Friday, February 26, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/26/10

Christ at Prayer, Hagia Sophia Cathedral


“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:9


It could be just as easily said that the love God had towards us was made manifest because He sent into this world His only begotten Son that we might be ransomed from the most grim of captivities and the most meagre of estates, for that is how His compassion and mercy is revealed amidst our lives: through freedom...

Freedom from sin that we may be called the redeemed child of the Heavenly Father, brought from the darkness of the soul and given the triumph over iniquity through Christ’s sacrifice....

Freedom from captivity and bondage as the chains of slavery were shattered and we were ransomed by the encompassing power of the victory of the Savior as he showed God’s true authority in this world.

Freedom from death as we were shown that this life was only the beginning of the journey of the soul, as the path was paved on high to the eternal life as the glories of God’s kingdom were not only made known to us, but made available to us as the grave was shattered by Jesus’ conquest over it.

It is then here that we understand that to God love and freedom, compassion and liberty, mercy and justice are inescapably intertwined together amidst the grace that He makes known in the life of His people by and through the power of His Spirit. It is then made obvious in the care that He shows unto His people, unto the poor and the disenfranchised, the lost and the hurt, the wounded and the broken hearted as He lifts His hand to them to show unto them that they are never alone, that there is a force that binds all life together amidst the deeper callings of the spirit and the soul, the heart and the mind, that they might find a measure of peace in the blessed unity He proclaims in His Word through His will.

It is then that we know that, regardless of the captivity, regardless of the bondage, regardless of the oppression and the subjugation, God is there contending forever in the lives of His people, showing forth the glories of His love unto them as He leads them from pain and anguish to a place of peace and comfort, where mercy forever reigns in the hearts of the people.

Still, there are those who argue that God, He only helps those who help themselves...

As we consider that we have to ask ourselves, if that was truth, if that was the truth of His righteousness, then what sort of God would we worship? What sort of God do we put our trust in? One who only reveals His love unto us to give us strength when we are already strong, when the times of trouble are far distant and far removed from our lives and in our lives? What sort of God is that? Who would truly find God’s love if that was the case?

Captivity amidst this world only works because, no matter how strong we may think we are, there is someone stronger, whether by their physical or mental strength, by the way they seek to break us or in the numbers or the force that they have. It works because there are circumstances and situations that we find ourselves in that we can’t get ourselves out of and that we can’t seem to find any sort of answer for or through. In that we find that we are weak as our hearts break and wounds are inflicted upon us that cut so deep that they threaten to shatter us in a million pieces.

Wherever this captivity comes from it is a spiritual warfare waged against us by the old adversary as he tries to assert his dominance over us and, with all of the weapons at his disposal, with the generations he has had to master his craft, we come to the transcending truth that no matter how strong we may believe we are, he is so much stronger than us, so much more capable than we are to wreak havoc and unleash disaster on us. Here we are chained and bound in grim captivity as, in one form or another, whether it is of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, we are taken hostage by that dark power.

Yet the same God who saw us and the blemishes on our soul that forever separated us from His grace and made His love known to us by sending His only begotten Son to ransom us that we might dwell in His compassion amidst His mercy sees this too, and He does not just abandon His people because they are incapable, against such force, of helping themselves. He is there for them and with them each and every step of the way making His love known for them as He guides them from the darkness. Always selfless, always sacrificing, He moves for them and their cause making Himself known in the sorrowful and painful days of challenge that seem so ready and willing to overtake them.

Though then one may seem lost and confused, though they may seem hurt and pained, though it seems as if darkness is ready to swallow them whole, God does not just say I am done, and calls it a day. He is never content to let the misery that has overtaken them claim the triumph because, in the face of overwhelming odds and overshadowing tribulation they are incapable of helping themselves. Moving in their lives, He shows then that He is the God of the poor and the need, the captive and the slave, ready to do whatever it takes to proclaim liberty in their lives that they may find hope in even the most hopeless of situations.

And that... that too must be our cause and our lives...

As those called to imitate God, love must be made manifest in our lives by the sacrifices that we make in the lives of those incapable of helping themselves, the lives of those who find themselves in captivity and bondage, in times of need and hurt as we show forth the grace, mercy and compassion that was first shown unto us. We must be determined in our resolve to give of ourselves, never willing to say that it’s too much or questioning why and what for when it seems like it is hard or difficult, when we wonder if perhaps we are asked to offer too much of ourselves.

It is only then that we know that we have given our lives to be that which God has called us to be as we find that the new life, the new heart that He has created in us as His Spirit was cast down upon us and our lives brings a new hope, a transcending hope into this world to create real and sincere change. It is only then that we look to the love of God made manifest for us and learn the lessons from it that He has intended for us and our lives amidst the deeper callings of the Christ for us as we take up His cross and show we are capable of showing compassion in a world that at times seems so devoid of it. It is only then that the freedom that God has intended works in the life of the imperfect amidst his perfection.

Lord, grant this unto us all...

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

First Prayer:

Be merciful onto Your children Lord, for we are weak and so given to agony and sorrow...

Be merciful onto Your children Lord, for we languish amidst the trials of this world....

Be merciful onto Your children Lord, for there is evil all around us seeking to devour us...

Be merciful onto the crew of the MS Abdul Razak Lord, for they know find themselves amidst the pain and the sorrow of their grim estate, hijacked by wicked men of iniquity as their lives are held in their hands.

Be merciful onto the nine who were kidnapped in truck hijackings in Somalia Lord, for they are now hostages, held in dark places, captive amidst the brutality of pirates who bring death and destruction with their touch.

Be merciful onto the souls on board the Ms Pramoni Lord, for the ransom has now been paid and we wait upon their safe return from the hands of those who would trade human life as if nothing more than cattle.

Be merciful and let your grace be known amidst the lives of Your people Lord, be unto them the rock of their refuge as You give them strength amidst the trial and the tribulations that they face. Let Your love be made known in their lives and Your compassion shelter them as You bring them to the truth of Your righteousness amidst all that they know and that they face in their lives.

Be merciful and stay true to Your promises Lord as You come upon the lives of those and wounded and show them that they are not alone in what they face, but that there is a righteous God at work in their lives, showing hope in the struggles that they face and the pain that threatens to overtake them. Unto them reveal the glories of Your love as You draw them close to You, protecting them from all evil that seeks to inflict itself upon them, holding their lives cheap and without meaning.

Be merciful unto Your children Lord and we shall praise Your name through all the world, through all the ages.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

Behold Your people O Lord, behold them amidst the strife and the struggle of their grim bondage and their meagre estate as they struggle against the power of the wicked and the ungodly who revile Your compassion...

How long, O Lord, shall the sheep of Your flock be devoured by the lions, hunted and fed upon by those who would overwhelm them and consume them? How long shall Your people be bound by chains of slavery and bondage, ripped and torn amidst the fortunes of the unrighteous who would take them captive? How long shall Your enemies claim dominion over Your children as they move with impunity amidst this world?

Righteousness and mercy shall follow You all the days of our lives Lord. In the trials and the tribulation of this life, in the struggles of the weak and the downtrodden, shower that then upon the lives of those held by the prideful and the sinful who would hold cheap the gift of life that You have given unto Your people. Show forth Your love in the lives of those who seek refuge from the storms of darkness in this world and free them from the persecution and the oppression that now drowns them amidst the flood waters of evil.

Let not the unrighteous scoff at Your promises Lord but show unto them that justice shall be done as Your will overtakes them. Let not the sinful say there is no God for we have claimed authority over Him as rob dignity from the lives of Your people. Show unto them that the power rests in Your hand that they may come to know the errors that they dwell amidst as there might is put to shame and You show unto them that there is no escaping Your judgment when life is held cheap and without meaning, as they seek to so destroy Your divine purpose in the lives of Your people. Turn them from their wickedness that they shall know that there is a God who shall always contend against those who bring hurt and suffering into this world.

Then shall the truth of Your mercy be known throughout the ages, in all places, through all things.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/24/10

Christ on the Cross, Bartolome Murillo, 1675


“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
James 2:14-17


How do we make manifest our faith? How do we show forth the love of God in our lives as we journey through this temporal existence, seeking to abide in the commands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, just as he had instructed us to in the words of the Great Commission? Do we really go forth, teaching people to observe all that Christ has first taught us? (Matthew 28:19-20) Do we teach by doing, by acting in the grace and the mercy that was shown unto us in the lives of those who are the most in need?

It is the Apostle James who warns us of the idleness of faith and the propensity of men to grow complacent amidst their redemption. And why not? After all, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) There is no work that we can do, there is no deed that can be done, there is no act that can be performed that can earn for us the gift of grace that is salvation. It is freely offered unto us by the Lord through the power of the Spirit working through us and in us.

Likewise, there is nothing that we can do that would ever show the true and proper measure of gratitude for our redemption. Anything that we could try, or anything that we could put forward, regardless of the effort, proves, when it comes right down to it, to be inadequate. What, after all, can be done to sufficiently show our appreciation for the precious blood of the lamb shed for us for the remission of our sins and the atonement of our sins that we might have that final victory over the grave? What could we ever do that would be even close to enough to show our love for God amidst the triumph that He gave us through His blessed and beloved son?

No matter how hard we try it is never enough, it is never going to be enough, so why even bother to try? We are already saved, so what will it profit us? We are good people, we do what we should do, we take care of our families, we are kind to our friends and neighbours, we go to church on Sundays, some of us even go on Wednesdays during the different times in the church year, we even donate to charities when they come knocking at our doors. Since we can never do anything that will be sufficient, why even bother to do anything more? Isn’t that good enough?

Not really...

Imagine for a moment that God had the “good enough” mentality, think for a second about what it was like if Christ came, and midway through he asked, “Isn’t that good enough?” What sort of faith, what sort of trust would we have if God, in promising to deliver us from our troubles, gave us a map to lead us away from them that had no bearings, that offered no real insight into where we were or what actually laid before us, and then said “I gave them what they needed to get through this, isn’t it good enough?” What sort of salvation would we have if Christ, when told he would have to take up the cross, said “I already taught them how to live and to love, they can do the rest for themselves, that’s good enough for me”?

They do not though. He is never content to just say “That’s it, I’m done” and call it a day. Through God and Christ, through the power of the Spirit, we are given promises, blessed assurances that we shall be given all that we need. When we are lost God finds us and brings us to safety, when we have troubles, Christ lifts the burdens from our souls, when we feel we aren’t strong enough the Spirit moves within un to give us strength like that which we could have never really imagined for our lives. Nothing is ever just “good enough” for the Triune God as love us revealed unto us through His merciful hand, and nothing should ever be just “good enough” for us as we show forth the grace of His compassion in our lives.

Each of us, we are called to be disciples of Christ, to be followers of him who has purchased us through his blood and his sacrifice. (1 Corinthians 11:1) When we consider that we have to then consider what Christ did as our standard by which we live our lives, by the words that we speak and by the deeds that we do as we seek to draw nearer and closer to God with all of our strength and all of our being.

Like Christ then ours must be to help the poor and the afflicted, to teach tolerance and love in a lost and fallen world, ours must be to proclaim liberty to the captives and the slaves, to pray for the healing of mankind, to uplift and to edify our brothers and sisters in need, and to do all that we can to break the bondage of the body and the mind, the spirit and the soul that would seek to chain others in darkness and pain. It has to be to work tirelessly with the gifts that we have to end persecution and oppression, the scourge of hatred and suffering, and to make the path light as we help to lift the burdens from the shoulders of others.

Each of us may be called, amidst the body of Christ, to different roles and functions, to different tasks and duties amidst our obligations to God and our fellow man, yet, amidst that, it should all work together, we all must work together for the greater calling of the Lord’s love to build up and to edify, to push for liberty and justice in the greatest calling of the Spirit. (Ephesians 4:11-12) Otherwise we just prove our faith to be vain and our trust in God to be idle, the game of weak individuals more focused on their own temporal comfort than the spiritual good of humanity and the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Faith should never be left to die within us. Each day it should be held up before us as we say, “By the grace of God I am what I am and I shall give forth my life for His love that my brothers and sisters shall be strengthened in all plights and troubles until that blessed day of Christ’s glorious return when we are led to the triumph of the sky.” Each day we should set to work making the world that much of a better place for the lost and the captive, for the bound and the imprisoned, the sick and the oppressed, as we make manifest the love of God in our lives through all of the days of our lives.

It is then that the true nature of faith lives within us as we show forth the blessings of our soul in the love that God has intended for us for our lives and offer unto a fallen world so prone to hurt and pain, suffering and anguish, something that is good and pure in the light and the compassion of God’s unending mercy shown unto us.

Lord, grant this therefore unto us all as You lead us amidst this temporal existence.

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

First Prayer:

Hear us when we call upon You O Lord of our righteousness, and give forth Your mercy through all of this world’s distresses as You bend Your ear to our prayers.

You have made known Your mercy in the life of Pierre Camette, released now, after these long months from his captivity and given the chance to heal from that captivity that was inflicted upon him. You have made Your mercy known in the thwarted hijacking of a Tanzanian ship as its crew was spared from the pain that could have been brought into their lives. For that we must give You all praise and glory, raising on high our joy for his safe return home.

Yet, amidst that there are still those held, and persecuted, captive amidst the bondage of this world and it’s tyranny. To You Lord do we commend their bodies and minds, spirits and souls, seeking and imploring Your grace in their lives

For all the captives in all the lost places do we intercede with You for the freedom of. Let Your eyes behold their suffering and their pain, let Your heart be open to their anguish and their sorrow, let Your hand be raised to their cause as You show Yourself in their lives as the rock of their refuge. Men who have turned from Your righteousness hold them in dark estate as they, for their own glory, place a gloomy cloud of oppression over them. Disperse them and shine forth Your light and Your love in the lives of those who are in so much need.

Show us Lord what we must do, what we must do to be that which You need us to be, that Your love shall be made manifest in our Spirits. Cast upon us Your Spirit to lead us to the places where we can show forth Your will and Your grace in our lives, that our faith may be marked by the deeds we do and the compassion we show in the lives of the people as we edify and strengthen them in Your Holy Name.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

O Lord, our refuge and our strength, to You do we flee seeking deliverance as Your love is made manifest in the compassion of Your mercy, shown forth in the lives of Your people. Let not wickedness triumph, nor let the power of those those who dwell in unrighteousness rip apart and devor Your people amidst the captivity that they bring through their sin and iniquity, but let Your grace claim that ultimate victory of the spirit and the soul as it shows forth the hope that You shall always bring in the lives of Your people.

With understanding to the divine nature of Your promises Lord do we raise the names of all held in captivity and bondage, of all who have been taken hostage, of all who have had the dignity robbed from their lives as they have been held in slavery. In mercy walk beside them and let Your love be known in their lives as You lead them from the darkness that so ensnares them to the blessings of true liberty and freedom amidst the justice that shall always come by Your hand and through Your purpose.

Let not unrighteousness stand but move with strength through the lives of the wicked who dwell amidst iniquity and sin to hold human life with such contempt and hatred. Show them the errors of their ways as You make known unto them the divine nature of Your will that they may find true repentance, true remorse written in their hearts and on their souls. Cast aside their arrogance and their pride, their wickedness and their despicable acts to bring them to the blessings of Your love that they may turn from such darkness to a path of light contending for the cause of freedom rather than the death that comes amidst the hurt they bring.

Shine forth in the lives of the sick and the impoverished, the victims of intolerance, hatred and disease that all captivity, whether of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, might be dispersed in the love that You show in the lives of the people and all may be freed may come to break the chains that bind humanity amidst its fallen nature. Let all see the works of Your hand as it moves in a way that is indescribable and yet inescapable as mercy comes to bear in the lives of all the hurt and oppressed, all the pained and anguished in all the lost places.

Then shall we proclaim Your goodness all the days of our lives having seen it so real amidst this corporeal plane.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/23/10

The Final Judgment, Giotto, 1305


“Do they not err that devise evil? But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.”
Proverbs 14:22


It does not matter who we are or how strong we may believe that we may be, it doesn’t matter how many triumphs we believe that we might have had, in the end, when we do that which is evil, when we abide in wickedness and unrighteousness, error comes, and we find that judgment is not far behind us as our fall is assured to us. Yet, when we do that which is right we know that God, He does contend with our cause and shows unto mercy as He reveals His truth amidst the deeper questions of our souls.

Still, as hard as we may try to believe that, or as much as we may know that, it seems like a far off, a far distant certainty amidst this world. We dwell in peace and we seek that which is good, yet it seems as if the victories go to those who work their own ways and abide in their own will as they let sin and iniquity overtake their souls. They subjugate their fellow man, the oppress the weak, they persecute the poor and the downtrodden, as their strength is made known by the pain and the anguish, the suffering and the sorrow they bring.

And so we cry out to the Lord, “Why do wicked men triumph? Why do the sinful seem to succeed as they wage their war against the soul, break the spirit and offer defeat unto our hearts?” We look to their works and we wonder why it is that it feels like they have the power and the authority. Like David we cry out to the Lord, “Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves.” (Psalm 140:1 and 8)

We want to believe that the ultimate victory, the ultimate triumph will belong to the righteous as the wicked are set to flight and the hurt that they bring through their transgressions is blotted out of the broken hearts of men as the dignity is restored to their lives. As we look around though it seems as anything but is the case as darkness comes to easily and chaos is brought so quickly as the world is set ablaze by the grim acts of those who hold the world in their grasps, choking the life out of humanity as they feed so readily on misery and despair.

It is truth though, when all else seems to fail us, that has to dominate our souls…

There is a hope, transcending and encompassing, that guides the soul through all of the challenges of the spirit, no matter how great or encompassing, no matter how overwhelming or overshadowing. The Lord God Almighty, the same God who delivered captive Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, the same God who would send His only Son that we might proclaim with all who suffer that “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26) contends with our cause. He walks beside us in mercy and truth, the light unto our path and the lamp unto our feet, (Psalm 119:105) showing us the path of His love as He guards us and protects us from all this world has to wage against us.

It is here then that we know that though it may seem as if the wicked and the unrighteous have the strength now, they shall not for all time, for though it may seem as if they will never fall, their life is given to error and fault, and they shall see the inevitable descent that comes from such a course, as they plunge to the depth of judgment. It is then that we know that all who take captives shall be delivered into captivity, and those who make slaves out of men shall be held in slavery as the hatred and contempt that guided their lives comes to encompass their souls amidst the sorrow that they have brought upon themselves.

Then shall all who trust in God’s mercy, all who put their hope in His love and compassion, all who have faith in His grace, find that the reward of that abiding, transcending freedom amidst the blessings of liberty through the power of His Spirit.

No matter where we go there is no escaping that we live in a sinful world, one so prone to subjugation and degradation as the old Adversary asserts his dominance over this corporeal plane. But, likewise, there is no escaping the fact that those who dwell in the power of the Prince of this World in this temporal existence, shall find that they dwell in His dominion when they are ultimately called to pay the price for their transgressions against their fellow man and the pain and suffering that they brought against them.

Let yourselves then not fall into the same trap as they have, do not be so ensnared or entangled in the same web that they have. Live with a humble and contrite heart, one always focused on God and doing that which is right in His sight. Show love unto your fellow man that you might show praise unto God, pray for those held in captivity, whatever that captivity may be, show mercy to those who are suffering in sorrow and despair, be guided by compassion that you might pour forth the grace of the Lord through the power of the Spirit and prove that you truly are a disciple of Christ.

Do that which is right in the sight of the Lord, making the cause of all people the cause that forever guides your life as you live, day by day, to show that which is right and acceptable I the eyes of the Lord, edifying and nourishing humanity through the hope that God gave unto Your life.

Let mercy and truth be the light of Your life as you show yourself to be a imitator of God contending with the cause of those in any sort of need and trouble, even when it seems as if courage is fleeting and optimism is far off. Generations of apostles and disciples, saints and prophets have found themselves in times of trouble that, though it may not always seem like it as our age seems so overwhelming, exceeded our own trials of our age, and they were carried, by the Lord, to the better places of His divine love.

Therefore, do not be disheartened by the power of evil men on the march or by the strength that they show in this world, for this world and all the things of it are fleeting, and their shall be a time, a time none can escape, when we are all called before the judgment seat to give a full accounting for that which we did with our time of grace.

Then shall you know that you have abided in that which is right and good, ready to stand before God as a redeemed child of His mercy while those who have showed such contemptible error, and such vile hatred shall find that they have no defense when they are asked for their accounting before the most high. Justice shall come and justice shall be done, inescapable by the quick tongue and the excuses that are offered, and sometimes believed by this world in our own base understanding and inability to grasp, for as the true authority of God is revealed there are none who lived for themselves and their own errors who can escape it.

Lord, let that be us then who stands for Your truth and Your righteousness that mercy shall follow us through all of our days.

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

First Prayer:

Be our guide…

Through this world of darkness and sin, this world of bitter anguish and brutal iniquity be our guide Lord, leading us down the path of Your righteousness through the mercy that comes by and through Your hand. Let not the sinful and the wicked triumph over Your people through the evil that they bring but show that there is an ever present, ever vigilant force, forever faithful, moving through the course of human events to bring real justice into an unjust world.

Be the Shepherd for the forty souls kidnapped by Ugandan Rebels as they struggle amidst captivity and bondage, humiliation and subjugation. Lift Your rod and Your staff and let Your hand be before them, protecting them through these dark days of hurt and sorrow that so threaten to overtake them. Find them amidst the places they are held and lead them from them to the green pastures of your loving warmth that they may find peace and joy once more in their lives.

Heal the soldier wounded amidst this kidnapping, and let him recover from the pain that has been inflicted on him that he might return to his home and his family, that he might find comfort once more with them.

These men who make slaves of others, who rob dignity from the lives of the people, they take upon themselves your name as they call themselves the Lord’s Resistance Army. Whatever their cause, whatever their struggle Lord, show them that when they act to bring bondage into the world as they have they do not contend with Your cause but set themselves as Your enemy, proving unto You that they are not disciples of Your Son, who taught us that new commandment, that we should love one another as Christ first loved us. Show them that they may truly call themselves your servants as they edify and strengthen their fellow man, rather than taking all that they have from them.

Be the guiding presence in the life of Pierre Camatte held these long months by al-Qaeda as he longs to return home.

We hear now that four prisoners have been released from Mali. Though that government may claim that they were just releasing those who have done their time, let it be enough to satisfy those members of this terrorist group now holding this innocent man that he may, at long last, be freed. Let not his life be dominated by this misery he know finds it amidst but show him grace as you bring him to the blessed air of liberty as Your love takes him from the dark and hidden places to the places of solace and comfort where terror and dread are finally set to flight.

Then shall all who truly look see Your hand and Your presence at work throughout the world.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

Blessed is Your name amidst the nations and through all the Earth O Lord, fount of our compassion and our strength. Let your love and Your presence then shine through as the shield of strength and the sword of righteousness for all who suffer and struggle, for all who are afflicted and pained.

Rise up Lord…

Rise up for the cause of Your people, let them not find themselves amidst the agony and the anguish of captivity and bondage but break the chains that so fasten them to sorrow and pain that they might be set to the blessings of liberty that come through Your Holy name.

Rise up and be the force that contends forever with their tribulations that they may know that there is a merciful God, one who never fails, nor forsakes the cause of His people when they are in distress or when despair threatens to overtake them amidst the trials that this world offers.

Rise up and offer to them peace, that transcending, encompassing peace that comes when You move faithfully and vigilantly to bring hope to the hopeless and when You disperse the gloomy clouds of grey to shine forth the light of Your love through this world.

Rise up to show the unrighteousness and the wicked that they have no strength, they have no power, they have no authority when You are on the move and that You will not let them stand amidst their transgressions against their fellow man for all times or in all places.

Rise up and let not those who take prisoners and hostages, who make captives and slaves claim the victory or the triumph but let them see that they are weak and insignificant compared to the compassion of Your mercy as Your grace comes to bear in the lives of Your people.

Rise up to bring them to repentance that justice may be done and that they may forsake the evil of their wicked ways, abandoning their sinful, hate filled acts of contempt and darkness for the path of Your enlightenment that Your love shall come to guide their remaining days.

Rise up for all held in any captivity and any bondage, setting sickness and disease, poverty and intolerance to flight as You heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds, showing that there is no pain that can escape Your sight and no despair that can overtake the soul when You are on the move.

Rise up that we may praise Your name through all of our days, through all of our lives for the wondrous miracle of Your love, compassion, grace and mercy as it carries us from this temporal existence to dwell once more in the glories of Your Kingdom, forever and always.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/19/10



“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
John 4:11-12


It was the Christ who gave us His new commandment... love...

If we were to really be His disciples, letting His transcending truth overtake us as the power of the Spirit encompasses us, then we are to love and to show that love, to make it manifest in the lives of those who surround us (John 13:34-35. It is the only way that we can truly imitate Him in our lives (1 Corinthians 11:1), the only way that we can truly reveal His hope and love as it pours forth from our souls.

You see, it’s not enough to just say that we have faith. How we understand faith, it should speak to how we act, to how we live, to how we are as people and as redeemed children of God, those called to inherit His kingdom.

Faith is a wondrous, glorious gift of God, given to us as a free offering of His grace in our lives (Ephesians 2:8-9), but it is also something that needs to be shown forth in our deeds. As James warns us “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (James 2:14-17) It’s here that we come to understand faith like a tree...

In the Gospel accounting of John we hear Christ speak of how He is the vine while God is the vine keeper and each of us are the branches to that tree. Of that branch fruits come forth... the fruits of that tree in which we are rooted in (John 15:1-2). These fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance”, (Galatians 5:22-23) they are meant to pour forth from our souls, edifying and strengthening, nourishing and encouraging one another in the grace that God has intended for us to show forth from our being.
That love, it is then to be made manifest in the way that we care for one another, the way we show our love for God by showing our love unto our fellow man in their time of need and struggle, in the challenges and the adversity that they face amidst their lives. After all, as we are taught, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)

That, for us, is a challenge. Our nature is not to sharpen our fellow man. As the great American author, Mark Twain, would write “Of all the creatures that were made, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood he is the only one--the solitary one--that possesses malice. That is the basest of all instincts, passions, vices--the most hateful. He is the only creature that has pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.” It must be ours then to be rejuvenated by the Spirit, by the power of the Lord, to put that nature, that inclination of the flesh behind us and to move past our baser instincts and our flawed character to be something more, to be something better.

Like Christ, the Spirit of the Lord should be upon us as we preach the gospel of to the poor and the downtrodden, to offer healing to broken of heart, to offer freedom to the captives and the slaves through the careful intercessions to the Lord as we humbly submit ourselves to Him, to help the blind see, all that we may proclaim that which is acceptable to our God. (Luke 4:18-19) Like Christ, ours should be to work tirelessly for liberty and justice for all who find themselves held amidst the bondage of the spirit and the soul, the body and the mind as we come to realize that there is no chain that can hold us, no darkness that can separate us, as the strength of the Lord comes upon us to give us hope in even the most hopeless of situations.

Perhaps it may seem as if love is lost in this world as we see that anger and contempt, malice and pain comes so easily from the hand of men to impose itself on others. It may seem as if love is far off and distant as there are those held in grim estate, with sorrow and anguish so near at hand. As overwhelming as it may seem or as overshadowing as it may feel as that darkness seems to encompass us in this world, we should know that God, even in our weakest moments, gives us strength to be more than we are, to offer more than we ever thought that we were capable of amidst our lives as we dwell in His compassion and mercy, finding His hand guiding us through all of the trials and the tribulation of this age and all ages.
Then do we know that God is truly with us, bringing forth that which we need to bring to offer that which is needed in the lives of the people.

There will come a day when Christ shall return in glory to proclaim God’s endless authority as we are carried to the Kingdom to live amidst the majesty of God’s transcending grace, as we are numbered amidst the saints and the martyrs who came before us. Until that day though, until that time, we must be the instruments of God’s love and compassion as His mercy is shown through our hands. It is then that we will work tirelessly to show forth His grace throughout this temporal existence, putting behind us all evil, all wickedness and unrighteousness to bring forth the good fruits that will nourish and strengthen our fellow man in that hope that God has intended for us in our lives. Until that day we must put behind us all our selfishness, all of our own vanity and prove unto the world that we truly are the disciples of he who has come to show us love and ransom us amidst all of the captivity that this corporeal plane would seek to foist upon us.

Then shall we know the truth of God’s righteousness and justice, the truth of His liberty and freedom as we become agents of true love in this world, showing that we can transcend who we are to be who it is that He has intended us to be amidst His grand and glorious design for our lives in the hope that He brings to the lost and the fallen, the captives and the slaves in any bondage that this world may have to offer.

Lord, therefore grant this unto us all...

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

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/18/10

The Conversion of St. Paul, Lucas Cranach the Younger, 16th century


“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39


The Apostle Paul had seen the worst that men had to offer. The martyrdom of saints and apostles, the persecution of the early church, the oppression of men at the hands of other men as they were dragged off, crucified and beheaded, cast to the circus in Rome to be devoured by the lions or dragged out into the streets to be stoned, the hatred and the contempt gnarling the lips and overtaking the soul as life was held cheap. Torn from their families and their friends, brutality encompassed their lives, as sorrow came so easily at hand.

And he, himself, was not innocent in all of that. There was blood on his hands as well. He knew well of the subjugation of the early church because, for too long, was he a willing participant in it.

He watched as the crowds surrounded Stephen, he saw the malice in their eyes, he heard the hatred escape their lips as he felt them turn against the young disciple. They encircled him as his body fell to the ground, to the dirt and the dust that must of kicked up as he was thrown down. The first stone was tossed, then the second, then one after another, bruising the body as it crashed against the skin. He could probably hear the rock cracking the bone as it hit the skull, the blood from the once unharmed skin, now cut, dripping, flowing from the gashes to mix with the soil as he finally closed his eyes and fell into the deep slumber of death, the life escaping from his body, the final words escaping his lips, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:54-8:1)

Still though, in seeing this would he go forth, persecuting, dragging men and women from their homes and their families, ripping them away from their lives to cast them to dungeons and prisons, binding them in chains of bondage. (Acts 9:1-2) The murder of Stephen would have no effect on him except to make him more zealous in his cause, more convinced that he was in fact right in his brutal actions and his bitter hatred.

Yet, what he would come to learn is that there was nothing, no power, no strength, no authority, that would rise above that which belonged to the Lord, nor was there any act that would escape the sight of God as He showed His love unto His people.

You see, wicked men, unrighteous people, they may carry on amidst their iniquity as they bring pain and suffering, sorrow and hurt into this world. It may seem as if they are an unstoppable force, an ever present danger in the lives of the people. They might go forth bringing anguish and agony as they persecute and oppress, as they, through hatred and malice, show contempt to that precious gift of life that the Lord gives us as they rob dignity of people and hold them in dark places as their sinful ways overtake them.

Still, for as much as they may seem to hold the upper hand or as much as they may come upon the weak and the downtrodden, as much as they may show that they have the ultimate authority to make slaves out of men, casting them to captivity amidst the grim bondage of this temporal existence, the battle is not over, for the victory over the spirit and the soul, it does not belong to them, it belongs to the Lord. It’s here then that He will deliver His people from all evil that would seek to overtake them, that would seek to encompass their them and swallow them whole. (1 Samuel 17:47)

Injustice and tyranny, oppression and persecution then is never left to stand, for the Lord is made manifest in the love that He has for His people and that manifestation is made apparent to us in the freedom and the liberty that it brings to the lives of His people as His grace and mercy comes to bear. Perhaps, in some cases, it is through the big and the bold signs that were given to Saul of Tarsus as he travelled on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-9), converted from his path of malice that he might make a journey of faith through the Lord, preaching and teaching the Gospel of light through Christ Jesus, proclaiming liberty in the lives of the people. At other times though it is through the world that He acts, bringing those who destroy lives and bring sorrow to justice through the hands of temporal authorities, moving in them to act that justice might be done.

Whichever way it is though that He does choose to move, what we see is the Gospel truth as it was revealed unto Paul, as it was revealed unto the Church in Rome, knowing that through Christ and his love we have become more than conquerors as the grace of the God is revealed unto us. After all, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” yet by the authority of God we are given the power to overcome whatever captivity, whatever bondage would come our way (Romans 8:35-37).

As evil is on the march, as hurt and hardship seem so near at hand, as chaos and darkness seem to set the world ablaze, we may find ourselves wondering where God could be amidst all of this. Yet the answer is never as far off at it perhaps seems to us in these times of struggle and persecution, for He is there, near to all those who call upon His name, to heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds, to proclaim freedom to the slaves and the oppressed and to set ransom even the most lost of souls, set to a sea of troubles as He shows that He is an anchor of hope and a rock of refuge in their lives.

Remember then always that there is nothing, come what may, come what must, that has the capacity to separate us from the love of God or to rip away the grace that He offers unto His people. It may seem as if we are abandoned or we are alone, it may feel as if we have been failed or forsaken, yet, in mercy, compassion, grace and love God shall reveal Himself unto us in our lives, showing unto us that there is nothing that can separate us from Him as He shelters us under His wing and gives us hope even when all seems to be hopeless to us.

Trust then no the things of this world or the illusions that it tries to foist upon us as it pretends to have all of the power and the authority, as evil men act as if it holds in its hand the ultimate triumph, for it is all vain amidst the vain pursuits of men, and we know then that God shall come in judgment to show forth His will and His ways in the lives of all those who try to assert themselves over the lives of others in the most brutal of fashions. Then shall light and love come to bear in the lives of all people in all places, regardless of where they are held or the captivity that has been asserted over them.

That is the blessed promise of the Lord, that is the wondrous mercy that is worked in our lives through His hand…

Lord, grant us faith, in all things, through all things, in that trust You offer unto us.

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

Prayer:

We, O Lord, are Your compassion and You are the strength of our souls. Walk beside us through the journeys that we make through this world and in this world, showing forth Your grace and Your love in the lives of Your people.

We implore You Lord to be true to Your promises and hold steadfast to the faith that You have given unto us. Be beside all who are held in any captivity and bondage, bringing Your mercy to bear in the lives of all the prisoners and the hostages, all of those who are persecuted and oppressed, held amidst darkness and oppression in this world. Let not their lives be held to be cheap or without dignity, let not their souls be tormented by wickedness and iniquity, but set them to liberty amidst the freedom of Your justice that they may see that there is a God, merciful and loving, who shall forever contend with their cause.

Show unto this world, as Your word says, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from” Your love given unto us in Christ Jesus, who came to set captivity captive and ransom all of us from the power of sin, death and the Devil.

Bring those who work wickedness and iniquity, those who are agents of oppression and pain amidst this world to justice Lord. Let them, amidst their works, see that there is a God who does not dwell in unrighteousness but who shall always work for the good of those who find themselves in dark and meagre estate, held by the grim sorrow of this world. Show them that You shall always move against them so long as they move in hatred against the poor and the persecuted that they may come to know that their ways are not Your ways and that Your divine will shall always triumph over darkness and hate.

Then shall all come to praise Your name for the wonders and the blessings of Your righteousness in the lives of Your people as Your way becomes the path that puts to flight all darkness that this world has to offer.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/16/10

The USS Consellation Fires Upon the Slave Ship Cora. In 1860 the Constellation rescued 705 African slaves and helped put an end to the Atlantic human trafficking trade.


“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”
Psalm 56:8-11


At times it seems like a lot, doesn’t it?

We put our trust in God, we say with God I walk, I will not be afraid of what men may do. We say with the Lord I stand, what can this world do to me that can rob me of the peace and the comfort that He gives unto me. But, before we know it, the struggles are before us and the challenges are upon us, and they seem to be more than we can bear, more than we can handle. Captivity and struggle, temptations and trials, they seem to come so easily and we are left with this lingering sense of doubt, wondering how it is that we could find ourselves now amidst the challenges that we face.

Perhaps, it could be that there is more to life than the lingering feelings that seem to so easily now overtake us but the truth is we have a hard time seeing them as we find that what we were so sure of seems to so quickly evaporate from our eyes, the days fading to the nights that seem to just go on forever. The darkness seems so grim, so encompassing and we are left with this sense that nothing... nothing in our lives will ever be the same again.

It hurts so much as we find ourselves longing for answers, as we rest in the promises of the Lord and yet find ourselves wondering if they are sufficient for us, if they are enough that we can truly rely on them in our hour of deepest need when the moments of hurt are upon us and it feels as if there is nothing more left to us but to just cry as we find that we just... we feel so lost and alone. We know the blessed assurances of God, but when we find ourselves in times like these, when bondage seems so close at hand, when the darkness seems so transcending, when faith seems so inadequate we are forced to question if they’re something real or if they are something else all together.

That is the way the world ensnares us, the way the old adversary asserts his power over us...

You see the Devil is content just showing us that evil exists in this world, or that there are times, more than we’d care to even imagine, when sin and iniquity, when wickedness and hatred seem to triumph over righteousness and justice. He is not content with just asserting slavery and captivity over the hearts and the minds of men, for we know that it does exist and when we can see his hand in it we turn to God knowing that it is only His strength that can and will save us.

To assert His dominance then he shows to us the worst that men are capable of and he convinces us that not only are their power will have power over us, but that they do it without his help and that their strength does not come from him but from their own hands. All of this that we can dismiss the presence of the Lord or believe that somehow He is far distant, incapable of defeating the authority of unrighteousness and hatred amidst this temporal plane.

Yet we know that there is more to this corporeal existence than just flesh and blood, than just the triumphs and the victories that evil claims over our lives. There is an ever present God, and He sees the ever present attacks that are waged against us as hurt and pain seem to come so near at hand. He is the one who sees our tears and our hurt as the pain seems so real and palpable in our lives and understands more than we could ever hope to where it is that they come from.

Vigilant and ever faithful, this God of ours, this Lord over all, He does not let any of this serve as the end of our story though. No, He is there beside us each and every step of the way whispering unto us “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) He is there to show unto us that His grace shall forever offer unto us the strength that we need, for even in our weakness then shall we see the Spirit of the Lord and know that our faith does not rest on the wisdom or the power of men, but on the authority of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)

It is God who walks beside us each and every step of the way, it is the Lord who gives us the courage that we need amidst our lives. By Him then we know we are capable of facing all that this world has in store, all that this world may bring against us, because it is He who carries us, supporting us as we wander amidst this temporal existence. (Philippians 4:13) Though we then may be forged in the fires of this world and find that pain is so near at hand, so close by us, He lifts us from it and tempers us until we are like steel in His hand, strong and unrelenting against the challenges of this world.

Through Him, through Christ, we are then more than conquerors, (Romans 8:37) we are the redeemed children of our Heavenly Father, bought in love, ransomed from the hand of evil and set free from the captivity that would so seek to overtake our souls and overshadow our being. There is no bondage that can chain us, no yoke that can weigh us down, no strength that can overtake us for we dwell in grace and love, knowing the transcending mercy that has redeemed us amidst a lost and fallen world so given to its own ways and the authority of sin, death and the devil.

Yes, there are going to be times when it seems as if nothing can save us, when it seems like there is just too much to handle, too much to bear. It is going to feel as if there are times when the slavery and the captivity of this world are too near at hand, or when it seems as if slavery and bondage shall forever triumph over righteousness and justice. But with God shall the victory always rest as He shows His love and His mercy, His grace and His peace in the lives of His people through all that they know and all that they face. That triumph of the spirit shall then come to claim the ultimate victory over our souls as we find rest in the green pastures of God’s compassion as He shelters us with His wings.

Then do we know the encompassing truth, the overwhelming peace that comes to dwell forever in our souls as our hearts are strengthened in the love and the mercy of God’s divine precepts and we are given the hope that shall always and forever uplift us in our times of trouble as we know the freedom and the liberty that can only come from the Lord. After all, so long as God stands beside us, so long as God walks beside us, come what may, come what must, come all of the world and all of its snares and traps, who shall ever be able to stand against us, for we dwell as children of mercy in the promises that our Heavenly Father has made for us.

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

First Prayer:

As the conquering hero we need You to be walk beside us, stand beside us through all of the battles that this world wages upon us as it seeks to rob us of our peace and our comfort. Let not captivity and bondage be near to us, but draw it out from the dark and hidden places where it lurks so that we may see it for what it truly is in the evil that it brings amidst this world.

Like David before us Lord, we see this world and the pain that it can bring, we see the sorrow and the hurt that it can offer in our lives as suffering and sorrow seem so near at hand and Your children are held in the bondage of wickedness and unrighteousness. Yet, like Your servant, we know that all authority, that all strength rests in You as You make Your face known in the lives of Your people. Let them not then fall by the sword but show the power of Your righteousness as You bring justice to bear in the lives of the people. Let them not collapse under the weight of this worlds strength but show the power of Your might as You bring liberty by Your hand for the cause of the freedom of Your people.

Show to those who would make slaves of men, who would rob the dignity from the gift of life that You have given, that they shall not stand, that, in mercy and grace, You are made known in the lives of the poor and the downtrodden, the lives of those who yearn to find once more the peace that has been so callously ripped from their lives. Show them that they may know that their ways are not Your ways and that when their will comes against Your divine will it shall be Your purpose that is left to stand, regardless of the power and the strength that they thought they had.

Then shall they put their wickedness and their iniquity behind them and come to praise Your name as finally hope shall come to bear in the lives of all people in all places according to Your wondrous, glorious mercy.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

Be the strength that we need amidst a sinful world O Lord, and walk beside Your people in all that they are and all that they face, as the challenges are before them and the struggles are so near in their heart. Let them not fall by the hand of unrighteousness but find courage and hope even now, in their hour of deepest need.

To You do we uplift all prisoners and hostages, all captives and slaves, knowing that Your compassion is the force of Your strength. Be beside them then in love and mercy through all that they face, through all of the darkness that now so overtakes them, swallowing them amidst the pain that is so real, the sorrow that is so palpable in their lives. Show unto them that there is a loving God who walks beside them each and every step of the way, never abandoning them, never failing them, even when it seems as if they are alone with nothing but their hurt to keep them company.

Be vigilant to their cause Lord and in Your time, in Your way set them free, showing unto them that they have never been removed from Your sight and that they have never been lifted from Your heart as You, in love, show them the mercy that they so longed for and had thought had been so far gone from their lives.

Let not the unrighteous triumph amidst their wickedness as sin so often guides their way but show unto them that You shall always be at work, moving, weaving through the course of human events that no longer will darkness and hatred be left to stand. Work in their hearts to bring love to their souls, that they may know that they have become agents of iniquity and that they bring nothing but sorrow into this world. Show them their ways are vain that they may put behind them all suffering and know that there is a God who can work true and sincere repentance in even the most lost of spirits.

For all prisoners and hostages, all captives and slaves do we pray Lord that freedom may come in the lives of all people, in all places. Set to flight all sickness and disease, all poverty and injustice, let intolerance and hatred fade from this earth that we shall come to realize the dreams of a better life that You have intended for all of Your children.

Then shall freedom be the praise we raise up to You as Your transcending liberty encompasses all of our lives through all that we face and all that we do in this mortal existence.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/11/10

Mosaic of Christ enthroned surrounded by angels in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, c.500 AD


“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10


For those who believe that somehow the Lord is strangely absent from this temporal existence amidst the struggles that overtake us, the resounding call, the resounding answer that comes through and by the power of His might shows that there is no tribulation, there is no trouble, there is no challenge that He has departed from, leaving His children to toil alone against agony and anguish, pain and sorrow.

You see, the temporal eyes look and they behold the temporal existence, it see the hardship of this existence and it expect a corporeal answer to the prayers that are raised to Him. Yet, as we learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (11:1)

If that is the nature of faith, of that transcending, encompassing hope that we have in the Lord, then what does it tell us of the nature of our God and the works that are performed by His hands? What does it tell us of how He works in this world and through this world for the strength and the preservation of His people as darkness seeks to overwhelm them and chaos seems to be all around them, threatening to rob them of their dignity, their worth and even their lives?

God doesn’t just sit on the sidelines, watching the events and the course of this world run through, they do not just pour past Him, without Him even taking notice. It is that, though He concerns Himself with the temporal existence of man, and the corporeal struggles of this world, He does by transfixing His gaze upon the Spiritual, of which He is the sole authority over.

Yes, so often, when we see that hurt and suffering is near at hand, we want to believe that God isn’t there, it makes more sense to us that way, or we want to argue that it’s part of a greater plan according to His will. God is always there, but just because He is doesn’t mean that what happens is a part of His plan. We live in a sinful world that the old adversary seeks to assert his dominance over and that he uses the people of as his pawns amidst the greater deceptions of his evil.

Here, we accept the unseen presence of evil in the world because of how it moves some to act. Then why is it so hard for us to believe that there is an unseen presence of the Lord contending with the cause of His people against that force of darkness? If we believe that evil can move people to do evil things, then why is it hard for us to believe that God can move in this world to bring good even if His hand is invisible to us?

An ever present, ever vigilant force in this world, God’s hand remains unseen, yet it moves in the most significant of ways amidst that which we hope for, amidst that which we long for. As we cry out for help He is there even when adversity threatens to overtake us to show us that there is no place where we can be held, even as the captivity of this world seeks to bind us in darkness, that is absent of His light and the love that He has for His children. It is there then, as the truth of His encompassing mercy overtakes us, that we realize that His compassion shall be revealed to us, and His justice shall come to us as He moves to bring us the peace and the solace that we so long for, that has seemed to so elude us thus far.

With righteousness shall He then come to stand beside those who are need and to show His judgment and His wrath to those who are devoid of love, who rip men and women from their homes, who show hatred and contempt for human life and human dignity, who bring the chains of bondage to make slaves of free people, desperately trying to destroy the light of this world with the darkness that they bring.

It is here that we know that no wickedness or iniquity that would seek to hold life cheap can stand for all time, nor can it escape the wrath of the Lord as He sees the hurt and the suffering that those agents of sorrow bring. He moves in ways that transcend our basic, limited sight according to the love that He has for His people to show them that even as suffering seeks to overtake them, that there is someone there beside them to give them the endurance that they so desire until that moment when His judgment is made complete. It is the promise of His righteousness, given to us in a love that He shall always have for us in everything that we are and everything that we face, come what may, come what must, for we stand in the transcending grace of the Lord, sheltered under the compassion of His wings as He carries us to the places that we need to be.

Then, as we transfix our eyes on the spiritual presence of the Lord amidst this temporal existence, we shall see, we shall behold the overwhelming presence of the Lord as He shows us the force of His cause even against everything that may rise against us and seek to overtake us.

Trust therefore in the Lord, our God, for the power of His might is a present force, and it transcends our understanding and our view of this world. Trust in Him and know that He is moving, that He is always on the move, pushing for the cause of his people against even the greatest of trials and the greatest of tribulations that would seek to overtake their lives. Trust in Him and know that when the unrighteous cannot be moved amidst this world, and when their hearts remain as hard as stone, the Lord will show that their day of judgment is coming and that it shall be at hand. Then shall we know that the cause of the poor and the oppressed, the captives and the slaves shall be vindicated by the Lord as He draws them close to Him amidst all of their needs in the love that He has for them.

Then shall know there is a God, ever present, ever faithful, working wondrous deeds in the lives of His people to give them hope even in the most hopeless of situations, protecting their lives, holding their spirits and their souls sacred even as those who try to rob them of their dignity and their lives hold it all with spiteful contempt.

It is there, at that moment then, that we know that the ultimate victory will always belong to the Lord and to His people, as the triumph comes from the power of His might, the strength of His hands, and the authority that shall always rest upon Him who is with us.

Blessed be His Holy name for that.

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

Prayer:

With love it is You who guides our path through the transcending, encompassing light of Your grace that overtakes our lives to make Your presence known to us as the lamp of our hope, O Lord. For that shall we always look upon You as the power of righteousness in this world in all that we struggle against and all that we face.

To You Lord do we give all honor and praise for the rescue of the Al-Khaliq and the Win-Far 161, which had been held captive these long months, the crew held in such meager and miserable estate by those who held them captive, seeking to trade their lives as if they were nothing more than cattle to be bought or sold. You Lord, saw fit to move that these lost and hurt souls might be ransomed from their captivity, using the temporal to achieve the spiritual, that liberty might encompass their lives and they would be restored to their homes.

For that we give You praise and glory, knowing the power and the authority that You have…

Yet there are three who will never return home Lord. Their lives have been claimed by the wickedness of those unrighteous men. For them do we pray, commending their lives into Your hands, seeking Your mercy for them, praying that You draw them close to Your bosom that they may finally find the peace that had so eluded them in this world as they rest in the glories of Your wondrous love for them. Let their eyes behold You and the blessings of Your Kingdom rest upon their lives as You bring them to the hope of life eternal, where suffering and sorrow, pain and anguish is set to flight, never to threaten them or seek to rob them again.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

The guiding presence in the lives of the poor and the oppressed, the subjugated and the enslaved, we come before You in humble submission to Your Word, O Lord, seeking and imploring You to remain faithful to Your promises made unto Your people in the love that You have for them.

It is You Lord who has promised to remain near to those who cry out in need to You, it is You who has promised to heal the brokenhearted and to bind up their wounds. It is then, to You, do we raise up all prisoners and hostages, all captives and slaves, held throughout this world and who find themselves suffering amidst the bondage that now chains them to the sorrow of the darkness that they are held in. Be beside them, guide them, protect them, be their rock and their refuge in their hour of deepest need and show them that even as pain comes to them, even as hurt and suffering seems to choke the life from them, You shall always give unto them the hope of Your Love, even as wickedness seeks to rob it from them.

As You contend with them Lord, guide them from captivity. According to Your mercy set them free that they may find that they once more dwell in liberty according to Your justice, as Your light once more comes to encompass their lives.

To You do we uplift all the wicked souls who take prisoners and make slaves out of men. Be beside them Lord that You may work Your miracles in their lives. Transform their souls and thaw their hearts that they may come to a sincere sense of repentance in You, that they may set all those whom they have taken free and come to the love that You have intended for Your people. Let them see their unrighteousness for what it is, as they find themselves living in Your judgment, on a path towards Your wrath.

For all prisoners and hostages held captive, whether it is a captivity of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, do we pray. Be with them and set poverty and disease, intolerance and hatred, sorrow and affliction to flight that they shall no longer be ensnared by the hurt of this world and shall see Your hand at work in their lives in all that they face.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/9/10

4th-century fresco of a bearded Christ in the Catacomb of Commodilla


“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3-4


How...

How do we keep our faith in times like these? How is it even possible? How do we hold fast to the blessed devotion that we are to have in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to our God when it seems as if troubles and hardship are so near at hand, are so close to us amidst the trials and the tribulations of this temporal existence? As anguish and agony, as pain and suffering seem so near at hand, as the blessed children of God are persecuted and oppressed, as captives are taken and slaves are made of men, how do we cling to the grace of the Lord, believing that His mercy will transcend it all?

Those had to be the questions that would come to encompass the lives of the believers in that early church in Thesssalonica as the Apostle Paul wrote to them.

They had seen it all, and there had to be times when it seemed like it was just too much; the crucifixion of the Savior, the death of the apostles, the persecution of the disciples, the subjugation of the believers. With the Pagan Romans their lives were held to be cheap, and without value, to the followers of the Law of Moses they were seen with contempt, judged as radicals, threatening their way of life. There were few that these communities of Christ could call friend in the world as were stoned and beheaded, as they were hauled before courts and tribunals, as they were cast from society, viewed with scorn and malice.

Yet still, they, with the body of believers throughout the ancient world, they stood for their faith, unwilling to let the forces of this world rip it away from them. Even as John was given the sight to look upon the final days, He would write of their faith as He saw the places that it would take them. Asking, who are those adorned in robes of white amidst the Kingdom of Heaven, he would be told, “thou knowest… These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelations 7:14)

Still, though their hearts and their souls were transfixed upon the Spiritual conquest that came through their faith in Christ Jesus, their eyes and their minds saw the Temporal pain. Mere men and women, there had to be times when they questioned, why and what for? After all, God is great and just, and His promise has always been to contend with the cause of His people, could He not just have put an end to all of the struggle and the sorrow, all of the trails and the hardship that they saw. Through Christ an end was put to the spiritual captivity of men, (Ephesians 4:8) so why not the temporal slavery?

How did they, even in times such as those stand fast, rising above persecution and tribulation to rest in the blessed, wondrous comfort of the Lord’s promise?

In their faith they knew that this world and all of the evils of it, it shall pass away, fleeting amidst its own lusts and corruption, but the things of God, the truth of God, the Will of God, they shall stand for an eternity. (1 John 2:17) Though hurt and suffering all this world may find itself full of, through the love of the Lord, they knew that they would be protected and that, in the day of judgment, while the unrighteous fell upon their own swords of hatred and slavery, they would stand before the throne of the Lord, the redeemed children of God.

You see, God protects us in this world. Small and unprepared for the challenges that are there we are a lot like David standing against Goliath, The world may mock us and the Lord for standing against it with our faith, looking at it as being inadequate to stand against its force. Like the hero of the Philistine, it may laugh at us and say “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.” But, in faith, our resounding answer, regardless of the threat, regardless of the challenge must always be, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:43-47)

God’s judgment, and His justice comes….

Regardless of how we view the world or how it is that we may see it, regardless of the challenges and the evil that are in it or the struggles that are before us, God is there and the power of His love guides the course of our lives in grace and mercy. That is why the Thessalonians could hold to their faith regardless of what the world threw at them, that is why we pray for the hostages, seeking and imploring the Lord’s compassion, that is how we know that God is there beside all the slaves and the prisoners, all the captives and the persecuted, never leaving the oppression and the subjugation that they now know as the end of the story.

Though we may question how or when, though we may not know the time or the place, the unrighteous shall see the righteousness of the Lord and come to understand that they have stood against the people of the living God and the love that comes through His hand. Then shall the faith that carried us through this world be rewarded as the transcending grace guides us to the green pastures of God’s mercy and we find that peace and comfort encompasses our lives.

Yes, there are times when we perhaps question, yes there are times when we are left to wonder or when it feels as if God is far off, far distant from us, but when we trust in Him, even when it is hard and when the times of trial and difficulty are upon us, we know that that “the battle is the Lord’s” and through the power of His might and the supremacy of His justice, He shall deliver us from all that this world and it’s corruption has to offer.

What a blessing that truly is…

So with David, with the Church in Thessalonica, stand fast for your faith, stand firm in your faith, feeling the presence of the Lord through the power of His Holy Spirit, knowing that it is through His hand that true liberty and freedom shall come to the persecuted and the oppressed, to the prisoners and the hostages, and that no slavery shall be left to stand in all ages and in all places, for, by His righteousness, shall we stand in the final days, washed clean of the pain that this world and its authority has to offer.

Blessed be His glorious and powerful name for that encompassing, transcending miracle that sets all wickedness to flight.

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

First Prayer:

Though struggles all this world does fill, though challenges and hardship stand before us, You, O Lord, are the transcending authority that surpasses all that this temporal existence may seek to inflict upon the lives of the people. In humility then do we come before Your majesty, seeking and imploring Your mercy in the lives of Your people, that though persecution may come, Your grace shall encompass the lives of Your children, blessed in Your sight.

To You do we give the honor and praise then for the thwarted hijacking of an Ethiopian ship by two American vessels. Through the hands of men, through the bravery of their spirits, You worked Your way that those who had perhaps once seemed as if they were to be lost, are now returned to their lives, spared of the pain and the suffering that would have been inflicted upon them. There is a blessed miracle there that is not lost in our sights and we glorify Your name as You make Your mercy known.

Still throughout the world there are those persecuted and oppressed, political prisoners are held and captives are ransomed or murdered, slaves are traded, and bondage has become a way of life. Yet we know that this is not Your way nor is it Your will.

For them then do we pray, imploring You to move in this world and through this world for the cause of Your people. Let not darkness threaten to swallow them whole, let not unrighteousness seek to rob them of their lives, let not sin and iniquity take from them the dignity that You assign to life. According to Your love, abiding in Your promises let Your mercy and Your justice come to bear that, though they may find themselves in the hidden places, they shall not escape Your sight as You let Your Spirit come upon them to bring them to the peace that comes through Your love.

Then shall all testify that there is no faith given in vain as it grows exceedingly in the grace of Your precepts.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

As we grow in Your faith, as we are lead by Your hand let Your love be shown throughout this world in the works of Your hands, as Your people are led by the encompassing mercy of Your transcending love O Lord.

Justice amidst this world so often seems allusive as we wander amidst a lost and fallen existence so given to sin and iniquity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the lives of the prisoners and the hostages, the captives and the slaves, as they find that persecution and oppression are so near to them, threatening their peace and their lives. To You then, a God of mercy and a God of love, a God of liberty who is always contending with the cause of Your children, do we commend all these lost souls, humbly beseeching You in prayerful petition to maintain their cause, declaring Your justice in their lives.

Hear their names O Lord, see their faces, let their struggles be Your struggles and their cause be the cause of Your heart as Your Spirit restores them, healing them from the pain that now so ensnares them as it seeks to rob them of all peace and rest. Let them not fall by unrighteousness but show them that there is a loving God who blesses their lives and who walks beside them even when the journey seems dark and alone.

Show those who seek to make slaves out of men and women, those who trade in human flesh that their wickedness shall not be left to stand, but that by Your justice they shall be brought to justice. Let not their hatred be a stumbling block unto them, but bring them to repentance that no longer shall they find that the ways of the old Adversary come so easily to them. Then shall mercy be bestowed upon them as they, through Your light and love, set those that they have once held with such contempt free by the true liberty that comes through Your Spirit.

For all prisoners and hostages do we pray Lord that no struggle shall come to overtake them. Set poverty and disease, intolerance and hatred, sickness and affliction to flight by the promises that You have made to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds, that no longer shall they find themselves held in any form of captivity.

Then shall all see the glories of Your ways as the mercy of Your hand comes to bear in the lives of all people in all place, regardless of the struggle or the challenge that would befall them.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Mid-Day Devotion 2/8/10



“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
Isaiah 41:17-18


As they wandered through the wilderness, thirsting for water, the Lord would provide it for them that they might not yearn any longer, their throats dry from the desert they found themselves journeying in. (Numbers 20:1-13) As they hungered, He would provide for them manna from Heaven and quail that they might no longer find themselves concerned over starvation or famine. (Exodus 16:1-35)

That is the fundamental nature of God’s transcending, encompassing mercy, for He does not let His people die in captivity with no hope given unto them, whether it is a captivity of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul. He does not promise His love unto His children only to find that it is not enough to sustain them when the times of challenge are upon them and the troubles of this world are before them. He does not lead them from slavery, only to abandon them amidst their needs, finding that He is no longer with them and His Spirit is absent from their lives.

It is His transcending truth that tells us that, amidst our needs, amidst our longing, as our yearning overtakes our soul, He is there to give unto us all that is needed, that we may not fail or fall from the temporal needs of our corporeal captivities of this world, regardless of what may lay before us. (Luke 12:22-31) After all, the Lord’s hand is never so short that it cannot reach us, nor is His ear struck in such a way that our cries so far off that He cannot hear us. (Isaiah 59:1) It’s there that we know that He is the transcending, encompassing force for the cause of our hope even when all seems to be lost and we are left to wonder for how long we will thirst.

We may not always understand how it is that God works, there are divine mysteries that transcend our knowledge and our wisdom. Our eyes are set upon the temporal and are only open to the Spiritual when God opens them for us to show us that which we need to see. Yet that doesn’t mean that God leaves us on our own or without the help that we need that we might persevere in all of the struggles of this world or to have the strength to overcome the obstacles that are placed before us.

What we learn in the words of the Prophet this day is that God does not fail us or forsake us, nor does He abandon us when we feel weakened by the forces that surround us. Rather all the earth, all of the world is under His command, for He had formed it by His own hand, creating it by His will and desire. There, all are subject to His authority and even where we had not thought it was possible, even where we had never thought it was plausible He moves for our good to protect us and to provide for us in the most significant of ways.

Perhaps we can just dismiss the things that we see and that we hear as nothing more than the world working the way that it should or as being just the nature of things. But, if we are to be truthful with ourselves, we have to see the transcending force of God’s authority moving. Why? Because it is He who has created all things, it is He who has the ultimate power over all things, and even through the natural order He moves to make all things possible for the cause of His children that they might be brought from suffering and sorrow, from hurt and pain, from longing and yearning to dwell in the places that they need to be.

Consider the sparrow. The sparrow is provided for in nature. Its food is offered by the ground and its home is made by that which it can find, it moves by the wind of the air. Yet, if God did not provide for it, then none of these things would be possible for it. We are His children, held in more love, with more regard by the mercy of His hand. How much more than is His love made manifest in our lives, even when it feels as if we are wounded? (Luke 12:6-7) After all, we are given the promise that He shall love us and care for us according to our needs, binding our wounds and healing our broken hearts. (Psalm 147:3)

It is then that we know that there is no captivity, no bondage, no slavery or oppression that can separate us from the love of God as He shows us that He is there, contending with the cause of the poor and the downtrodden, as He shows that He will forever shower His love and His mercy, His grace and His compassion upon them through all of the days of their lives.

Trust in the Lord, in the fountain of living water, and know then that You shall never thirst, for even as the wells of our temporal hope dry up, the life affirming, quenching waters of God’s transcending hope shall flow even in the lost and hidden places that seek so to overtake us as we wander in the Spiritual desert that seeks so to overtake us. Then shall we know that true mercy, that true love guides us through this world’s wilderness to the land of Promise of God’s eternal salvation for our lives.

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

Prayer:

Like a Shepherd caring for His flock lead Your people to the still waters of that river of Your hope Lord, protecting them in the pastures of Your love, by the rod and the staff of Your compassion.

Humbled by Your mercy do we give You praise Lord for the freedom of Laurent Maurice, held captive these long months in Chad. By Your grace He has been set free to once more return to His home, now to recover from the pain that he has suffered. It’s here that we see that Your love transcends the power of this earth to move the hearts and the souls of men to bring them to blessed freedom.

Yet, even with his release there are those still held, those who are still captive, and for them we do pray...

For Issa Salomi do we pray, uplifting Him to Your tender mercies. Taken and held by brutal men of iniquity and unrighteousness he is held in the most meagre of estates by those who hold life cheap. You know who they are and what they are capable of. It is they who have, time and time again, robbed the integrity that you give to human life as they took Peter Moore, and claimed the life of Sergeant Ahmed Quesai al-Tayyie. In these dark days then be beside this man, showing him that Your love shall always be more powerful than their hatred.

Chase away the gloomy clouds that now seek to overtake this man, set to flight the captivity that now seeks to overwhelm him and set him free according to Your great compassion and Your abiding love.

To You do we commend Pierre Kamat, Sergio Cicala, Philomene Kabouree, Albert Vilalta, Alicia Gamez and Roque Pascual held by Al Qaeda, who are now under threat for their lives as these terrorists who have torn them away from their homes and their families threaten to kill them. Show them Your light, let it be a lamp that guides their path in even these grim days of anguish and agony that they shall be given hope in all that they do and all that they face.

Let Your mercy and Your grace come upon them that they shall be set free from the captivity and the bondage, the oppression and the hatred that now seeks to rob them of their lives and give them the strength they need to persevere with endurance all that they struggle against.

Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl is under threat of his life by the Taliban as they hold the gifts that You bestow upon mankind cheap and without any value or worth. Let Your freedom come to the life of this imprisoned soul held captive by the hatred of these men but show them that You will not stand for the injustice and the cruelty that unrighteous men impose upon Your creation, upon Your children. Show then that You will work against them as they work against You, and that none who become Your enemy through their hatred and their darkness shall be left to stand amidst their own unrighteousness.

Finally, for the seven members of Radio Farsi arrested in Iran for Espionage do we pray dear Lord. This brutal regime oppresses and imprisons, it subjugates the people as it claims that it has all authority, all the power over the lives of the people. Let not their unrighteousness stand, let not it rob those who seek nothing more than the freedom You have endowed them with fall by their hand, but show them the love and the mercy that comes through Your transcending grace as, by Your justice, You bring them to the liberty that they struggle so valiantly for.

Let Your mercy shine, let Your light break through, that all shall come to know that a just God contends forever in the lives of His people, protecting the sheep of His flock, the children of His love from all that comes against them.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.

Second Prayer:

We are Your Compassion Lord, and You are the rock of our salvation, the refuge by which we anchor ourselves to through the light and the love of Your mercy.

For all the prisoners and the hostages then do we pray Lord, for all the oppressed and the subjugated do we come before Your throne, humbling ourselves as we seek and implore Your grace in their lives, knowing that You are a God of love who stands beside the poor and the afflicted, the weak and the affirmed as they are robbed by iniquity and injustice. Let not unrighteousness stand for all time, let not the unrighteous believe that they can stand in hidden places far from your ways as if they are not subjected to Your justice.

Move in this world, according to Your love and Your mercy for the cause of Your people. Let Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, expelling evil from the hearts of the wicked who seek to destroy the lives of Your people, causing their fall by their hands. Bring them to justice and let justice be done. Bring them to repentance and let repentance work in their hearts that no longer shall they be guided by hatred and sin, by wickedness and iniquity but that they shall become a force for You, rather than an agent for the old adversary.

For all held in any captivity, whether it is a captivity of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, we pray. Let not poverty or intolerance, injustice or disease, sickness or slavery overtake them but by Your love bring them to the transcending blessings of the freedom that You promise, that nothing shall rob them of the peace that comes from Your hand.

For this and all things do we pray trusting Your promises with all humility, knowing You are a just God who shines His mercy upon the lives of His people, never to fail them or forsake them in whatever it is that they face.

In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.