From Dusk to Dawn

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak his name is praise!
Psalm 113:1 The Message

Just to remember God is a blessing - now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to God!

God is higher than anything and anyone, outshining everything you can see in the skies. Who can compare with God, our God, so majestically enthroned, surveying his magnificent
heavens and earth?

He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the forgotten who’ve been thrown out with the trash, seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best. He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!

Psalm 113:2-9 The Message

Prayer:

Father,

          Forever, we will praise You for Your mighty works! For rescuing us from the pit. Let us never forget the joy of our salvation and all You have done for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

From a Dark, Rebellious Life

Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine.
Titus 2:1 The Message

2-15 Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives.

But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, incorruptible in your teaching, your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when he finds nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around.

Guide slaves into being loyal workers, a bonus to their masters—no back talk, no petty thievery. Then their good character will shine through their actions, adding luster to the teaching of our Savior God.

God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

Tell them all this. Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You’re in charge. Don’t let anyone put you down.

Prayer:

Father,
           We want to be people that You can be proud of, energetic in goodness. Correct us in Your love if we get out of line. We want to serve You in a good, pure life. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Man Said So

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

This isn't my writing. It's an excerpt from a sermon preached by Reverend Alistair Begg. It is GREAT news for everyone, but especially for those who think they have to earn their way into Heaven. (We cannot.) This story from God's Word is irrefutable proof. Read on...

...without the preaching of the Cross, without preaching the Cross to ourselves all day and every day, we will very, very quickly revert to faith plus works as the ground of our salvation. So that to go to the old Fort Lauderdale question, 'If you were to die tonight and you were getting entry into Heaven, what would you say?'

If you answer that and if I answer it in the first person, we've immediately gone wrong.

Because "I", ...because "I" believed, ...because "I" have faith, ...because "I" am this,  ...because "I" am continuing...

Loved ones, the only proper answer is in the third person - because He! Because He! Think about the thief on the cross. What an immense (pause), I can't wait to find that fellow one day to ask him, "How did that shake out for you?!? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend... You've never been in a Bible study and never got baptized. You didn't know a thing about church membership and yet, and yet, you made it. You made it!  How did you make it?!?"

That's what the angel must have said, you know, like 'What are you doing here?'

[thief] Well, I don't know

[angel] What do you mean you don't know?!?

[thief] Well, because I don't know!

{angel] Well, you know...were you (stuttering) did you... (pause) Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.

So they go get the supervisor angel.

[supervisor] Sir, just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?

The guy said, I never heard of it in my life.

[supervisor] And what about - let's just go to the doctrine of Scripture immediately...

The guy is just staring, and eventually, in frustration, he [supervisor] says, Then on what basis are you here?

And the thief said, "The Man on the middle cross said I can come."

Now, that is the only answer. That is the only answer. And if I don't preach the Gospel to myself all day and every day, then I will find myself beginning to trust myself, trust my experience, which is part of my fallenness as a man. If I take my eyes off the cross, I can then give only lip service to its efficacy while at the same time living as if my salvation depends upon me.

And as soon as you go there, it will lead you either to abject despair or a horrible kind of arrogance. And it is only the cross of Christ that deals both with the dreadful depths of despair and the pretentious arrogance of the pride of man that says, "You know, I can figure this out and I'm doing wonderfully well." No! "Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me." (from Before the Throne of God) That's why Luther said that most of your Christian life is outside of you - in this sense, that we know we are not saved by good works, We are not saved as a result of our professions, but we're saved as a result of what Christ has achieved.

The Man on the middle cross said so.

Prayer:

Father, 

           O the beauty of Your Grace, the depth of Your love to provide salvation for us - to make the way when there is nothing we could do in our own self-righteousness to earn our way to Heaven. Thank you seems hardly adequate and yet, we are so grateful. Help us to ALWAYS be aware that it is You and Your work on Calvary's Cross that gives us access and entrance to Your presence. Give us clean hands and grateful and pure hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Alistair Begg - The Message of the Cross

Promise for Today - Remove the Stains

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Psalm 51:7-10

Shower or Bath? I can hear some of you now, Are you kidding me? You're discussing showers and baths for the Promise? Yes...Yes, I am.

Some like a good, hot shower. Others prefer baths. One might ask, What's the difference as long as we get clean? 

Well, I have noticed there is a difference - even between shower to shower. How's the water flow from the shower head? Is it hand-held or wall-mounted or both? Does it have a pulsating feature or not? And baths - how many different kinds of tubs have you seen or experienced? My favorite is the old clawfoot tubs - now if I had one of those, I might change my mind...

And some of the comments. 

Shower - I just like to stand there and let that hot water beat down on me. 

Bath - I like to sit there with the water up to my chin and let it just soak the stress away. Calgon built an empire on that premise. How many of you remember the ad slogan,"Calgon, take me away..." ?

The point is, we all feel better after getting in and getting clean from the grit and grime of the day. How much more so after being cleansed from the sins and stains of life? There isn’t enough soap or water or scrubbing to cleanse us from our sin and unrighteousness. But the promise is - whether we choose to stand under the flow of forgiveness or sink into the depths of His unlimited grace, we are washed clean – inside and out - by the Blood that flowed at Calvary.

Prayer:

Father,
           Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Choosing Holy

But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:10b-14 NLT

I met a friend for supper recently. Great girl - a LOT of fun. A Christian. She is working her way through some tough times, and doing a good job, too. She vented just a little about what she'd LIKE to do in a certain situation (and justifiably so in the flesh) but almost before she finished her own sentence, she half-grinned and said, "I know it's not the Christian thing to do." And as I laughed, she remarked, "But it sure would feel good." 

For the last 60 years, we've grown up in an era of "If it feels good, do it!" And we have heartily embraced it. No boundaries - nothing to fence us in. So much so that if something doesn't feel good, we just don't want to do it. We don't think we have to do it, and generally, there's a good chance that we're not going to do it. 

When my alarm went off this morning, I did not want to get up to go do what I had to do. I did not feel like it. I wanted to stay in bed... but I got up and made myself go take care of business. My flesh had already kicked in with hours I've worked vs. PTO hours, but I also knew I had a full workload waiting for me and...well, you know how it goes, so I disciplined myself to get ready and report for duty. Did I want to? No. I love my job, and the people I work with, but I wanted to crawl back into bed. THAT's what would have felt good... but it would NOT have been the right thing to do.

Every day, we're faced with decisions that have the same kind of outcome - doing what feels good or doing what is right and it all boils down to discipline. Back to the holy thing... we have to work at it. It would be easier on my flesh to do whatever I want to do rather than expend myself for something or someone else, but we're to "work at living a holy life."

We can't lead someone down a path that we've never walked. What good is knowledge or even wisdom if we haven't the discipline to walk it out? Does it feel good? Not always. But there is a Christ part of us on the inside that rejoices in doing something simply because it is right! That's what Jesus did. And we're to be like Him. 

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord... [emphasis mine]

So, even when we don't feel like it. Even when we don't want to...

Prayer:

Father,
           We want to see You, Lord. We want to be with You. We want to do the right thing. Help us to not forget that without You, nothing is good OR right. Give us clean hands and pure hearts, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Unite My Heart

Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.
Psalm 86:11 NKJV

Unite my heart ... to me, that is a unique turn of phrase. In reading other translations, I saw it was synonymous with Give me singleness of heart and the one I like best, Give me an undivided heart.

For someone like me who is easily distracted (Oh, shiny!), I understand the passionate desire for an undivided heart. To be focused. A wholehearted commitment. Singleness of purpose. Or as The Living Bible puts it, May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.

We can then recognize the theme of the first commandment throughout Scripture - You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, Luke 10:27.  We must make every effort to live our lives "with ALL".

Prayer:

Father,

           We pray according to Your Word, May every fiber of our being unite in reverence to Your Name. We want to love You, worship and serve You, and serve others with ALL. Help us, O Lord, in Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - In the Bloodline

He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father had done. 

2 Kings 24:9 KJV

Have you ever been told you look like your father? Or that you act "just like your father"? Is that a good thing... or maybe a not-so-good thing? Have you ever known families where the children all mimic the father's mannerisms and attitudes? That's exactly what we find in our text today and throughout the book of 2 Kings.

Is it a learned behavior or a generational curse? I don't intend to try to determine that here, nor will I address good fathering practice / bad fathering practice because those are rather apparent (no pun intended).

However, I will point out two very important Scriptures. Ephesians 6:4, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. And the second is very similar - Colossians 3:21, Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

As a born-again believer, your Bloodline flows from the Cross at Calvary...the one brought about because our Father God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...who in turn gave His life so that we can be forgiven.

Prayer:

Father,
           By Your Grace, so let us continue our lives to do just as You have done - Help us to give freely of our love and our time and our provision to others. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.