Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4 day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Sin, Guilt and Your Health – A Health Devotional.
This morning, during my quiet time with God, I was reading Psalm 32 and was reminded of the connection between sin, guilt and health. In this Psalm, David writes when he tried to hide his adultery, sending Uriah to his death, refused to confess his sin that he felt weak and miserable and that he groaned all day long. He also writes that his strength evaporated like water in the dry summer heat.
After reading two other Psalm 32 devotionals, I knew that I wanted to write on this topic of sin, guilt and our health and the interrelationship between them.
Sin, Guilt and Health – What the Bible Says
Psalm 32:1-6 Amplified Bible
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven, And whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me; My [b]energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
Those who work in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and social services are often confronted with a strong correlation between what is happening in a person’s heart and mind and what is being displayed in that person’s body.
God’s word speaks into this connection and then goes deeper, for it tells us that there is a connection between the state of our body and the state of our soul.
In Psalm 32, David speaks very personally to God, acknowledging the heaviness he experienced when he hid in the shadows and refused to confess his sin against Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11).
And through David, the Spirit teaches us that there is a link between a tortured conscience and lack of repentance, and our physical wellbeing.
Those who were in David’s immediate company may not have been aware of what was going on inside him spiritually, but they could not have avoided the rather obvious manifestations of what was happening to him physically.
The description he provides adds to the account he gives elsewhere: “My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off” (Psalm 38:10-11). It’s a quite devastating picture.
David recognized his condition for what it was: a punishment.
The Bible makes it clear that there is a natural outcome to lust, excess, and a disregard for the commands of God (see Romans 1:24-25)—all of which David was guilty of. Mood swings, frailty, weight loss, sleeplessness, a deepening sense of rejection, melancholy, anxiety, and despair often haunt individuals who are seeking to hide their “secret” sin from God and deny it to themselves.
What restored David was not a health kick or getting to bed earlier but rather dealing with the root cause—his sin: “I acknowledged my sin to you … and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
God kept His hand heavy upon David until Nathan showed up and told him a story which convicted him.
Then David left his throne, placed his sin into God’s hands and asked Him to help him deal with it. It is a blessing to us when God does not allow us to forget our sin—when we feel physical heaviness because of our spiritual sickness.
It is His means of bringing us to do what we most need: to confess it and ask for forgiveness for it.
Fortunately we have a God who loves us incredibly and because of this, he freely reveals his mercy, he forgives us of our sins when we confess our wrongdoings.
Because of the magnitude of his mercy and his forgiveness of our sins, believers should be able to freely surrender over any guilt or shame that they feel.
God does not want us to experience the heaviness associated with chronic guilt.
His desire is that we live in peace and joy which is available to us when we confess our wrongdoings and believe that God gives us mercy, forgives us.
Peace and joy are health-promoting compared to chronic guilt which can be damaging to our health in more ways than anyone dares to acknowledge.
Are we harboring sin?
Do not cloak it; confess it. David experienced liberating relief from his pain and distress when he sought God’s forgiveness.
You too can know that joy, for the promise of God’s word is that
“if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
A Few Questions to Reflect On:
Are you holding on to guilt and shame because of some past or current sin in your life?
Are you perhaps weak and miserable or plagued with a chronic health related condition – Headaches, High Blood Pressure, tiredness, fatigue, heart ailments that could be caused by the physical strains of coping with long-term guilt?
As soon as possible, to rule out any potentially serious disorder, go see your Primary Care Medical Team for proper assessment, evaluation and treatment
How about issues of anxiety, mood disorders, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, mood swings, irritability, shorter than usual temper control etcetera.
As soon as possible, seek out Licensed Professional Mental Health providers for a proper clinical assessment, evaluation, and therapeutic treatment modalities.
Relieving The Burden of our Guilt and God’s Grace
Psalm 32:6 Amplified Bible
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
Psalm 32 reminds me that a moral compass is embedded within everyone’s heart. When we do not chart our lives by that compass, we feel genuine guilt.
David spoke to that reality in Psalm 32. He had made a total mess of his life. His moral failures included adultery, conspiracy and murder. David acknowledged that when we mess up, we are eaten up inside if we keep quiet until a someone tells us a story, we convict ourselves. David had an inner urge to confess his sin.
Once confronted by Nathan, thus came his release. David confessed his sin to the Lord. Yes, there were people in his life with whom David needed to come clean. But only God could grant the full pardon his soul craved. When we mess up, our guilt is first of all toward our Creator, whose law we have violated.
How do you find real forgiveness?
If you have not confessed sins which you feel guilty of, I urge you to prayerfully make that confession to God so you and those around you or those you will soon meet, can return to feeling peaceful and joyful, which is God’s will for your life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 42 Complete Jewish Bible
Book II: Psalms 42–72
42 (0) For the leader. A maskil of the descendants of Korach:
2 (1) Just as a deer longs for running streams, God, I long for you. 3 (2) I am thirsty for God, for the living God! When can I come and appear before God?
4 (3) My tears are my food, day and night, while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?” 5 (4) I recall, as my feelings well up within me, how I’d go with the crowd to the house of God, with sounds of joy and praise from the throngs observing the festival.
6 (5) My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for the salvation that comes from his presence. 7 (6) My God, when I feel so downcast, I remind myself of you from the land of Yarden, from the peaks of Hermon, from the hill Mizar. 8 (7) Deep is calling to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls; all your surging rapids and waves are sweeping over me. 9 (8) By day Adonai commands his grace, and at night his song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life. 10 (9) I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, under pressure by the enemy? 11 (10) My adversaries’ taunts make me feel as if my bones were crushed, as they ask me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ ”
12 (11) My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for being my Savior and God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.[b]
4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.[d] 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[e] rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.[f]
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” Psalm 84:1-2
Throughout Scripture we see countless examples of God meeting with man and countless lives being transformed as the result. These examples are in Scripture to stir our faith and fill us with a desire to meet with our Creator. When we read about the life of David, we should each be filled with a longing to live as he did, a heart and soul which is centered around, #1, meeting with our heavenly Father.
The meetings between God and David shaped human history forever.
David knew what it was to be in the presence of God. In fact, being in God’s presence was his fuel, greatest joy, and source of courage.
In Psalm 16:11 David writes, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
In verse 5 writes, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”
David was a very flawed man who still consistently chose to meet with God over obsessing, filling his days with the fleeting, unsatisfying things of the world.
He centered his life around meeting with God, it consistently, continually had changed his heart, and his soul, learning – sometimes the in the very hardest of ways, God is always and forever sovereign over man, God utterly detests all sin and calls his children to repentance to restored their right relationship with God and it forever changed the history of not only his generations, but countless too more generations to come. David’s heart like ours strays but God’s stays True.
In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, we see a glimpse into the impact of David meeting with God early in his life. Scripture says,
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
Out on the fields, David learned of God’s power and desire for deliverance.
He learned quickly what it was to meet with God in the daily work of life. He learned even in the night time, guarding his fathers flocks, God counseled him, God upheld him, God taught him his shepherding craft, counseled about life.
And he carried that knowledge with him into every battle, trial, and failure.
We see it in Psalm 16:1-2 where David prays, “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’”
King David, the greatest king that ever sat on the throne of Israel, claimed, “I have no good apart from you.”
David, about whom 1 Chronicles 29:28 says, “Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor,”claimed he had no good apart from the Lord.
David knew that God’s counsel, God’s presence was the best part of life.
He knew that meeting with his heavenly Father was far greater than any victory, possession, status, or honor. And it was for that reason that he lived a life full of the very thing he sought: his heart in the presence of the living God.
Your heavenly Father longs to meet with you as he did David.
He loves you the same as he loved David.
And through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you have even greater access to the heart of God.
You have God, the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.
Choose today to seek meeting with God above all else.
Center your life around the presence of your heavenly Father the way David did.
1 Kings 3:3-15 New American Standard Bible 1995
3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”
Solomon’s Prayer
6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in [a]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have [b]reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your servant [c]an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this [d]great people of Yours?”
God’s Answer
10 [e]It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself [f] long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself [g]discernment to understand justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”
15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
Both day and night, awake or on the job or even asleep, strive to 100% live for transformational encounters with God and watch as the things of this world fall into proper place, acknowledging your propensity to sin, then repent from that sin, turning back to God as God is showing to you the pathway to life providing you with transcendent peace, joy, purpose, in the midst of any circumstance.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on David’s longing for the presence of God. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to meet with your heavenly Father as David did.
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” Psalm 16:5
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’” Psalm 16:1-2
2. Allow these other Scriptures to fill you with faith to encounter the presence of God. The Holy Spirit of God is dwelling within you, ready to lead you into a transformational encounter with your heavenly Father.
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”1 Corinthians 6:19-20
3. Take time to meet with God. Ask him to reveal his nearness to you. Ask him to give you a passion for his presence like David had. Choose to center your life around the goodness of his nearness today.
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10
How much better would our lives be if we simply chose to center them around meeting with the eternal, living, and active God of love?
What would it be like to seek his counsel throughout our days?
What would it be like to live wholly loved, liked, set free, and filled with his presence? Through Jesus, more has been made available to us than we know.
We’ve been granted access to the fullness of life, love, and freedom. All that is required of us is to make space in our days and seek meeting with God above all else. May we as the bride of Christ choose to love our bridegroom above all else.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 King James Version
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
7 Moshe would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who wanted to consult Adonai would go out to the tent of meeting, outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moshe went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand, each man at his tent door, and look at Moshe until he had gone into the tent. 9 Whenever Moshe entered the tent, the column of cloud would descend and station itself at the entrance to the tent; and Adonai would speak with Moshe. 10 When all the people saw the column of cloud stationed at the entrance to the tent, they would get up and prostrate themselves, each man at his tent door. 11 Adonai would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to the camp; but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent.
(iii)12 Moshe said to Adonai, “Look, you say to me, ‘Make these people move on!’ But you haven’t let me know whom you will be sending with me. Nevertheless you have said, ‘I know you by name,’ and also, ‘You have found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now, please, if it is really the case that I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways; so that I will understand you and continue finding favor in your sight. Moreover, keep on seeing this nation as your people.” 14 He answered, “Set your mind at rest — my presence will go with you, after all.” 15 Moshe replied, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us go on from here. 16 For how else is it to be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, other than by your going with us? That is what distinguishes us, me and your people, from all the other peoples on earth.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
The biblical story of Moses is one marked by powerful encounters with the high authority of man used to being successful, used to being in charge, used to being obeyed, used to standing in the presence of leaders of nations and the presence of God. Though he did not know it, from thee very beginning of his life Moses was a man of controversy, a fugitive, and anointed by God to fulfill God’s heart for his children to be set free from captivity and safe under his lordship.
From birth, Moses was divinely set apart to lead God’s people back into right relationship with God. And this calling was fulfilled because of God’s desire to consistently meet with Moses and show up through his life in miraculous ways.
In looking at the life of Moses, two types of encounters with God stand out as especially transformative and illustrative of God’s heart to meet with his people. As we look at these two examples of God meeting Moses, may Scripture fill your heart with a desire to meet with your heavenly Father as Moses did.
First, Exodus 3:1-6 gives us insight into the first real encounter Moses had with the Great I Am. Scripture says,
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
In the miraculous story of the burning bush, we see God’s grace and divine favor on the life of an undeserving under a sentence of death man. Moses had fled the scene after murdering an Egyptian for assaulting a Hebrew man. For years he had been hiding in the desert, living outside of any real earthly impact.
But God called Moses out of the wilderness into a life of deep, eternal impact.
Second, we see God’s merciful and forgiving heart to consistently meet with Moses in the Tent of Meeting found in Exodus 33:7-11. Scripture says,
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
How incredible is the magnitude of the heart of our God that he would choose to meet alone with Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
If God would deliberately meet with Moses, a man who has not been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, how much more would he meet with you and me?
If God, who created the universe in six days would show grace to Moses, how much more available is grace to us who have God himself dwelling within us!
You and I have access to relationship far greater than a face-to-face encounter like Moses had. We have God’s Spirit within us fellowshipping with our Spirit.
How Can We Feel God’s Presence?
John 14:7-15 Amplified Bible
Jesus’ Oneness with the Father
7 If you had [really] known Me, you would also have known My Father. From now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and then we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me yet, Philip, nor recognize clearly who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power]. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe [Me] because of the [very] works themselves [which you have witnessed]. 12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name [[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.
15 “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
John 14:18-24 Amplified Bible
18 “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you. 19 After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20 On that day [when that time comes] you will know for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. 21 The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered, “If anyone [really] loves Me, he will keep My word (teaching); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling place with him. 24 One who does not [really] love Me does not keep My words. And the word (teaching) which you hear is not Mine, but is the Father’s who sent Me.
Jesus’ disciples were upset. For three years they had been with Jesus.
They had walked with him and talked with him face to face. And now he was about to leave. How could they possibly go on without seeing him face to face?
How could they face the challenges of life without his daily presence?
In his farewell address the Lord Jesus put the disciples’ minds at ease.
He told them that his returning to the Father was for their good (John 16:7).
He promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would live in them and teach them about living for God.
And through the Spirit they’d be able to enjoy God’s presence always.
Through the Holy Spirit you and I can experience God’s face to face, heart to heart presence every moment of the day. All we have to do is ask in prayers.
Jesus says Luke 11:13,“If you … know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The most important prayer we can pray each day is to ask for the all-powerful presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we have the Holy Spirit guiding us each day, we will not only experience God’s presence in our own lives, but we’ll also be able to show God’s presence to others as we live God’s way, displaying the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
True restored relationship finds its source in continual, unending encounters with God’s presence, His Holy Spirit dwelling with us, within us and upon us.
Approaching God with Confidence
Hebrews 4:14-16 Amplified Bible
14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
Priests were God’s chosen servants; they served as mediators between God and his people.
They worked in the temple, praying for the people and bringing their sacrifices to God.
They offered sacrifices on behalf of the people to make atonement for their sins.
And only the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place to stand before God.
Earlier in Hebrews, Jesus is referred to as the “faithful high priest.” Here, in chapter 4, he is called the “great high priest.”
This means he is actually the greatest of all high priests.
He is the One, the Only, true High Priest.
Jesus is the greatest because, unlike all the others, he “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Because he is sinless and perfect, he is now able to stand before God as the one who can make atonement for our sins.
Because of his perfect life, Jesus’ atonement for our sins is real and lasting.
For this reason, we do not need to be afraid to enter God’s presence; in fact, we can have “assurance and confidence” when we approach God.
We can be assured and we can be confident that with our entrance we will surely “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Please, please, please, don’t be afraid to approach God.
God went to Moses ….
God went to all men and women and children – John 3:16-21
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. 18 Those who trust in him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the one who is God’s only and unique Son.
19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
Instead, approach him with confidence, knowing that even though we cannot do this in our own strength, we can do it through Jesus, the great High Priest.
May we bravely pursue the greater portion of our face to face, heart to heart relationship with our heavenly Father today. May our Spirit come alive as we grow in our awareness of God’s Spirit. May we have powerful, transformative encounters with God’s presence likened to that which Moses experienced.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on God’s desire to meet with Moses. Allow Scripture to fill you with a longing to meet with God as Moses did.
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” Exodus 3:4-6
“When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” Exodus 33:9-11
2. Where can you make your tent of meeting? Where and when, can, will you consistently encounter the presence of God and meet with your heavenly Father face-to-face?
3. Take time to meet with God as Moses did. Open your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his nearness.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17
Having a consistent time and place to meet with God allows us to develop a rhythm by which we grow in experiencing God’s presence.
To have our own Tent of Meeting is vital to Christian spirituality.
Choose a place and time that won’t get disrupted and will help you center your life around meeting with your heavenly Father.
These is absolutely nothing more critical, more important or pressing than seeing the face of God, being transformed by his love and nearness every day.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 84 Complete Jewish Bible
84 (0) For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of the sons of Korach:
2 (1) How deeply loved are your dwelling-places, Adonai-Tzva’ot! 3 (2) My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing for the courtyards of Adonai; my heart and body cry for joy to the living God.
4 (3) As the sparrow finds herself a home and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young, [so my resting-place is] by your altars, Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.
5 (4) How happy are those who live in your house; they never cease to praise you! (Selah) 6 (5) How happy the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.
7 (6) Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley, they make it a place of springs, and the early rain clothes it with blessings. 8 (7) They go from strength to strength and appear before God in Tziyon.
9 (8) Adonai, God of armies, hear my prayer; listen, God of Ya‘akov. (Selah) 10 (9) God, see our shield [the king]; look at the face of your anointed. 11 (10) Better a day in your courtyards than a thousand [days elsewhere]. Better just standing at the door of my God’s house than living in the tents of the wicked.
12 (11) For Adonai, God, is a sun and a shield; Adonai bestows favor and honor; he will not withhold anything good from those whose lives are pure.
13 (12) Adonai-Tzva’ot, how happy is anyone who trusts in you!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
23 Now it happened after a long time [about forty years] that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel (Jacob) groaned and sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out. And their cry for help because of their bondage [a]ascended to God. 24 So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). 25 God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice [of them] and was concerned about them [knowing all, understanding all, remembering all].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
The beginning of the beloved Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” depicts many people praying simultaneously, and the juxtaposition of voices — to our ears — becomes a cacophony of noise.
How exactly, we wonder, does God separate each voice to hear individual prayers? Does He answer them all? Then we wonder, “Does God hear me?”
The question posed is a perplexing one when viewed through our human lens.
How does God keep everyone’s praises and prayers straight?
How does He hear them all?
And, in a far more personal nature, how exactly do I know He hears me?
The answer, of course, is to regard who God is and how we are to “see” Him according to what Scripture teaches us.
We’ll investigate what the Bible says, and because of what His Word says, we are assured He does hear Christians’ prayers (which encompasses all of our communication with God).
We will understand God gives “ear” to our needs according to His will and according to His own timing.
Where Does the Bible Say God Hears Us?
The Bible is God-breathed, meaning He inspired the writers to impart His exact words into the canon of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).
When we read the Bible, we are reading God’s very words to us.
Therefore, any implication about God hearing the writers tells us He hears us.
“Elohim Shama” is not an official name of God, it refers to the fact that God hears… He listens, He Hears.
Elohim Shama: The God who Listens, The God Who Hears
But He doesn’t merely hear our words; He is also moved by the unvoiced groanings of our hearts (Romans 8:26).
What does Shama means in the Bible?
to hear, to listen
Obedience in Hebrew is: shama (שָׁמַע). It means to hear, to listen, to give attention, to understand, to submit to, and to obey.
There is only one word in Hebrew for obedience, and it is this word – shama.
This Hebrew word is also generally translated as “hear”.
What does Jehovah Shammah mean?
“The Lord is There”
Jehovah-Shammah is found Ezekiel 48:35,
“The distance around the entire city will be 6 miles. And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The Lord is There.”
Jehovah-Shammah is the name of God that means I am the Lord who is there and is symbolic of Jerusalem. This name promises His presence.
The following short list cements the truth God hears us:
King David cried to the Lord in many psalms, and he knew God heard him.
Psalm 6:8-9 English Standard Version
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.
Psalm 18:6-19 English Standard Version
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,[a] and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
Psalm 19 English Standard Version
The Law of the Lord Is Perfect
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
19 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above[a] proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice[b] goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,[c] reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules[d] of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The psalmist, Asaph, wrote a definitive and uncontestable verse which tells us God hears us, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me” (Psalm 77:1).
The Lord Jesus tells us He (God) hears us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
How Does God Hear Us?
We must remember God is wholly unlike any of His creation.
He does not “listen” as do we, for we cannot fathom all He is.
When we listen to someone, our minds are, more often than not, racing around in distraction, thinking about what’s for lunch, or how many minutes are left on my parking meter, silly things such as what some other person was thinking when they decided on a particular hair style.
We’d love it if our thoughts could be completely focused on our subject and what they are saying, but we often “aren’t there,” we miss important details.
For our mighty God, however, His listening skills are perfect.
We never need worry He is otherwise distracted, because in His infinite being, He “hears” perfectly, beyond our scope of comprehension.
God is Spirit (John 4:24); He has no physical nature that would include eyes, ears, etc.
Lest we get caught in theological details about God as Spirit, however, we need to understand how God “hears.”
Due to God’s sovereign condescension, He has graciously chosen to reveal Himself to us by speaking in ways that we can understand.
The Bible, therefore, uses anthropomorphic language to give us God’s revelation of Himself to humankind.
The immutable truth is God is incomprehensible, yet in His kindness has chosen to make Himself known in a way to which we can relate. God, in His omniscience, already knows everything, including what we will soon pray.
Because God has incommunicable attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, etc., we are only able to comprehend Him via His communicable (moral) attributes and we were, created in His Image to reflect God in them, albeit not equally (only He is perfect in His moral attributes).
God “hears” us because of who He is and how He created us in His image.
Pastor and theologian R.C. Sproul adds,
“We are a composite being made up of body and spirit. We are spiritual yet finite humans; God is infinite Spirit who is not bound by a body.”
As far as God’s holy essence is completely different from His creation,
“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19).
Yet God deigns to intervene in the works of man, to vividly reveal His love of us by the Scripture that speaks truthfully of how He hears our cries (Psalm 61:1).
What if I Don’t Feel Like God Hears Me?
We cannot expect God to answer us with an audible voice from heaven or with a “sign.” What we have is the Holy Scriptures, and from the Holy Spirit working in us through them, we “receive understanding, insight, and wisdom.”
2 Peter 1:3 gives us great hope, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.”
It is through the Bible we learn about the Lord Jesus and grow in His grace and knowledge. As we read and study God’s Word, we learn how He wants us to live, and our prayers and petitions will be guided by His Spirit based on His Word.
No matter our emotional state or physical circumstances, God listens, hears our cries to Him.
It’s true God always answers our prayers.
The answer is either, “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” We are, however, a people who desire and sometimes demand immediate answers, so waiting is very hard.
But as we wait for His answers, we are to occupy ourselves with kingdom work and with careful study of the Bible.
As we take the time to learn more of God’s Word, many answers to our prayers will become apparent, will be revealed to us by Holy Spirit, and we can act in a righteous manner because of how God has revealed His will through his Word.
So then, when God graciously and mercifully answers our prayers, the solutions will come through the study of His Word and/or godly counsel, wisdom, from a more mature believer who knows Scripture and daily strives to live a holy life.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
Here we need to remember deliverance may come here, or not until heaven.
We can pray with confidence because God does hear us and He will respond.
We may think He is silent, but when we remember He speaks to us every day through His Word (Psalm 19, Hebrews 4:12), we know He isn’t being silent; we’re just looking for our answers to “materialize: in all those wrong places.
We aren’t to go to the Lord with demands, for when He hears us, He’s listening to see if we are coming before Him with hearts that are being sanctified as we attempt to live holy lives.
The Bible speaks of God’s omniscience, “Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows Him his counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14).
God knows what we will ask before it is even on our hearts (Psalm 139:4), and, more importantly, He knows what we need.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).
This passage tells us what to pray for, and it precedes the Disciples’ Prayer, which teaches us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13).
How Should I Pray?
We saw above the Lord Jesus taught His disciples (we too as Christians are His disciples) how to pray.
The Apostle John later wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, emphasis added).
At first glance, it appears He will give us we want, but that’s not the case.
The key phrase is, according to His will.
How do we know His will? By fearing God and keeping His commandments, which King Solomon said is the “whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
We know Him by His creation (general revelation) and by His Word (special revelation).
Nicodemus, learned from Jesus the only way to know His will is to become a Christian, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus by immersing yourself in His Word, and surrounding yourself with godly people (the church).
John 3:1-8 English Standard Version
You Must Be Born Again
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.[c]7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind[e] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Once we do all of that, we will come before the Lord with right motives and petitions, with patience as He hears, answers our prayers in His perfect time.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 4 Complete Jewish Bible
4 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David:
2 (1) O God, my vindicator! Answer me when I call! When I was distressed, you set me free; now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
3 (2) Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor, love what is vain, chase after lies? (Selah) 4 (3) Understand that Adonai sets apart the godly person for himself; Adonai will hear when I call to him. 5 (4) You can be angry, but do not sin! Think about this as you lie in bed, and calm down. (Selah) 6 (5) Offer sacrifices rightly, and put your trust in Adonai.
7 (6) Many ask, “Who can show us some good?” Adonai, lift the light of your face over us! 8 (7) You have filled my heart with more joy than all their grain and new wine. 9 (8) I will lie down and sleep in peace; for, Adonai, you alone make me live securely.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. 30 And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Good news begins right at the beginning. The good news found at the beginning of things in Genesis 1 is there is a God who makes and upholds all that there is, and that we humans, male, female, are made in the image of this amazing God.
We don’t look like God, of course, for God is Spirit—but this means, among other things, that we are God’s representatives. We are called to take care of all that God has made—and not just the creatures mentioned in these verses, but also the unfolding of all human history that follows, in all its deep complexity.
Amazing! Mere mortals are endowed by their Creator with the dignity and the honor of representing the infinite God, acting on God’s behalf to care for his creation with all its diverse infinite potential. We are God’s agents with a most prestigious, singularly unique job description – Stewards of Creation. And this leads us, with high joy, gratitude, to a profound sense of identity and calling.
This is good news for everyone, of course—but perhaps especially for people whose sense of identity and purpose are diminished, are uncertain, whose own ability to live creatively, joyfully and fully, completely and purposefully are held back because of poverty or anything else that hinders their participation in life.
Good news for the poor begins with a reminder that they all bear God’s image.
God has been reaching out since the beginning of time—desiring to live in a close relationship with all of humankind But because of our sin…because we have turned our backs on God and (in essence) told Him to butt out of our lives…we are separated from Him.
From the start, God has created a way for us to reconnect to Him by offering us salvation: an incredible gift of grace that comes through the life, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus. And we receive this gift of grace the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior—turning our lives over to Him completely.
Each and everyone of us comes to this decision differently because each and every one of us has a uniquely different experience…or path, journey to Jesus.
Even though each of our journeys is singularly unique, the Bible shows us that there are some key (and consistent) components every true follower of Jesus experiences.
Let’s look at those five key components…
STEP 1 – Hear the Gospel
As you may already know, the “gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news of the gospel begins with God, the Creator of everything. And He is holy…which means He is set apart from anything that is un-holy. And God is perfect (or whole), without any defect. And He is righteous…which means God always does what is right. And He is just. His justice is always fair.
So, because God is the Creator; Holy, Righteous, Perfect and Just, we have a problem. We who are human are none of those things. We are created by God (in his image), but — here’s the bad news — we are everyone of us, without any exceptions, fallen and broken and un-very holy…imperfect, unrighteous and unjust, learned PhD’s in sinning. Just as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans…
“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. And just in case you thought you could try to be good enough to earn good standing with God.” – Romans chapter 3, verses 9-12
Exactly how many broken links (or sins) does it take to break the chain of our connection to God)? The answer: One. All it takes is one broken link or one sin to break our connection God. And all of us have sinned—at least once.
All of us, without exception have broken our connection to God. Another thing we might tell ourselves is, “If I really clean up my act…it will automatically be enough to connect me back to God.”
Once again, as Paul writes…
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
So there it is. The Bad News.
But here’s the Good News. Here’s the gospel…
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” –Romans 3:21-26
Sin separates us from God. And what is sin? The biblical definition of sin is actually an archery term meaning: missing the mark. We have all sinned or missed the mark of God’s perfection. And the punishment for this is death. Someone has to pay for these mistakes. We all know, deep in our hearts, what justice is. When a wrong has been committed, someone has to pay for it.
The Good News is that Jesus — the Incarnation or God in the Flesh — the one who never sinned or missed the mark, took our place and paid for our mistakes.
Jesus took on ALL our sin when he died on the cross.
The Apostle Paul put it this way…
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:1-11
And that belief is so strong that you are “cut to the heart”.
You have that utter realization that the only way back to God is through Jesus.
This is the way some of the first people to hear the Good News felt…
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” – Acts 2:37
This “cutting to the heart” can only come from God.
Just as Jesus says here…
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” – John 6:44
Looking back over this, we Hear the Gospel, then Believe what we’ve heard and then we repent.
STEP 3 – Repent
“To “repent” literally means to “turn away”.
We must turn away from sin or turn our backs to sin…putting our backs to our old way of life. And when we turn from sin, we naturally turn towards God—doing a complete about face. As Jesus was spreading the Good News He said…
“The time has come,” (Jesus said). “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – Mark 1:15
The next logical step to repenting from our old way of life, from our old life of sinning is to share this change in our hearts or to confess to some other people what’s happened.
STEP 4 – Confess
Confession or to confess simply means to say it out loud—to say what is true out loud and publicly recognize that: God is holy and perfect and you are not.
Confessing to other people means our speaking to our true belief that God has reconnected you back to Him through Jesus…because Jesus has taken your sin to the cross, and that you want to repent and so turn away from our sins and from our sinful past.
Paul says it best here…
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10
But from the beginning it needs to be clearly understood the journey isn’t over.
It continues and will continue on and on and on because this is all about becoming more like Jesus.
As we begin this new life as a follower of Jesus, we have this gift of the Holy Spirit…which is God’s Spirit literally living inside us…guiding us and prompting us to grow and become more and more like Him. More and more like Jesus. And we do this by following Jesus’ words found in the Bible—through Bible study.
And we do this by reminding ourselves we are living and acting as Jesus did.
Doing the things Jesus did, like loving others, caring for the “least of these.”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 8 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have [a]displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established [b]strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I [c]consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have [d]ordained; 4 What is man that You [e]take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than [f]God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the [g]beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Have you ever stood on top of a cliff, have you ever watched a seagull or a tern that seems to just hang in the air over the waters? The wind may be blustering waves and waters roaring, but the bird still soars calmly over the rough ocean.
That image of hovering over turbulent waters is how the Bible first describes the Spirit of God. The word for “hovering” indicates a high degree of care, even concern, in its action, and it is unmistakably linked to the behavior of protective birds that brood over their nests, guarding and keeping their clutch warm and safe as it develops. From the beginning the Holy Spirit, in his protective love, hovered over the surface of the unformed deep and even now, continues to care.
The story of creation in Genesis was given to God’s people at a time when other stories about the beginning of the world were filled with themes of violence and chaos. Into that unsettled situation, the Genesis story came as a blessed gift revealed God’s purposeful, loving intention to make all things good, beautiful.
At the time, it would have sounded far different from the other creation stories.
And because love and goodness are at the center of this story, it continues to invite people to know God as the loving, protective Creator that he is. As we’ll explore, discover, many other passages in the Bible also teach us something about “in the beginning God ….” through the imagery of the creation story.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 19 Complete Jewish Bible
19 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
2 (1) The heavens declare the glory of God, the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands. 3 (2) Every day it utters speech, every night it reveals knowledge. 4 (3) Without speech, without a word, without their voices being heard, 5 (4) their line goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.
In them he places a tent for the sun, 6 (5) which comes out like a bridegroom from the bridal chamber, with delight like an athlete to run his race. 7 (6) It rises at one side of the sky, circles around to the other side, and nothing escapes its heat.
8 (7) The Torah of Adonai is perfect, restoring the inner person. The instruction of Adonai is sure, making wise the thoughtless. 9 (8) The precepts of Adonai are right, rejoicing the heart. The mitzvah of Adonai is pure, enlightening the eyes. 10 (9) The fear of Adonai is clean, enduring forever. The rulings of Adonai are true, they are righteous altogether, 11 (10) more desirable than gold, than much fine gold, also sweeter than honey or drippings from the honeycomb. 12 (11) Through them your servant is warned; in obeying them there is great reward.
13 (12) Who can discern unintentional sins? Cleanse me from hidden faults. 14 (13) Also keep your servant from presumptuous sins, so that they won’t control me. Then I will be blameless and free of great offense.
15 (14) May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your presence, Adonai, my Rock and Redeemer.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
20 (19) But oh, how great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you do for those who take refuge in you, before people’s very eyes! 21 (20) In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots, you conceal them in your shelter, safe from contentious tongues.
22 (21) Blessed be Adonai! For he has shown me his amazing grace when I was in a city under siege. 23 (22) As for me, in my alarm I said, “I have been cut off from your sight!” Nevertheless, you heard my pleas when I cried out to you.
24 (23) Love Adonai, you faithful of his. Adonai preserves the loyal, but the proud he repays in full. 25 (24) Be strong, and fill your hearts with courage, all of you who hope in Adonai.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Sometimes the suffering of life feels overwhelming, as if we are under attack surrounded on all sides and can’t find any relief from any one single direction.
We may be debilitated by the grief of losing a loved one. Or maybe we are sick from a medical condition or treatment. Our marriage may be in a whole lot of distress, perhaps even on the brink of separation and divorce. Whatever the case, there are days, long seasons when we feel the weight of the world on us.
And our pleas ring out, cry out,, shriek out; from our places of silent panic;
“Lord, have mercy.”
The psalmist here in Psalm 31 is feeling besieged by relentless human forces, along with the sudden abandonment of his friends. He uses words like distress, anguish, groaning, affliction, forgotten, and terror. He fears that he will die at the hands of his enemies, and he cries out to God in agony.
“Lord, have mercy.”
Perhaps we can all recall a time or two or three when we felt that way, when the walls, ceiling the roof of the house seemed to be closing, collapsing in on you.
While my personal suffering pales in comparison to that of a whole population of people contending with one of a host of debilitating chronic illnesses, I do remember feeling particularly burdened when—I was urgently admitted for open heart surgery—my sister who came down to help my wife ended up in the same hospital as I did with a bad cellulitis in both feet and was unable to walk.
In our mutual efforts at recovering, a group of compassionate nurses made it possible for us to see each other – her in her reclining chair and me in mine. We had a chance to have a deeply meaningful brother older sister talk, prayer time.
Now, almost 15 months later, we are able to look back on those turbulent times, we can see how the Lord was with us, delivered us from our tumult. God 100% answers cries of his people, shines his loving face on us, lighting up our dark.
This one isolated testimony out of undoubtedly the million if not billions more of our God mercifully answering the cries and shrieks of His suffering Children.
Perhaps now is a good time to recount your own story of God “on your jobsite.”
Perhaps even become inspired to imitate, to act, as God acted on your behalf?
More Like Our Rabbi: Imitating the Father’s Mercy
Matthew 7:7-14 Amplified Bible
Prayer and the Golden Rule
7 “[a]Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? 11 If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.
12 “So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.
Luke 6:35-36 Amplified Bible
35 But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, [a]expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” is a summary statement of Jesus’ famous teaching in the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-23) and indeed would be a good motto for every believer’s life.
These words underscore all Jesus has previously said concerning how we are to treat others—especially those who hate us for our faithfulness to Him (v 22).
Luke 6:20-23Amplified Bible
The Beatitudes
20 And looking toward His disciples, He began [a]speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever]. 21 Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are you who hunger now [for righteousness, actively seeking right standing with God], for you will be [completely] satisfied. Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are you who weep now [over your sins and repent], for you will laugh [when the burden of sin is lifted]. 22 Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people hate you, and exclude you [from their fellowship], and insult you, and scorn your name as evil because of [your association with] the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way.
This should, however, also prompt us to pray:
“God, what does being merciful actually look like?”“Open my eyes, unclog my ears that I may hear their crying, their shrieks for help, that I may see visions of mercy thou hast for me, them, open mine ears, mine eyes and illumine me, Spirit Divine.”
As our wiser and tender and compassionate Shepherd, Jesus does not leave us to figure out this principle for ourselves. Rather, He gives us specific instructions on exactly what it means for you, me, we, imitate our merciful heavenly Father.
God “is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
As His children, we must realize that we are so mightily challenged by these Gospel Words, called to demonstrate this same kindness by loving our enemies, returning goodness and kindness for evil, giving to others without expecting anything in return. Notice Jesus lists no exemptions or get-out clauses here.
Having called us to be vessels of God’s kindness, Jesus then immediately says that we are not to judge others (Luke 6:37-38).
Luke 6:37-38 Amplified Bible
37 “[a]Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change]. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”
He is not asking us to suspend our critical faculties in our relationships; we have to use our minds to discern between truth and error or good and evil.
Likewise Jesus is not teaching that we are to turn a blind eye to sin or refuse to offend others, point out errors. Rather, when Jesus commands us not to judge, He is condemning a spirit of self-righteous, self-exalting, hypocritical, harsh judgmentalism—an approach which seeks to highlight, shine the brightest neon lights on the faults of others, always brings with it the flavor of bitterness.
An unkind spirit completely violates Jesus’ exhortation to overflow with mercy towards both friend and enemy. Each and everyone of us needs to identify any spirit of judgment we may be harboring, to root it out, and to replace cruelty with kindness and harshness with patience, self-control and understanding.
This is how we show to others the kind of mercy that God has shown to us.
A (possibly apocryphal) story is told of how, when Queen Elizabeth II was a girl, she and her sister, Margaret, would be told by their mother before they went to a party, “Remember: royal children, royal manners.”
Their behavior would not make them members of the royal family, but it would demonstrate their royal character and royal membership in that royal family.
Fellow Christians, you and I are members of the royal family of the universe, with the King of creation as our Father. Be sure that your manners reflect who you are and whose you are. Be merciful, even as your Father is 100% merciful.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 Easy-to-Read Version
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd. I will always have everything I need.[a] 2 He gives me green pastures to lie in. He leads me by calm pools of water. 3 He restores my strength. He leads me on right paths[b] to show that he is good. 4 Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave,[c] I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me. Your rod and staff[d] comfort me. 5 You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies. You welcomed me as an honored guest.[e] My cup is full and spilling over. 6 Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life, and I will live in the Lord’s house[f] a long, long time.[g]
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
23 [a]For I received from the Lord Himself that [instruction] which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is (represents) My body, which is [offered as a sacrifice] for you. Do this in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord’s death until He comes [again].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
A Time for Silent Recall, for Proclaiming the Sacrifice
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Disciples’ Literal New Testament
The Lord’s Supper Is a Remembrance of What He Did For Us
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed-over[a] to you— that the Lord Jesus, in the night on which He was being handed-over, took bread. 24 And having given-thanks, He broke it and said “This is My body, the one being given[b] for you. Be doing this for My remembrance”. 25 Similarly also the cup after the dining[c], saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Be doing this, as-often-as you drink it, for My remembrance”. 26 For as-often-as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until which time He comes.
Today is Sunday, and if you attend a worship service today, you might celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion. Many churches around the world will gather and focus on the simple loaf of bread and cup and hear these powerful words: “This is my body, given for you. . . . This is my blood, shed for you.”
In a way, the tangible elements of bread and grape juice (or wine) bear witness to the limitless love of Jesus shown in his sacrifice on the cross. We are invited to take and eat so that we may remember and believe that in Jesus’ death and resurrection we find forgiveness and new life. We are also reminded that when we participate in communion, we “recall and proclaim the Lord’s death” until he returns. Communion itself is a witness unto Jesus and all he has done for us.
I remember an enormously powerful experience of communion many years ago.
It was on the day of my wife’s and mine wedding.
As the Clergy proceeded through the liturgy of Marriage, in the background was the Bread and the Cup of Communion waiting for the moment of consecration.
In the modest sized Methodist Church where we were Married, the wife and I were both excited for each other, profoundly humbled before the Lord our God.
For the Wife and I what mattered the most was not just the moment of joining but the above and beyond all other things, celebrating, recalling Jesus’ place in our lives, in this holy moment of marriage – God #1 Jesus #1 Holy Spirit #1.
Love and sacrifice and service unto God first and foremost, then our neighbors and then each other. (Mark 12:28-34 Complete Jewish Bible)
28 One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important mitzvah of them all?” 29 Yeshua answered, “The most important is,
‘Sh’ma Yisra’el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, O Isra’el, the Lord our God, the Lord is one],30 and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your understanding and with all your strength.’[a]
There is no other mitzvah greater than these.” 32 The Torah-teacher said to him, “Well said, Rabbi; you speak the truth when you say that he is one, and that there is no other besides him; 33 and that loving him with all one’s heart, understanding and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself, mean more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Yeshua saw that he responded sensibly, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared put to him another sh’eilah.
*sh’eilah* The word in Hebrew means simply “question,” but among Jews speaking English it means “a question about Torah or halakhah” …
Halakhah, in Judaism, the totality of laws and ordinances that have evolved since biblical times to regulate religious observances and the daily life and conduct of the Jewish people.
As my Wife and I held those symbols of Jesus’ death in our hands, we saw with fresh eyes how his sacrifice brings life. We had both brought our “baggage,” and we placed them upon His Altar, sacrificing them as Christ sacrificed for us.
As we served the Elements, as we first served God, as we served the assembled wedding guests and officiants, we prayed that we set an example for the guests of the absolute primacy of God, the Father and God the Son and God Holy Spirit in our wedded lives and by divine extension into wedded lives of the assembled.
We decided God alone brought us together. God had decided that our purpose here wasn’t finished. In life in the primacy of service to God, our neighbors and ourselves, and in death, we all belong to him—the one who gave his all for us.
As you each proceed to receive holy Communion, recall first and foremost, in and echelons above all that we our ever so flawed and finite selves hold being primary, having all or nothing primacy in our day to day lives, Jesus, you are the bread of life. As we worship you, may we experience close communion with you and our brothers and sisters in faith. Thank you for the gift of your life. Alleluia! Amen.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible
23 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing. 2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures, he leads me by quiet water, 3 he restores my inner person. He guides me in right paths for the sake of his own name. 4 Even if I pass through death-dark ravines, I will fear no disaster; for you are with me; your rod and staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a table for me, even as my enemies watch; you anoint my head with oil from an overflowing cup.
6 Goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life; and I will live in the house of Adonai for years and years to come.
Tehillim 23 Orthodox Jewish Bible
23 (Mizmor of Dovid). Hashem is my Ro’eh (Shepherd); I shall not lack.
2 He maketh me to lie down in greenpastures; He leadeth me beside the mei menuchot (tranquil waters).
3 He restoreth my nefesh; He guideth me in the paths of tzedek l’ma’an Shmo (righteousness for the sake of His Name).
4 Yea, though I walk through the Gey Tzalmavet (Valley of the Shadow of Death), I will fear no rah (evil); for Thou art with me; Thy shevet (rod) and Thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a shulchan before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with shemen (olive oil); my kos runneth over.
6 Surely tov and chesed shall follow me kol y’mei chaiyyai (all the days of my life): and I will dwell in the Bais Hashem l’orech yamim (for length of days, whole life.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
10 Why, Adonai, do you stand at a distance? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 The wicked in their arrogance hunt down the poor, who get caught in the schemes they think up.
3 For the wicked boasts about his lusts; he blesses greed and despises Adonai. 4 Every scheme of the wicked in his arrogance [says], “There is no God, [so] it won’t be held against me.” 5 His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are way up there, so he takes no notice. His adversaries? He scoffs at them all. 6 In his heart he thinks, “I will never be shaken; I won’t meet trouble, not now or ever.” 7 His mouth is full of curses, deceit, oppression; under his tongue, mischief and injustice. 8 He waits near settlements in ambush and kills an innocent man in secret; his eyes are on the hunt for the helpless. 9 Lurking unseen like a lion in his lair, he lies in wait to pounce on the poor, then seizes the poor and drags him off in his net. 10 Yes, he stoops, crouches down low; and the helpless wretch falls into his clutches. 11 He says in his heart, “God forgets, he hides his face, he will never see.”
12 Arise, Adonai! God, raise your hand! Don’t forget the humble! 13 Why does the wicked despise God and say in his heart, “It won’t be held against me”? 14 You have seen; for you look at mischief and grief, so that you can take the matter in hand. The helpless commits himself to you; you help the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked! As for the evil man, search out his wickedness until there is none left.
16 Adonai is king forever and ever! The nations have vanished from his land. 17 Adonai, you have heard what the humble want; you encourage them and listen to them, 18 to give justice to the fatherless and oppressed, so that no one on earth will strike terror again.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. Our God has not left us. Our God has not changed, cannot be changed, will not change, will never be changed. He is, was and forever be the same God – today, yesterday and every last tomorrow.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been filled with the very Spirit of God who longs to reveal to us daily the nearness and love of our heavenly Father. We are never left alone. There is nowhere we can flee from the presence of our God. It is likewise true God can always be found-sometimes in the most common places.
However, as much the Hebrews 13:8 remains forever true and unchangeable, it is more than well established through the Word of God that while things will always proceed according to God’s plan, humankind’s plan always, inevitably, falls apart and humanity struggles to regain the degree and measure of control they falsely believe they exercise over divine providence, and God ‘vanishes.’
Humankind inevitably will become all kind of flustered, frustrated and frayed.
10 Why do You stand far away, O Lord? Why do You hide [Yourself, veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble?Psalm 10:1
The pitiful cries that are recorded in this Psalm 10 could be the words of many believers today.
Times of deepest troubles and severe persecution are touching every member of the Body of Christ in one way or another, many are repeatedly crying out: “Lord, why do you stand far off? Why do you (always) hide yourself in times of trouble?”
What the Psalmist recorded 3000 years ago, mirrors the happenings of today, as many continue to ask, “Why does the Lord our God seem to remain silent while the innocents suffer? Why are those arrogant, evil men permitted to go unchallenged?”
We may not or never understand the full plans and purposes of God, but He has already appointed a time, a time known only to Him, to judge evil, the wicked.
We may be grieved by the wars, the atrocities, the incredible measures and degrees and divisiveness that are taking place today, but God has appointed a day to finish transgression, put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to set His King upon His holy Hill in Jerusalem.
For two thousand years, God has been pouring out grace upon grace, upon grace not willing that any should perish. But the day is coming when wicked and evil man will be called to a final account of their sins, day of wrath is surely coming when nations will be judged, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Jesus taught us in John 4:23, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Your heavenly Father is seeking your worship. He longs for it. He so places highest values on your love, adoration that he would send his Son to die that the path to encountering him would be made available.
You, me, we, were first and foremost created to worship. You, me, we were all created to receive the love of your Creator and in response give him your heart.
You, me, we, will never feel as whole as when our hearts is connected to our Heavenly Father’s heart and you, me, we are giving, receiving love in worship.
Psalm 29 Complete Jewish Bible
29 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Give Adonai his due, you who are godly; give Adonai his due of glory and strength; 2 give Adonai the glory due his name; worship Adonai in holy splendor.
3 The voice of Adonai is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, Adonai over rushing waters, 4 the voice of Adonai in power, the voice of Adonai in splendor.
5 The voice of Adonai cracks the cedars; Adonai splinters the cedars of the L’vanon 6 and makes the L’vanon skip like a calf, Siryon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of Adonai flashes fiery flames; 8 the voice of Adonai rocks the desert, Adonai convulses the Kadesh Desert. 9 The voice of Adonai causes deer to give birth and strips the forests bare — while in his temple, all cry, “Glory!” 10 Adonai sits enthroned above the flood! Adonai sits enthroned as king forever! 11 May Adonai give strength to his people! May Adonai bless his people with shalom!
The Christian life is to be marked by disciplined heartfelt, genuine worship: worship filled with God’s presence and intimate nearness and nearness to the heartbeat of God that responds to a true encounter with the heart of God.
If that type of worship is new to you, that’s okay!
If the idea of encountering God in worship is new to you, there is joy and grace at the place of new beginnings.
Don’t allow your past to dictate the possibilities of your future.
Don’t allow past experiences where worship might not have been filled with encountering Jesus make you believe our future times of our worship won’t be marked by the power and intimacy and God’s presence. (Isaiah 6:1-10)
Where else Do We See the Gospel in the Psalms?
Asking how we see the gospel in the book of Psalms feels a little like asking, “How do we see the gospel in The Methodist Hymnal.”
Isn’t it there in every single song (hopefully)?
Of course, the Old Testament is different. But this is a book of music which Old Testament believers would have used to express their faith in the living God.
In order to see the gospel in Psalms do we need to analyze every single chapter?
Are these not individual songs?
Or is there a unified theme to the Psalms which also points to the gospel?
I will argue that the Psalms not only point us to Jesus individually, the Book of Psalms as a compilation which will also point us to the finished work of Christ.
How Do You Find the Gospel in the Old Testament?
I suppose before understanding how to find the gospel in the OT, it’d be helpful for us to define the gospel.
The simplest definition is one given by JI Packer: God saves sinners.
If you’d like to put a bit more meat on your gospel presentation, I use two different frameworks with four points each.
The first is God—Man—Christ—Response.
The second is more of a story: Creation—Fall—Redemption—Glory.
The first presentation centers upon God’s character and how humanity fails to meet God’s holy standard, as such the judgment of God is upon us.
But the good news is that Jesus Christ fixes this by fulfilling what is required through his life, death and resurrection.
Our only fitting response, then, is to respond to Him in repentance and faith.
When this happens, we are united to Christ and his record becomes our record.
The second presentation centers upon the overarching story of the Bible.
God lovingly created us to love Him and enjoy Him forever.
We were made for rest, rule, and relationship.
But we made shipwreck of this, and so rather than having the blessings of obedience we are under the curse of disobedience.
Rather than having peace (rest), purpose (ruling), and healthy relationship we often experience the opposite.
Ultimately, we are alienated from God. But thankfully God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear our curse and to fulfill what God intended for humanity.
As such we now experience the blessings of Jesus’ obedience in our place.
He restores the rest, rule, and relationship we were created to enjoy.
Someday everything will be ultimately restored and we will live in a new heaven and a new earth.
We could write entire books focusing on these various themes of the gospel.
But every gospel story follows this basic skeleton.
No matter where you find yourself in the Old Testament (or New Testament) you can find one of these various threads.
Every place in Scripture is either telling you something about God, something about our rebellion, something about His rescue, or something about our future restoration.
If you can spot this, then you can fill out the rest of the story.
The Gospel in Psalms
For my studies, I have often compared the book of Psalms to a hymnbook.
That’s not entirely true.
It was a collection of poems throughout the history of Israel, many of which were set to music.
Most believe the 150 Psalms were compiled at some point after the Babylonian exile. How were they compiled? Did an ancient exiled editor just randomly pick a few poems, stick them together willy dilly, and then give them numbers?
Or was there an intentional structure?
The first clue that there is an intentional structure is that many have headings.
In fact, we notice that there are five Books of the Psalms. This is likely intentional and connected to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). We also see that each of these books ends with a doxology.
This structure can help us understand the overall theme of the book of Psalms.
Taking the first two books as a bit of a thesis, I appreciate the summary given by The Bible Project.
They say, it is “the prayer book of God’s people as they strive to be faithful to the Torah as they wait for the Messianic Kingdom.”
How do these five books of Psalms support that theme?
And more importantly how does the story of the Psalms point to Christ?
Book I
Almost all of the psalms of Book I are attributed to David.
They carry a strong theme of fidelity to the Torah and the nature of the Davidic King and kingdom.
But they are often set in the middle of distressing situations.
Saul’s pursuit of David plays a prominent role throughout these.
And yet through this distress, we see a settled disposition to trust in the Lord.
The theme here is that of confrontation with the results of the fall.
The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.
We see this theme played out through the conflict of Book I.
Book II
In Book II we are introduced to the Sons of Korah (Ps. 42-49), one psalm of Asaph (50), and then another group of psalms attributed to David (51-71).
It closes with a psalm of Solomon (72).
In this book, the posture towards the world is a bit different. Rather than a confrontation we see more of an invitation. Here the Abrahamic blessing is extended through the reign of the Messiah’s kingdom. But it is still set within a background of lament and longing and an underlying desire for repentance.
Book III
In Book III it is as if all the wheels come off of the locomotive.
The psalms further darken until they reach their climax in Psalm 88.
That is the psalm of lament where there is no positive turn.
It is only darkness.
But the book ends with a bit of a higher note in Psalm 89 as it points toward the promise of a messianic kingdom, but now it does so in light of the exile and the collapse of the Davidic Kingdom. How can the Messiah come through this?
How can a king sit on David’s throne when the people are divided, scattered?
Book IV
Book IV, opening with Psalm 90, seems like a response to the questions and the problems which the fall of the Davidic kingdom brings.
Psalm 90 goes back to Moses and his call of repentance after the incident of the golden calf.
This is likely where the people are during the time when these psalms are compiled. There is an obvious theme here of the truth that “the Lord reigns.”
That is the answer to the exile. God is still able to bring that which He promised.
Book V
Book V has within it two sub-books: the Hallel and the Songs of Ascent.
These point to the promise of a new Exodus. Positioned within the middle of these sub-books is Psalm 119 — that really long psalm all about delight in the Torah. Once again, we see the original theme of the book of the Psalms.
The whole thing concludes with five Hallelu-Yah’s (Praise the Lord) — pointing to God’s coming rule and reign.
The Psalms are a recasting of the history of Israel (really of all of humanity).
It tells the story of the gospel. God has decisively crushed the head of the serpent, but we are not yet there. We do not yet fully live in this redemption.
Therefore, we have some of the same struggles as the psalmist did. We have seasons of lament, where we are honest with God about our grief.
And we also have times of praise, prayer and worship — when the kingdom appears to be vividly breaking into our here and now.
The gospel is in the structure of the Psalms through pointing to the coming Rescuer. Each of the Psalms point to Jesus. He is the long awaited for King.
He is the hope of the nations.
The Gospel in Psalm 88
Psalm 88 Complete Jewish Bible
88 (0) A song. A psalm of the sons of Korach. For the leader. Set to “Sickness that Causes Suffering.” A maskil of Heiman the Ezrachi.
2 (1) Adonai, God of my salvation, when I cry out to you in the night, 3 (2) let my prayer come before you, turn your ear to my cry for help! 4 (3) For I am oversupplied with troubles, which have brought me to the brink of Sh’ol. 5 (4) I am counted among those going down to the pit, like a man who is beyond help, 6 (5) left by myself among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave — you no longer remember them; they are cut off from your care.
7 (6) You plunged me into the bottom of the pit, into dark places, into the depths. 8 (7) Your wrath lies heavily on me; your waves crashing over me keep me down. (Selah) 9 (8) You separated me from my close friends, made me repulsive to them; I am caged in, with no escape; 10 (9) my eyes grow dim from suffering.
I call on you, Adonai, every day; I spread out my hands to you. 11 (10) Will you perform wonders for the dead? Can the ghosts of the dead rise up and praise you? (Selah) 12 (11) Will your grace be declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 13 (12) Will your wonders be known in the dark, or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
14 (13) But I cry out to you, Adonai; my prayer comes before you in the morning. 15 (14) So why, Adonai, do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me?
16 (15) Since my youth I have been miserable, close to death; I am numb from bearing these terrors of yours. 17 (16) Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me, your terrors have shriveled me up. 18 (17) They surge around me all day like a flood, from all sides they close in on me. 19 (18) You have made friends and companions shun me; the people I know are hidden from me.
Psalm 88 is horribly depressing.
Unlike the other psalms of lament, there is not a glimmer of hope here.
I believe this is an expression of what happens when the curses of Deuteronomy 28 fall upon a people.
It is precisely the situation which the exilic community is facing.
And with all of this pain comes deep questions.
There are two questions which are crying out during an exile.
If the curse of the Law has fallen upon them, has their sin cut them off from God forever? How can an unholy people ever expect to return to a right relationship with God? Could they ever come back to the land? (That’s all one question, but trauma tends to ask the same question in multiple says).
But these questions are cast against the background of God’s promises.
How can this be?
Has God cut them off forever?
Will they ever again be recipients of these great promises?
What does this mean for God’s name throughout the world?
Does this now mean that Babylon is more powerful?
Are they the victors? Did the serpent win?
Ever feel this way yourself?
I know I’ve had very dark nights of the soul.
I have felt in my bones the pain of Psalm 88. On one particularly low occasion I found myself praying Psalm 88. I felt like the psalm was written for me.
This is my situation.
This embodies my hurt.
But then I started to think of Christ.
Wait…Psalm 88 isn’t my psalm, it’s His.
If anyone can pray Psalm 88 it is Christ who drank of the curse on our behalf.
Jesus truly did bear in His body the full weight of the Deuteronomic curse.
Even though I’ve felt Psalm 88, and even though I may go through seasons where I can pray this and identify with it, I haven’t experienced it as deeply as Christ. He has gone several echelons deeper into the pit than I will ever go.
This is good news because the story doesn’t end with Psalm 88. We’re meant to read it with Psalm 89. And Psalm 89 invites us to hope in the coming Messiah.
That coming Messiah is Jesus — the resurrected One. As He shares in the death of Psalm 88, which our sin has brought about, He ultimately conquered death.
He did not stay in the grave. And through our union with Him, we won’t either!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 89 Complete Jewish Bible
89 (0) A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachi:
2 (1) I will sing about Adonai’s acts of grace forever, with my mouth proclaim your faithfulness to all generations; 3 (2) because I said, “Grace is built to last forever; in the heavens themselves you established your faithfulness.”
4 (3) You said, “I made a covenant with the one I chose, I swore to my servant David, 5 (4) ‘I will establish your dynasty forever, build up your throne through all generations.’” (Selah)
6 (5) Let the heavens praise your wonders, Adonai, your faithfulness in the assembly of the angels. 7 (6) For who in the skies can be compared with Adonai? Which of these gods can rival Adonai, 8 (7) a God dreaded in the great assembly of the holy ones and feared by all around him?
9 (8) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot! Who is as mighty as you, Yah? Your faithfulness surrounds you. 10 (9) You control the raging of the sea; when its waves rear up, you calm them. 11 (10) You crushed Rahav like a carcass; with your strong arm you scattered your foes. 12 (11) The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; you founded the world and everything in it. 13 (12) You created north and south; Tavor and Hermon take joy in your name.
14 (13) Your arm is mighty, your hand is strong, your right hand is lifted high. 15 (14) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; grace and truth attend you.
16 (15) How happy are the people who know the joyful shout! They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai. 17 (16) They rejoice in your name all day and are lifted up by your righteousness, 18 (17) for you yourself are the strength in which they glory. Our power grows by pleasing you, 19 (18) for our shield comes from Adonai — our king is from the Holy One of Isra’el.
20 (19) There was a time when you spoke in a vision; you declared to your loyal [prophets], “I have given help to a warrior, I have raised up someone chosen from the people. 21 (20) I have found David my servant and anointed him with my holy oil. 22 (21) My hand will always be with him, and my arm will give him strength. 23 (22) No enemy will outwit him, no wicked man overcome him. 24 (23) I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. 25 (24) My faithfulness and grace will be with him; through my name his power will grow. 26 (25) I will put his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. 27 (26) He will call to me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’ 28 (27) I will give him the position of firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 29 (28) I will keep my grace for him forever, and in my covenant be faithful with him. 30 (29) I will establish his dynasty forever, and his throne as long as the heavens last.
31 (30) “If his descendants abandon my Torah and fail to live by my rulings, 32 (31) if they profane my regulations and don’t obey my mitzvot, 33 (32) I will punish their disobedience with the rod and their guilt with lashes. 34 (33) But I won’t withdraw my grace from him or be false to my faithfulness. 35 (34) I will not profane my covenant or change what my lips have spoken. 36 (35) I have sworn by my holiness once and for all; I will not lie to David — 37 (36) his dynasty will last forever, his throne like the sun before me. 38 (37) It will be established forever, like the moon, which remains a faithful witness in the sky.” (Selah)
39 (38) But you spurned your anointed one, rejected and vented your rage on him. 40 (39) You renounced the covenant with your servant and defiled his crown in the dust. 41 (40) You broke through all his defenses and left his strongholds in ruins. 42 (41) All who pass by plunder him; he is an object of scorn to his neighbors. 43 (42) You raised up the right hand of his foes and made all his enemies rejoice. 44 (43) You drive back his drawn sword and fail to support him in battle. 45 (44) You brought an end to his splendor and hurled his throne to the ground. 46 (45) You cut short the days of his youth and covered him with shame. (Selah)
47 (46) How long, Adonai? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your fury burn like fire? 48 (47) Remember how little time I have! Was it for no purpose that you created all humanity? 49 (48) Who can live and not see death? Who can save himself from the power of the grave? (Selah) 50 (49) Where, Adonai, are the acts of grace you once did, those which, in your faithfulness, you swore to David? 51 (50) Remember, Adonai, the taunts hurled at your servants, which I carry in my heart [from] so many peoples! 52 (51) Your enemies, Adonai, have flung their taunts, flung them in the footsteps of your anointed one.
53 (52) Blessed be Adonai forever. Amen. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
21-22 They said, “Nobody wrote warning us about you. And no one has shown up saying anything bad about you. But we would like very much to hear more. The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it.”
23 They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.
24-27 Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: “I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet:
Go to this people and tell them this: “You’re going to listen with your ears, but you won’t hear a word; You’re going to stare with your eyes, but you won’t see a thing. These people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.”
28 “You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms!”
30-31 Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
GOD Will Take Care of Me? I Just Got Bit by a Poisonous Snake!
Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? I Doubt it! Not Worth Believing! Not Worth One Single Moment of My Time! You’ll Stop Talking and Just Keep Walking on By! Not on Any Day of the Week Which has a ‘Y’ at the End of it! Tell it to the Hand!
In moments of despair, depression, and disillusionment, we all need to take a cue from our brother Paul and shake it off. Literally, Paul shook the snake off him and didn’t suffer any effects from what should have been a lethal bite.
Friend, I’m gonna tell on myself and keep it real here: I am hardcore horrible at shaking things off and choosing to believe the best. But so I want to emphasize shaking off disillusionment is key to getting back up when life knocks us down.
And when we shake all of that slithering snake bit envenomated trash off us, we need not make ourselves, obligate ourselves, suffer any ill effects from it either.
Meaning, when you start spiraling into disillusionment, you have to first stop obsessing over the lie that you have been abandoned by God and shake it off.
But we have to be assertive, we have to be God seeking, ready to take things a step further, make sure the venom of catastrophizing isn’t lingering inside us.
Paul learned the hardcore way what we have to learn, too: when you make it through the storm and all hell breaks loose on the shore— when you’ve been through all and it still keeps coming— we’ve got to pick up our Bibles, read the Word of God, Pray and Pray some more. God will hear us and we shake! it! off!
Bad memories? Bad Experiences? Bad Judgement? Bad Choices? Bad Decisions? Bad Results! Catastrophic Results! Lingering Results! My Sin is ever before Me!
Who of humanity can actually, genuinely, truthfully claim they have not been there, done that, have one or two or 10 mega tons of hardcore hardened regret?
I Suggest Raise Up! Pray Up! Pound your chest right now and say, “Get off me!”
Nah, you didn’t do it.
By my own confession, personal experience; You didn’t say it out loud. You said it in our head, and that doesn’t count. Say it out loud so the whole of your soul is shaken, is stirred, you can hear yourself, feel yourself, making that declaration.
Say it again so you feel it in your soul.
Say it a third time so the devil and his demons start shaking!
The Bible gives no record of Paul screaming, running around, or freaking out.
Why?
I think it’s because he didn’t do any of that.
Paul knew he wasn’t going to die on Malta.
Paul didn’t make a scene because he knew Rome was waiting, Rome was where Paul would proclaim the gospel of the risen Messiah before Caesar himself.
Well, friend, I’m with Paul.
I’m not going to inflict more suffering upon myself die on my Malta, because my arrest, prison in Rome is waiting too. Paul told his crew in the middle of a storm, “This has to happen.” And I’m telling myself, “This has to happen” too.
If you are shipwrecked and gasping, grasping for life, you’ve been on “Malta” trying to figure out why you’re there, I want to point you back to the who.
Who is in control of your life?
Who cares? Who loves you? Who gave you the vision or dream for your life?
I pray that you answered “God” to all of those questions, stand firm in the faith that has brought you this far. It’s time to shake off the disillusionment.
This action isn’t just for you.
It’s for everyone who is watching you too!
See, when Paul got bit by the snake, no one came around him to help.
Everyone stood there, watched to see what he would do or what would happen.
Child of God, people are watching you.
People are always going to be watching you and for you, to start that fatal walk.
People are waiting for you to lose it, to walk away, or to curl up and die. But look at you! You are still here, still surviving and steadfastly refusing to ever give up.
I’m standing up! I am putting my running shoes on and tying them tight. and giving God some praise because God is still here, you are going to shake it off.
Speed Dial God Pick, Pray, yourself up and get ready because Rome is waiting.
Do we know what to do in our own Malta?
If we find ourselves there, how should we live?
Remember, dear friend, Paul didn’t want to go to Malta either.
Visiting Malta was not at all in his plan.
And yet . . .
When a viper attacks Paul, the local islanders think he will die. But Paul shakes the snake off, and no harm comes to him. When Paul does not die, the people think he is a god. But no, Paul is not a god. He does represent God, however.
Paul is almost all the way to Rome, but the witness of God through him continues every step of the way. Paul is on Malta because of a storm and a shipwreck. Paul gathers kindling for bringing warmth. And God continues to take care of him in different ways. God also takes care of the people of Malta.
The chief official of the island opens his home to welcome the shipwrecked visitors. During this time, God heals the official’s sick father through Paul.
A single moment of recognizing opportunity, sharing hospitality, becomes the momentous setting to see God’s healing power, many others are healed also.
At first glance, we see Paul shipwrecked on an island, delayed for three months on his journey to Rome. But soon we can see that God has brought Paul and the others there to bring presence, assurance, healing and the good news of Jesus.
In addition, we see God taking care of Paul and the others by bringing them to Malta. But then we also see that God takes care of Malta by bringing Paul and the others there and we witness the testimony of the healed being sent forth!
And as they travel on to Rome, they meet other people and are welcomed and encouraged. Doors are kept open! God, the Disciples are visible, welcoming!
May we too take heart and learn from God this day.
May we the Body of Christ, His Church in the world, be people who look again and again to see our God who is always at work taking care of us and others.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 46 The Message
46 1-3 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city, this sacred haunt of the Most High. God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn. Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says.
7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”
11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 