From Now Until Easter - Keep Looking Up

From Ash Wednesday until Easter, I will post from Lent and Easter devotionals offered online. Today's post features excerpts written by Brian Dykema who presently serves as a full chaplain with the Community Hospice of Saratoga County in New York.

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You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Psalm 43:2-3 NIV

I would dare say I am not alone when I share that lately, I have struggled with feelings of doubt and discouragement. At times, it would appear that deceitfulness and wickedness are widespread and just keep getting worse. Our nation claims to fear God, but behind all the speeches [are] actions and decisions that contradict the teachings and commands of God by choosing a path that looks more like oppression and unfaithfulness.

This country is still my home, and yet my heart mourns over how far we have wandered from God. And still, as the psalmist says, there is always hope and a way back. “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell” (v. 3). My mother has a saying: “Keep looking up.” God is faithful and that is what truly matters. God will not fail, and I believe God’s love is still stronger than all the evil in the universe. God’s unconditional love can move the stars, change the world, and heal the human heart. There is always a way back home where rejection ends and God is ready with an embrace.

During this Lenten season, I pray we will choose to look up to God and ask the Spirit to dwell within us to help us believe the world can change. It begins with love... Dear friends, take heart. God is still on his throne, and his kingdom will not fail. Peace be upon you, and to God be the glory now and forever.

Prayer: 

To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Keep On Keeping On

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 NLT

There is nothing about our Scripture reference today that indicates our Christian walk is a one-time pass-through event. There's no "I tried it once, it didn't work." There's nothing that indicates we'll get it right the first time or even the second. What does "keep on" mean to you?

Back in the 1960's "Keep on keeping on" was a popular phrase. A lot of people thought it originated with the Curtis Mayfield song, but in fact, Mayfield had taken the phrase from a Martin Luther King speech made in 1964. Given Mr. King's vocation, it is safe to assume it is a paraphrase of Scripture, more likely Philippians 3:14 where Paul talks about pressing on toward the prize. 

The point being, we don't try once and quit. We keep on asking. We keep on seeking. We keep on knocking. In the words of the old song, "It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase. So bravely run the race till we see Christ." 

Let's keep on keeping on.

Prayer:

Father,

           Help us to be overcomers by the Blood of Jesus and the word of our testimonies. Be our Waymaker and our Strength. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen