, when you put down all rule, and all authority, and all power. (1cor 15:24-27) Behind everything you do is something unimaginably greater. 

You are over both our losses and our hallelujahs, so may my heart trust you in the difficult times, as well as celebrate the gifts you provide.   I pray I will serve you with fear and celebrate your rule with trembling (ps 2:11).  

NAMES, IMAGES, METAPHORICAL ROLES – You are the Lord Almighty, all-powerful to save and rescue.  The Lord my Banner, who is victorious over enemies.  The Lord my Shepherd, who keeps, provides, and nurtures.  The Lord my Healer, who restores what is broken and redeems what is lost.  The Lord my Righteousness, who is true, right, and holy.  The Lord Everlasting, who is forever and always God, who sees and knows me.  The Lord my Peace, who makes things as they were meant to be.  The Lord of Hosts, who is over all heavenly beings.  You are my Father who adopted me and my Provider who gives me with everything I need. 

You combine characteristics which seem to be opposed to one another.   You are the king, yet also a servant, a lion yet also a lamb, powerful and majestic yet humble and weak, wielder of the sword and yet also the victim, the storm yet where we find rest, sovereign yet submissive, highly exalted yet closest to the poor and lowly, strong yet weak and tender, fierce yet harmless, the wisest yet simple, champion leader yet gentle and lowly.   Your words confront yet also comfort.      

You are God of tender sacrificial love, compassion, goodness, with bottomless stores of mercy, full of grace, yet you are also absolute righteous unbound power and strength, uncompromisingly just, holy, and a God of wrath, vengeance, and severity, having unbending demands for righteousness.   Therefore, you come against, hate, judge, and are in rightful settled opposition to everything that is evil, wicked, sinful, and contrary to your design and holy nature.  You get angry, not in spite of your love, but because of it.  The more closely and deeply you love us, the angrier you get when you see us harmed or abused.  The greater the harm, the more resolute your opposition will be, so your senses of love and justice are activated together, not opposed to each other.  Your wrath flows from your love and delight in your creation, so your anger comes from a response to the evil and injustice that destroys what you have created, and you will make a full end to it.  Because if you are good and just, then you must by your nature, punish murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, sexually immoral, and those who have lived in rebellion to the inner light you have given us.  Transgressing your boundaries and lawlessness cannot go on forever.  (ie being self-sufficient, self-absorbed, violence, greed, lust, injustice, self-glorification, disobedience, gossip, slander, pride, murder, envy, idolatry)

Since you are just and justice demands punishment for the crime, you can’t just forgive us.  You cannot overlook evil, and it can’t be dealt with, removed, or healed by just saying “forget it”.  It must be paid for and dealt with, which requires a steep price.  Sin always entails a penalty. You pay us in death for our sins and your judgement against sin is always righteous.  It is the debt that all men must pay.  We have all earned the death sentence.  Guilt cannot be dealt with unless someone pays.   Your wrath against sin has to be satisfied.  The entire Old Testament bears witness to this because every time sin is atoned for in the tabernacle or temple, a substitute animal goes under the knife and dies.  

The sword that was placed outside of the garden represented that there was no way back into your presence unless someone goes under the sword of your divine justice.  It was a graphic representation of the truth that the penalty for sin is death and that the way back into your presence was blocked by justice.  There was a debt that had to be paid.

After you rescued Israel from Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, your raw, unmediated presence was unbearable and the way back to the garden was not open yet, so you created a moveable tabernacle sanctuary where people could draw near to you. The Tabernacle was your way of beginning to restore what had been lost with many features of the Garden of Eden appearing in the design of the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple. 

 They both faced east, and cherubim angels which represented signs of your immediate presence, guarded the entrance to the Garden and were carved into the entrance of the temple.    All parts of temple architecture-walls, pillars, furniture, and curtains-were filled with palm trees, lions, pomegranates, animals, and flowers, vividly calling to our mind your original garden.  The tabernacle was the initial re-establishment of your habitation on earth.

Your throne room in the sanctuary was the holy of holies which was one place in the world where your “name dwelled,” where your Shekinah glory-cloud resided, and it was the one place that heaven and earth touched.  But the Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the tabernacle by a thick curtain or barrier on which cherubim were embroidered so no one could go in.  Only the high priest himself could go into the holy of holies once a year, and even then, he had to put incense on the fire to create enough smoke so that he would not see anything that would kill him.  In the holy of holies was the Ark of the Covenant, a wooden box, overlaid with gold, containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and served as your footstool.  Over the top of the Ark, between the 2 carved angels, was a slab of pure gold called the “mercy seat” where on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest offered a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people, and you alone spoke over the mercy seat.  

Providing us a with a clear image that the 10 Commandments demanded obedience and a holiness of which no human being was capable.  The only way to fellowship with you, and to have you speak to us, was for the atonement of sins to be made.  Just as the sword of justice guarded the way back into the Garden, so the high priest had to go “under the sword” with a blood sacrifice, symbolically atoning for sin, paying the penalty in order to go even briefly into your presence.  At the conclusion of the tabernacle service, you blessed the people with your shalom, or peace.  And yet the glory of your holiness remained behind the veil in the sanctuary where no sinner could enter.  The Tabernacle brought you nearer but still no one could see your glory and live. 

But on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in 2, dismantling the old temple, and we now unite with the risen Christ by faith, through the holy spirit, which is the Shekinah glory of your presence that dwelt behind the veil, that used to kill things on contact, is now an explosive life giving force that floods into us.    

PNEUMATOLOGY 

DOCTRINE OF HOLY SPIRIT  

KNOWING THE SPIRIT – Your holy spirit is our (paraclete) helper, counselor, advocate, and comforter who comes alongside us to help.  The holy spirit is the very presence of your son Jesus living in us.  Your holy spirit is your indwelling presence within us.  You tabernacled among us to comfort us, to bring all things into remembrance, to teach us all things, to guide us in truth, and to point to the person and work of your son.   The Holy spirit is fully God and teaches and reminds us of the words of Jesus.  Your Holy Spirit takes the law and shows us our sin and shows us we don’t meet your righteous standard.  Your spirit shows us our sin so that we can turn from it and then points us to Christ who fulfilled the Law on our behalf.  The spirit tells others about Jesus through us.  The holy spirit in is us is better than Jesus incarnate with us.  The Holy spirit  is “the Spirit of Truth”.   Spirit is “breath of life”.  He fills our lives and points us to the one who is life.  He makes the truth of your word real to us in heart and experience.   The spirit glorifies Jesus.  The spirit points us to Jesus, our rescuer and our redeemer.  The Spirit’s work is to make Jesus known, helping us glorify God.  So if the spirit is in me, my new purpose is to glorify Christ.  The Holy Spirit is You (the triune God).  Your spirit hovered over the waters during creation, inspired your (God) breathed word, resurrected the dead, is responsible for regeneration and sanctification.

WHY I NEED THE SPIRIT – We can not do what you have called us to do without the gift of you Holy Spirit.  The life you have called us to is impossible apart from your spirit and without it, I can do nothing, so help me to recognize my inadequacies and become more dependent upon your spirit.  Help me to be aware of my need of your presence and power to enable me to reflect the words, attitude, and actions of Christ, and to think rightly, shape my desires, and equip and empower me to choose wisely. 

The moment we put our faith in Christ, the Spirit indwells us.  The baptism of the Spirit is the work of the Spirit by which we are identified with Christ and placed into the body of Christ, the universal church.  We are sealed as a pledge that we are His, we are secure, and He will bring us home to Himself.  It is the seal and promissory note/earnest money/down payment, that you paid the ultimate price for, that secures us as yours and that guarantees us of our future inheritance in your eternal kingdom, when you return to redeem your purchased possession and set all things right. (eph 1:14) 

DEPENDING ON THE SPIRIT – Although we are “indwelt” by the spirit, we are not always “filled” with spirit.   We are filled with spirit by faith.  Faith that is keenly aware and accepting of inadequacy and marked by a person who knows they are powerless and incapable of living the life You have called us to.  Biblical faith is always visible faith through choices and actions.   Faith by which we are filled with the Spirit, is fully dependent and visibly active.  The person who is filled with the spirit trusts the Spirit to do what they cannot do, as they do it, by faith.  (Wen you sense the Spirit inviting you to take a step of obedience, a step of faith (maybe to talk to someone about Christ) recognize that you cannot do so in your own power and depend on the spirit, trusting the Spirit to fill your mouth and then start talking).  Batteries in Flashlight.  The reason the flashlight did not work the way it was made to work was not because there were no batteries, or that the batteries were depleted, it was because they were put in the wrong way.  We often fail to experience the power of the spirit in our lives not because the spirit’s power is depleted but because we do not clearly understand the “indwelling” and the “filling” of the Spirit, so we short circuit His power in us.

CO-LABORING | WORKING WITH THE SPIRIT – In order to be transformed we are completely dependent on the work of the spirit, but at the same time we are invited-and even commanded-to play a role in the process.   You direct and we respond and together we co-labor like gardeners in a garden of our hearts together.   We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, applying what we have already received into every nook and cranny of our lives.  Help me to think out the implications of what you have done for us how I ought to live in light of what You have done for us.   I pray that I will  draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, casting off the works of the flesh, darkness, and every weight and sin that so easily besets me, (heb 12:1) the lust, envy, covetousness, wickedness, greed, pride, selfishness, jealousy, anger, bitterness, and strife, and that I will put on Christ (rom 13:14), walking in the Spirit, following after, patience, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, gentleness, and self-control, against which there is no law, and so that I may bear the fruits of your spirit, glorifying you in all that I do, and showing evidence of my submission to your spirits work within me.  May I remember that I can’t bear fruit apart from you, so I pray that I will walk and abide in your love, truth, and spirit, so that the law of righteousness and truth be fulfilled in me, walking in your spirit and not after the flesh.  Fruitfulness is your primary creative and redemptive purpose

Spiritual disciplines are resources to help me grow my spiritual muscles to co-labor with the spirit to help me produce spiritual fruit.  The spirit stirs within us the desire to be transformed and take steps in these disciplines.  (praying, fasting, meditation, bible study, slowing down against the pull of productivity, obstaining from social media and screens (is this content stirring my affection for Jesus?)

Magnify your spirit within me so that I can bear fruit to you and help me to feel your presence.  (I must decrease, you must increase).   Your spirit is an intelligent spirit that works through truth, so give me the strength to reflect upon the truths of your word and help me to think out the implications of those truths and work them deep into my heart and mind until they uproot the lies that cause me so much fear, worry, and anxiety and so that my joy, peace, rest, and security that I have in you will increase, and so that it will drive out my paralyzing fear, and crippling anxiety of speaking and praying in front of others.   Remembering it’s your breath that gives us life and gives us the ability to pour out our praise to you, so with every breath that I am able, I pray that I will sing and speak of your goodness to others.    Open my mouth, so that I may speak of your praises and talk of your wonderful works.   I ask for spirit filled words that are truthful, honest, gentle, kind, wise, apt, direct, transparent, genuine, sincere, and few, and that they would be heard and understood, remembering that our tongue has the power of life and death, and that our words flow from our heart, so fill my heart with your spirit and with your son, so that it will heal my words.  I ask for the ability to walk humbly and speak boldly in your name and that I will speak the truth in love, knowing every word is an indication of what is in my heart.  Help me to not confuse spiritual gifts, biblical literacy, theological knowledge, ministry skill, and success, with spiritual fruit, personal maturity, and the evidence of a transformed life that pleases you.

Holy spirit fill me, so that the choices I make, and the counsel I give, would reflect your will and your way.  May my love abound more and more with all knowledge and discernment, so that I would approve that which is excellent, so that I may be pure and blameless on the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness, to your glory and praise.  Teach me your way that I may walk in it.  Give me an undivided heart that I would fear your name.

CHRISTOLOGY

WHO CHRIST IS, HIS NATURE, CHARACTER, and ATTRIBUTES

He is your invisible image, the firstborn over all creation.  For in Him all things were created, all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things, He may have preeminence (superiority).  For you were pleased to have all your fullness dwell in Him, and through Him, to reconcile to yourself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 2:15-20).

You appointed him heir of all things, and through whom you created the world.  He is the radiance of your glory and the exact imprint of your nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of your Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:2-4)

So keep me from doing anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than myself, looking out for the interest of others, taking on the nature of a servant as you did.  5Let this mind be in me, which was also in Christ Jesus:  6Who, existing in the form of You, did not consider equality with You something to be grasped,a 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore You exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of you God, our Father. (Phil 2:5-11)

• He is the resurrection, the way, the truth, and the light.
• He is gentle and lowly, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.  (Matt 11:29)
• He is your word made flesh and only when we are hidden in Christ, our rock, can we see your glory and be in your presence. 
• He is the true vine, you are the husbandman, and we are the branches, so only abiding in him can we bear fruit to you.   
• He is the living word, the life, and the light of men, the author, creator, and sustainer of life, your son full of grace and truth, your lamb who takes away the sins of the world, the author of eternal salvation.    
• He is the light (sun) of the world.   
• He is the water that nourishes us and the bread that feeds us.
• He is the rock upon which i stand.
• He is my fortress, my strong tower, my hiding place, and my shelter in the midst of the storms, in whom I can take refuge. 
• He is my king and lord who I bow down before and whose authority I submit to. 
• My owner and redeemer who purchased and delivered me with a steep price.  
• My judge who has declared me innocent, righteous, and blameless. 
• My advocate and representative in heaven who justifies me in your courts, which means we are completely forgiven, and our companion on earth, so we are intimately loved. 
• He is the door of the sheep and He is the Lamb that bore the penalty for our sin.
• My good shepherd who leads me beside still waters and makes me to lie down in green pastures, and in the straight paths of righteousness for your name’s sake.  Who seeks us when we have wandered and are lost, and brings us back to the fold of his care.
• My bridegroom and spouse who I have entered into a loving relationship with. 
• My high priest who has covered and atoned for my sin, and who sanctifies, cleanses, washes, and sets me apart to holiness; and who daily brings my case to you. 

We have a high priest who understands our condition.  He is sympathetic to my weaknesses because he hears and answers me from the vantage pint of an experiential basis of knowledge of exactly what I am going through.  He shared our humanity and he carries our travail in his heart.  He was born into the toughest conditions; was misunderstood, mistreated, and rejected throughout his life.   His closest friends forsook him when the going got tough.  He was betrayed by those he should have been able to trust.  He knew what it was like to be homeless, hungry, and rejected.  He felt the worst kind of injustice.  He endured torturous physical suffering.  His death was marked by public shame.  No one rose to his defense.  He suffered alone and you turned your back on him in his deepest moment of agony.  He did not use his power to make his life easy or to escape injustice and torture.  He faced all of this for us, in our place, so we could be reconciled back to you.   He knows us and has a firsthand understanding of what we deal with day in and day out.  Our High Priest understands what it is like to be a human being in this fallen world because he took on flesh and lived with us as a man.  Now, as the resurrected and ascended man, he sits next to You as our High Priest so our struggles and prayers are not greeted with harshness, condemnation, or impatience, but with understanding and sympathy.

• My counselor and friend who sympathizes and comforts me in my affliction and will not forsake us even in our worst moments.
• My master who teaches me all things.   
• My warrior and champion who fights for me and is always victorious. 
• He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, who was, and is, and is to come. The Almighty (rev 1:8). 
• He is the King of Kings and the Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in inapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.  To Him be honor and eternal dominion.  (1 Tim 6:16)
• He is your answer to all the chaos and strife in this world.

He is the king of the Jews, the king of Israel, the king of righteousness, the king of the ages, the king of heaven, the king of glory, the king of kings, and the Lord of Lords.  He is a sovereign king, and no means of measure can define his limitless love.  He is enduringly strong, entirely sincere, eternally steadfast, immortally graceful, imperially powerful, impartially merciful.  He is the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.  He is your son, he is a sinner’s savior, he is the centerpiece of civilization, he’s unparalleled and unprecedented.  He is the loftiest idea in literature, the highest personality in philosophy, the fundamental doctrine of true theology, the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient savior.  He supplies strength for the weak, he’s available for the tempted and the tried, he sympathizes, and he saves, he strengthens and sustains, he guards, and he guides, he heals the sick, cleansed the lepers, forgives sinners, discharges debtors, delivers the captive, defends the feeble, blesses the young, serves the unfortunate, regards the aged, rewards the diligent, and he beautifies the meek.  He is the key to knowledge, the wellspring of wisdom, the doorway of deliverance, the pathway of peace, the roadway of righteousness, the highway of holiness, the gateway of glory.  His life is matchless, his goodness is limitless, his mercy is everlasting, his love never changes, his word is enough, his grace is sufficient, his reign is righteous, and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.  You can’t outlive him, and you can’t live without him.  The pharisees couldn’t stand him, but they found out they couldn’t stop him, Pilate couldn’t find any fault in him, Herod couldn’t kill him, death couldn’t handle him, and the grave couldn’t hold him!

There is power in his name and when we call upon the name of Jesus, chains break, demons flee, and healing is present.  It is the name above all names and the name given among heaven whereby we must be saved.  It is the name by which every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess.  (rom 14:11, phil 2:10-11)

ALL THINGS POINT TO HIM | HE IS THE SUBSTANCE THAT FULFILLED THE SHADOW | HE IS THE GREATER THAN – The Law and its regulations are types and shadows, with the primary purpose being to point out the shape of something beyond it and to point to your eminent arrival, which is the substance (body), which is Christ who fulfilled the shadow.

17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:17-20)

• He is the greater Sabbath rest.  The sabbath and promised land pointed to the ultimate rest that we enter into that comes from resting in Christ’s finished work of salvation, so we no longer having to carry the crushing burden of self-salvation through effort and performance.
• Jesus is the cherubim sword that guarded the entrance back into the garden. He is the tree of life in the garden.  He is the real and true High Priest and the sacrificial Passover lamb who underwent the sword of Justice for us, and the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.   

• He is the greater Ark that we take refuge in when you come to judge the earth.

• He is Jacob’s ladder, the only gate to heaven, the one who brings heaven to earth.  He is not just a bridge to your glory, He is your glory and the temple to end all temples. 

• He is the greater Passover Door, the door of Salvation, that offers freedom from slavery, bondage, and darkness caused by sin & death. 

• He provided a greater Exodus.  The Exodus and escape from Egypt into the Wilderness pointed to Christ parting the waters for us to escape the ultimate bondage from sin and death.  We now are in the wilderness until Christ returns and brings us into the ultimate promised land…eternal life.

• He is the greater Rock of Horeb, who receiving the rod of your justice, gives us the water of eternal life in a desert of a world.
•  He is the greater manna, the true bread from heaven that gives life unto the world and whoever believes on Him shall never hunger or thirst.

• He is the greater Serpent on the Pole that was lifted up in the wilderness because he was made to be sin who knew no sin and became a curse for us.  On the cross Jesus became the very thing that was destroying us.  He was treated as if he were sinful, and so he was cursed and put to death in our place.  And now it is only as we in faith look at him on the cross – as we look at him becoming the sin that was killing us and taking the death that should have been ours- that we can be forgiven and healed.  On the cross God turned the curse of death on sin into a blessing for us.  

• He is the true and greater prophet, high priest, and king.  

22This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost^b those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.  26For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

• He is the greater Tabernacle and Temple upon whom all the lines and themes of the temple converge- he is the sacrifice, the priest, the altar, the light, the bread, the blood of purification, the Shekinah glory.  

• We are now stones of the new temple and He dwells in our heart by faith. 

 (Ephesians 2) 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,^d but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by^e the Spirit. 

• He is the greater Adam, He is the true firstborn of all creation.  He is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden, a much tougher garden, and whose obedience is imputed to us.  You breathed into Adam the breath of life into his lungs, but on the cross Jesus died from suffocation, and then you breath your spirit into our lungs in the new birth.
• He is the greater Aaron who was the High Priest that atoned for the sins of Israel
• He is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal.
• He is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go into the void, not knowing whither he went.
• He is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us all. What you said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son–your only son whom you love–from me.” Now we, at the foot of the cross, can say to you, “Now we know that you love me because you did not withhold your Son–your only Son whom you love–from me.”
• He is the true and better Jacob, who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace that wake us up and discipline us.
• He is the true and better Joseph, who sits at the right hand of the King and forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his power to save them.  
• He is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people in the Lord and who mediates a New Covenant. 
• He is the greater Joshua who led Israel into the Promised Land 
• He is the greater Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer who purchased us with His own life from the bondage and slavery to sin, death, and darkness. 
• He is the true and better Job, who became a truly innocent suffer and now intercedes for and saves his stupid friends. (Is that a type? That’s not typology; it’s an instinct.)
• He is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.  He defeated the giant of sin and death and is our eternal king.  He is our champion who fights for us.
• He is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life but gave his life, who didn’t just say, “If I perish, I perish,” he says, “When I perish, I’ll perish for them to save my people.”
• He is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in.
• He is the greater Ephraim who was considered the first born of God.  Israel/Ephraim was considered your firstborn, but it wasn’t until the perfect son, Jesus, came and died as the son of God to annul the old covenant and to establish the new.  He died in our place.  He came as the true Son of God, Israel.  Israel/Ephraim was no longer son because of disobedience.  Jesus was son because of obedience.   When He died on the cross, the marriage covenant was made void because He died as the true son, Israel.  Joseph was Jesus earthly father and Jesus was his adopted son.   Ephraim’s father was Joseph who sat at the right hand of the king, and they were adopted in as one of the 12 tribes of Israel, just as Jesus sits at the right hand of the father and you predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ into your kingdom. 

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is the resolution of every plotline and narrative, and the fulfillment of every concept and image in the bible.  The OT and NT are one, inspired by the same spirit and filled with the same subject, the promised Messiah.  The prophets foretold what the apostles reported.  Seers looked forward and evangelist look backward, but their eyes meet at one place and behold the cross.  The Bible’s plotline is resolved in Christ.   All the seemingly loose threads and contradictory claims of the rest of the bible come together in Jesus.  Jesus came and fulfilled the conditions of the Law, so you could love us unconditionally.   Mercy can do what the Law is powerless to do.     

He fulfilled all the Clean and Sacrificial Laws, which were the blood atonement for their sins, which both proved that no matter how hard they tried, they could never make themselves clean, and that is why they needed the sacrifices. Only in Jesus Christ are we clean because Christ fulfilled the sacrifices and atoned for our sin, because He was the sacrifice to which all other sacrifices pointed to, which means if we believe in Him, we don’t have to do those sacrifices anymore.  Only in Jesus Christ am I accepted and therefore He fulfills all the Ceremonial laws and therefore we don’t have to follow those either.

Your gospel defines who we are, explains the meaning and purpose of life, and it unfolds the greatest problem we face, which is sin, and it points to the hope of your amazing grace.   It is one grand redemptive story, with one hero, showing us the extent to which you have gone to provide salvation for us.  It is not about what we must do, but more about what you have done for us.   We all fear rejection, judgement, and poverty but these fundamental human fears are all addressed and solved by the gospel.  It is the greatest love story, the greatest story of forgiveness, and the greatest story of provision.  Because of your son we are loved, forgiven, and given everything we need.

At its core, the gospel is good news.  It is an announcement that because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus there is new possibility for the whole creation.

To human beings separated from God, it is the good news that sin is atoned for and forgiveness freely given to all who will receive.  To a world covered in the shadow of the death, the gospel announces light has come and the darkness will not overcome it.  To a world living in the iron grip of fear, the gospel announces that the prince of peace has come to rescue and set free.  To a world overrun with injustice and pain, the gospel announces the righteous ruler of creation has begun the work of setting everything right. To a world living in disbelief and suspicion to even the idea of God, the gospel announces that he is gentle and loving and can be trusted.

The gospel is the good news that lingering anxiety and worry will be laid to rest. That everything upside down will be turned right side up, that those that have nothing will be given everything, that everything busted, banged up, and broken will be redeemed, restored, and renewed, and everything that is lost and grieved over will be found and rejoiced over.

The gospel is the moment in the story that causes the whole world to say “No way.  Now it all makes sense.”   Our pain is not wasted.  The broken pieces fit into a beautiful coherent whole.  The gospel is the good news about Jesus that he came to do the work You gave him to do, and he will return to complete it, so that in the truest deepest possible way, he will make all things new.

HAMARTIOLOGY

FALLEN NATURE OF MAN -THE NATURE OF SIN 

GRACE – ROLE OF LAW 

Your grace and mercy cannot be understood, until our corrupt nature and our guilt is exposed, by seeing how miserably we have failed at meeting the righteous standard and impossible demands of your Law.    Grace means nothing to a person who does not know he is sinful, and that his sin separates him from you, and that he is eternally damned.  A sinner will never accept your grace until they tremble before your just and holy law, which reflects your perfect holiness.     

Sin is transgression of your Law, and it separates us from you, because it cannot exist in your presence.   It is only against you, our creator who gave us life.  Sin makes me quest for independence and self-sufficiency but your creation depicts ownership and dependency, which means I don’t have the right to live how I choose. 

Sin is first and foremost a matter of the heart, not our behavior.  Sin at its core is rooted in selfishness and pride and it puts me as the hero of my own story with no one to thank but me.  Sin places me at the center and makes life all about my wants, needs, feelings, and happiness.  Sin is more than breaking a set of rules, it is the breaking of relationship that results in breaking your rules.  Only when you are in your rightful place in my heart that I desire, to live in a way that pleases you.  Otherwise I insert myself in your place, write my own laws and give myself to doing what pleases me.  Sin is like treason because it attempts to overthrow you, to whom I owe everything.  When I sin, I don’t just break your rules, I trample on your heart.  Sins steals your glory and denies your existence and authority and replaces you with something else.  Sin quests for your throne, power, and glory by challenging your rule, questioning your goodness, wisdom, faithfulness, and love.  Sin causes me to step over your wise boundaries in thought, word, deed, and actions.  Sin causes my heart to wander.  Sin makes me crave material things instead of spiritual provision.

Sin convinces me that I am ok when I am heading for a disaster.  Sin leads to inescapable wickedness, depravity, death, destruction, injustice, violence, crime, oppression, danger, war, and political corruption.  Sin is just like cancer that destroys and leads to death.   Sin loads on burdens, creates confusion, leaving me lame, weak, guilty, and unable to live in a way that pleases you.  Sin creates bad habits, distorts our affections, kidnaps our desires, distorts our thoughts, controls our tongue and behavior.  Sin controls us and we end up surrendering our heart to something that wants to destroy us.  None of us has escaped this disease and it infects all of our hearts.  Sin is the reason for so much brokenness, suffering, anger, and pain.     We are always trying to remove the burden of conviction and convince ourselves we are ok when we have chosen to be disloyal to you, rebellious to your authority, and resistant to your call.  We buy into the lie that we can step over your loving and wise moral boundaries without consequences. 

While there are things, we can do that are kind, philanthropic, and have some element of goodness, they don’t overcome the reality of the fallen condition, which is that we are dead in trespasses and sins, so we can’t respond to you and the truth.  We are controlled by the world and the events around us and we are driven by evil desires.  Left to ourselves, we would never want to find you, much less know you.  We are born into this world spiritually dead and by nature hostile to your authority.   In our flesh dwells no good thing and our carnal fleshly mind cannot submit to your Law, making it impossible to please you, and therefore we are by nature, enemies against you and objects of your wrath (rom 8:7).   

Your law speaks to our conscious, which is the internal perception of your moral law, and sheds light on our sinful hearts, dragging secret sins into the light, and magnifying littles ones to their true size, illuminating our understanding and showing us our need for your grace.  Like batteries in a smoke alarm, it warns our conscious of danger.  Your law is the diagnostic tool and the x ray machine that reveals the sin in our heart and shows us our true nature.  It’s the axe that cuts down the tree of self-righteousness.  It’s the hammer of death and the thunder of your wrath to bring down the proud and shameless hypocrites who trust in their own righteousness. 

It is the preliminary work that must be applied before the gospel can be received.  It’s the plow that breaks up the stony ground in our hearts, so the seed of the gospel can be planted.  It is the surgeon’s scalpel that first cuts and makes us worse, so that we can be made better.  It’s the needle that pierces the heart and makes a way for the thread of the gospel of your grace to be drawn through it, to mend our brokenness. You have given us your law as the key to unlock the door of salvation, because we must be condemned, and convinced as transgressors by it, before we can turn from sin and be cleansed by your grace.  There is no way to have peace without going through the pain of confessing and turning from sin.  Just like antiseptic, it stings before it heals.  Pain must come before the healing.

Your Holy Spirit takes the law and shows us our sin and shows us we don’t meet your righteous standard.  Your spirit shows us our sin so that we can turn from it and then points us to Christ who fulfilled the Law on our behalf.  Whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to you.  For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in your sight, since through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:19-20).  Your law does not justify us, it leaves us guilty. Righteousness cannot be achieved by your law and your law cannot impart life.   Your Law is not how we earn our salvation, it is used to show us our need for salvation, because we will all stand before your judgement seat, and we all will have to give an account for our lives, and your 10 commandments are your moral standard by which everyone will be judged by, stopping every mouth, humbling every heart, declaring us all guilty worthy of death, because every soul that sins against you must die.   The Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers, whoremongers, for those that defile themselves with mankind, for stealers, liars, perjured persons, and any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.  (1 Tim 1:9-11). 

The lesson of the law is that none of us our good, we all fall short, our sin is too big, and your bar too high.  We all have evil sinful hearts, and we all need to be rescued from the cancer that resides in us, and your wrath that is to come.   You gave us a law that is impossible to keep, to bring us to a place where we would cast ourselves at the foot of the cross and your mercy, rather than trying to keep it in self-effort. 

Your law lays burdens on us so heavy, in order to bring us to our knees, and drive us to the cross, so they can be lifted off by your gospel.  Your law shows us that we can never deliver ourselves and it crushes any self-righteousness or notion that we can achieve righteousness on our own.   It shows us how helpless and hopeless we are if left to ourselves, so that we would seek your grace.  Your law shows us our need for a savior and drives us to the foot of the cross where we can receive your grace, but your wrath still abides upon every soul who does not place their faith in your son.

Your law is not a curse; it is a gift of your love and grace with its primary purpose being to reveal sin in its full scope, and to foreshadow our need for the gift of righteousness through faith. When the law has done its work as our schoolteacher, we are left totally depleted of self-effort and we open ourselves up to your grace and mercy.  Your Law brings us to the end of our rope, so at the end of it, we will find a strong and willing savior.  Your law did not make anything perfect, but it did bring in a better hope by which we can draw near to you.  (heb 7:19) Your law magnifies your grace and makes the cross explode with light.  

I can delight in your law because its demands drove me to your son, who fulfilled them for me.  Since I am no longer guilty or condemned, let me fearlessly see my sins, ruthlessly hate my sins, and relentlessly repent of my sins.

“The principal point of the law, is not to make us better, but worse, showing us our sin, so that we may be humbled, terrified, bruised, broken, and by this means, driven to seek comfort and to come to that blessed seed.”   

Our salvation is not an agreement between 2 people, so it is not a matter of law, it is a matter of promise.  You gave us your Law to show us our need for a savior, the seed of the promise given to Abraham, given through faith in Christ to all those who believe.  

PENAL SUBSTITUTIONARY AT-ONE-MENT 

You instead sent your son to live the life we couldn’t live, fulfilling the righteous requirements of your holy law on our behalf.  Then he died the death we deserved, taking upon himself the curse of the law, receiving and satisfying your righteous anger and wrath against sin, paying the ultimate price, becoming the ultimate sacrifice, becoming the substitute for our failures, all in our place, so that I will never have to face the penalty for my sin. 

PROPITIATION 

HIS RIGHTEOUS WRATH & ANGER AGAINST SIN SATISFIED

The greatest act of love was Jesus suffering your wrath on the cross to save us wretched sinners.  You turned your back on him, so you would never have to turn your back on us.  In His moment of horror, we were given eternal hope.  You punished him for my sin and then treat me as if I lived His life.  Our sins were put on Him and His righteousness was put on us.  The Law imputes guilt on us and shows us that we stand before your holiness, guilty worthy of death, but by your gift of grace, his righteousness was imputed to us. He was treated as if He had done everything we had ever done, and at the same moment, we are treated as if we had done everything right.  All the medals, honor, and glory that He deserves, is pinned to our chest and now you honor and see me in Jesus.  He took our rap sheet and gave us his resume.  Allowing us as guilty sinners to be reconciled back to you without compromising your holiness in any way.  You punished sin and, in your love, embraced sinners at the same time, making peace through the blood.  Love and holiness kissed. (ps 85:10).    If you were only holy perfection, I would be too crushed under a sense of inadequacy to change, and if you were only a general spirit of love, I would be too complacent in my sin, but you are a God of holy love.  

• He was crucified at 9am and finally died on the cross t(odd) at 3:00pm on a Wednesday, on the 14^th of the month, when he cried out “My God why have you forsaken me?”.   This was the time of the midday sacrifice for the Jews.  It was also known as the “hour of confession”, and when the veil of the temple was torn in 2 providing us with direct us to God once again. Coming to Christ is not a negation, it is death.  He died so that I may live, and you ask us to lose our life so that we can find life in you. I was born on Valentine’s Day, synonymous with the heart and love, at 3:00pm on a Wednesday, on the 14th.   He endured God’s wrath and died for me, satisfying His righteous anger against my sin, because he loves me and so that I could have life in Him.  (v303) Hebrews 9:26 “by the sacrifice of himself, Jesus satisfied God’s wrath against sin”.
• He drank the bitter and dreadful cup of your divine wrath in our place so that we could drink from the cup of salvation and so our joy could be made full. (on the others side would be the joy of being with us.)
• He was willingly cast out, mocked, humiliated, rejected, and despised, in our place, so that we could be accepted and adopted as sons and daughters into your kingdom, and brought back into the fold and into the dance. 
• He was willingly whipped, beaten, scourged, lashed upon, and pierced, in our place, so that we could be healed, restored, and made whole. 
• He was forgotten and forsaken by you on the cross, in our place, so that we could be remembered and fully known by you forever. 
• He faced separation from you on the cross, in our place, so that we could be reconciled and brought back into right relationship with you, and so that we could have fellowship with you once again. 
• He came not to judge, but to be judged and declared guilty, in our place, so that we could be declared innocent, righteous, justified, and blameless in your sight, and in your courts. 
• He was disfigured, in our place, so that we could be made beautiful in your sight. 
• He was stripped naked, and his garments were cast, in our place, so that we could be clothed in his righteousness.
• He thirsted on the cross, in our place, so that our thirst could be quenched and so that we could drink from the well of living water.
• His blood was poured out and He emptied himself of his glory (kenosis), so that we could be filled with your spirit.  

Our sins left us alienated and estranged…

but just as you made a way for Israel to cross the Red Sea, escaping bondage and slavery when there was no way,  you have made a way for us to escape the bondage of sin and death by reconciling us back to yourself through the blood that was shed, giving us eternal life. 

The chasm that separated us has been removed and we have been granted access back into your life giving presence, because our sins and crimes against you have been forgiven and our debt has been paid.   Our sins have been covered and atoned for before your eyes.  True forgiveness always entails suffering for the forgiver because when someone steals from you, or justice has been violated, then that person owes you, and the only hope of rectifying and righting wrongs, comes from the forgiver absorbing the cost and paying the cost of suffering.  The only way you could pardon us, and not judge us, was to go to the cross and absorb it yourself.  “I must suffer,” Jesus said.

We are no longer hostile, enemies, or objects of your wrath, but now objects of your grace and love.  Making him the mediator between our rebellious hearts and your holiness, having removed the hostility between us, interceding and advocating for us on our behalf.  Through his perfect life, death, and resurrection from the grave (because the grave cannot hold a sinless man) we have been given an eternal hope.  Our physical death now is just an entrance into greater life.  We can now celebrate and drink from the cup of salvation (ps 116:13) because he drank the cup of divine wrath for us.   

JUST- IF – IED NEVER SINNED  

Final judgement is coming, but we can stand before you confidently because your son received your wrath in our place, covering our sins with his righteous blood.  We are now declared innocent, righteous, and justified and in your courts, no longer under condemnation.  This is how all wrongs will be made right and how you can execute justice by ending evil once and for all, without ending us.  

RECONCILIATION 

(When I fall deeply in love, I want to please them, and I don’t wait for them to ask me to do something.  I eagerly research and learn everything about her that makes her happy and then do it for her no matter if it costs me money or if it is a great inconvenience.) 

We are now reconciled and brought back into right relationship with you.

RELATIONSHIP COMES BEFORE OBEDIENCE – Personal righteousness never precedes personal justification, and relationship (chosen) always comes before obedience. Just as Israel was redeemed from Egypt before they were given the law, just as Abraham was counted as righteous through faith before circumcision.  Christianity is a status and a union, like being adopted or being married, not a reward we get on the basis of our achievement.  We are either married or we are not- we are either a Christian or we are not.  Marriage is based on both Law and love.   When we put saving faith in Christ, our faith “unites our soul to Christ, just as a bride is united with her bridegroom”.  A husband who marries a wife, assumes her debts, and the wife in turn, now shares in his wealth, so our sin and death fall on him, and his righteousness and glory are given to us.  By the wedding ring of faith, the soul that trusts Christ, is free from all sins, secure against death and hell, and given eternal righteousness, life, and salvation.   The legal and vital connect and strengthen each other.  The more we are assured of our legal acceptance, the freer our hearts are from fear and shame, and the more we are drawn to you in joyful love, and the more we experience your love shed abroad on our hearts by your spirit.  

Our salvation in your son is so great, and the blessings so tremendous, that the angels study it intently, and it is what the prophets longed to see.  (1 pet 1:12) The beauty of our salvation is that justice was served and yet we as sinners were redeemed, so that you could be both just, and the justifier of those who believe in you.   There is nothing we did to deserve it and it was only by your sheer grace and mercy.  He is the only way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to you except through Him, because He alone met your righteous standard, and the requirements and demands of your holy law, being without sin, perfect in thought, word, and deed.  None of our salvation depends on us.  Faith is nothing less than a complete exchange of all that we are for all that He is.  Salvation only comes to people that admit that they are sinners and need grace.  Your mercy allows us to face and admit how messed up we really are.  The way to experience your grace and mercy is through the wound, hurt, brokenness, struggle, addiction, foolishness, and weakness.  It is not through our strength because the strong don’t need a doctor.  Our weakness does not keep us from you.  It is our delusions of strength that does.  The gospel is for the weak, unable, and the foolish and is welcome to people who say, “I can’t”, but say that, running to a redeemer who can. 

WORKS (DO) vs GRACE (DONE) BASED SALVATION 

MOTIVATIONS & INTENT OF HEART

Your gospel is not advice about what to do, it is historical good news that has already been done, so all we can do is respond to it.  I have been saved by grace, through faith, despite what all I have done, not because of what I have done, or will do, so I pray that do not receive your grace in vain. 

(The 2 enemies of your gospel are self-righteous Legalism, which postures that I can be saved by my own works and righteousness, and Antinomianism (against the law), which teaches that I am freed from the necessity of obeying Mosaic Law.  Legalism doesn’t grasp your grace.  It distorts the law for its proper function as a guide for our lives, a way to become our true selves and to please you-and instead turns it into a burdensome system of salvation through which we obligate you to bless us.  Antinomianism does not grasp your loving grace, and also sees the law as an obstacle to freedom and personal growth rather than as the great means by which you grow us into both.)

I pray that I will not be like a horse or mule, who has no understanding and must be curbed with bit and bridle, and will not stay near you (ps 32:9), but rather, I pray my heart will be willingly drawn to your beauty and costly love for me, and that my obedience would be intrinsically motivated, organic, flowing from a joyful heart, in recognition of what I have already been given, resting in what has already been done. 

Not in the hopes of getting something, or trying to secure a blessing from you, or in an attempt to be accepted, or out of obligation, which is externally motivated and mechanical, because then my obedience is anxious and selfish.  Anxious in the fact that I am never sure if I am being good enough, and selfish because I am doing it in order to get something, which leads me to becoming exhausted and trying to attain something that cannot be attained by own effort.     It makes me self righteous, defensive, and makes me more concerned with other people’s sin instead of my own and that the problem is outside of me, not within me.  It makes me trust in my own righteousness.  The result is always self righteousness or self loathing.  Joy without obedience is frivolity.  Obedience without joy is moralism.

The more we obey, the closer we draw near to you, the more spiritually alive we become, and we become more of who you made us to be.  The closer I draw near to you, also makes me more aware of how sinful my heart really is, which then in turn, magnifies how much I have been forgiven, and makes me more loving and compassionate to others, because he who has had much forgiven, loves much, but who has been forgiven little, loves little.  (luke 7:47)

When we disobey, we are unleashing the forces of chaos and disorder, because we are violating your design for us, so help me to live according to your design, so I can become more of who you created me to be, and so I can glorify you more fully.  Although you don’t require from us perfect holiness, you do require from a us a sincere willingness to turn from sin, so help my heart to gaze upon your costly love for me until I am not just sorry for the consequences of sin, but for the sin itself and how it grieves you.    Our obedience celebrates your grace that motivates it, and our obedience is its own reward.   Each moment of submission to your will, celebrates the fact that sin has no dominion over me, and the fact that I am no longer under the law and a child or your wrath, but under the law of righteousness and truth, and a child of your grace.  I am experiencing the riches of your grace when I obey.   I don’t obey to get your attention, but because I am the object of your attention since before the world began.  My obedience does not initiate anything, it only occurs because you initiated a redemptive process in me.

True faith is not just knowing truths about who you are, but trusting you from the heart, and showing saving faith, through a life of obedience and submission to your calling.  We need to do what is in your word, but we really can’t, but there is one who did, and because He did it on our behalf, and in our place, if we believe in Him, we will begin to be able to do it, but only to the degree that we understand what He did for us.  If you demanded righteousness from us, then we are dead, so we don’t give you a righteousness and then you bless us, you give us a perfect righteousness in your son, then I live for Him. 

OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE LAW – Christ has set us free from Jewish ceremonial laws and regulations, but not obedience to your moral standards.  I pray that I will study, obey, observe, and seek out the intent of the law, so that I can discover the kind of life I should be living, in order to please and resemble the one who created me and redeemed me from the consequences of sin.  We are not saved by your Law; we are saved for your Law.   Your Law is how we regulate our relationship with you, not the way we merit the relationship.   Your Law is not my payment plan, so my obedience should never be a fearful payment, but a hymn of gratitude to you who met me where I was at and did for me what I could have never done for myself.  Our good works then, are not to earn our acceptance, or the cause of our justification, but to demonstrate and show evidence of our faith, and to reveal what you have already declared us to be which is Justified. 

 Your law exposes our sin and shows us our need for the gospel, and then, once we embrace your salvation by faith, the law then becomes the way to know, relate, please, serve, and grow into the likeness of the one who saved us.   The only way we can love your law and take it seriously as David did, is when we actually admit what it demands, and know that it cannot save us, but also knowing there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ.  Your laws are not merely busy work, they are for our-good so that we may prosper; they reflect your consummate wisdom; they help us live in such a way that fulfills our designed nature.  Your grace is working in me to make my heart submissive to your authority and to make me find joy in your law.   Draw me closer to you so the remaining sin in me can be exposed and consumed by your grace and by the fire of your holy love.

Your Gospel, which declares we are justified by faith, and not by works of the Law, does not negate your Law in any way, it establishes and magnifies it, because when we place our faith in Christ, who embodied and met the righteous standard of your Law for us, and when we ask for forgiveness of sins, which are transgressions of your law, we are establishing that your Law exists.

Your law is perfect, and it refreshes the soul.  Your statutes are trustworthy, making the simple wise.  Your precepts are right, giving joy to the heart.  Your commands are radiant, giving light to the eyes.  Your decrees are firm and righteous, more precious than pure gold, and sweeter than honey.  Your judgements are true and righteous and by them, your servant is warned, and in keeping the there is great reward.  (Psalm 19:7-11). Your commandment is a lamp, and your law is light.  Blessed are those who walk in your Law (ps 119:1).  Blessed is the one you discipline and teach from your law; you grant them relief from the days of trouble, until the pit is dug for the wicked. (ps 94:12).  Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (ps 119:11) I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. (ps 119:93) I delight to do your will, your law is within my heart. (ps 40:8) Let me not wander from your commands because this is how I abide in your love, and it is how I express my love for you, so I pray will keep them and that I will learn to do what is good, right, and pleasing in your sight.     

(When you lay down an animal to be sacrificed, you should be thinking, thinking about what the sacrifice “means”.  You should be thinking if Justice was to be served I should be slain because I don’t love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, or love others as myself.  Don’t let my obedience be mechanical like they were doing in the temple where they were not engaged or thinking, where they had squeezed out communion with God and real reflection on the meaning of the substitutionary sacrifice.  Jesus death was always before him and he always thinking about us.  Water into wine then the overturning of the temple.  Jesus was so concerned that we didn’t understand the meaning of his death, sometimes he shows us what he is doing by adding (wine), other times by throwing the tables over in order to wake us up.  There are a lot of regulations in the bible, but there is another sense in which there is only one, just as Jesus only had one thing in front of him, we only have to have one thing in front of us, that he died for me.  Don’t get caught up in the regulations and miss the relationship.  The one thing that should always be on our mind should be the one thing that was always on his mind.  Are you having trouble forgiving someone right now?  Reflect on the meaning of the sacrifice.  Get all these other things out and reflect, engage, think, and look at what it means. Make it a living thing for you.  If you are having trouble forgiving somebody you are not thinking about my sacrifice means.  Where ever your problems are, you can look for the regulations, but there is actually only one thing, realize what His sacrifice means.  Have it always on your mind so it bring you down when you need it and lift you up when you need it.  You will always be prepared) 

STRIVING TO ENTER INTO HIS REST

(heb 6:11-12) 11And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Senatobia = “rest for the weary”. In Egyptian mythology, Ptah is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects.  Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen.  Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning “Enclosure of the ka of Ptah”), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί-γυ-πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.  The Pharoah called Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah which means “treasury of the glorious rest”.

(heb 4) 1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.^a 3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,  “As I swore in my wrath,  ‘They shall not enter my rest,’”  although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5And again in this passage he said,  “They shall not enter my rest.” 6Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God^b would not have spoken of another day later on. 9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.   (Hebrews 4)

The sabbath and promised land pointed to the ultimate rest that we enter into that comes from resting in Christ’s finished work of salvation, so we no longer having to carry the crushing burden of self-salvation through effort and performance.  I have been freed from the endless quest for life that consumes so many people because I have been invited into the rest of my savior.  I no longer have to chase after empty things that can never deliver and only leave me exhausted and restless.  Only in you can my heart be satisfied.  I can now rest in my identity as your child.  I can now rest in your eternal love and powerful grace.  I can now rest in your constant presence and faithful provision

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE – FOR WHAT I HAVE BEEN DELIVERED FROM

5And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”    (Joshua 4)

I was a sheep that went astray and turned to my own way, but you laid my iniquity on your son, so that my sins could be forgiven.  So may I keep as stones of remembrance the darkness you have delivered me from, and how broken, empty, and lost I was, and yet in the midst of my rebellion, you pursued me, and met me where I was at. You came from the highest of highs, to save me in my lowest of lows.  

You lifted me up out of the pit and set my feet upon a rock, and put a new song in my mouth, and I am not who I used to be because of your perfect love.  (ps 40:1) You healed and restored me, and gave me new life, mission, meaning, and purpose.  Your grace has redefined my identity, redirected my purpose, rescued my thoughts, reshaped my desires, and reformed my living.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept your word (ps 119:67) and I put all my hope, trust, and confidence in you.  You have chastened me sore (disciplined me severely) but did not give me over to death. I shall not die, but live, and declare your works.  Open to me the gates of righteousness and I will enter.  I will praise you, for you have healed me and become my salvation.  (ps 118:17-19)  

Before, I was dead in my sins, unable to respond to you, but I pray now that I will respond to what you have done and accomplished for me on my behalf, with testimony, praise, and submissive obedience, which is why you called out your people from among the nations.  I pray that I will not neglect the gift you have so freely given me, and that I will work out my salvation with fear and trembling, (phil 2:12), not working for but applying what I have already been given, into every nook and cranny of my life.  Help me to not forget all your benefits (ps 103:2) so fear, anger, anxiety, and discouragement don’t take root.  You forgive all my sins and heal my diseases; you redeemed my life from the pit, and you crown me with love and compassion, and you satisfy my desires with good things, so my youth is renewed like the eagles (psalm 103).  You are infinitely beautiful and satisfying and the reason my soul was made.  There are more pleasures and more eternal joys in your presence than anything that this world could offer, and because I know that sin has lost its dominion over me.

I begin to worry when I forget your wisdom, I begin to resent when I forget your mercy, I begin to covet when I forget for your beauty, I begin to sin because I forget your holiness, and I begin to fear because I forget your sovereignty.  You always remember me and can no more forget us than a mother’s child she is nursing, and I can never be snatched out of your hand, so help me to always remember you.  Your grace is undeserved, so I should be humble.  Your grace is costly, so I should be holy and loving.  Your grace is unconditional, so I should be at peace.  

Ephraim fell into idolatry and was divorced by you, because they forgot that they had been cleansed from their past sins, and they failed to remember your works, so I pray for a heart that is constantly vitalized by deliberately remembering your costly sacrifice and the depth he went to earn our salvation, and that all life changing love is substitutionary sacrifice, emptying, pouring ourselves out for others in order to make them whole, as you did for us.   You died for all, so that we would no longer live unto ourselves, but to him, who died and rose again (2 cor 5:15).  

SUBMITTING TO HIS LORDSHIP & AUTHORITY 

BOWING TO THE KING

TAKING UP MY CROSS

SERVANT – SLAVE -DOULOS

You have purchased me with a steep price, so I am no longer my own, I belong to you.  I am at your complete disposal to do your bidding. You are my king, and you alone are worthy of my praise and worship, and all that we do is meant to be done for you.  I was made to worship you, and to walk in your ways, and to love and serve you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and to keep your commands (Deut 10:12), to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you (Micah 6:8).  This is what you require from us, so I bow down before you, submitting my heart to your word, will, lordship, and authority, in complete loyalty, allegiance, and obedience, because following, obeying, serving and submitting to you is what I was created to do, so it is the only place where freedom can be found.  Help me to live within your wise and loving boundaries that I have been designed to live in, and to help me to remember that life and freedom is found inside these boundaries, not in discovering what is outside them.  I ask that love for your law would rule my heart.  Coming under your loving lordship and authority means an end to my rights, as well as my wrongs, so I offer you my whole life, mind, will, and emotions.  Free me from myself, and cause my selfish heart to find joy, satisfaction, motivation, and delight in doing the one thing I was given breath to do, which is to offer myself as a living sacrifice in service to you.  You laid down your life for us, so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but self sacrificially for others, and for your kingdom and your glory.  Remembering all life changing love is substitutionary sacrifice, so may I never forget the great cost and the depths he went to, so that I could be brought into your kingdom, and so that I could have a place at your table.  A broken and contrite heart are the sacrifices you desire, so may my heart understand how much I have been given, when I did not deserve anything.  So I pray that I will take up my cross and follow you wherever you go, and that your kingdom’s purposes would be greater than my desires, and that your agenda will be my agenda. May the desires of my heart align with your will for my life. 

Help me to see who you really are because the devil doesn’t care if I know, love, or pray to Jesus, as long as it is a false Jesus that I have made in my own image, because that Jesus can’t save me. So keep me from making a god that suits my own needs, one that is just a projection of my own sinful heart, because you are not my secretary, manager, or assistant, who is there to serve me, or who is someone I can control and negotiate with, and who I use as a supplement,  you will be nothing less, than my all wise, and all sufficient, sovereign Savior and king who I bow down before and serve. 

 

WALK OF FAITH

SHEEP FOLLOWING THE SHEPHERD

Father, I put my hope and trust in you.  You are the God of my salvation, and my shepherd, so I ask that you show me your ways, and guide me in your truth, and that I will learn to do your will.  Quite my fearful heart so I can hear, listen, heed, and be obedient to your voice.  Lead, guide, guard, and direct my path, and lead me to the fountain of living waters.  I pray that I will not enter into temptation, but that I will draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, casting off the works of the flesh, darkness, and every weight and sin that so easily besets me, (heb 12:1) the lust, envy, covetousness, wickedness, greed, pride, selfishness, jealousy, anger, bitterness, and strife, and that I will put on Christ (rom 13:14), walking in the spirit, following after, patience, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, gentleness, and self-control, against which there is no law, and so that I may bear the fruits of your spirit, glorifying you in all that I do, and showing evidence of my submission to your spirits work within me.  May I remember that I can’t bear fruit apart from you, so I pray that I will walk and abide in your love, truth, and spirit, so that the law of righteousness and truth be fulfilled in me, walking in your spirit and not after the flesh.   Keep me from desiring vain glory and envying others and give me the strength to bear other people’s burdens (gal 5).

 

NARROW, STRAIGHT PATHS (TRUE, RIGHT, JUST)

Order my steps in your word (ps 119:133) and make straight paths for my feet.  Keep me from turning to the right hand or left (josh 1:7) because wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go therein but straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which lead to life, and few people find it.  (matt 7:14)

LUKE 3:  4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

FIRM FOUNDATION | ROCK & FORTRESS | REFUGE

Unwavering, Upright, Straight, Firm, Resolute, Stable, Secure,
Fixed, Settled, Smooth, Straight, Established, Fixed, Still, Steadfast

You alone are my rock upon which I stand, my fortress, my strong tower, my hiding place, my shelter in the midst of the storms, in whom I can take refuge, and you make my paths straight before me.   You have given me a firm, fixed, smooth, and secure foundation upon which I can build my life. It is good for me to be near to you; I have made you my refuge that I may tell of all your works (ps 73:28)  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!  Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (ps 143:10)

You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore I will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at it swelling.  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High, You are in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.  The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob our refuge.  Help me to be still, knowing that you are God (ps 46). 

Faith is not a vague hope grounded in imaginary or wishful thinking, rather it is settled trust and confidence, that something in the future- something that is not yet seen but has been promised by You-will actually come to pass because you will bring it about.   It is confident trust in you based on your promises and character.  You have revealed yourself to us in your word and in the person of Jesus Christ, whose promises have proven true from generation to generation, and who will “never leave nor forsake” his own.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (heb 11:1) and without faith it is impossible to please you, for whoever would draw near to you must believe that you exist and that you reward those who diligently seek you by faith (heb 11:6)  Faith is the belief, trust, and confidence in something or someone that causes me to act upon that belief. The storms you send my way reveal the foundation which my life has been built upon.

We were once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, but he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before you, if indeed we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that we heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven (col 1:21-23)

Help me to be like Abraham whose faith did not weaken when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.  No distrust made him waver concerning your promise, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to you, fully convinced that You were able to do what you had promised.  (Rom 5:19-22).

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24 – 26)

It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.  For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.  His is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord, His heart is stead he will not be afraid.  He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.  The desire of the wicked will perish (ps 112)

SEEING MYSELF ACCURATELY

Help me to stand firmly on the foundational truths and realities that I am both a sinner and a child of your grace.  I confess the blindness of my understanding, the stubbornness of my will, the foolishness of my thought life, and the addiction of my heart to the things of this world.  I am false and full of sin, but you are full of grace and truth.  Sin still lives inside me, but you are abundant in mercy.  Although I am worse off than I could possibly understand, your grace is more amazing than I could ever imagine, so humble my pride to the dust, and raise me to the heavens out of my despondency, remembering the way up, is first go down.  Confront me with my foolishness, failure, and everything I am not, so that I would run after everything I could be, and to you who is wisdom and righteousness.   Keep me from focusing on other peoples sin, the specks in their eyes, and help me to be more focused on removing the log out of my own eye.

This is the posture of every truly redeemed person, so I pray this will serve to confront my pride, to convict, and as a sobering reminder of my condition apart from you, and to show how much I need a savior, so that I can more greatly appreciate the grace you have extended to me.   I have to see myself as hopeless and helpless if left to myself, so that it will initiate my pursuit of your grace.  Hopelessness is the doorway to hope.  Help me to see the impossibility of my sin, and the totality of the solution found in Christ.

COMPARING WHAT I AM IF LEFT TO MYSELF

·        (flesh/fallen nature/dead in sins)

·        To Confront/Convict/Confess/Humble

·        A Sober warning/ Tan Hide

·        To keep from being lifted up & prideful

·        Convinced as a transgressor

·        Under Crushing Weight of the Law

I am a complete moral failure with a desperately wicked heart.  My sins are many & my debt is great, & I am blind, naked, wretched, depraved, evil, wicked, poor, spiritually bankrupt, sick, lame, weak, & I have absolutely nothing to offer you.  You have seen every impure thought I have ever had & every secret sin I have ever committed.  I am a liar, thief, adulterer, idolater, blasphemer, and covetous at heart.  I am self-focused, prideful, insecure, inconsistent, limited, and confused.  I am corrupt, filthy, unclean, impure, defiled, stained, and unfit to be in your holy presence.  Nothing good dwells in me. I am broken, weak, undeserving, dead in my sins & trespasses, unable to respond to you, deserving nothing but your wrath, judgement, condemnation, & separation from your life-giving presence. I have no resume to hold before you, no track record of accomplishments, no letters of commendation, & no rights of birth or ethnicity. I hold nothing that would place you in my debt, nothing that could curry your favor, & nothing that would obligate you.   My good works are like filthy rags in your sight.  So I approach you with no argument in my mind or words to offer in my defense & I stand before your throne of judgement with shoulders bent & hands that are empty, naked, guilty, undeserving, broken & weak, falling completely short of your righteous standard & the only thing I have earned is death.

 

—

 

 

WITH WHO HE IS & WHO I AM IN CHRIST

·        (spirit/born again/alive in Christ)

·        To Encourage/Comfort/Celebrate

·        Glorious Hope/Warm Heart

·        To keep from self-loathing 

·        Forgiven

·        Burden made light

But I am not afraid because I lay at your feet on the threshing floor, with rightless assertiveness as Ruth did, coming to you with no conditions, bringing only my own neediness, trusting only in your righteousness, and that what you did, you did for me.  You are my redeemer and because of your grace, you have delivered me from sin, death, and darkness.  You have purchased and redeemed me with a steep price, so I am no longer a slave to sin or a child of your wrath, but rather I am now a child of your grace, whom you have declared innocent, righteous, blameless, and who has been justified in your sights and in your courts.  My sins have been covered and atoned for through your son’s precious blood that was shed.  My debt has been paid for and forgiven through his costly sacrifice.  My sins have been blotted out and removed as far as the east is from the west.  I have been clothed in his righteousness and you have given me eyes to see.  You have covered your servant with your wings.  You have given me the free gift of eternal life and I now have eternal riches and an inheritance because of what he did for me.  I have been made clean through your word.  I am now chosen, pardoned, accepted, loved, and delighted in by you.  You have redeemed, delivered, healed, sustained, and restored me.  You have given me new life, mission, meaning, and purpose, and I now am a new creation in you because of your perfect love, with a new heart, new desires, and new affections.

 Help me to always see and compare who I was, what I am apart from you in the flesh, and how far I have fallen, with who you are, and who I am now in Christ, as I walk in your spirit, and help me to hold these truths in tension together, so that I may see myself accurately in light of your cross, keeping me from being lifted up in pride, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and self-indulgence, or wallowing in self-loathing and self-hate, allowing me to interact with others in true humility, meekness, and grace.

Seeing myself this way shifts my complaint, entitlement, and disappointment into gratitude, need, and thankfulness.  You have bought me and ransomed me with a steep price, and I am not my own, so keep my heart from believing the lies that I can live my life as I wish or thinking that I have all I need within myself to be what I was created to be, and to do what I was designed to do, apart from you and your empowering spirit. 

HIS WORD

 

Help me to remember that the only accurate method of self-evaluation, and the only accurate mirror to view myself with, is your word.  Your word is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from Your sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before your eyes, to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12-13).  The only reason I can stand before the searching and exposing mirror of your word, unafraid, with courage and hope is because all that has been exposed has been fully and completely covered by the shed blood of your son.    

May your word be a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path (ps 119:105) in the midst of the darkness of this world.  Remembering every time Satan tried to envelop Christ in darkness, He used Scripture after Scripture to dispel it.   He answered Satan’s assaults with passages from Deuteronomy.  As He was carrying the cross he cited Hosea, and as he was dying in agony he quoted the Psalms.   Let me be so immersed in our word that your words spring to my mind, as they did for Jesus, interpreting my moment, guiding my choices, and strengthening my heart.  Let your word be not merely something I believe but something that dwells richly inside me, so it reshapes all my thinking and feelings and even the very foundations of my heart.  

 Your Holy scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ. All Scripture is breathed by You and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work (2 Tim 15-17).  I pray that I will make every effort to present myself approved to You, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15)

If you are the source of life, then your word will give life.  If you are wholly truthful, then your word cannot error.  If you are glorious, then your word is a treasure.  Your word is like a deep, deep mine, and jewels rich and rare are hidden in its mighty depths for every searcher there.  Give me the energy for study of your word that comes from a deep sense of the value of what I will find there. Your word is the primary means by which You present yourselves to us; It is the way we can know you and remain in faithful relationship with you.  It is clearest and ultimate revelation of who you are.  Your word is how we can be sure we are encountering the real God as you truly are and not some god we imagine you to be or want you to be.  Your word is infallible and authoritative.  I can’t know you intimately if I don’t treat everything you say as right.   Jesus is your Word.  Jesus’s very basis of his life and what made him who he was, was your word.   Your word does not simply conform to some other external standard of “truth”, but rather it is “truth” itself; it embodies “truth” and it therefore is the standard of truth against which everything must be tested and compared.  Strengthen me with your word and sanctify me with your truth. (jn 17:17)

Your word is your love letter to us, and it will never return empty, or void, and it will always accomplish what you desire, whether it is teaching, correcting, training, leading us to you, revealing our sin, or some other good and profitable end.  Your words are pure as silver tried in a furnace, like gold refined 7 times. (ps 12:6) The unfolding of your words give light, they are a lamp unto my feet, and they impart understanding to the simple. (ps 119:130) Your word has medicine for every wound.  Neither scholarship or research or anything else can tell me as much about the human heart, human nature, and the ways of the world, as your word, so let my heart savor every letter.  Your word and law is the perfect guide for life so may I keep your law and instructions, may I attend to them carefully, watch over them, and treasure them so that I can find your way and so I can reflect more of your character.

Your word is living and active, so let it search, examine, and warn me, and let it remove any wicked way within me, leading me to the way everlasting…cleansing, washing, purging me, and renewing the joy of my salvation.   May my heart be receptive and attentive to your word and help me to properly understand and apply your word in my life, making your principles into realities and your word flesh.   May your word and your law be the apple of my eye, and may it be written on my heart, internalizing it until it directs my actions.  Your word and law give me wisdom and keep my feet from every evil path.  May it shape my character and conduct.  

DWELL IN ME RICHLY

Allow your gospel seed to take deep roots in my heart, so that I will become like a tree planted by streams of living water, drawing upon, feeding upon, and saturating my heart in your word, allowing me to bear fruit to you, and so that even in the fruitless winters, I am still growing, putting my roots down deeper, getting thicker, in order to produce even more fruit to you the next season.  Remembering this is how I take refuge in your arms.  This how I find strength, and rest, and how I cultivate your love in my heart.   Prune those things out of my life that aren’t bearing fruit to you, so I can become more fruitful.

I pray that your word will dwell richly within me, so I can be more freed from the crippling effects of sin, fear, self-pity, self-consciousness, and discouragement, and so that my thoughts, emotions, desires, choices, motivations, and intent of all that I do, be shaped and molded by your word, spirit, love, truth, grace, and compassion.  

THOUGHTS | MEDITATIONS | FOCUS

Teach me to focus on you.  Help me to remember what is real, important, and true.  Help me to overcome the worlds opinion, my busy schedule, my distracted mind, and my stubborn heart, so making knowing you experientially, and serving you obediently, will be the main focus of my life.  Give me strength for sustained reflection in your word and give me wisdom to be able apply your word in my life.    I count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord (phil 3:8), so help me to deepen my grasp of your kingdom, goodness, and love for me, so that I can see, taste, and savor you, and so I can know you more intimately and more fully.  Knowledge of you in Christ is my greatest delight.  Help me to see you as you are, so that I will praise you as I should. I pray my heart will seek your face and that your beauty will attract my heart, and capture my imagination, and that I will remember your promises and faithfulness upon which all my hope, trust, and confidence rests.   Help me to consciously worship you all day so that every good thing I would see as a gift from your heart, and every bad thing as a test from your hand.  Give me a moment by moment God-centeredness.

Biblical faith allows me to examine reality and the brokenness of the world but makes you my meditation in the midst of my trouble, so may the thoughts and meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight. (ps 19:14) Give me the strength to meditate on your glory, your power, your wisdom, your grace, your faithfulness, your righteousness, your patience, your commitment to your eternal promises to me, and what you have done for me, instead of my problems and my circumstances.  Peace is found in times of trouble, not by trying to figure everything out, but in worship of You who has everything figured out already.  Give me patience and habits of mind that can mark and notice, savor and relish, and inwardly digest your words so they dwell in me richly.  Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. (ps 119:165)   All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal (ps 119:160) Incline my heart unto your testimonies and not to covetousness (ps 119:36,37).  Keep my eyes from beholding vanity and keep me from being entertained by things which you died for.  I pray that you will be the center of my mind’s attention and my hearts affection, and that the eyes and gaze of my heart will be fixed upon the beauty of who you are, and on your kingdom, righteousness, faithfulness, power, presence, promises, and provision, and not based upon what my eyes see or what my mind understands. Strengthen my faith and give me the strength to keep my eyes fixed upon you, so that I can walk through the storms of life without sinking as Peter did.  Help me to set my mind on things that are above, not things that are on earth (col 3:1-2).   Keep me from conforming to this world, and renew my mind so I can be transformed and so I can discern what is your good, acceptable, and perfect will (rom 12:2).   You are the God of peace, so give me the strength to dwell on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, (phil 4:8) holding every thought captive in your name, remembering that you keep him in perfect peace, those whose mind is stayed upon you, because he trusts in you our everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26).  Keep me from becoming anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving I pray I will make requests known to you so your peace, which passes all understanding will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus (phil 4:6-7)

ROOTED IN CHRIST

I ask for the knowledge and understanding of your will, so that I may walk worthy of you, being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of who you are, strengthened by the power of your spirit, joyfully giving thanks in all things with patience and longsuffering, being rooted and grounded and in your love.  (Colossians 1:10-12 and Ephesians 3:16-18).  That my love will abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that I may approve that which is excellent, and so that I may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ, to your glory and praise (phil 1:9-11)   

ABIDING IN HIS LOVE

We come to know you and love you through keeping your commands and keeping your word.  That is how love is perfected in us, but whoever does not, the truth is not in him.  (1 john 2:4-5) (jhn 14:15) Your love does not compromise your truth. Love and truth are bound together.  They do not stand in opposition to one another.  Love without holiness is mere sentiment (which is just a thought, opinion, or idea based on a feeling).  Righteousness and Law without grace will turn me into a pharisee, but Your gospel keeps truth and love together. 

Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up the last day. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks of my blood, abides in me, and I in him (jn 5:53-56)

8Whoever does not love, does not know You, because You are love. 9This is how Your love was revealed among us: You sent your one and onlyc Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10And love consists in this: not that we loved You, but that You loved us and sent Your Son as the atoning sacrificed for our sins.  11 if You so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen You; but if we love one another, You remain in us, and Your love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we remain in You, and You in us: You have given us of Your Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that You have sent Your Son to be the Savior of the world.  15If anyone confesses that Jesus is your Son, You abide in him, and he in You. 16And we have come to know and believe the love that You have for us. You are love; whoever abides in love abides in You, and You in him. 17In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.  18There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. 19We lovee because You first loved us.  (1 jhn 4:7-19)

14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.    16By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can your love abide in him?  Help me to not love just in word and speech, but in action and truth. So I will know that I belong to the truth, and so I can assure my heart in Your presence: But if my heart condemns me, You are greater than my heart, and You know all things.  But if my heart does not condemn me, I have confidence before You, 22and I will receive from You whatever I ask, because I keep Your commandments and do what is pleasing in Your sight. 23And this is Your commandment: that we should believe in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as You commanded us. 24Whoever keeps Your commandments remains in You, and You in him. And by this we know that You remain in us: by the Spirit You have given us.  (1 jhn 3:14-24)

4Love is patient, and it is kind. It does not envy or boast.  It is not prideful, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered, and it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails.  (1 cor 13).  Love lends and expects nothing in return.  Love is self-sacrificing, generous, and unconditional.  Love binds everything together in perfect harmony (col 3:12), love is the fulfilling of the Law (Rom 13:10).   When I am living for myself, the call to love others is always a burden and duty, but true, humble, joyful, and perseverant love is born out of worshipful gratitude.  We love, because you first loved us.

PROVISION | UTTER DEPENDANCE

I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  (jn:6:35)

 THE TABLE  | FEEDING OFF HIS WORD 

Matt 6:11 (303 + 308) “Give this day our daily bread” (he wants his disciples to live a state of constant dependence on his provision). 

Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up the last day.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks of my blood, abides in me, and I in him (jn 5:53-56)

Don’t let distractions keep me from your table and remind my heart that I have a place at your table, not because of my own righteousness, but because of your sons.  I pray I will approach with rightless assertiveness, taking up both the offer and challenge, intaking, consuming, and feasting upon who you are, so that it will nourish my heart and weary soul. You alone can fill my hunger and satisfy the void in my heart.  You alone can quench my thirst that my soul longs for.  The bread and the cup are the reminders you gave us for this.  Remind my heart that we do not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from your mouth, (matt 4:4) and that I can’t know you except through your word, and through keeping your commands, because a person’s word is the clearest and ultimate revelation of who they are.  You reveal yourself to us through your word, and your word became flesh through your son, whose body was broken (bread) and whose blood was shed (cup) for us. 

Thank you, Father, for the provision you provide for us each day.  You provide for us and give us everything we need just like a loving father gives his children everything that they need.   You know what I need, when I need it, and how to deliver it.   Your grace is expansive and multifaceted, but also focused and personal.  Help me to remember how utterly dependent I am upon you for everything in my life, especially when things are going well, and how needy I am, but that I have all I need in You are always with me, your hand is always upon me, your never stop watching me, your heart is for me, ayou.  nd you are always accomplishing your plans for me and through me, so help me to take things one day at a time and help me to remember that you have given us all we need for each day, and all things that pertain to life and godliness.  (2 pet 1:3) You provide us with shelter, clothing, food, and water which is all we need in order to do what you have called us to do, and to become who you have created us to be, which is to be formed into the likeness of your son.  

You give us what we need, not what we deserve, and my greatest need is a restored relationship with you, which you supplied through the person and work of your son.   So help me to not confuse what I want with what I actually need, because you alone are the only thing I need to survive and thrive.  I only need your all-powerful fatherly love and care.  Everything else is expendable. Faith looks at the wrath bearing, justice satisfying, sin atoning death of your son and joyfully says, “yes” that is what I need.   You did not promise to deliver what I desire, but you are committed to giving me what I need.  No good thing will you withhold from those that walk upright (ps 84:11).  Help me to take no thought for tomorrow or to take thought for my life, what I shall eat or drink, or clothes which the nations seek after, but help me to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, so all things will be added.  (matt 6:33)

DRAWING UPON WELL OF SALVATION

AND LIVING WATER

Remind my heart that my salvation is complete, and that the work is finished, so that I can draw upon the wells of your salvation and living water, (Isaiah 12) through prayer, meditating, pondering, reflecting upon, and internalizing your word, and remembering all your works.  Loving and serving you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. (Deut 6:5, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, Matt 22:37) Filling all gospel gaps in my heart, by drawing out the implications of your truths and claims, until I gain clarity and understanding, & until my cold, wandering, selfish heart becomes set on fire and captured by the beauty of who you are.

PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION

MADE HOLY | WASHED CLEAN

Our progressive sanctification (set apart from profane things and dedicate to God) is your lifelong commitment to make us what you declared us to be, which is justified and righteous.  So keep me from becoming complacent and satisfied with occasional moments of ministry, a little bit of biblical literacy, quick morning devotions, a little ministry experience, not acting out most of my lust and not communicating most of my envy.  Remind me that I never graduate from grace and I give evidence every day that I still need to grow.   

If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 tim 2:21-22).  Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God (Matt 5:8). 

A pure Heart 24k gold is nearly 100% gold with few impurities but that % is difficult to achieve.  The most common method refiners use is the “miller” process. Sanctification, process of being made holy.  The trial of Faith

[Psalm 24 – verses 303-308: Baptism Cards ]

SUFFERING | AFFLICTION | TRIALS | DISCIPLINE | CHASTENING | LOVING CORRECTION 

REFINEMENT | TRANSFORMATION |  GROWTH

A pearl is a jewel that comes from suffering.  The oyster gets a grain of sand inside its shell which hurts it so the oyster begins to protect itself the irritant by coating it with a secretion, layer upon layer, until it becomes a smooth, brilliant, shining treasure- a pearl!

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept your word (ps 119:67).  It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I may learn your statutes.  (71)  I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me (175).  This is my comfort in my affliction, your promises give life (50).  Help me to be like the psalmist who found comfort both in your promises to him good through his affliction, and your promise to ultimately deliver him from it.  And let that lead me into loving your word even more (167).  May it become the sum of all truth to me (160), a light unto my path (105), and my refuge.  It is sweeter than honey (103) and more valuable than gold (72).  Give me strength to meditate upon it throughout the day (97),  Your purposes in our afflictions are always redemptive so help me to see your faithfulness in my affliction and help me to remember that you comfort us in our affliction (2 cor 1:3-4).  Help me to see your good purposes in my affliction and help to learn how to rejoice in the midst of my sorrow.  Thank you for lovingly correcting my proneness to wander.

An ounce of sin is more harmful than a ton of suffering because sin can harden our hearts so we lose everything, but suffering, if handled rightly, can make us wiser, happier, and deeper.  Although you take no pleasure in our suffering, our suffering is the nail that drives us deeper into your love.  I could not have received my deeper joy in you any other way. Thank you for the riches I have found in these dark mines which are patience, courage, self-understanding, and most of all your love and presence.  It is not my earthly joys but my griefs that show me your grace is enough.  They are for our sanctification and for your glory, and they are used to draw us closer to you, to make us less self-sufficient, and more dependent upon you.  They are tools of your grace used to transform us from useless ore into gold, so that we can be used for your kingdoms work.  I can take consolation in the fact that you will allow into our lives only the troubles that refine us.  Teach me to learn obedience in my suffering.  We want situational care, but you send trouble our way to rescue our hearts from idolatry.  Let my experiences of suffering make me more like your son, and may my heart rejoice in the fact that I am a partaker in Christ’s sufferings, so that when His glory shall be revealed, I may be glad, with exceeding joy (1 pet 4:13).  You only thought of me during your suffering, so let me think of others in mine.  

You did not promise us success, comfort, and ease. If we are born again, we will go through many tribulations and sufferings before entering into the kingdom.  (Acts 14:22) You never said we will be healthy, wealthy, and successful.  You said we will be hated, that we will have trouble, and that we will suffer.  Your discipline is not a suspension of your love, but a result of it.  Your discipline is never a result of your rejection, but a fruit of your acceptance.  Your discipline is not teaching me what to do to earn my place as one of your children, but rather it proves that I am one of your children.   

Your love will often confound my expectations and hopes.  It is perplexing and will make me angry sometimes, but pain and grief are not antithetical to your love for me.  They in fact may very well be an indication of your love for me.  Keep me from judging your love based on my circumstances.

Keep me from lightly regarding your discipline, and from being weary when you reprove me, because you discipline those whom you love, and you chastise every son you receive.  If you left me without discipline, then I would not be a son but an illegitimate child.  Our fathers discipline us for a short time as it seems best to them, but you discipline us for our good, that we may share in your holiness.  Although all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, it later yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.   So strengthen my drooping hands and weak knees, make straight paths for my feet, so that which is lame, may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:5-13)

The trials we face are used to test the genuineness and sincerity of our faith, and they are more precious to you than gold, and after we have been tested and tried and endured temptation, you have promised us the crown of life.  (james 1:12) So help me to stay on your agenda page, remembering why I am here, the goal of your grace, and that you will not relent, until our complete deliverance from sin and death has been accomplished.  You are committed to my holiness, and you are not working to deliver to me my personal definition of happiness, or my definition of the good life.  You have not unleashed your grace upon me, to deliver me to things that quickly pass away, and have no capacity to satisfy my heart.  I will not always perceive your goodness in my circumstances, but I will always see it in your promises.  Your gifts of grace transcend the moment and are of eternal value.  You are faithful and will finish the work you started in me.  You will not leave the works of your hands.  (ps 138:8)

Faith is living in light of what you have said, resting in what has already been done, and entrusting my future to your care, but this care does not always come in the form of relief, but rather in the uncomfortable forms of trials, troubles, tribulations, hardships, struggles, and sufferings.  Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to your word, and to drive us to our knees.  All that live godly will suffer persecution (2 tim 3:12). 

 

The devil wants us to think your promises have failed if you let us suffer, but you save us in our troubles, not from them, and although our afflictions are many, you deliver us out of all of them.   The only thing we can lose in our suffering, are things that are finally expendable.  Just as you tested and tried Israel in the wilderness, so that you could know what was in their hearts, and to humble them, you will keep us under the fire, and in the furnace of affliction, until you see the reflection of your face in our heart.  They are in our lives, not because you have forgotten us, but because you remember us, and you are changing us by your grace.  You have given me all the resources I need to face these things with peace, joy, and hope because you have given us your spirit to comfort us, and I know you have already gone before us, and have experienced all of these things and have overcome.    

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.  Perplexed, but not in despair.  Persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed.  Always bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body.  I won’t faint because even though our outward man perishes, our inward man is renewed daily.  For our light affliction, which is for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2 cor 4:8-17) 

Therefore, I will rejoice in my sufferings, knowing suffering (tribulation) produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, which does not put us to shame, because your love has been poured into our hearts through your holy spirit. (Romans 5:3-5).

The sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18).  Nothing shall separate us from your love, not tribulation, distress, persecution, nakedness, peril, or sword.  We are more than conquerors through you who loved us.  (Rom 8:35)

So, the trials we face are not a sign of your inattention, but part of your plan, so that the values of my heart can be altered and ordered according to the values of your kingdom.  You conquered death so that you could establish your rule in my heart, so help my heart to value your grace, love, and holiness over worldly things built on appearance, social status, and human approval.  Keep me from judging success by the size of my house, the prominence of my friends, the success of my career, the power of my position, my possessions, physical appearance, breadth of knowledge, or list of achievements.  Success, is you working in and through me, offering me things of supreme value, which is your forgiveness, your presence, access to your kingdom, a clean conscience, and a pure heart.  Help me to value your grace over my fulfillment of my catalog of desires.  

You are not nearly as concerned about my circumstances as you are the condition of my heart, so keep me from getting frustrated and aggravated when things don’t go as I planned or as I had hoped and help me to celebrate the grace that has included me in the most wonderful plan ever conceived. 

Help me to remember and learn to trust that everything you send my way is grounded in your loving will for my life.  When faced with an aspect of your will that makes me want to run, give me strength to cling closely to you and say, “thy will be done”.  Teach me how to grow into your likeness in my affliction as you are reshaping me by your grace.   Keep me from becoming satisfied and complacent in areas of my life where you are not, remembering that I never graduate from your grace.  Give me strength to remain steadfast under trial and keep me from listening to the lies of the enemy so I don’t become discouraged and give up.  Keep me from forsaking my good habits of faith and keep me from ever questioning your goodness.  Help me to look at my trials and see grace.

BROAD PATH OF DESTRUCTION

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-vs-

 

NARROW PATH OF LIFE

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HOUSE BUILT ON SAND

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-vs-

 

HOUSE BUILT ON ROCK

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WAVERING, TOSSED TO AND FRO

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WHERE THE PATH IS:

 

• Broad
• Rough
• Crooked 
• Turning to Right and Left Hand
• False
• Slippery 
• Stumbling
• Backsliding
• Wandering aimlessly  
• Gone astray
• Perverted
• (altered from original course) 
• Lost 
• Wavering
• Reed Shaken in Wind
• Reeling To and Fro
• Staggering
• Drunk

Isaiah 59

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

• Trusting in lies, Double minded, unstable like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, vacillating between trusting in God and trusting in one’s own ability

• Led by the desires of the flesh
• selfishness, violence, greed, lust, injustice, disobedience, gossip, slander, pride, murder, envy, idolatry, rage, slander, bitterness, witchcraft, jealousy, drunkenness, hatred, sexually immoral
• pursuing one’s worldly desires, gain, and riches, which once conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin brings forth death.
• Bitter jealousy
• selfish ambition, self-indulgence
• Shows partiality
• Desires Vain Glory
• Proud, boasts about tomorrow
  • Empty
  • sexual immorality
  • impurity
  • lust
  • evil desires
  • greed, which is idolatry
  • anger
  • rage
  • malice
  • slander
  • filthy communication
  • lying
  • carnally minded
  • unfruitful

-vs-

 

STABLE, SETTLED, UNWAVERING

---

WHERE THE PATH IS:

 

• Just (Upright)
• Smooth
• Level
• Plain
• Straight
• Narrow
• True
• Unwavering
• Fixed
• Firm
• Established 
• Found

HEBREWS 12 :  GOD DISCIPLINES HIS SONS 

 

 13And make straight paths for your feet,

lest that which is lame be turned out of the way;

but let it rather be healed.

• walking in truth. Settled, unwavering trust and confidence in you, based on your promises and character
• Led by the spirit
• Patience, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, gentleness, and self-control
• patient in suffering
• rich in faith, poor in the world
• established heart
• meek, receiving the implanted word
• doers of the word, not just hearers
• quick to hear, slow to speak
• loves neighbor as self
• visits widows and orphans
• keeps self-unstained from world
• Abhoring what is evil, holding fast to what is good, Loving others with brotherly affection, Not slothful in zeal, fervent in spirit, serving the lord
• Rejoicing in hope, Patient in tribulation
• Constant in prayer, Contributing to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality, Rejoice with those rejoice
• Weep with those who weep
• Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly, Never be wise in own sight
• Live peaceably with all, Never avenge self, leave to wrath of God
• Bears others burdens
• Fruitful, Undivided heart, abiding in the vine
•  

WORKS OF THE FLESH (CHAFF) 

---

1. adultery, 
2. fornication,
3. uncleanness,
4. lasciviousness,
5. Idolatry,
6. witchcraft,
7. hatred,
8. variance,
9. jealousies,
10. wrath,
11. strife,
12. seditions,
13. heresies, 
14. contentions,
15. murders,
16. drunkenness,
17. revelings

-vs-

 

WORKS OF THE SPIRIT (FRUIT) 

---

1. Love,  
2. Joy,
3. Peace,
4. Kindness,
5. Goodness, 
6. Faithfulness,
7. Gentleness, 
8. Self Control, 
9. Patience

TARES

---

-vs-

 

WHEAT

---

BOUND IN BUNDLES & BURNED

---

meaning destroyed

-vs-

 

BOUND IN BUNDLES INTO BARN

---

 meaning eternal life.

PAVED WITH GOLD

---

-vs-

 

PAVED WITH BLOOD

---

TREE OF GOOD & EVIL

---

Desirable to the Eyes which Eve ate from

Digital (Numbers)

Quantified, Qualifiable, Measured

-vs-

 

TREE OF LIFE

---

No beauty that we should desire him

The Word
Eternal

SEED OF WICKEDNESS

---

planted by serpent

-vs-

 

SEED OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

---

planted by God

SELF ASSESSMENT TOOLS | METRICS

---

 

-vs-

 

SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL

---

THE WAY OF CAIN

---

City Builders 

Manipulating God’s creation

to fit your own desires,

through work of own hands.

which leads to

 an artificially contrived

city of confusion 

-vs-

 

THE WAY OF ABLE

---

Tending the flock

Tending to what God has created.(nourishing and feeding his flock)

God completing His work in us

through His hands and spirit 

which leads to

a city of peace created By God

ESTABLISHED THROUGH INITIATION

---

 and own works

-vs-

 

ESTABLISHED THROUGH GRACE

---

 and the work of Christ

ROOTED IN GNOSIS [SCIENCE]

---

-vs-

 

ROOTED IN CHRIST

---

UNCLEAN HEART

---

-vs-

 

CLEAN  HEART

---

VINE OF SODOM

---

 

-vs-

 

VINE OF CHRIST

---

VINE SUPPORT : ELECTRIC TOWERS

---

-vs-

 

VINE SUPPORT : THE CROSS

---

NATIONS SEEKING THE LOST CITY

---

-vs-

 

GOD SEEKING THE LOST SHEEP

---

RUNNING A RACE THAT HAS A

---

WORKING TO EARN SALVATION

-vs-

 

RUNNING A RACE THAT IS ALREADY

---

APPLYING SALVATION ALREADY GIVEN

FUELED BY DISCONTENT

---

• Lust,
• Want,
• Envy,
• Covetessness
• Self Will
• Pride
• Pursuing Passions
• Ambition,
• Drive, 
• Innovation  

---

which leads to

---

• Exhaustion
• Anxiety, Stress, Panic
• Anger, malice
• Frustration
• Hurry 

-vs-

 

FUELED BY CONTENTMENT

---

•  Wanting Nothing
• God’s Will
• Humility
• Crucified Passions
• Pursuing Righteousness

---

which leads to

---

• Rest
• Peace
• Love 
• Joy
• Patience 
• Humility
• Kindness
• Meekness
• Self-control

WALK OF FAME

---

 

-vs-

 

WALK OF FAITH

---

 

PERFORMANCE ART

---

-vs-

 

PERFORMING THE COMMANDMENTS

---

 

HOLLYWOOD STARS

---

-vs-

 

SHINING AS STARS IN DARKNESS

---

 PHILIPPIANS 2 :  SHINING AS STARS 

 15That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the middle of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world; 16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. 

 

 

ONLINE IDENTITY

---

-vs-

 

IDENTITY IN CHRIST

---

VANITY MIRROR

---

Used to fix our outer appearance

-vs-

 

THE MIRROR OF GOD’S WORD

---

Used to fix our heart

CROWN OF ENLIGHTENMENT (CORRUPTIBLE)

---

through meditatation, chakra balancing, yoga

-vs-

 

CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (INCORRUPTIBLE)

---

through prayer and obedience

AUTHOR OF CONFUSION

---

Nimrod | Osiris  

SHEPHERD OF THE GOATS

-vs-

 

AUTHOR OF PEACE

---

Jesus 

SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP

BOOK OF THE DEAD

---

-vs-

 

LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE

---

JUSTIFICATION

BASED OFF OWN WORKS

---

 

-vs-

 

JUSTIFICATION

BY WORK DONE ON CROSS

---

WEAPONS OF WAR : CARNAL

---

-vs-

 

WEAPONS OF WAR : SPIRITUAL

---

3For though we walk in the flesh, 

we do not war after the flesh:

4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

but mighty through God to the

pulling down of strong holds;

5Casting down imaginations,

and every high thing that exalts itself

against the knowledge of God,

and bringing into captivity every

thought to the obedience of Christ;

6And having in a readiness to revenge

all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

YOKE IS HEAVY

---

-vs-

 

YOKE IS LIGHT

---

UNITED NATIONS

---

-vs-

 

UNITED IN CHRIST 

---

THE GLUE : BITUMEN

---

The glue that holds together

the walls and towers

of Babylon and what is used

as the source for their alchemical goal

of reconciling opposites in nature 

-vs-

 

THE GLUE : THE HOLY SPIRIT 

---

The glue that holds together

God’s people in the bond of Peace,

through unity and faith,

and clothes us in His righteousness,

reconciling us to God. 

MIXING ELEMENTS TO CREATE ELIXIRS

---

technical and the spiritual

-vs-

 

MIXING THE WORD WITH FAITH

---

(the substance of things hoped for)

RECONCILING OPPOSITES IN NATURE

---

-vs-

 

RECONCILED TO CHRIST

---

SCIENTIST IN WHITE LAB COATS

---

-vs-

 

SAINTS IN WHITE ROBES

---

 REVELATION 7  

These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

MAINSTREAM NEWS

---

-vs-

 

THE GOOD NEWS

---

MAN OF SIN

---

“Number” of his name

-vs-

 

SON OF MAN

---

“Word made flesh”

TABLES OF BINARY DATA

---

-vs-

 

TABLES OF BREAD BROKEN FOR US

---

HOUSE BUILT BY PHAROAH ON SAND

---

 

-vs-

 

HOUSE BUILT BY GOD ON ROCK

---

 

BUNDLES OF FIBER OPTIC CABLES

---

-vs-

 

BUNDLES OF FIBERS OF WHEAT

---

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

---

-vs-

 

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST 

---

I AM

---

 Isaiah 47 :  The Fall of Babylon Predicted

10For you have trusted in your wickedness: you have said, None sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and none else beside me.

-vs-

 

I AM

---

Isaiah 46 : 

9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, YET IS

---

 revelation 17 :The Mystery Explained

 

7And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is

-vs-

 

THAT WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME

---

REVELATION 1 : John Greets the Seven Churches

 

8I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

FOREHEAD

---

 revelation 17 :The Mystery Explained

 

: 5And on her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

-vs-

 

FOREHEAD

---

REVELATION 22 : PURE RIVER OF LIFE

 

4And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

THIGH

---

Isaiah 47 : The Fall of Babylon Predicted

1Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover your locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet you as a man. 4As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

5Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

-vs-

 

THIGH

---

REVELATION 19 : RIDER ON WHITE HORSE

 

13And he was clothed with a clothing dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he has on his clothing and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

---

-vs-

 

WAVE OFFERING OF BREAD

---

BLACK BITUMOUS OIL  

---

-vs-

 

OLIVE OIL FOR LAMPS 

---

JOINING MALE & FEMALE PHYSICALLY

---

by Hermetic Alchemy and Science

-vs-

 

JOINING MALE & FEMALE SPIRITUALLY

---

  through faith in Christ and marriage

 

GALATIANS 3

26For you are all the children of God

by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as

have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  

MARK 10 

 6But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.  7For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and join to his wife;  8And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh.  9What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.  

CRUSHED COAL FOR ELECTRICITY

---

-vs-

 

CRUSHED (GRAIN) FLOUR FOR BREAD

---

CIRCUIT BOARD

---

-vs-

 

GALILEE=”CIRCUIT” 

---

MYSTERY BABYLON ::

 SUN WORSHIP

BABEL

---

-vs-

 

MYSTERY OF GOSPEL ::

SON WORSHIP

BIBLE

---

WIFE : Isis (earth and the elements)

HUSBAND : Osiris , god of the Dead (aether) 

SON : Horus (resurrected Osiris) (energy), 

the alchemical deity comes up from base matter;

whose spirit goes into pharoah as fit extension through imitative magic from objects created by works of men’s hands 

MOTHER: Babalon, the city, created by the works of mens hands through alchemical knowledge from the serpent

-vs-

 

WIFE : Israel

HUSBAND : Yahweh, God of the Living, to his sheep

SON : Jesus (resurrected Son of God), 

the deity which came down from heaven;

which sent his Holy Spirit into His believers through faith through work of God’s son on cross

MOTHER: Jerusalem, the city which Jesus went to prepare for us, from heaven,

THE FOUNDATION STONE : GNOSIS

---

Alchemy (Philosopher’s Stone)

-vs-

 

THE FOUNDATION STONE : THE LAW

---

Christ (The True Cornerstone)

WORTHLESS METAL : DROSS

---

-vs-

 

PURIFIED

---

CUP OF ABOMINATIONS

---

-vs-

 

CUP OF BLOOD SHED FOR US

---

THE HUSK

---

-vs-

 

THE FRUIT

---

TARES : UNGODLY

---

  
STANDING TALLPRIDEFUL

GATHERED IN BUNDLES 

THE CHAFF

DOUBLE DESTRUCTION :: BURNED IN FIRE

-vs-

 

 

GODLY : WHEAT

---

BOUGHED OVER

HUMBLE

GATHERED IN BUNDLES 

THE FRUIT
DOUBLE FRUIT TAKEN INTO BARN

 

 

REDEEMED FROM SLAVERY & BONDAGE 

BOUGHT WITH PRICE

You have rescued us from the idols that are full of lies, that over promise and under deliver, and that so easily enslave us, and that make us sacrifice and bring us to nothing.  They are broken cisterns that can never satisfy, but you alone sacrificed for us, and give us the well of living water and eternal life which never runs out.  You did not redeem us from bondage to sin, death, and darkness with gold or silver, but by his precious blood that was shed, reconciling us back to yourself, so that we could begin the process of being made holy and transformed into your likeness.  You have saved us from the penalty of sin, you are saving us from the power of sin, and you will save us from the presence of sin eternally.    

THE UPSIDE – DOWN PARADOXICAL KINGDOM

I ask for your wisdom, knowledge, guidance, understanding, and discernment so that I may better serve you and your kingdom, which turned the world’s value system upside down.  The world tells us to live for ourselves, to consume, obtain, and achieve, but the central organizing principle of your paradoxical kingdom, is that the way to fullness of life is to empty (kenosis) ourselves in (hesed) self-sacrificial love for others, in order to make them whole.  Those who give the most, have the most.  The more you give, the more you will have, and those who keep, will have less and less to hold on to.  Having nothing yet possessing everything.  The smallest of seeds becomes the largest.  The way to reign is to submit.  The way to magnificence of character is through humility. The way up, is to first go down, humbling myself before you, admitting that I am a moral failure, and deserve nothing but your wrath, so that I can be exalted in due time.  The way to true freedom is by following, obeying, serving, and submitting to your commands.  The way to truly be rich is to give my wealth away.  The way to save and preserve my life is to lose it.  The way to find myself is to lose myself in service to you and to others.   If I look for or try to find myself (or my “true” self), I will only find in the long run, hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay, but when I look to Christ, I will find him and everything that my heart truly seeks and needs will be found, which is joy, peace, love, security, and rest.   

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but we are wise in Christ, we are weak, but strong, honorable yet despised, we both hunger and thirst, naked and buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, and labor working with our own hands being reviled, we bless: being persecuted, we suffer it, being defeated we intreat. (1 cor 4:9-13)

You have chosen the foolish and weak things of the world to confound the wise and mighty (1 cor 1:27) and although I am weak, your strength is great, and my weakness is the doorway to your strength.  Your grace is sufficient for me, and your strength is perfected in my weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 cor 12:9)   For your sake I will be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  Weakness is my lot.  You have chained me to frailty, but this prison is your workroom.  You are the potter, and I am the clay, and you are molding me into your image. Thank you for being so incredibly patient, eternally kind, tender, gentle, and gracious with me, and for saving me from myself.  Teach me to cling to you, repent, and depend on you in my times of weakness, so that, through you I can be strong, remembering that you often use our troubles to rescue us from our own flaws and make us great like Joseph.  If Joseph hadn’t been betrayed, sold, and imprisoned for years, he never would have escaped his own deadly character flaws, never would have been able to redeem his own family from its generational sins, nor would he have been able to save thousands of people from famine.

AMBASSADORS 

RE-PRESENT THE KING TO OTHERS

I pray that I will be an effective witness to your kingdom, that others would see the work you have started in me, and that I would continue to reflect more of who you are to others, and that I would be a light to this dark world.  Being an ambassador re-presenting who you are as king, in word, deed, and character, extending the same grace, mercy, and compassion you have given me, to others.  Making your invisible presence visible, being a physical representation of your grace to others, by being the look on your face, the tone of your voice, and the touch of your hands. Loving others as you loved us, self sacrificially and steadfast.  Help me to make your mercy and faithfulness visible and concrete. Remembering that how I live my life is a testimony to others, because they are watching how I conduct myself, and how I respond to things as your child.   I pray they would see in me a radically transformed heart that is yielded to your spirit, and that my life will draw people to you, and that you will be magnified in my life for your glory.  As your image bearers, we were made to be seen and that you do see us, even when it seems like no one else does.

SALT AND LIGHT | IMAGE BEARERS

You have called us to be salt and light, in the midst of the darkness and decay all around us.  You set me apart from the world in order to be used by you in it, so I ask that you will give me the ability to engage others with purposeful distinctiveness, without being influenced by the culture around me.  Remembering you have blessed me, so that I may bless others.  You have drawn me in, in order to send me out, and to serve and minister to others.  You have called me not to just be a recipient, but an instrument of your grace.

THE BODY OF CHRIST

COMMUNITY | RELATIONSHIPS | STONES OF TEMPLE

Remind my heart that our life with you is not to be done in isolation, but to be done in community with others, so continue to draw me closer to your people, and infuse my life with people of your own heart.  I ask for healthy relationships and that you would draw me in your love to those around me.  May I always be reminded that I am not alone in my journey.  You dwell in our hearts by faith, and we are rooted and grounded in your love, so that we may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, length, depth, and height.  Together we work and labor to edify each other, which is “the act of building up” and promoting growth, by serving others and not ourselves.  Each stone is bound together (bundled/united) through the Holy Spirit, and we endeavor to keep the unity in the bond of peace, by walking with all lowliness, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one another in love. (eph 3).  Help me to become more serving rather than demanding, forgiving rather than accusing, approachable rather than defensive, and patient rather than critical in my relationships.  No one gives grace better than a person who is deeply convinced of his own need for it and aware of the grace he has been given.

STEWARDSHIP

Keep me from a complacent comfortable life, while being indifferent to those in need.  Nothing I have belongs to me, they belong to you for your purposes, so I pray that I would be a faithful steward of the gifts, money, time, and resources that you have entrusted me with, so that I can make an eternal difference in the lives of others.   You own everything, you have gladly given me all I have, and your resources are unlimited, so my giving is not a deduction from a limited amount, but rather a distribution from a limitless supply.  Scattering gathers and gathering scatters.  You love a cheerful giver, and it is more blessed to give than receive.  True wealth and riches can only be found in you, and true wealth is found by giving mine away.  Only in you, Father, can I take refuge and my heart find true security, freedom, and rest, because you are gentle and lowly, your yoke is easy, and your burden is light.   Where my treasure is, there my heart will be, and whatever has captured my heart, my treasure is going to flow to it effortlessly.  Any other treasure I set my heart upon will make me sacrifice, but you are the only treasure that sacrificed for me, and your riches are unsearchable.  Jesus is my treasure and my true wealth.  You emptied yourself and became poor for me, so that I, being poor and spiritually bankrupt, could have eternal riches in you.  The greatest treasure you can give us is your presence, and although I welcome the gifts of your hands, seeking your face is where I find the glory that other things fail to provide.  You alone are the fountain of life and love that I have looked for in other places, only to my misery, so unite my heart to fear your name because there is no want to those that fear you. 

PATIENTLY WAITING WITH EXPECTANT HOPE

IN HIS PROMISES

In the midst of this fallen world that is ever changing, subjected to futility, filled with trouble and uncertainty, in the pains of childbirth groaning to be delivered, with darkness all around us and everything being in the process of decay, my hope is not found in men trying to make it a better place, my hope is found in your son, whose power and love don’t shift with the times, and who has overcome the world and has made my future secure, giving me rest and peace.  I don’t have to deny reality in order to have peace in my heart.  You inhabit eternity and you see all of history in one single moment, so keep me from getting frustrated at your timing.  Your mills grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine. They take time, but your promises will come true.  In my patience, I possess my soul, so help me to be patient as I wait with expectant hope in your promises, while in between the already and not yet messy middle of your grand redemptive story. 

Your unfailing immutable promises and life-giving presence allow me to face the harsh realities of life in this broken world with courage and hope, which is a confident expectation of a guaranteed result that changes the way I live.  It does not rest on my own understanding, but on your goodness and rule.  You have promised those who love you and call upon your name, that you will rescue and protect us, that you will hear our prayers, that you will be with us in trouble, and that you will give us honor, salvation, and eternal life.  

ETERNAL MINDSET

If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 cor 15:19) This life is short and marked with toil, trouble, and difficulty, so help me to keep and maintain an eternal mindset and perspective, remembering that I am not promised tomorrow, that our flesh is like grass, and that this life is fleeting, fading, and temporary, but your word will last forever.  16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self^d is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:17-18).   In light of eternity, it makes no sense to forget You and live for myself.  In the face of eternity, it is irrational to write my own rules and demand my own way.

Remind me of the brevity of life and teach me to number my days, so that I may apply my heart to wisdom, (ps 90).  Make me to know my end and measure of my days that I may know how frail I am.  You have made my days as a handbreadth and my age is nothing before you: every man at his best state is altogether vanity and walks in a vain shew, but I wait for and hope in you.  (ps 39) Allow me to rest in what you have revealed about your plans for me, instead of worrying about what I have no power or control over.

I am an alien, sojourner, and exile in this life, and this is not my home, it is only my journey to my eternal home with you.  This life is not meant to be the destination, but rather preparation for our final destination with you.   Walking with you is not a grand vacation free from responsibilities and trials, because our life with you right now is not the destination, but rather a time of preparation for the destination that will be our eternal home.  We have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.  (heb 13:14)

Losing sight of eternity causes me to lose sight of what is important and causes my heart to seek satisfaction in temporary things, and causes me to load up my hopes, dreams, and aspirations in this life.   So keep my heart from pursuing and chasing after empty things that can never deliver, that have no capacity to satisfy my heart, and only leave me exhausted and restless.   Keep my heart focused on the paradise that is to come, so that I will stop asking this fallen world to be the paradise it will never be.  Keep my heart from loving this world or the things in it.  Remembering the lusts and pride of this life are not from you, but of the world, and it is passing away, but whoever does your will, will last forever. (1 jhn 2:16) You have caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of your son from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for us.  (1 pet 3:4) so let that clarify my values and renew my hope, so that I would store my treasures in heaven and not here on earth.  I carried nothing into this world, and I will leave with nothing.  I don’t enter through the Narrow Gate with any of my stuff, only your cross, so let the things of the earth grow strangely dim, in the light of your glory and grace.

Though the earth passes away I have an eternal inheritance in you that can never be taken away, with a new heaven and a new earth.  So, help me to be patient as I wait with expectant hope in your promises, remembering that when you return all things will be restored, and we will be able to live in your presence free from the effects of sin forever with new glorified bodies.  Help me to focus on my spiritual privileges, inheritance, and rights which lay in the next life where you have gone and prepared a place for us and where there are many mansions. (john 14)    Help me to view life through the window of the resurrection, knowing this world is marching toward its final conclusion, our end is guaranteed, as well as the grace we need along the way.  Your truth will reign, your plan will be accomplished.  Sin will be defeated, and righteousness will reign.   You will ultimately fix all that sin has broken. You will wipe away our tears from our eyes, there shall be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain, and you will make all things new. (rev 21).  Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has any man’s mind ever imagined the wonderful things that you have in store for those who love you. (1 cor 2:9)

KEY OF DAVID 

PRAISE | GRATITUDE | THANKFULNESS | CONTENTMENT | SATISFACTION

You are concerned and look upon my heart, not upon my outward appearance or talent, so I ask for the Key of David, who was a man after your own heart, and I pray to be found Holy and True, sanctified and justified, with a pure heart who delights to do after your will, and I pray that your will would be done.   Remembering David’s supreme priority was to dwell in your house, so that He could gaze upon your beauty with a steady and sustained focus.  Praising, admiring, and enjoying you just for who you are, so that his heart could rest content. So may I do the same, with a single-minded focus of knowing you more intimately and becoming more like you.    For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.  I had rather be a door keeper in your house than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (ps 84)

You alone are my portion, my prize, my reward, and my inheritance, so help me to be content in all my circumstances and in all things, wanting nothing but to be near you, to dwell in your presence, and in your house. Like a weened child may I be content just to be in your presence, enjoying your closeness and love without wanting anything else.  Tune my heart to sing your grace by the truth of your word and by the moving of the spirit in my heart.  Your presence lights my way, it’s your presence that give me hope that I will be delivered from evil, and it’s your presence that provides refuge for me when it seems there is nowhere else to run. 

Help me to remember life is not about me, it’s about you.  May your gospel put me in my place by reminding me of who you are and confront me with your beautiful and faithful mercy towards me.  Keep me from placing myself in the center and reducing my field of concern down to the small confines of my wants, feelings, needs, comfort, pleasure, and ease which leads to entitlement, disappointment, grumbling, and complaining.  May you always maintain your rightful place in my heart.  Remind my heart that everything in my life is an undeserved blessing and an act of your grace which will shift my complaint to need and thankfulness. 

Keep me from focusing on what I don’t have and help me to keep my eyes fixed on you, and all the amazing blessings you have bestowed upon me.   I pray that I will continually take inventory of your faithfulness, praise you for your goodness, and remember all of your works.  Every good thing in my life is an undeserved blessing, so may my heart be filled with gratitude, contentment, and thankfulness, which celebrates your grace, rather than a grumbling, complaining, murmuring, and a self-entitled deserving heart which forgets your grace, ignores your presence, fails to see the beauty of your promises, and questions your goodness, faithfulness, and love for me.   Give me strength to look up and celebrate rather than looking around to compare and calculate. Help me to see all the ways you support and guide me every day, so that I will find new reasons to thank you. (What is sitting on the other side of my “if-only”?).

When you met the woman at the well, you told her that what she was looking for in male affection can only be found in you, so remind my heart that another person can never complete or make me whole, only you can, and I have all I need in you.  Only in you can I find the living water that my heart desperately needs and seeks.  Only in you can my heart find satisfaction.  You are my true spouse, my bridegroom, in which all other relationships pale in comparison, but I pray I will also remember that you have given earthly marriage to us a gift, so if there is someone you do have for me, I pray that I would be able to love her as you loved the church, through the help of your spirit, and that it would be a marriage that honors and glorifies you.  Being single however, allows me to serve and attend to you without distraction, and allows me to testify to others that my relationship with you is so sufficient, rich, and satisfying, that I can do without human marriage in this age.  Being single allows me to show a culture that is so obsessed with sexual and romantic fulfillment, that you are more than enough for me, and it also testifies to the age to come.   They are good gifts in context, but only you can give me what is necessary. 

Keep me from looking to creation to satisfy my heart, when only you the creator can.  Help my heart to be satisfied in you and you alone.  Whom do I have in heaven but you?  There is nothing on earth I desire besides you, my flesh and heart may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever (ps 73:25-26).  I was made for you.  My heart was designed to be controlled by worship of you.  My inner security is meant to come from rest in you.  My sense of well-being is intended to come from a reliance on your wisdom, power, and love.  You are the peace I am looking for, the satisfaction my heart seeks, the rest that I crave, the joy that I long for, and the comfort my heart desires.

The most content person in the room is not the one who has the most, but who is happiest with the least.  If I have Christ, I am the most blessed person in the word.  I give up all I am for all that you are. Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we carry nothing out, and having food and clothes let us be content.  But they that are rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  (But you o man of God) so give me strength flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness.  (1 tim 6:6-11).  This world is a wilderness of want but I have all that I need in you.

1 Timothy 6:11 (303 + 308)11 Flee (love of money and covetousness).  Be content and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. (6/12)12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay ahold to eternal life.  (Godliness with contentment is great gain)

(A Psalm of David. PS 23)  1You LORD are my shepherd, so I shall not want. 2You make me to lie down in green pastures.  You lead me beside still waters. ^a 3You restore my soul.  You lead me in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely^d goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

COURAGE

David did not defeat Goliath in spite of weakness, but through his weakness, and because of his weakness.  His courage came not from him pulling himself together, saying I can do it, but rather from wanting your glory, more than his own safety.  True courage is not the absence of fear, it is the presence and assurance that joy is on the way.  Courage is not self-assertion; it is self-forgetfulness.  It is not self-confidence, it is self-sacrifice.   It does not come from drawing upon my own resources, but looking upon you.  Even though I am a coward, Jesus Christ is my champion.  I ask that you create self-forgetful courage in me, as I contemplate the courage of Jesus on my behalf.  Give me the courage to do what is right, regardless of my fears and consequences.  I pray that my vertical hope in you would fuel a life of expectant faith and courageous action, not resting in my own ability, but in your presence, power, and grace.  Your son took everything I ever deserved, and the ultimate loneliness and death have already been taken away.  Whatever I experience in this life is temporary and true joy is on the way. 

WAR FOR OUR HEARTS

Ephesians 6:11 (303 + 308)11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 

This side of eternity, while in between the already and not yet, we live in a war zone, and there is a war that rages for rulership of my heart each and every day.  It’s a war of doubt and faith, submission and rebellion, anxiety and trust, wisdom and foolishness, hope and despair, allegiance and disloyalty.  There is temptation at every corner and there is an enemy out there seeking to destroy me.  I lack the power to fight those spiritual battles by myself, but you have not left us alone, you are with us, and you can still a hurricane with a word, you are our champion fighting for us on our behalf and have already defeated our ultimate enemies, sin and death, by going to the cross.    I have overcome the evil one and the world, they can’t touch me.  Sin, satan, nor the world has dominion over me, but its power and influence can come at me at the point of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  So keep me from loving this world or the things in it and may I put on and apply each piece of your armor through prayer, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, my loins girded with truth, and my feet shod with gospel of peace, (Eph 6) which will allow me to face the harsh realities of life in this fallen and broken world with courage and hope, knowing that you are with us, and that you fight for us.   I pray I will fight the good fight of faith, and that I will finish the race and course you have set before me.  Forgetting what lies behind, not being paralyzed by my past, straining forward to what lies ahead, and pressing toward the goal for the prize of your upward call.  (phil 3:14) Strengthen and uphold me so I can persevere and endure.  Remembering you ran your course with joy, and it cost you your life, all because your heart’s desire was that we should be your people, so I pray I will learn to observe and do all that you have commanded and ordered as a good soldier, and that I would cast down every thought and imagination that exalts itself, bringing it captive into obedience to you. (2 cor 10:5)   Keeping your commands without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 tim 6:14).   I pray for purity of desire, the wisdom to recognize deception, and strength to fight battles I can’t avoid. No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life, so that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.  (2 tim 2:4) You get your best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.  I pray for a single-minded desire to please you by obeying your rules and commands, working hard encourage by your promises. 

We are bombarded with consumeris, the elevation of individual fulfillment above collective concerns, our app

BATTLING ENVY | JEALOUSY | COVETOUSNESS | IDOLATRY | SELF AMBITION (STRIFE)

Help me to remember who I am and what it means to be your child, so that it will keep my heart from envying the lives of others and from comparing myself with others, because the power of envy made the garden of Eden feel like it was not enough, and it robs me of joy and contentment, and it questions your goodness.    Envy forgets who I am, who you are, and confuses what life is all about.  Forgetfulness leads to comparing, calculating, and complaining instead of praising you for who you are and resting in what you have done.  When envy rules my heart, your love does not.  It is self-focused, self-righteous, expectant, impatient, shortsighted, and demanding.  It tells me I am entitled when I deserve nothing.  It causes me to examine life from the sole perspective of my wants, needs, and feelings.  It accuses you of not knowing what you are doing or of being faithful to what you have promised to do.  Envy causes me to focus more on what I want than it does on the life that you have called me to.  It keeps me from paying attention to your commands and warnings.  So keep me from keeping score so I will not judge your goodness. Where envy and selfish ambition is, there is confusion (Babylon) in every evil work, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without impartiality, and without hypocrisy.  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (james 3:16-18)  

AIM IN LIFE | MISSION | PURPOSE

MINISTRY |  EVANGELISM | WITNESSING | SHARING THE GOSPEL

Luke 12:3535“Stay dressed for action^f and keep your lamps burning, 36and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

I have been drafted into ministry and you are transforming me to participate in the work of your kingdom, so I ask that you give me a ministry and lifeboat mentality, living with the mission, meaning, and purpose of making disciples and reaching the dying and lost with your gospel, as opposed to a yacht mentality, who is more concerned with the cares and comforts of this life.  Keep me from thinking that ministry is something separate from my daily life.  I have been bought with a price so I pray that I will forsake “my life” mentality and daily live with a moment by moment ministry mentality, realizing every dimension of my life is a forum for ministry. I pray that I will be steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in your work, knowing that my labor is not in vain. (1 cor 15:58).  The way to experience future joy now is to live for another person’s progress and joy in the faith . 

I commit my heart to the plans and purposes of your kingdom and seek the grace to be a part of what you are doing, not in the way of it.  I pray your agenda will be my agenda.  Remembering you used weak, deeply flawed, fearful, insecure, lowly, and despised people like myself, to accomplish your plans and purposes, so I ask that in spite of my lack of oratory or rhetorical skills, public speaking abilities, communication skills, leadership abilities, and lack of influence, that you will still use me to accomplish your plans and purposes of advancing your gospel to the lost and making disciples of others, and that I will be able to edify and strengthen your body.  

Although I don’t possess those gifts, I have a heart that wants to live for you and serve you, so keep me from measuring my potential by comparing the size of my problem to my natural talents and my track record so far, and keep me from dealing with my life based on what I assess that I bring to the table, but rather by who I am as your child, whom you fill with your spirit, power, wisdom, and grace.  Keep me from being easily hurt or dependent upon the approval of others.  Remembering faith is based upon measuring my potential based on the surety of your life-giving presence and unfailing promises, not on the basis of my gifts or experience.  A person who is not all pulled together, but has been humbled and moved by the gospel, a person who is trembling and feeling very inadequate, but filled with love and humility, will show a crucified savior to a listener better than a polished pulled together expert.  Children and their simple faith are the best representation of your kingdom, and out of the mouth of babes you have ordained strength and even the feeblest of humanity, with their inarticulate speech, function as firm testimonies of your glory. 

I pray that I am always ready to give an answer for that hope that I have in you with meekness and fear.   Give me the ability to faithfully present your truth to others and I ask for the wisdom to say the right thing to bring the lost to the foot of the cross.  Help me lord, I am weak and don’t know what to say, but I do possess all 4 things that qualify me to be an effective witness, because I don’t have eloquent speech, I am weak, fearful, and trembling.  (1 cor 2) I ask for the power and authority to proclaim your kingdom and gospel to others and help me to remember that the only reason I believe, or anyone believes, is because of a miracle of your grace, so let me share and tell of your gospel with confidence and hope.  

Only you have the power to save, but you have called us to witness, testify, proclaim, teach, live, and preach, so I ask that you equip and empower me to do so.  May my heart overflow with joy, so that I will want to share the source of my joy with everyone I meet.  There is not a person you will set in my path that is not fighting a great battle and experiencing the fallenness of this world, and I get the privilege of carrying the message of your salvation to those around me.  Where you have placed me is my mission field, so grow my understanding of your grace until it rids me of the self-consciousness, lethargy, and pessimism that keep me from opening my mouth and identifying as a Christian in public.  Forgive me for being silent about all you have done for me.  From the rising of the sun to its setting, may my lips praise your name, may I declare your worth above all, may I speak of your glory.  I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing your praise, for you have been good to me.  (ps 13).

You are leading in places far beyond my strength and capabilities so that I become more reliant upon your strength, remembering it is no longer I who lives, but Christ in me, and the life I now live, I live by faith in your son, who loved me and gave himself for me (gal 2:20).  I pray that your gospel will be central to everything that I do, and that you will give me clarity and understanding, so that I will be able to share and communicate it clearly and effectively to others.  I pray that I will be a vessel of honor, sanctified, and ready for my master’s use, prepared unto every good work, fleeing youthful lusts, and following after righteousness, faith, charity, and peace with those that call on you out a pure heart.  Knowing that as your servant I must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves (2 tim 2)

DISCIPLESHIP| SERVANT LEADERSHIP 

May I be like Paul who put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit my ministry.  And may I, like Paul run the race to receive the prize, not aimlessly, but like an athlete who has a single-minded focus and goal, to bring as many people as possible, from whatever station in life, to faith in the gospel.  (1 cor 9:26)  

4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; 5in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger; 6in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; 9as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. Open wide my heart (2 Cor 6:3-10).

Remembering I minister not to assure myself of salvation, but so others may see you in my actions. I ask for the strength, courage, and wisdom to help lead and disciple the young men you have entrusted me with, and that I will be able to help them grow in their faith and in the knowledge and understanding of who you are, so their relationship with you would deepen and so that they can follow you more fully.  I ask for the ability to help them to understand your gospel, that I will be able help them see who you are more clearly, and that the truths of your word would uproot the lies that they get fed with each day, and so their hearts and imaginations would be captured by the beauty of who you are and your gospel, and not the things of this world.   Help me with the questions they might have, so that I will be able to help them remove any obstacles that they might be facing that are hindering their relationship with you.  Give me strength to be able to help them through things they are struggling with and walking through.  Father it is my prayer that I can help them find wholehearted life in you.  I ask that your spirit move in and through the hearts of each one of them and that you would help them to feel your presence. 

HIS PRESENCE

HOLY SPIRT WIND & FIRE | HE IS ALWAYS WITH ME | I AM NEVER ALONE | IMMANUAL  

Judges 6:11 (303 + 308)  House Numbers on Baptism card

11Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 

Judges 6:12 (6/12) Date of Baptism

12And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  13“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” 14The LORDd turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?” 15“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.”

heb 6:11-12 11And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (heb 13) 7Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

God met Moses in the wilderness after he had murdered an Egyptian and had fled to Midian, in the midst of his fearfulness, shame, and insecurity.  He appeared to him in the form of fire and tells Moses to go back to Egypt. 

By faith, knowing God was with Him, went back and confronted Pharaoh.  Apart from his presence, Moses could not do anything.

11But Moses asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.” 13Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  Exodus 3

10“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” 13But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him. 17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.” Exodus 4

Likewise, the apostles the apostles trembled in fear after Jesus was crucified but when they received the Holy Spirit, which came from heaven and sounded like a mighty rushing wind, divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one them.  They then went out and spoke in other languages as the spirit gave them utterance to spread to the gospel to the nations that had been scattered at the tower of Babel, reversing the judgement that occurred in Genesis 11.

You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore I will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at it swelling.  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High, You are in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.  The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob our refuge.  Help me to be still, knowing that you are God (ps 46). 

5The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” 7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” (Deut 31)

7Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,10even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast. 11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—12even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You. 13For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. 15My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.16Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. (Ps 139)

My help come from you, the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.  You will not let my foot slip, you watch over me and will not slumber or sleep.  You will watch over my life, both my coming and going, both now and forever. (ps 121)

IDENTITY IN CHRIST 

MY VALUE, SELF WORTH, SIGNIFICANCE

Let my heart fully grasp that my salvation and standing with you is not based on my works or my own righteousness, but on your son’s, and that it is a gift to be received, not earned or achieved.  This frees me from having to measure up to your standard in order to garner your love, because Jesus accomplished all that needed to be done on our behalf.  The implication of this truth is that I no longer have to prove or validate myself anymore based off my achievements, accomplishments, performance, merit, or based off other people’s opinions of me, or any type of relative status, which is always fluctuating up and down, leaving me restless and tossed about like the waves of the sea, serving as its own form of prison, bondage, and slavery.   I no longer have to try to control other people’s opinions of me, or try to cover and hide my shame, guilt, fears, and inadequacies with a fig leaf, because I have been clothed with his righteousness, which gives me true rest, freedom, and security.  I no longer have to work for an identity, because now I work from the new identity that you have given me.  

My identity, value, significance, and self-worth, now come from what you accomplished for me on my behalf in Christ Jesus, and that I am chosen, loved, valued, accepted, and delighted in by you, which is the only pair of eyes in the universe that matters.  This is where I find my true joy.   There is nothing I can do, to be any more loved and accepted by you than I already am.  Each one of my days has been written in your book before one of them ever came to be, and my heart has been in your sight long before my first breath. 

The very hairs on my head are numbered and I am more valuable to you than many sparrows. (Matt 10:30)   You have formed me, and I have been fearfully and wonderfully made by you.  Remind my heart that when you find me “in Christ”, you see me as beautiful.  Let me grow in the knowledge that I am completely accepted, fully known, and fully loved by you “in Christ”, despite all of my personal flaws and failures.  I am unknown in the eyes of the world, but well known by you. You know me to the bottom, nevertheless you love me to the skies.   Your love for me is not a result of my character but a demonstration of yours. 

Unless you turn and become like children you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matt 18:3-4) (Toddler). 

Keep me from thinking about greatness in terms of human endeavor, accomplishment, and status and help me to have the humility of a child that consists of childlike trust, vulnerability, and realizing that I can do nothing apart from you and your fatherly resources. Help me to remember who I am and what I have been given as your child.  Help me to live out of the joy and stability of knowing that I am your child, and heir, and that in Christ, you delight in me, so I will not be enslaved to applause, approval, and praise from others. Keep me from fearing man which is a snare and strengthen my faith and trust in you (prov 29:25).  Help me to not be so self-conscious or care what others think of me, remembering how accepted I am in Christ, so I will have the freedom and poise necessary to live without fear.  (Think out the implication) If you are my father, you know everything, you are in absolute control of history, you love me infinitely, and everlastingly, and would do anything for my good…and if this is who you are to me, and that is who I am to you, then I have no need to worry or to be fearful.  Worry and fear come when I forget what you accomplished for me in Christ Jesus.  You have defeated sin, so that it can no longer condemn me, and you have defeated death, so that I can be assured of my resurrection.  So may my fear of you overwhelm and control my heart, to protect me from the paralyzing and debilitating fear of other things.   

For as far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love for those who fear you; as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our transgressions from us.  (ps 103:11,12).  So calm, settle, and silence my fearful heart with the unfailing and immutable promises of your scripture.   Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (prov 9:10) and blessed is the one who fears you and delights greatly in your commands (ps 112:1), so may I fear you and you alone and may that fear overwhelm and control my heart, because you are perfect love, and perfect love casts out fear, (1 John 4:18) and will protect me from the paralyzing and debilitating fear of other things

Help me to become less selfish, less self-pitying, less vain, less sensitive to criticism and other people’s opinion of me, and help me to become more joyful, content, and wise, doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than myself, looking out for the interest of others, taking on the nature of a servant as you did (phil 2:3).  Not thinking less of myself, but thinking of myself less often, remembering your divine selflessness, in that you emptied heaven of your greatest treasure to save us, your son emptied himself of his glory on the cross, and your holy spirit points away from himself to the person and work of your son.  

I pray that I will be found worthy to escape the things coming upon the earth, and that I will not be plucked out of your hand or blotted out of your book, and that I will be found to be a wise, faithful, humble servant with my lamp burning brightly, abiding in you and living in a way that pleases you, so that when you appear, I will not be ashamed and will have confidence before you when you return.