Salvation

O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago.

In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." (Isa. 25 NIV)

This past weekend I traveled out of state to visit my parents, sisters, and their families. In the process of the weekend visit I was thinking about an upcoming worship series at our church that, in part, talks about the end times. And I was grieving for the selfishness and pain and sorrow in our world.

While I know that all these things are the norm in a "bent" world (CS Lewis's term), I also know that they will be eliminated only after Christ's return and the start of the New Heaven and New Earth. In the meantime, there are millions of people languishing in sin, sorrow, selfishness, and without the trust in Christ for their future. Would you join me in praying for their salvation?

God,

O LORD, you are our God; We will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

You said you want to draw all people to you - that you want all to be saved from eternity without you. We claim that promise for these loved ones and friends that we name now ....

....for my cousin and her family - that they would know Jesus as the Messiah they have awaited

...for my uncle, aunt, and cousin - that they would come back to the Truth, Way, and Life you offer

...for my relative whose "fruit" is destructive in the family - replace that heart of stone with a heart for your love alone and let it then flow out to bless the family

... We pray that your salvation would spring up within them, that they would be drawn by your Spirit into your arms of love. We pray they would accept this gift of grace you offer to them and trust you for their salvation, their purpose, their healing, and their abundant life lived in you. We pray they would then rejoice in their salvation and live lives pleasing and honoring to your Kingdom. Lord Jesus, it's in your name we pray....Amen.

Family hurts

Tonight I talked with someone whose spouse is very unsupportive, even verbally abusive. There are two preschool children in this marriage who watch and absorb this environment. My heart hurts for this situation.

God, you who created all things and said they were good, we pray for each of these parents to be drawn deeply into conviction and relationship with you. We pray for protection for these children - especially emotional and spiritual protection - that they would see themselves as precious children deeply loved by you and that their self image and emotional tanks would be filled by that Truth. We pray for healing in the hearts, minds, spirits, and marriage that I refer to. Oh, Lord God, you who said it is by your Spirit that the mountains would be moved: move in this family. Turn their hard hearts back to you and give them new hearts for you and for each other. This is a family close to my heart, but your heart sees each and every family and knows all families who are hurting. God, we pray for mercy, grace, healing for them. We pray for salvation for all involved. We pray you would draw men and women, boys and girls, into your arms of love. In the name of the healing Jesus, Amen.

Legacy

¹Open your ears to my teachings, my people.
Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
²I will open my mouth to illustrate points.
I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
³things that we have heard and known about,
things that our parents have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from our children.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s power and great deeds
and the miraculous things he has done.

⁵He established written instructions for Jacob’s people.
He gave his teachings to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to make them known to their children
⁶so that the next generation would know them.
Children yet to be born would learn them.
They will grow up and tell their children
⁷to trust God, to remember what he has done,
and to obey his commands. (Ps. 78 GW)

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to you enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy*

Several months ago a man from our church had seen the movie "Bucket List" and was talking about his "bucket list" - the things he wanted to do before his time on Earth was over. I've never actually written such a list, but could make a list of the people I hope to influence for Christ's Kingdom. Recently I was thinking about how we as Christians build into others. Who are the people we are encouraging in the faith? How are we praying for the unsaved? How are we demonstrating God's mercy and grace to the lost and downtrodden? Are we (am I) loving and leaving a legacy that people will remember - not for me but for God's glory? As I ponder these things and think about the Psalm 78 scripture and Nicole Nordeman's song "Legacy," I must turn again to prayer....

God of mercy and grace, we pray you would open our ears to your teachings and turn our ears to your Word. Help us to know you and to tell others about your power, great deeds, and your miracles. Give us knowledge and courage to share your story, salvation, and grace with all those around us. We want our peers, our children, and our children's children so that all will hear the Good News of your love. We want to leave legacies of love, mercy, and grace so that people see YOU within us. May your Kingdom come and our lives be lived for your Glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"LEGACY" by Nicole Nordeman

I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all the who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
At such 'n such...it wouldn't matter much

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an "Atta boy" or "Atta girl"
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world

Chorus:
I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to you enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon destroy

Chorus

Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well done" good and faithful one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbi4nSrhRxo

Mysterious

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)

You are the GOD who does wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. (Ps. 77:14)

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (John 13:7 NIV)

When I was in seminary in the mid-1990's the large mainline denominational church of which I was a part was (collectively) bemoaning how it had shrunk since the 1950's - that children weren't coming back to the church, evangelism efforts were spotty at best, and the great buildings that had been built during that era had a mostly older fraction of the former population.

There are many factors that have contributed to this "decline" - some obvious ones being the demographic impact of the Baby Boomers, the rise of anti-religious rhetoric in the popular culture, and the resistance of people to established institutions. Yet, while many of the statistics mainline churches (and others) see as negative, I see as God the Holy Spirit continuing to move in different churches, missions, ministries - in different ways - to continue the work of the Kingdom and spreading of the Gospel. Perhaps I am right (or partly right or wrong or partly wrong...) but, at any rate, what we see and understand is not necessarily how God sees things.

Tonight I talked to a close friend of mine whose early-30-something daughter is in the hospital, possibly with a small stroke or even undiagnosed multiple sclerosis. The mother is tired and trying not to "borrow trouble," but you can hear the worry in her heart. This family has been through five or six years of medical problems and are wondering if they are now back on that roller coaster. Why her? Why again? we wonder.

We probably each have examples of things we don't understand. For as much as the Bible tells us about God, it still leaves a great deal of space for the mystery of God. Perhaps this 200 year old hymn will help us find some resolution:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain. (William Cowper)

So, God, we pray that we would seek your face when we are trapped in mysterious places. When we are seemingly lost, please find us. When we are struggling with what seems like a breaking down of sacred or secure things, help us trust you in that process. When we are discouraged or despairing help us to look to you for our help - that you would be our shield, watching over us and protecting us. When we are tasting something bitter, help us to look to you for the sweet flower. God, continue to reassure us of our security in you, even as we watch you move in mysterious ways. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

On the move

¹He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.

⁴As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

⁶Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

¹¹From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. ¹²From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. (Acts 16 NIV)

My evening bible reading right now is somewhere in the middle of the book of Acts, a book that is largely about the apostles being on the move and spreading the Gospel. The Holy Spirit directed these early disciples to teach, preach, and travel telling everyone they could about the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. And scripture records huge numbers of people being saved - 2000 here, 3000 there - and tells stories of specific people like Timothy or Lydia.

Our whole church staff is 'on the move' this week. The four ministry staff persons are traveling to a church conference 13 hours away and our administrative assistant and her husband are preparing to move to Australia to continue in missions work there. Each in their own ways are like God's call to Abram: "Go to the place I will show you."

So I pray for them:

God, I pray for safety as each of them travel...

...for their families that will be here at home...

...for new learning and direction you will give them...

...for development of godly relationships on their journeys...

...for protection over their hearts, souls, minds, bodies, and families...

...that these places where they are on the move - physically or with new ideas in ministry - would be places where your Spirit has already laid the groundwork for your Word and Kingdom to be proclaimed and furthered...

Maranatha, Lord Jesus Come. Amen