Mid-Day Devotion 11/12/09

David and Goliath, Church of the Holy Cross, Van, Turkey

“And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:38-40

They had set up camp overlooking the valley of Elah, the Philistines entrenched in their own camp just beyond them, yet they were held at bay, unable to move forward for the hero of their enemies stood before them with power and strength, ready to stop any advance they made. The challenge was now set. If the children of Israel were to lose the battle they would be sent to captivity and slavery, their lives then controlled by the idolatrous Philistines who mocked God, and held their lives to be cheap and meaningless, without any real value or worth.

They wanted to march forward, to make their stand against the unrighteousness and the wickedness that was now their across from them, but they couldn’t. The contest was clear: the champion of Israel versus the champion of the Philistines. To lose was to forfeit their lives and their homes and their country. Their family and their friends, their children and their grandchildren would be given over to dark bondage as they were taken prisoner and given to the evils of their enemy. There was not one amidst the armies of Saul who were willing to stand against him, not one who was willing to take the chance that he would lose the fight and thus lose his life and subject his people to the life that they would be given to.

The mocking and the derision of Goliath would go unanswered…

That was until David would step forth.

A Shepherd boy from Bethlehem, he wasn’t a soldier. He was there only really by chance, having been sent by his father to bring food to his brothers who were in the army. Otherwise he had lived for his flock amidst the fields and the pastures of his home. He had no dreams of being a hero or dreams of being a great man. Yet, as he heard Goliath calling out, he knew the challenge could not go unanswered. “What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26) Whatever fear he might have felt, whatever may have scared him, David would stand ready to go forth against Goliath, a boy against the Giant of Philistia.

As he prepared to go forward, Saul would clothe him in his armor, giving him his helmet and his sword. Yet, David, as said, wasn’t a soldier, he was shepherd. He had no military training, he had never before put on the heavy brass or taken up the weighty sword. Now, as he did, he couldn’t move. It was too much for him. He had no practice or training in all of this, and it just too difficult for him to move in it. He would have it all taken off. Then, picking up five stones he would stand in the valley against Goliath dressed as he was, with his staff and his sling in his hand.

The giant would be unable to believe it. Was this the best that his enemies had to offer? “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?” (1 Samuel 17:43) In a moment he knew the battle would be over. After all, what chance did this boy have against him, a seasoned soldier, the feared adversary, strong and powerful, able to kill him with one stroke of his sword. Yet David would not flinch. Taking one of his stones, he would swing his sling and release. The rock would fly through the air. It would land, square between Goliath’s eyes.

We don’t know what the last thoughts were of Goliath as he fell to the ground, but one has to imagine he wondered how it was that he bested by this boy. He had no experience, he no weapon except that which he used to chase away the bears and the lions from his flock, and yet he had won. For all of Goliath’s strength, the boy had won the day. If he had any final thoughts they had to be ones that wondered how this was at all possible. With all the armies of his enemy their it just all seemed like it would have been so improbable that he would die at the hands of an Israelite boy.

God sends us the most unlikely of situations as we look to the wickedness of unrighteous men who mock the Lord our God through their words and their actions. We see them all around us. They take captive men and women with no thought or consideration, making them slaves and hostages, persecuting them and oppressing them as they work their will in this world. They operate with such bitter hatred, putting enmity between them and God. Yet, even when it seems like we are ill equipped to understand the gravity of the situation or the pain they inflict, when it seems like we are ill equipped to comprehend the power that they have the Lord wants us to make a stand. For, through their actions, they ridicule God and show disdain to their fellow man, whom God tells us to love.

Like David we may not be able to put on the armor of this world to march forward against their dark power and their grim hold. Yet there is a protective covering that He wishes for us to wear as we take up these challenges. It is an armor that is more powerful than the forces of this world, and one that will let us stand against evil in all of its forms. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:11-13)

Girding our loins with truth, and taking on the breastplate of righteousness, tying the boots of the gospel peace, while lifting high the shield of faith, while we march forward with the helmet of salvation, welding the sword of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord, (Ephesians 6:14-17) which is sharper than any double edged sword of this world, (Hebrews 4:12) we go forth with the strength of the Lord against all the challenges of this world, amidst any trial or tribulation. Though it then may seem as if evil is on the rise and chaos surrounds us, though it may seem as if darkness and wickedness is on the march we shall have the preserver through the mysteries of God and the love that He has for us.

Therefore pray for the prisoners and the hostages, pray for the captives and the slaves, knowing that the Lord our God, our Heavenly Father, wants you to make a stand for them. In the lessons of Christ, which tell unto us to love our fellow man that we may prove ourselves his disciples, (John 13:34) stand up for the poor and the afflicted, letting your deep and abiding profession of faith be one that looks upon the cause and the plight of those who suffer or those who would be ripped away from all that they knew or loved, and taking it up as you own.

Like it was unto David, the armor of God is sufficient for us through our lives and in our lives, strengthening us and shielding us against even the deepest of challenges that we face. Here then we know that when we take up the cause that the Lord has for us, putting the name of His Spirit, that Spirit which brings liberty, (2 Corinthians 3:17) first in our lives, even above the fear or the weight or the burdens that we feel, we know that we are doing the Lord’s work in our lives and that He shall give us the strength to go on and to make this deep and abiding stand. For when we are weak then shall He make us strong, for His grace is sufficient for us. (12 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Take the cause of all of those who suffer and are taken captive by this world and the forces in it as your own, and know then that God shall guide you and protect you all the days of your life. This is the promise and the assurance that He has given unto you in the love that He has for all of us regardless of what we may face in this world and amidst this world.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen.

Morning Prayer 11/12/09

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Veteran's Day 2009

O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 11/10/09

The Prophet Jonah, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, 1471-1484

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Matthew 5:43-55

It’s a hard lesson to learn. We look around the world and we see those who persecute the innocent, who rob life away from the weak, who make slaves and prisoners of those around them for no other reason than their own greed and arrogance, their own self righteousness, believing they are so much more important, they are so much more superior to others around them that they can do as they will, that they can do as they want with no accountability or responsibility for their actions. They work all sorts of unrighteousness and wickedness in the world as they bring pain and suffering, anguish and agony in all that they do and all that they are.

There is so much darkness in what they bring that it’s hard to understand why it would be that we are to love them, that we are to bless them and do good unto them. It is hard to imagine why it would be that Christ would tell unto us to pray for them in our lives. They seem so turned to their evil ways, to the sorrow that they bring that it occurs to us that our efforts, they are probably just wasted by doing that. They have set themselves on their own path, their own course and we believe that there is little that is going to change that or bring it to an end as they prey on the lives of the strong and the weak, the good and the bad with no thought or consideration as to who they are or the life that they had.

Why should we bother wasting our prayers on them then? Why should we bother wasting our good will on them when the truth is that we have a hard time believing that they will turn from their wicked ways?

Why then would Christ teach us this lesson? Why would he offer these words of instruction unto us amidst our lives as we look around and see those who are more than willing to set the world ablaze amidst chaos and hurt as the pain they inflict comes to bear on the lives of all those whom they touch? Aren’t there better things that we could pray for, better things that we can do with our time and our energy, our efforts and our strength?

No, there really isn’t.

There are miracles that occur in the love of the Lord, miracles that occur by the hand of the Lord that defy logic and reason as they work their way through this world and in this world. Amidst them is the truth of God’s understanding that tells us that no matter how far gone it may seem that a person is in their own path or their own wickedness there is still time and a chance that they will come to a sincere repentance in their heart for the evils of their transgressions. Consider the lesson of Jonah taught by the Lord about that wicked city Nineveh.

They had given in to their own unrighteousness, their own evil ways as they practiced all sorts of wicked things amidst their lives. So much so did they sin in their own iniquity that they were to incur the wrath of the Lord as He planned to bring destruction upon them. Yet it would not come. As the people there heard the message of Jonah they turned from their own ways. The Spirit of the Lord moved through them in the most significant of ways and with a contrite heart they looked upon God and sought His mercy as they repented of their wickedness. “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” (Jonah 3:10)

Though we may not understand how God works in the lives of people or how He moves in their souls and their spirits, we know that He does. When we are told to love our enemies, even those who persecute and oppress, those who work such evil, bringing such darkness with their hands, that we pray for them, we are to pray that they turn from their wicked ways that they may come to a true and sincere repentance. Yes, it would be easier to just pray for their destruction and death, that they may be wiped from this earth that no longer would they be able to inflict themselves on others. Yet, by doing that we forsake the love of God and we become bitter, holding our own malice and hatred in our own heart, allowing for them to take us captive amidst our own spiritual life, giving them a grim power over us.

Instead though we are called to trust the Lord, to trust in His plan and His will, to know that even when we cannot see it or even when it seems like He is far distant from the cries and the longings of the afflicted that He will move through this world and in this world for the cause of good and the cause of righteousness. As our prayers are then lifted to Him we know that He shall, as has been promised, hear them and will work His will amidst this temporal existence according to His justice for the cause of His liberty.

Therefore pray for our enemies, for those who would take prisoners and hostages, captives and slaves, knowing that there is no dark or hidden place where they can keep themselves and their souls from the Lord. Use your strength and your power to proclaim a message of God’s law and Christ’s gospel to point to their unrighteousness and their wickedness, to their lack of love to their fellow man and the transcending truth that shall set them free from it that they may come to see that they have not abided in the command of Christ Jesus that we love one another. (John 13:34) This that they may truly see the light of the Lord and that it may cut through their own wickedness and iniquity to bring them to a sincere repentance for their ways that they may come to do good in this world.

Trust that the Lord, He has a plan then in the teachings taught unto us by the Messiah. Yes it may be difficult for us to follow, it may be tough for us to understand, yet that is just because the wisdom of God is perfect and transcends all of the knowledge and enlightenment that we have. It is possible that He can bring good from even the darkest of souls, even the darkest of times. It’s here then that we must believe that He will, placing our hope and our faith squarely on Him in even these, the most trying of times of chaos and pain, trial and tribulation that can inflict itself on the souls of men.

Though the gloomy acts of hate filled men of loathing may surround us pray for them to come to understanding, pray for them to come to repentance that the will of the Lord shall then come to bear in their lives and they forsake all their unrighteousness for the road of divine reconciliation that has been paved through Christ Jesus for their lives. It is then that we shall see the love and the mercy, the compassion and the grace of the Lord come to bear in the lives of these people as they put aside their own wicked ways for a better, stronger path, and the darkness that they bring will finally come to an end.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Morning Prayer 11/10/09

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 11/09/09

Job Castigated By His Wife, Albrecht Durer, 1503-04

“Then said his wife unto him, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.” But he said unto her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
Job 2:9-10

It’s perhaps the simplest thing in the world.

To hold on to one’s faith, to maintain their integrity when all is well and good in their lives and there are no deep and abiding challenges that fall before them. Those of faith, they rarely question God’s love or mercy, His compassion and His grace in their lives when all is well and there aren’t any struggles in their lives. Why would they though? All is good, all is well and there is nothing to cause them pain, or to make them concerned about God’s presence in their lives. In the most tangible of ways they are happy and they can abide in the peace of that comfort as their lives make sense to them.

Why not though? After all, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Through his entire life Job had given praise and glory to the Lord. He feared God and he turned from evil and it was counted to him as righteousness as, through the grace that brought the abiding faith into his life, the Lord knew him as upright and blameless. (Job 1:1) He would give sacrifices to the Lord each day just in the off chance that perhaps a sin had been committed so that it would not be held against any of his house or in his land. (Job 1:5) Yet now all he had, all that he drew comfort from amidst this temporal existence, all of his possessions and his family had been ripped away from him in the most brutal of fashions. And even still, whereas once someone might have been able to say, well, at least you have your health, he didn’t even have that anymore as his body was covered in boils.

Seeing all of this, the misery and the pain, the suffering and the sorrow that encompassed his life, his wife would come to him, baffled that he would still cling so desperately to his faith and to the Lord. “Dost thou still retain thine integrity?” She would ask dumbfounded. “Curse God and die.”

They were perhaps not the words of comfort he had hoped that she would give him, nor did they give him any solace amidst the hurt and the pain, the anguish and the agony that he felt. Yet, still, even as the burdens of this world came to bear down on him in the most significant of ways, as he felt the abiding weight of this worlds sorrow seeking to so ensnare him amidst the captivity that it had to bear for his life, the answer he would give would be a telling one. “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”

The Devil comes into people’s lives in different ways, in different times and through different means, but his mission is always the same. He wishes to trap up amidst the misery and the pain of this world, and through that, as he takes everything we have from us, he wants us to question God, to curse God and die. That way we might fall from grace, giving to him the only thing he cannot steal from us by his hands.

You see, Satan can rip from us everything that we have. He can take our homes, our money, our families, our health. He can cast us down to the pits of despair as little in our lives seems to make any sense anymore. Yet the one thing he cannot take from us is our faith. He cannot enter into our hearts to tear it out of us. He can pour on us challenge after challenge, he can let unrighteousness and wickedness rise up against us, he can let evil surround us threatening us in the most significant of ways until we have little to nothing left in our lives. But we cannot take from us our faith. That has to be freely handed over to him as we forsake the Lord amidst the darkness that the Devil seeks to encompass us with.

After all, it is our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus teaches us, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) Unable to pluck it from us, the old Adversary wants us to give it to him so that he might trample it under his foot that we might be given over to him.

It is then, when we do that, when we give that over to him, that our captivity is made complete and we are forever held in the bondage of his slavery.

His means of ensnaring us, of trapping us, of trying to destroy our spirits and our souls, they come into our lives through so many different struggles that we face. There the challenges may be physical or moral, they may be spiritual or temporal but they are a challenge.

But God does not abandon us to hopelessness amidst all of this, “For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” (Psalm 9:18) The assurances of the Lord are clear, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” (Psalm 31:24) Though the Devil may come like a roaring lion God shall walk beside us through all of the struggles, through all of the trials and the tribulations of this age, even when the good gives way to the bad and when evil seems to surround us even in its harshest of forms. We can draw hope in those promises, in that love and compassion, that mercy and grace that the Lord has for us through all of the days of our lives as He cares for us. Yes, it may seem as if all the world is given to the hurt and the agony of chaos forged by the Devil as challenges rise up and wicked people come forth to do unrighteousness in this corporeal plane, yet we have a blessed assurance from God that He shall walk beside us all the days of our lives.

Remember then the promise of the Lord, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) No matter what may happen, no matter what may come He will be there for you and with you, that you may not fall to the power of the wiles of the Devil. He will give you hope amidst your faith as you struggle in this world against powers and principalities that would rise up against you.

Therefore maintain your integrity amidst all of this, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12) For when you dwell amidst the love and the assurances, the promises and the faithfulness of the Lord there is no bondage or captivity, there is no slavery or hatred that the Devil can foist upon you. As the hymnist would write so we can also hold fast to, “God’s truth abideth still” for a “A mighty fortress is our God” and He shall never fail us or forsake us amidst the challenges of this life.

Lord, grant this trust and this truth unto us all.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 11/05/09

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.”
Job 13:15

We don’t always understand the ways of the Lord, nor do we comprehend all that He does. The way that He moves in this world and the ways that He works in this world, it remains a profound mystery unto us as we search for answers amidst this temporal existence. We believe that for evil to happen in our lives, for evil to run its course through our lives God had to have a part in this. It is why the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people”, seems to always be so prevalent on our lips. We want to believe that there is a reason for all of this and that there is a just cause that occurs, weaving its way amidst this corporeal plane.

Even Job, now in the throes of his despair, the burden and the weight of his trials now weighing on him, finds himself believing that somehow God wills this wickedness to occur in his life. He hopes in the Lord, he trusts in the Lord, believing that it is all part of His divine plan, yet still his words are unmistakable. After all, “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. (Job 1:21)

Yet the answers that we seek amidst the wickedness and the evil in this world, amidst the darkness that seems to afflict our souls, it’s not that simple of an answer. Yes God is alive and God is all powerful, He exists within a natural order of things, weaving all things together as He knits together the innermost being of people. (Psalm 139:3) Yet the pain and the suffer, the sorrow and the agony, the anguish and the torture that occurs amidst the torment of this world, it does not occur because God wants it to occur or even because He wants us to be tempted or to be tested amidst the fires of darkness that would seek to so encompass us in the captivity that is forged by the old Adversary.

Evil occurs because the prince of this world still has a hold over it. He moves freely through it in the corrupted image of sin and iniquity of mans transgressions as they forsake the love and the light of the Lord amidst their own actions and deeds. He works through the unrighteousness that he seeks to hold us all prisoner to in the deep and abiding struggles of this world as the challenges come to bear on our spirits and our souls, robbing us of our peace and our comfort. There is no solace amidst this world then, no rest in it as long as he comes like a roaring lion to devour us.

Still, with the whole armor of God, (Ephesians 6:10-18) we are given all that we may need to stand against the wiles of the Devil, and slay him, that while we stand triumphant amidst the Lord love, dwelling in His compassion and His mercy, Satan shall fall and his unrighteousness shall be exposed for the pale, weak imitation of authority that it truly is. Here we know that God then does not burden us with more than we can bear. After all “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

But then this is the triumphant message of Job, and it is a message unto all believers, unto all of the faithful children of the Lord, who, in their heart, in their soul, that their “Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” There then they know that though the grave may eventually claim them and worms may destroy the body, in the flesh they shall behold the glories and the majesty of God’s magnificence. (Job 19:25-26) It is a transcending, and encompassing truth that comes to bear in all of our lives through all of our lives.

When we put this hope and this trust, this glorious faith in the Lord, knowing that He will give us strength and courage, He shall walk beside us, letting none stand against us all the days of our lives, as He abides in that faithful assurance that He shall never fail us or forsake us (Joshua 1:5) we always and forever shall know that we have built ourselves on a solid foundation, one that will always and forever withstand the pressures of this world and the burdens of it. This is what Job knew, and this is what the Lord, in preserving His Word and the ancient lessons of that righteous man of Uz wanted all of us to know amidst our own lives, in our own lives. Come what may, come what must, when we build our hope in the Lord, there is no bondage, there is no slavery, there is no captivity that cannot be broken as He ransoms His people by His authority for His name sake.

He washes us all pure in the precious blood of the Lamb, that we may be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18) and here, He moves through our lives, by the power of the Spirit, to bring us to liberty, to the blessed air of freedom, (2 Corinthians 3:17) that we may forever and always dwell in His glory.

Yes we may feel the challenges of this age, we may feel the authority of the ancient Adversary coming to bear in our lives, we may feel the deep and abiding captivity of the spirit and the soul that he wages against us that He may seek our demise, our fall from grace, as he tries so desperately to win another soul for his war against the Lord. Yet his power is fleeting, and with a word his authority over us is gone as we find our hope and our faith built on the solid rock of God’s great and encompassing love. When it comes to bear in our lives and our expectations, our anticipation exalts Him above all else we may come to know the Devil will not be able to bind us, he will not be able to chain us in his slavery, for we have come to know the grace and the peace, the comfort and the love of the Lord in all things, through all things.

This must always and forever be the solid rock in which we stand upon and build our faith and our trust in. It is then that we know, come what may, come what must we shall see the victory of the spirit amidst the triumph of the soul as we rest in the house of the Lord forever, amidst the glorious conquest of Christ, who put to flight the power of sin, death and the Devil, setting captivity captive and ransoming a lost and fallen race.

Trust in this promise, in this hope, building your faith on it all of the days of your life and know that there will never be a moment or a time when you are let down, even amidst the greatest of challenges that comes to bear in your life, through all the days of your life. There is more than just the wickedness and the unrighteousness of the dark forces in this world and the love of the Lord shall always and forever show that, in grace, mercy and love in your life, even as the burdens are heavy and the trials of this worldly tribulations are great. It is then that we can always abide in the promise of Christ as he tells unto us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Lord, grant this unto us all…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 11/03/09

“Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. “
Psalm 33:18-22

The victory of the spirit, the triumph of the soul that lies in the Lord, it comes from hope, and that hope, it stems from faith taking root in our hearts, pouring forth the grace of our Heavenly Father in our lives.

How though do we find that faith, how do we dwell amidst it when the world is wrought with challenges and our souls are disquieted amidst our being, longing for peace, longing for answers, for a comfort to encompass us and a peace to envelop us through the solace that He brings? How do we find that faith, and, in faith, come to dwell in hope, when all we know, when all we see are the deep and abiding tribulations of this world as they come to overtake us and to swallow us whole? Is there an answer to the cries of our spirit that come as an answer to our souls within the great afflictions that men and women can face through the deepest trials in their lives?

These are the questions that fill us. They dwell amidst us as we look to the world and to the pain and the suffering that it can bring. We see the bondage of iniquity and the dark hold that sin can have on people. The chains of wickedness and evil clank, ready to bind the hands and the hearts of the innocent, weak or strong, poor or rich, joyous or sad, with no thought or consideration to who they are. Their heavy weight bearing down on us seeks to break us in the most significant of ways until there is nothing left but the shattered frame of the person we used to be. No home, no rest, no life, no peace, no hope, we see the persecution that comes from unrighteousness and the oppress that comes from the vile works of the corrupted nature of man throughout this world.

It holds each person captive, hostage to the gloomy estate, to the dark places that dwell amidst the hidden places that the old Adversary would strive to hold us in, believing that he can keep us out of the sights of the Lord. Here we know pain and suffering, agony and anguish, sorrow and torture as our tormented cries go forth, pouring from our lips, searching for something, for anything that will make the darkness flee from us.

It may be a moral struggle or a physical struggle, it may be a emotional challenge or a spiritual one, yet it always remains what it is, a struggle and a challenge that abides amidst this temporal existence, seeking to swallow us whole.

Yet there is no dark place amidst this corporeal plane that can remain hidden from the Lord. There is no dark place that can be left unseen by our Heavenly Father amidst this world. He is there to cut through it with his light and with His truth which is sharper than any double edged sword, that is more powerful than any weapon that Satan or those who follow in his unrighteousness and wickedness may hold in their hands.

We have the Lord, and He is the hope of our salvation, for in mercy does He pour forth His compassion in the lives of those who love and who fear Him. Though it may seem as if there is little to draw comfort in or that that there is nothing left that we may find peace in, He is there to shine forth His truth and to deliver our souls even from death. He shelters us in the gracious and the wondrous precepts of His wings, drawing us close to Him when we are in the most need, when we are feel like we are the furthest from Him and like nothing in our lives make sense anymore.

He is our shield, and our strength, our ever present help amidst the trials and the tribulation of this present age, of this present generation. Just as He walked with the saints of old, those blessed legions who gathered in His name, He walks with each of us through all the journeys of our lives, lifting us when we have fallen, carrying us when we are weary and heavy laden, taking our burdens upon Himself that we may find a measure of solace even amidst the deepest of challenges that come to encompass our lives. For our righteousness He dwells amidst liberty, bringing us to freedom… a transcending, encompassing freedom that surpasses even the knowledge and the enlightenment of this world.

After all, by His love He reconciled us all to Him. Even as we were lost to iniquity, the power of sin, death and the Devil binding us amidst the dark captivity of this world, binding us amidst the pain and the suffering that it can bring, putting upon us the yoke of slavery, He gave us a Deliverer. He offered unto us a Redeemer, a Messiah, who would bring the power of salvation through His encompassing sacrifice, letting the grave no longer have any power over us. Through that love, made manifest in Christ Jesus, captivity was made captive and all of us were ransomed.

Through Him we have become conquerors amidst the glories of the power that the Spirit of the Lord grants unto our soul in our faith. It is then by that authority that we know that we have nothing in this world that we need to fear, for the inevitable triumph goes to the Lord and to His children, even when it seems as if the world will hold the victory. It’s victories are fleeting and its power shall not have a hold on us for long, for by God, through Christ we shall come to defeat all the dark powers of this world and vanquish its unrighteousness, even as it seeks to take a hold over us by the claims that it makes over our bodies and our minds. The Lord Almighty shall confound the wicked and shall subjugate the evil, as we find His transcending love encompasses our souls.

Therefore rejoice always in His love and know His peace, deriving your strength from the power of His might, and the glories of His precepts. Through the love that He has for you, and the mercy He shows unto you, you shall find then that you dwell amidst compassion through grace by faith. There hope shall come to bear in your life in the most significant of ways, in the most wondrous of ways as you feel Him draw you closer to Him and give you the power to be stronger and of better courage than you had ever known or thought possible in your own life by your own might.

What a glorious promise and blessed assurance that truly and rightly must be seen as in our lives through all things, in all things, given unto us by the love that the Lord has for each and every one of us according to wonders of His mercy and the miracles of His love. For now we have the power to overcome and be greater than we had ever imagined, even in the times of tribulation and darkness that this temporal existence, that this corporeal existence so often tries to destroy us with in our lives. Even now, even in these troubled times, we have the abiding hope and the transcending faith of the Lord in our lives through all the days of our lives.

Lord, therefore grant this unto us all.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 10/30/09

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 43:5

How often in our lives do we find ourselves cast into the pits of despair, as hopelessness seems to be all around us, as we find that as much as try to find peace and comfort, as much as we try to find happiness, all we can find is darkness surrounding us? We come to a simple truth, to a simple reality, that seems to encompass our beings and to show its face in our lives: there is a captivity and a bondage that exists amidst this world. There is a darkness that seems to almost overtake it as chaos seems all around us. We wander and we drift and we find ourselves lost, wondering if there couldn’t be something more for us, something better for us, and yet finding that it’s elusive in our lives. There is a stumbling block that is placed there, it is placed there by the power of the Devil. For you see, the Devil can’t just let us abide in peace, he can’t just let us abide in comfort, he can’t just let us find ourselves in happiness. No, for when we do, we open our hearts and our minds, we open our spirits and our souls to the Lord, and we find that it is simple, it is easy to abide there in faith, for we don’t question where God could be in all of this. But when the Devil can take root in our spirit, when he can take root in our souls, he can cast us down as he cast Job down before us. He can make us question, he make us ask amidst our lives, where is God in all of this, where is the Lord in all of this? And there he knows he has us chained in his bondage, he knows he has us chained amidst his power, as he brings us to a slavery, a slavery of the spirit that burdens our souls and that seeks to break our hearts, that seeks to leave amidst the pits of sorrow and anguish, agony and suffering, torment and torture. And we know nothing then, nothing except the pain that we feel amidst all of it.

Yet as we find ourselves amidst this, as we find ourselves living within this, we come to a basic and fundamental truth, a basic and fundamental truth that has been spoken unto us by the Psalmist and it’s been repeated throughout his works over and over again. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” We read again and now “What Lord wait I for, my hope is in thee,” and again “In thee Lord will I hope, thou will hear, O my God, let thy mercy upon us, O God, according as we hope in thee.” The reoccurring theme, the constant theme, the ever vigilant word of the Lord in our lives testifying to our souls and to our spirits and our beings, is that God is a God of hope, and that amidst this hope comes a deliverance, for He is the help of our countenance. We shall praise Him for despite the captivity that this world may have in store, whether it is a captivity of the body or a captivity of the soul, whether it is a captivity that we know in our flesh or a captivity that we feel in our minds, God shall free us, He shall free us. There shall be none that shall be known as slaves who are abiding in His righteousness, there shall be none that are known as hostages who abide in His reconciliation. And we know this, for the Lord our God sent unto us deliverance through Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

And there, a Savior, a Savior foretold of even at the time of man’s first disobedience and sin, man’s first fall to the Devil, and to his temptation and to his captivity and his bondage, we were prophesied of that there would come one greater man who would restore us to the love and the perfection that God had originally intended for us. And if we cannot put our hope in this deliverance, the we can put our hope in the deliverance of nothing, because there is nothing that shall forever give us that triumph that we so desire and we so long for. But when we put our hope in this, when we put our trust in this blessed assurance from the Lord, it is there that we know though that if this is the power of the Lord our God, if this is the power of the Lord God Almighty, then how much more authority does He wield, how much more power does He wield amidst this world and the powers that are in it? For we read in the words of the Psalmist that He heals the brokenhearted, that He provides for the needy, we read in the words of Christ Jesus that He heals the sick. We read in the words of the Apostles and the Disciples that His Spirit is the Spirit of Liberty, a Spirit of Freedom. And what a wondrous and glorious blessing that is.

Trust therefore, trust therefore in the promises that the Lord has given, even as your spirit feels that it is in the midst of despair, even as it feels that you have lost hope, even as it feels that something is disquieted within you, and you cry out, you long out for the mercy of the Lord, for the peace of the Lord that transcends all understanding, for there you shall know that He shall be beside your side, and as He said to the Psalmist so He says to us, His rod and His staff shall comfort us as He leads us down the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. This is our faithful assurance, this is our faithful promise, and in all things we shall build our hope upon this for He can break even the strongest bonds of captivity, even the strongest of bondage that so envelops our lives.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mid-Day Devotion 10/29/09

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”
Psalm 31:24

Hope breeds strength and strength, courage, yet how is it possible to have hope in this world as we see so many struggling, so many battling, so many held in such grim and meager estates as their peace and their comfort is robbed from them leaving them with what seems like the darkness of iniquity as they find themselves in sin's grasp? The life is strangled from them as they are taken from everything they know, from everything they care about and love. They can hold on to nothing as they look upon their place and are left to wonder how it is that they have found themselves now in the places where they are. Sorrow and pain seems to surround them, and anguish and agony seems to fill their lungs with every breath that they take.

Oppression and persecution, captivity and tyranny seem so often to be the tools of this world as subjugation and repression comes so easily and liberty seems so fleeting. There is nothing left then for those who are held as hostages or are kept in dark dungeons or who have been made into slaves but to wonder why and what for as their lives seem to draw to an end right before their eyes. What is really left to them, what is really left for them as they come to understand that there is nothing but the horrors and the torment that can be inflicted on them by wicked and evil men as their hearts are broken, their spirits are burdened and their souls find themselves in such torturous places? Suffering seems to be all that is left to them amidst all of this.

Where then is the hope? Where then can they draw their strength from? Where can they find the courage that they so desperately need, the courage that seems to have fled from them as they have found themselves now in these darker places, their faces hidden from the world? What is really left to them now as they cry out, longing for something more, something better, a life that they fear that they will never see again, loved ones that they are afraid that they will never be able to touch or to hold in their arms again? Where is it? What is it? Why is it?

They long for the answers deep within them as they find themselves held amidst chaos and sorrow, amidst pain and agony never knowing what will come of their lives, never knowing when it will come to an end, if this day will be their last and this breath will be their final one. They have nothing but the dread and the terror that fills them as they live amidst the horrors of evil and unrighteousness that fills the hearts of their captors and their persecutors, those tyrants who live by their own code, following their own ways with little thought or consideration beyond their own greed, and ambition and self righteousness.

Yet in the Psalm of David today do we hear the words of truth, the words of righteousness, spoken by the ancient King of Israel. Through God, our Heavenly Father, there is a shelter, there is a refuge for even the most lost of souls, and by His righteousness He shall deliver His people from the hands of iniquity and sorrow. He shall turn His ears to their cries, His eyes to their plight as He finds Himself there with them. He shall be the safe haven, the sanctuary of their souls, to give them the peace and comfort, shining truth and love in their lives, giving them a light that will cut through the darkness that now so envelops them. He shall be their rock and their fortress through all of these grim days, through all of these painful days, even as all they seem to know is suffering and sorrow.

Regardless of the traps that this world may set, regardless of what wicked and evil men may do to try and ensnare their victims, regardless of the hold that Satan may have on this world the Lord shall free His people from it, showing that He is the one with the power and the authority as He puts it all to flight. There is power in His love and His compassion, in His mercy and His guidance and He shall shine through in all things, through all things for the cause of His people. It is there that we know that those who place their trust in the evils of this world shall find their end as God works through this temporal existence to shine His light, to bring His hope unto all those who are in desperate need.

There is, after all, no captivity that God, the Lord God Almighty, cannot conquer and has not conquered. The freedom that came from Christ, our Savior, at the cross, is a transcending freedom that puts to end the dark hold of the bondage we all felt to sin, death and the Devil, as he set captivity captive and ransomed a lost and fallen race. It is here that God tells us that come what may, come what must His power is the ultimate power in this world, and that His authority shall never be broken, regardless of what may be thrown against His people. Their lives may be consumed with agony, their days and their years with grief, they may have even forgotten what freedom and justice is, but He shall break through to show His love unto His people in all things, through all things, as He has always done through every chapter, through ever place in history, for He is our God and we are His people and all the time is in His hands, regardless of what it may seem like.

Through the faith that He gives unto His people in the love and the mercy, the compassion and the grace He shall not let them be put to shame, He shall not let them perish, regardless of what may rise up against them in this age or through any age. He shall always and forever preserve the faithful and contend with the cause of the needy and the oppressed, never letting their story end with the darkness that now seems to consume them and the chaos that seems to so overtake them. It is His promise unto His people and one that He has always and forever remained faithful to throughout all times, in all places.

This is the hope that breeds strength and the strength that breeds courage, and it comes from the power of the Lord God Almighty, a loving Heavenly Father who never fails or forsakes His people, a merciful and caring Heavenly Father who never abandons them regardless of what the world may throw at them. It is a hope that stems from the faithful assurances of His promises as He shows that He is at work in their lives, through their lives for their good and for their cause. He does not let them be devoured nor does He let them be destroyed even as it seems like all that they know is pain and suffering. He is moving and He is at work in their lives.

Be of hope and place your trust therefore in the promises of the Lord and know that whatever may come, whatever may be He shall be on their for His people, giving them the strength they need to endure, just as He did to the prophets and the disciples, the saints and the apostles, the kings and the martyrs throughout all of the ages. He was at work in their lives and He shall be at work in the lives of all people who find themselves amidst the darkest of days of hardship and sorrow, regardless of the captivity that seeks to swallow them, that seeks to destroy them.

Praise be to His glorious name for that.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end, Amen.