Mid-Day Devotion 3/31/10

The Crucifixion, Alonso Cano, 1640

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:5-6

No… not one….

“We have turned, everyone to his own way…”

We are all gripped by unrighteousness as sin takes ahold of our hearts and our nature is so guided by iniquity that we find it impossible to live by God’s standard, we find impossible not to transgress against the Lord, our God. It weaves through into our character as it stains our souls and we then find ourselves bound to that unfortunate and painful truth, we have separated ourselves from the Lord…

By our own thoughts, words and deeds, by what we have done and left undone we have alienated ourselves from our Heavenly Father, becoming estranged from Him as we have found ourselves travelling down a path of our own enlightenment, knowledge and wisdom.

“There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

It is such a dark captivity, such a brutal bondage, that takes ahold of us amidst our indulgences as those offenses against God stack up against us and our innocence is ripped away from us. We can feel the weight of it bearing down on us as the burden crushes us and we are left to feel the mortifying defeat and the devastation that is waged against our spirits and our souls.

There just seems to be no peace, no hope, no rest as we feel iniquities grim triumph over us as we are lead like lambs unto the slaughter. Perhaps we had been able to ignore it for a while, but as it’s conquest over us shatters us it’s not long before we find that we are left to just pick up the pieces, finding that our lives have become something we little expected and little wanted.

“God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 53:2-3)

Perhaps we could have been stronger, perhaps we could have been better, perhaps we could have done more, the thoughts run through our head, racing through our mind as we try to make some sort of sense of it, any sort of sense about it. We should have been able to do something about this grim oppression by sin that it wouldn’t have been able to sweep across us so quickly, laying waste to us as we tried to find the answers for this deep yearning we now find swells within us.

Yet, in that moment, we are gripped by the unavoidable truth, there was nothing that we could have done, nothing we could have offered to protect ourselves. Regardless of how strong we thought we were, regardless of the authority we thought we had, we cannot prevent the evil of this world from leading us astray at some point or another in our lives.

“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10)

We all wander amidst the spiritual wilderness, finding a lonely exile has overtaken us as we search for a way back hope, for a place where hope does dwell and peace shall find itself encompassing our lives. We all are searching for some sort of answer to the sin that grips us and the hurt that seems to come to real into our lives as it seems to bring so much pain and sorrow into our lives.

We all wander amidst the spiritual wilderness, hoping to finally enter that Promised Land of those blessed assurances of hope and peace, love and compassion from our Lord…

“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

For every crisis of the spirit God offers an answer to the soul, for every trial of life the Lord offers an answer that transcends this temporal existence. Where the hearts and the minds of men fail there is a glorious triumph, a wondrous victory that comes through the Spirit and is guided by His love and compassion, His tender mercy and His abiding grace.

Unwilling and unable to abandon us, incapable of forsaking us even amidst our own sin and iniquity, where we feel so bound to our transgressions and to the transgressions that can be waged against us by this world, the Lord moves through our lives and in our lives to break the chains that have bound us, that have tried so desperately to suppress us with such a bitter tyranny that all may taste that sweet air of His blessed liberty, a freedom He weaves into the integrity of life of all His creation.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

It is that truth that frees even the most lost, even the most fallen amongst us, giving hope to the hurt and peace to the wounded as the healing power of God’s love comes to encompass their being. It is that truth that gives strength to even the most oppressed, even the most persecuted, who finds the grim weight of this world’s tyranny pushing down on them as it seeks to rob them of any good that God has to offer for their lives.

It is that truth that whispers unto us the abiding lesson of God’s compassion for us, as it tells us that though evil may come upon us, though sin may seek to lead us down a path we little thought or expected for our lives, there is a salvation that comes unto all over us, a salvation that will lead all of us, equally offered unto all people, regardless of who they are, regardless of what they may face, regardless of what might grip them. This is the blessed assurance that comes through Christ Jesus.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

We may feel ourselves so off course from the places we had thought we might be as the spiritual warfare of this world is waged against us, we may feel ourselves taken by such despair as anguish and agony forces us to cry out and we find that little in our lives make sense. Yet his isn’t the end of our story. God is there for us, regardless of what we may think of the world around us, to give us the endurance and the strength, the courage and the ope that we need to persevere even against the worst that this world has to offer.

In Christ, through his encompassing sacrifice, we are given more than hope in that love as we are reconciled onto God and the truth of His nature encompasses us. In Christ, through his transcending miracle, we are given more than hope as we find the promises that the Lord has made unto us is enough to always and forever carry us through.

Whatever you may feel, whatever this world may wage against you, whatever darkness seems to come upon you, whatever pain threatens to engulf you, find your strength in the Lord, find your courage in Christ, find your perseverance in the Spirit and know that our God, who loves you and cares for you will always and forever carry you through that nothing but His compassion shall be able to claim any authority over you.

Lord, grant this unto us all…

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

First Prayer:

O Lord, our God, in You shall we take refuge, in You shall we find peace…

O Lord, our God, it is You who shall be our shelter and our fortress, our ever present help in all danger…

Save and deliver Your people from that which seeks to devour them, deliver them from all who seek to persecute them and bind them by the oppression that comes amidst unrighteousness as they seek to claim the power and the authority over this life and the lives of those whom You have promised to protect.

Rescue Your children from that which seeks to rip them apart, release them from all who bring bondage and captivity as they seek to enslave Your creation lest Your people fall by the sword amidst the sin and the iniquity that can be waged against them, finding there is no hope for them in this world.

Let not Your enemies persecute the souls of those eleven on board the Al-Barari who were taken captive by Pirates, let them not tread upon the spirits of these men now ripped from their homes, but cast upon them the power of Your Spirit that they might be girded by Your strength and given hope by Your love. Guide them by Your compassion that they might find endurance amidst this worlds darkest trials that they may dwell in the peace of Your grace in even the harshest of tribulations that would threaten to overtake them.

Arise then O Lord, and when Your will designs it set them to freedom amidst the blessings of Your transcending liberty that they may be delivered from all that would seek to overtake them.

Then shall all the world marvel at Your justice as You show the full measure of Your faithfulness as You contend with the cause of Your people and pour forth Your love in this lost and fallen 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:

Our defense is in You O Lord….

The strength of our deliverance, the hope of freedom, the blessings of liberty, they come amidst the integrity that You have given to the life that You have created, the life that You have formed by Your hand as You show that You and only You offer the salvation that is needed to break the bonds of evil in this world.

Draw then the wickedness of the wicked to an end and let not the unrighteousness of the unrighteous claim the authority and the power over this world. Let not this age be engulfed by the darkness that can be brought against it as captivity and bondage, slavery and persecution, oppression and tyranny are waged against the hearts and the souls, the bodies and the minds of the people. Let not poverty and destitution, sickness and disease claim the lives of Your people as they are left to a grim estate and a painful agony that overtakes them, but guide them in truth and give unto them hope that it may encompass their spirits in the love You have for them.

Our defense is in You O Lord…

It is in You that we shall trust through all of the days of our lives as we put our full confidence in the blessed assurances that You are the God of those who suffer and find sorrow so near at hand. Draw nigh to those who yearn for hope, those who long for freedom, those who cry out for justice, that liberty might come upon them and guide them to the places of promise where You do dwell as the refuge for the lost, the fortress for the weak, and the rock for the weary that all may come to rest in the green pastures of Your blessed mercy and transcending love through all the days of their lives.

Our defense is in You O Lord, in this shall we always place our faith as we put our reliance in You and You guide our confidence to those places of Your wondrous rest…

Our defense is in You O Lord, and we shall sing Your praises according to Your righteousness as we rejoice forever 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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/30/10

The Raising of the Cross, Peter Paul Reubens, 1620-21

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
Isaiah 53:3-4

The humiliation and the scorn, the suffering and the sorrow, the pain and the misery.... through even the days of greatest anguish and agony, as He was stricken, smitten and afflicted, as He was rejected by men and given over to the worst bondage and the greatest captivity that this world had to offer.

Imagine...

Close your eyes and imagine for a moment the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah, that prophet sent by the Lord, holy and blessed, whipped by the Roman soldiers until His back was bloodied and bruised. Imagine His arms growing weak under Him, His legs losing all strength as He collapsed to the ground, as it cracked against Him, leaving scars that cut so deep. Imagine them nailing Him to the cross, the pound of that hammer against those wooden nails that pierced His skin, driving into Him to hold him up on two planks of wood, and then imagine him being left on that hill to die like that, disgraced, and dishonoured, mocked and ridiculed as the people watching sneered at His groaning and His pain in such bitter contempt and disdain.

So many hands would be raised against him, seeking his downfall and his demise, so many would seek his fall and now, finding it complete, would find so much pleasure in it. They would watch, refusing to help, refusing to offer anything to him, gambling away his clothing and insulting him as he hung. Even his friends would disown him, rejecting him, out of fear pretending as if they had no idea who this Jesus of Nazareth was or that they hadn’t been with him for the past over three years.

In the end, He would die on that cross.... but then how was that to surprise any of us. For those crucified, it wasn’t a matter of if they died, but rather how long until they did die. And those who took too long to die, the Romans would deliver one last blow against to send them to the grave.

It’s hard to even imagine...

Yet even in something that seemed so senseless, God had a plan and a design. The suffering and the sorrow, the anguish and the agony of Christ wasn’t for nothing. It had a purpose amidst the greater and grander design of life as it served as a sacrifice to free all men from the dark hold of sin, death and the Devil. It granted an abiding liberty, that no longer would people be held captive to the grave, but that finally they would be given the chance to rise above and find hope in a world that has a tendency to, at times, seem so hopeless and devoid of peace amidst the sorrow that it can bring into their lives.

From the death of Christ to our present age a lot may have changed in the world, but there are some things that never quite do. The world, in the suffering that it can bring can still seem so senseless, so without purpose and futile as anguish and agony comes into the lives of the people. There can be times when people are taken for no real reason than they can be, and they can be subjected to the worst that this world has to offer as they are wounded and broken by the rise of man’s iniquity and unrighteousness.

Still, even in that, as it seems so meaningless, God can have a purpose and a design and He can work through even the darkest of days, even the deepest of sorrows that can encompass a person’s life to make it more than what it seems. Though He doesn’t bring the trials and the temptations, the turmoil and the tribulation that comes with captivity and bondage, slavery and persecution, He can and does offer a deeper meaning to it as He carries His people forward, offering strength and courage to them that they may find the perseverance to endure all that this world can foist upon them.

That is the truth of God’s word, a blessed assurance that He has offered unto His people from generation to generation as this world has claimed the lives of His saints and apostles, disciples and prophets, those blessed martyrs who, in their faith, were guided and guarded against even the darkest of days that sought to so encompass their lives and devour them amidst the suffering that they felt. That is the miracle of God’s truth, a wondrous promise He has made unto His people from even the earliest of days as this world waged spiritual warfare against the weak and the innocent, the poor and the disenfranchised alike, seeking to break them, to crush them under its weight with the burdens that it can bring.

It’s here then that we realize that though there was never really and truly a sorrow or a suffering that was as great as that of Christ’s, there is still hurt and hardship that can try to claim our souls and wreak havoc upon our spirits, but that, even in that, there is a strength that comes from our Lord that will carry even the most lost, even the most broken of people through as it gives unto them the ultimate victory, the ultimate triumph, that conquest of the soul that comes through the love, the grace and the mercy of the Almighty as His compassion comes to bear in their lives.

Look then to the sacrifice of Christ, to the suffering and the sorrow of our Lord and Savior as he was stricken, smitten and afflicted by the hand of this world and know that the same strength that girded Him amidst that pain is the same strength that gird’s God’s children in the hurt that would seek to overtake them.

Know then the sacrifice of Christ, that darkness and that anguish that overtook our Messiah as those hands were raised against Him and He found the contempt of this world cutting into Him, and know that the same courage that sheltered Him is the same courage that shalters all of God’s people through all that would try to devour them.

Understand then the love of Christ, that love that showed through even as agony engulfed Him as He was subjected to the worst of His age and this world, and know that that even as His meagre and grim estate tried to encompass Him, in love God set out a plan even for that brutality that tried to break Him. It is the same for the lives of all of His people, regardless of what it is that they face, regardless of what they might suffer.

Look, know and understand as the truth of God’s righteousness then guides you through this world and in this world, that it may give you hope in this age to trust in Him and hold fast to His promises knowing that this world and the things in it are fleeting, but that His love... His love shall always and forever set His people free...

Lord, grant this enlightenment unto us all...

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

First Prayer:

Bend Your ear O Lord and hear our voices...

Bend Your ear O Lord and give weight unto our longing...

Contend with the voice of our cries O Lord, our God and our Deliverer, for unto You do we pray with the full measure of our devotion and faithfulness to Your word and Your truth.

You are a God who takes no pleasure in wickedness, nor do You delight in transgressions, iniquity is far from Your design as evil finds no refuge in You. Yet Lord, the workers of unrighteousness find strength in this world and they find authority in this age. Hostages are taken, captives are made, people are enslaved and persecution encompasses as tyranny and oppression break the spirit and wound the soul.

Cast Your gaze upon the affairs of men and see the wickedness that is done, look upon the faces of those who suffer and find that sorrow is so near at hand and let them not stand alone in this world that brings such contempt as it is heaped upon their lives.

See the 120 who have been kidnapped on those 8 ships hijacked over the weekend and hear their cries, hear our intercessions for them as they yearn for freedom against a bitter darkness that has been waged against them. Let them not be cast from Your presence, but lift Your Holy Hand to them and lead them from their grim estate to those places of liberty that You have promised in the blessed assurances of Your Holy Word.

Heal them of their longing and their sorrow, O Lord, by the justice that shall always come by Your hand and through Your hand and lead them to the places where Your love does dwell that they shall find that peace and hope has encompassed their lives as Your compassion comes to bear through all that they are and all that they face.

Then shall all rejoice in Your mercy as they dwell in the promises of Your hope, led to the places of promise that You have assured unto Your people in the love and grace and compassion You have for 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:

Unto Your people be merciful O Lord...

Unto Your children be merciful and show forth Your divine love in the hope that You have promised through the blessings of Your Holy Word O Lord.

Through this world there is suffering and sorrow, anguish and agony as captivity and bondage comes so near in the lives of the people, and darkness comes to encompass the lives of the weak and the innocent, the poor and the disenfranchised, the wounded and the afflicted. They long for deliverance and find that there is none from this age and from this world as they are held in grim estate amidst the sin and the iniquity, the hurt and the unrighteousness that would seek to so destroy them where they stand.

Be then their rock of ages, be then their firm foundation to which they can hide themselves amidst, giving unto them the shelter that they so long for amidst this world in the hope that You can bring for their lives. Grant unto them perseverance and endurance and uplift them by the strength of Your might that mercy shall finally come to bear once more in their lives and they are carried to the places of freedom where Your peace shall always dwell amidst the liberty that You have intended for Your people.

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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/29/10

Raising of the Daughter of Jairus, Paolo Veronese, 1546

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”

If it were left to men, that tortured and afflicted soul that had been possessed by the Gerasene Demon Legion would have remained in the wilderness amidst the anguish and the agony that had so overtaken him. He would have never returned home, alone, exiled from the place where he grew up, from the family he loved, from everything he had ever known. He would have died tormented by the presence of evil in his life as it destroyed him, body and mind, spirit and soul until there was nothing left but the broken frame of a man who lost everything and spent the course of his remaining years weeping and longing for something he had lost so long ago (Mark 5:1-5).

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

As the eyes of the Savior beheld this man, He knew he couldn’t leave him in the clutches of such wickedness as darkness and despair encompassed him, devouring him whole with no thought or consideration as to who this man was or deeper yearnings of his soul. He could not leave him to just die in a cave somewhere, desperate to end his life that finally the turmoil and the tribulation of this suffering and sorrow would finally be drawn to end and he would, in some way, find the peace that had been so robbed of him as those demons took a hold of his spirit and his soul.

Christ would heal him. He would chase the demons from his body, destroying them, and giving this man the second chance at life that he had never thought he would be given and in that moment the burdens and the weight of that life would be lifted from him. Through the power of God, Jesus would do what no other man could, what the wisdom and the enlightenment of man had thought impossible. He freed him to once more live (Mark 5:6-20).

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”

Had it been left to the enlightenment of men, the daughter of Jairus would have been buried long before her time, having died, filling the lives of her family with pain and sorrow, tears and hardship as they struggled to find a reason for all of this. They had seen the body with no trace of life in it, with no hint of life left to it, now they couldn’t understand why this elder had such a hard time letting go. His daughter was gone, there was nothing left for him to do but to mourn. Yet he couldn’t seem to do that, he couldn’t seem to let go even as they knew that death was final, from which there was no escape (Mark 5:35).

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”

He could leave him to suffer... not like this, not as He knew there was more for her, not while He knew that there was meant to be more time for her. Looking into Jairus’ eyes, Jesus saw the pain and the sorrow, the hurt and the longing, as He whispered the words to him, “Be not afraid, only believe.”

The force of those words may have come instantly, or it may have come a short time later when he saw the full force of what Christ had done for him; whenever they did it had to dawn on him the full power and the authority of this man. Here was someone who had strength over the grave, as he did what none had ever been able to do, as he did what had seemed so impossible. Maybe he expected that he could, maybe he had just thought that this prophet of God could just make some sense out of what seemed so senseless, but whatever he had imagined probably could have never prepared him for the joy that overtook him when he saw the full measure of Jesus’ love had to far exceed anything he had ever imagined. His daughter was alive, given life when it seemed like there was only death (Mark 5:36-43).

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

The miracle of God’s love, the wondrous blessing of Christ’s compassion, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that even in the improbable, even in the impossible there is so much that our Lord is capable of as He shows unto us mercy, proving to us that His grace is always sufficient and that it shall always give unto us according to our needs. Yes, the situation may seem hard and harsh, our lives may seem like they are given over to the worst of trials and the greatest of turmoil, yet that is never the end of God’s story. No matter what the bondage, no matter what the captivity or the torment, no matter what the struggle, He is there to heal us and to care for us, to give us a second chance at life that we had always hoped for but that the world had always told us was impossible for us.

That is the abiding expectation, the blessed assurances of His Word, that is the wondrous marvel of Christ’s transcending love as we are given in a new hope as we are made into a new creation in the faithfulness of God’s devotion. This is what we must put our trust in, knowing that pain is fleeting and despair shall soon be set to flight as the desires of our heart for peace and the anticipation of our spirits for solace shall be fulfilled in the deepest of wishes from our Heavenly Father for His grace to encompass our being.

Trust in that promise, trust in that hope, even as the world tells unto you that your faith is in vain and those things that you hope for will never come, for their shall come a time and a day when the Lord shall reveal himself in truth and in righteousness amidst your life and the lives of all who cry out to Him in the suffering that they feel. It is then that healing shall come as the lost shall be found, the fallen shall be uplifted and the broken shall be healed, strength beyond compare shall be made manifest in the spirit and the soul shall sing forever the praises to the Almighty for the firmness of the devotion and the vigilance that He showed in the lives of His people even as the world thought it unimaginable the wonders of the miracles that He could work through the power of His authority...

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Lord, grant this trust unto us all...

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

Prayer:

Higher than ours...

So much higher than ours are Your thoughts O Lord, and so much greater than ours are Your ways as they reveal Your transcending truth and Your righteousness in a lost and fallen world.

Through the virtue and the uprightness of those ways Lord we have seen the wonders of Your miracles as they have been made manifest in the lives of Your people. We have seen them in the joy of the family of Issa Salomi, that contractor held in Iraq these long months, as he was set free by those who held him, ripping him from his life and his home. We have seen in the release of Corporal Josue Daniel Calvo by FARC rebels as he has been given a second chance at life, free of the bondage and the captivity that reigned over his life as hope seemed so far distant, so far removed from him.

Your hand moves through this world and it works wondrous deeds that few thought possible. For that we cannot help by raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving to You for the miracles and the wonders that You work as hope is restored and peace that once seemed so elusive is given to even the most tortured of souls.

Work then these same miracles in the lives of others Lord, show forth Your ways in the heart and the minds, the spirits and the souls of all who are held captive and prisoner throughout the world. Give hope to those who thought it faded until there was nothing but hopelessness, heal those who find themselves wounded and broken by the presence of evil in this world, and let Your righteousness shine forth as it works through the lives of the people in the most significant of ways to bring freedom and liberty into their lives.

Into the lives of the crew, those 24 from the MV Iceberg 1, bring them that hope Lord. Strengthen and preserve them that they may with endurance persevere through all the trials that they are now forced to face, being taken prisoner and held hostage by pirates, as it seems as if it is impossible for them to escape the meager estate they are held in, as darkness comes to bear in their lives. Free them, free them amidst the love that You have for them that they may praise Your name for the wondrous deeds that You do, and for the marvels of Your wondrous hand as it moves through this world.

Then shall all marvel at Your ways, knowing how far above ours they truly are as they weave through this world to encompass the lives of all those in need or in trouble.

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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/26/10

The Triumph of Jehosephat, Josephe Flavius, 1470

“To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.”
2 Chronicles 20:16-18

The armies were raised and now they marched....

In many senses they had to seem like they were an unstoppable force. They had crossed the seas and reached Hazazon Tamar without warning, (2 Chronicles 20:1-2) and now… now as word come to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, he had to wonder how it was that his nation would survive from this united attack from the Moabites and the Ammonites as their armies stretched across the distant horizon, closer each and every day to the seat of power and the inevitable victory that they had to feel so assured of.

He knew that he had to raise the armies of Judah and that they had to meet Moab and Ammon on the battlefield, he knew they had to go before they had marched too far, before they reached the capital, before they surrounded the palace and demanded surround, before his people were given up to slavery without even a whimper. Yet, even as he realized this, he would know that defeat was at hand. He didn’t have time to prepare his people, he didn’t have time to ready his armies, they would have to march immediately, and, as they did, it had to strike him how many of them wouldn’t be returning home, as, by such a cruel twist of fate, they would, without the time to even properly prepare, be cut down on those fields just out of the sights of their homes, never to return again.

There was nothing left for him to do… there was nothing left for him that he could do….

There was nothing left to him but prayer….

“O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2 Chronicles 20:6-12)

In this, his deepest hour of need, the deepest hour of need for His people, Jehoshaphat wouldn’t spend the final moments in preparation for war, nor would he spend his final seconds before the armies had to march drawing out plans and creating strategies. No, in that moment, as fate seemed to ride so heavily upon him and his nation, as fear gripped them and they were left to wonder for how long they would be allowed to stand fast as free men and women, he would go before the gathered assemblies of Judah and he would raise his voice, and the voice of the nation to the Lord, taking the weight from their hearts, the burdens now upon their shoulders, the struggles that now afflicted their spirits and place them before the throne of God at the feet of the Almighty.

A God of deliverance… the living God who delivered Israel from the hands of Egypt, who led His people to that land of promise amidst the tender love of His gracious mercy, He would not abandon them now as this hour of bitter trial and brutal turmoil was so near at hand. He would not fail them as captivity seemed so near and slavery threatened to strangle the life from them. Without a sword being raised, without a drop of Judah’s blood being shed, the Lord would hand the day to His people as He came upon their enemies and they were given to their worst rivalries with one another and their unity was shattered before the power and the authority of the Lord God Almighty.

Peace would come to Judah… (2 Chronicles 20:22-30)

There are times amidst this life when evil is on the march and iniquity is raised up against the people. The force that it brings, it slips through without us noticing until it has reached places we never thought it would go and terror is extended to places we least suspected. In those moments it’s not hard to find fear gripping us in the most significant of ways as we are left to wonder for how long it will be that freedom remains in the lives of the people who find themselves in the way of such unrighteousness. They are taken captive as they are made into hostages and slaves, they are bound by chains as they are persecuted and oppressed and dark subjugation amidst the brutal tyranny that can be inflicted by men as they wage their wars against the hearts and the souls, the spirits and the minds of the weak and the innocent, the poor and the destitute, and hold them in such grim estate.

Yet there is a promise from the Lord. It is the same that would carry forward Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah and it extends to us today.

When we put our trust in the Lord… when we look to the wickedness of this world and the rise of evil and we raise our voices to God in humility to His will, deliverance shall come to His people in the most significant of ways as hope is restored in a lost and fallen world. In those times He will rise up for the cause of His people and show unto them His devotion and His faithfulness as He gives endurance and perseverance. Then, in His time, in His way, a way that transcends all human understanding, He shall restore freedom and liberty amidst the justice that shall only come by the power of His hand and the authority of His will.

We may fret, we may feel a deep longing in our souls as we look to the impeding threat of unrighteousness and iniquity, we may cry out as we see the wickedness that is inflicted and the anguish that is caused, but God, who is loving and compassionate, is stronger and more powerful than all of these forces. Though we may not see a way to stop it’s grim advances, He does, and He is at work in this world, weaving through it according to His divine will and His tender mercy for His children to show that whatever the force, whatever the struggle, He is there making the weak strong, and showing that His grace shall always be sufficient as justice is restored and hope is assured in the lives of His people.

Trust in that, whatever the struggle, whatever the challenge and you shall never be frustrated as peace comes to His people and liberty is endowed upon them by His gracious precepts.

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

First Prayer:

Hear our prayers, O Lord, and bend Your ear to our supplications with the full measure of Your devotion, be faithful to Your children and cast upon them Your Spirit of righteousness that hope shall guide their lives and mercy shall follow them through all of their days.

Enemies of Your love persecute. They rise up from their places of darkness, they lift their heads like the serpent and they roar like the lion, as they bite at the heel of Your people and seek to devour them amidst their wicked transgressions. They bring captivity Lord, and slavery follows near behind them as persecution grips the lives of Your children and their spirits… their spirits are overwhelmed by anguish.

We remember Lord that in those days of old, in those ancient of days, You delivered Your people from the hands of their enemies, from the grip of those who oppressed them and sought to usurp Your will through bitter bondage. With our arms outstretched to You we pray for a restoration of that divine deliverance, a restoration of that divine justice as we flee to You seeking and imploring Your grace in the lives of Your people.

Be not far from them O Lord and let not them fall by the hand of wickedness and evil. In mercy break the chains that bind the spirit and the soul, the body and the mind, and set to flight the destitution and the despair, the anguish and the agony that come from these hidden places where darkness lurks. Destroy the wickedness that encompasses the hearts of men and free them of the hatred that would hold the lives of Your creation in such contempt. Bring freedom to the afflicted and hope to the hopeless that mercy shall transcend their meager estate to restore unto them the joy of Your compassion and love.

Hear us O Lord, and bend Your ear to our supplication that Your name shall be raised on high as praise is lifted from the mouths of the people for the love and the mercy that comes through Your divine hand as it leads Your people from the darkness to the light.

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 cry out to You O Lord with all the strength of our soul…

We cry out to You O Lord with all the hope of our spirits…

Be not far distant from our supplications, nor be far off from the yearning of our hope as we show forth the trouble that has afflicted this lost and fallen world.

Be the refuge of the lost and the fallen, be the shelter for the hurt and the afflicted, let not sorrow encompass their lives, let not pain be their companion, let not slavery and captivity engulf their lives, but hear their names, see their faces, and feel their suffering, for in the darkness that so encompasses them they long for Your justice and Your mercy to come upon their lives and guide them from these days of trouble and turmoil that so try the soul.

Bring their spirits from prison, bring their hearts from oppression, lead them by Your love as You draw them close to You in the hope of those promises You have made unto them. Assure them that Your mercy shall carry them through and give them the endurance that they need to stand with courage and strength through all that this world may seek to afflict them with. Let not their journeys end here but show unto them the path to those safe shores of Your love that they may dwell forever in Your grace as hope is restored to the hopeless and peace is brought to bear in their lives.

Then shall all know Your righteousness as evil is set to flight and Your goodness is praised for the love that it has shown even in the darkest of days, even in the times of the deepest of troubles.

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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/25/10

Job's Tormentors, William Blake, 1793

“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”
James 5:11

“What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)

It’s a wonder at times how Job endured all that was thrust upon him amidst his life. Righteous and humble, he honoured the Lord in all that he was and all that he did, careful in every step that he took to not only live by the commands that the Lord had handed down, but to respect them and cherish them in his heart as well.

Yet none of it could stop the worst from coming into his life as he looked upon the ruin that had surrounded him. He lost everything... fortune, family, and now even the esteem of his wife as she told him to just curse God and die. His health would soon fail, and even those he trusted and needed in his hour of deepest need provided no comfort to him as it had to feel as if they just didn’t understand. But then how could they? During the long course of their lives none of them had come face to face with the challenges and the adversity that Job now stood before as darkness and despair threatened to swallow him whole.

It had to be a wonder how he could face life at all as he was left destitute, the victim of a spiritual war between good and evil that had been waged generations, lifetimes before he was even conceived. It all had to seem like it was just too much, like the load was too heavy, the burden too great for him to bear. It had to seem as if fate and time had played some sort of cruel joke on him as he was given everything, only to watch it slip through his grasp as it seemed to all fade off into the distance, far from his sight.

Hope was fleeting, peace had abandoned him and he was left with nothing more than what had to seem like nothing more than the depression and the longing that cried out from his spirit for some sort of answer for the soul.

Yet, despite it all he found a knowledge and a wisdom even in those darkest days of his life that transcended the temporal understanding to offer unto him some sort of solace, some sort of comfort even as anguish and agony were so near at hand...

Yes, God did love him, and in his final days he knew that, in faith, he would see the full measure of his devotion to His Lord as he would look upon His face, standing before His throne in the flesh. Redemption would come as his righteousness would receive the full measure of that heavenly reward that came but by the grace of God unto His children. Still, despite that love, he lived amidst a world so often prone to sin and iniquity as men, in malice and pain, transgressed against man, and where little seemed fair or right. It would be in that truth that he would find his endurance and his strength as he was given the ability to persevere even as his world seemed to crumble beneath him, casting him to a pit of despair.

This was the endurance of Job...

This was the strength of that righteous man of Uz through all of the trials and the tribulation that this world could foist upon him as it sought to rob him of everything of the spirit and the soul, the body and the mind, leaving him destitute and broken, the shattered frame of the man he once was.

Unto all of us God gives that same strength, He gives that same courage as He promises us that His grace will forever and always be sufficient for us, as He promises us that where we are weak there He will be strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Unto all of us God gives that same authority, He gives that same power to overcome as He promises to shelter us from the storms of this world and uplift us in His transcending, encompassing love.

At times it may seem as if we are cast to the depth of despair as captivity and bondage, slavery and persecution wage that war of tyranny over the hearts of the people, seeking to destroy them with the terror and the horror and the evil that it brings. Yet, at these times, God’s mercy, it shines through in ways we had never expected, in ways we could have never imagined, that our path may be made clear and our direction lit, knowing that we are being carried forward by Him who loved us. This is the promise of His Word given in even the most ancient of days, in even the most ancient of trials and carried forward from generation to generation to encompass our lives.

We may not understand the true nature or the true measure of the evil or of the wickedness and unrighteousness that is heaped upon the people. But then how could we? Why would we? Our old Adversary wants to keep that carefully hidden, knowing that to expose the truth of it is to expose his presence and his weaknesses in our lives. Yet God sees through all of it as if it was crystal clear in its transparency so that He can show unto us the true face of that which stands before us. All that we can, like Job before us, endure as we accept the good while living with the evil, knowing that it is fleeting from our lives amidst the hope that God gives unto us in His blessed assurance.

Find then that endurance in your life, and pray for others to find it in theirs, regardless of the trial or the tribulation that they are forced to endure. Let God uplift you in all that you are and uplift others, edifying and nourishing them, remembering them in your intercessions to the Lord, knowing that He will forever and always be the guiding light that gives hope on to this lost and fallen world even as the moments of turmoil and hurt are upon us.

It is then that you will find the capacity to rejoice even as it seems as if everything around you is fading, for you will know the full measure of God’s love and the full measure of His reward for you as you find the strength and the capacity to carry on even when you least suspect that you had that ability within Your life. For it is here that you will find the endurance of Job amidst that deeper compassion, mercy and grace that comes from the hand of the Lord in your life.

Lord, grant this strength and endurance unto us all...

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

First Prayer:

The calling of Your Word compels us O Lord, hear our prayers...

The assurances of Your Promises gives us hope O Lord, hear our prayers...

The faithfulness of Your devotion shows us Your love O Lord, hear our prayers and have mercy upon Your children.

Guide them through this temporal existence, showing forth Your compassion in the lives of those who are in need. Be the rock of refuge in the lives of Your people, showing unto them that whatever the storm, whatever the adversity, there is an ever-vigilant God contending with their cause, giving the full measure of His commitment to the protection of their lives.

Throughout the world there is grim bondage and brutal captivity as life, that precious gift given by You as a deep and abiding blessing that we are to cherish, is held cheap and with contempt. Oppression and tyranny, persecution and slavery burden the hearts and the minds, the spirits and the souls as they wage their horrific war against the peace and the comfort of those promises of liberty, freedom, justice and equality that are poured forth from Your lips to the generations of saints and martyrs who have given all in the sacred trust that You held with them.

Show unto the unrighteousness of this age, the unrighteousness of all ages, that You stand firm in Your virtue and Your uprightness, bringing hope to the hopeless, and solace to those who find peace so fleeting. Show unto the wicked of this world that You are a righteous judge whose will stands opposed to the evil that can be inflicted against the weak and the innocent, the needy and destitute. Show unto the bringers of pain and sorrow, suffering and anguish that they stand opposed to Your divine hand and that, when they do, there is no place where they can hide from Your divine justice as it comes to bear in the lives of Your people.

Then shall freedom come to the captives and the slaves, then shall hope be restored to the hostages and the prisoners and all shall rejoice in the blessed hope that can and does only come by You and through You amidst the deeper calling of Your Spirit as it leads us to the places where hope does dwell and liberty shall forever reign as we rest in the green pastures of Your divine love.

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:

In the quiet of the moment O Lord do we hear the cries and the calls of the poor and the afflicted, the captives and the slaves, the hostages and the prisoners, the afflicted and the destitute who draw breath but find that life has been robbed from them. They yearn for freedom, they desire nothing more than hope, they long for something, for anything to encompass their lives that finally liberty will carry them from these places they now find themselves to the places of Your promises, where hope forever shall dwell.

In the quiet of the moment O Lord, do we hear their tears as they ask “For how long?” In these instances we wonder the same, “For how long will they be left to the wickedness and the transgressions of this age? For how long will they be left to the sin and the iniquity of this world? For how long will they suffer amidst the pain and the sorrow that they now feel encompass their lives, devouring them whole?”

It is then Lord that we raise our voices to You in the promises You have given, in the promises of those assurances that You have given unto Your people, unto all people as You proclaimed Yourself the God of Deliverance and the God of the poor and needy, the God of the captives and the slaves.

Let not them suffer, them not then languish in such grim estate and such brutal darkness, let them not fall by the spiritual or the temporal sword that would seek to rob them of all that they are and all that they hope to be. Gird them with Your strength and give them Your endurance that they might persevere in all trials and all tribulation. Give them the sword of Your righteousness that they may slay all fear and doubt, all anguish and agony that comes upon them in these, the days of chaos and pain that so engulf them. Then, in Your time, in Your way, set them free from all that so inflicts them amidst the affliction and the sorrow that they feel.

It is then that we will know the truth of Your Word has come to bear in this lost and fallen world and hope shall be found, even as it seems that this world is set ablaze as wickedness and unrighteousness is set to flight by Your divine and holy hand in the promises You have made unto Your people, even in the most ancient of days, in the love and the compassion, the mercy and the grace that You have for 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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/24/10

Icon of St. James the Just, Martyr

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
James 1:12

Kneeling there, the first stone cracked against his skin, then the second, then the third...

Even before he was ever dragged before the Sanhedrin, he knew what the events of his life would culminate in. He knew that they play out until finally this moment, unavoidable and inescapable in its inevitability, would finally be upon him. He might not have known when or how, Stephen had been stoned, (Acts 7:58-60) James, son of Zebedee, like John the Baptist before him, was beheaded (Acts 12:1-2), while Jesus had been crucified, hung from that wounded cross for the world to see and for the unbelievers to mock as they pointed and laughed at the fate of this man called the Christ until his final breath escaped his lungs (Mark 15:25-37), but long ago his fate had been decided.

There was no doubt they could hear the crashing of those rocks hitting his skin as the skin and the bones broke. They could see the blood drain from the open wounds as it poured out unto the ground, staining the dirt and the soil as it flowed like a stream from his bruised and wounded body. In those moments it was perhaps difficult for him not to cry out as the moments seemed to turn to hours and the hours to days as He felt the sting of each stone hitting him, the last never quite numbing the pain as the sensations ran through his body.

It could have been an easier life for him, he might have thought, if he had, at the ascension of Christ, just gone home and perhaps become a carpenter like his father. Maybe he could have taken a wife, had a child or two, and lived out the remainder of his days in the peace and the comfort of a quiet life, until finally, in bed, surrounded by those he loved, he would be called home. Yet here he was, seized amidst the lawlessness that gripped Jerusalem by the Sanhedrin, and charged, sentenced to death before anybody could have done anything for him.

They had given him the chance to renounce, yet, just as he couldn’t have gone back home, he couldn’t find it in him to deny the truth, not even to save his own life. “Christ himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of Heaven,” would be the final words he would speak to that council before his sentence would be proclaimed. But then before he ever was dragged in, before he ever stood before them, before his death was ever announced by that Council, the words escaping his lips, hanging heavily in the air he knew...

“I beseech Thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” would be the last words that would escape James’ lips. A moment later one of the Priests, in hearing the prayer of the Apostle, would cry out, “Cease, what do ye? The just man is praying for us”

An instant after the words of the Priest were even spoken, as if in a flash, there would be the sound of a loud thump as another took his staff and it cracked against the skull of James. His body crumbled, whatever life was left in him drained and, as quickly as he was first thrown to the ground it was all over.

There was no account of James’ funeral, or if any even claimed his body, for all we have been told of his death, for all we really know he was left in that spot where he died, in a pool of his own blood, his body rotting until finally it was taken from the street and given some burial someplace, where nobody knew, where nobody, but God Himself could find him.

But that was the deeper testimony of the faith of James, for though he found himself persecuted and oppressed, though he found the moment of captivity and bondage were upon him in the most significant of ways, he knew that the moments of darkness were fleeting and that soon he would be carried to the glorious light of God’s eternal love. There was nothing in life, there was nothing heaped upon him or taken away from him, that could rob him of that assurance that he found in the deeper promises of God’s peace and love as hope, in even the most trying of circumstances, encompassed his life.

It perhaps would have been the easiest thing in the world for him, when he found himself before the Sanhedrin or as he was cast to the streets, when the first stone hit his body, for him to cry out in the pain and the misery, the despair and the sorrow that now had to so engulfed him. It perhaps would have been the easiest of things in the world for him to scream out at the top of his lungs, “God, why doest thou tempt me with such evil? Why doest thou entice me with such wickedness to renounce thy Holy Name?” Yet, even then, he couldn’t because He knew that such suffering, and such pain did not come from the Lord, only the ultimate freedom that would finally realize a person from all the anguish and the agony that this life could heap upon them.

James is the example for us to live by and to be led by in this world...

There are times in our lives, and in the lives of others, where calamity hits and the challenges that lay ahead seek to rob us of all peace and comfort, all joy and happiness from our lives. They come with bitter captivity and harsh bondage, and ultimately even death, as it seems as if there is no escaping that sense of fate that has been heaped upon us.

We may cry out to God, yearning for something, for anything to engulf our life and to transcend the pain and the sorrow, the suffering and the hurt that we feel in these moments. We may cry out “God, why is it that You let this happen? Why do you let people suffer in such agony? Why?” We may do so as we wonder about that goodness and that mercy that we have been told pours forth from the compassion and the love of our Lord.

Yet none of these trials and temptations, none of this tribulation comes from the hand of God. It is the state of the world that we live in amidst all of its unrighteousness and sin and iniquity. The hope though... the promises and the blessed assurances of something better, of something more... the vow that we shall have the courage and the strength to endure even the greatest of challenges, even the most brutal of struggles that would seek to so devour us... that is of God as He pledges to us the full measure of His devotion, contending forever with the cause of His people in the love that He has for them.

We may wonder, we may find that things just seem like they are too much to bear, as the moments of hurt and sorrow, of anguish and agony come so readily into this world. We may wonder as we feel tired and weak from the afflictions that can so burden us amidst our lives. Yet, even in these times of turmoil and pain, there is a Divine Will that is committed to us by the wondrous, glorious hand of God’s providence, and it shall always preserve us in the compassion and the mercy, the hope and the love, the grace and the faithfulness of our Lord who never fails us or forsakes us, whatever stones this world may hurl upon us to break our bodies and our spirits.

Lord, keep us all in that divine trust in You....

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

First Prayer:

O Lord, look down from Heaven and concern Yourself with the cause of men and the course of human events. Cast Your eyes upon the plights and the struggles of Your children and walk beside them through these days of darkness and chaos that so afflict them.

O Lord hear the cries from Earth and make Yourself know in the cause of men and the course of human events. Bend Your ear to the yearning of the captives and the prisoners, the hostages and the slaves, and show unto them the blessings of Your promises in these days of toil and turmoil that so afflict them.

It was by Your hand that mercy was shown in the lives of the crew of the MV Almezaan as they found that they were spared of the degradation and the brutality of that bitter captivity that so sought to grab a hold of their lives and strangle from them the hope of their existence. Your blessings were given unto them as they were brought from the brink of bondage to continue in the wonders of freedom. To You then do we give all honor and praise.

Yet Lord, we pray for the same blessing to come upon the crew of MV Talca, who were not as fortunate as to escape the hands of unrighteous men. Contend with their cause as we commit them to Your justice and Your mercy. Walk beside them and give them the strength and the courage to endure this ordeal, that they may find the hope to carry on until the day when they have been, by the glory of Your love, once more restored to freedom.

Unto You Lord do we entrust the life of the pirate who died in the course of his unrighteousness, knowing that You are the judge and that only You see what is in the heart and that You shall then look upon his life and determine His fate. Guide our hearts to compassion for him, knowing that though he brought hurt and pain into this world, that his life now claimed may serve as a lesson to others who would follow in his path that they might know the futility of that which their efforts bring amidst the grander scheme of Your divine plan.

Then shall all praise be lifted to You as evil is set to flight and temptation is moved from the hearts of men to do wickedness and Your will shall find strength on earth as it does in Heaven.

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, make known unto us, Your people, the glory of Your creation, Your sanctuary, lead us to Your Holy Mountain, the rock of our refuge and the ever present shelter from this worlds trials and tribulations. Let us, Your children, walk in the path of Your peace under the wing of Your protection, guided by the righteousness of Your Word, and the faithfulness of Your promises.

Be our firm foundation, be the refuge for the lost, and keep us safe in all that Your people are and all that they face.

Unto You O Lord do we commend the life and the cause of all prisoners and hostages, unto You do we commend all who are held in any sort of bondage and slavery, knowing that it is through You that comes all mercy and compassion.

Show then unto them the full measure of Your devotion as Your faithfulness comes to bear in their lives. Show unto them the full measure of Your promises that Your blessed assurances shall guide them through all the days of their lives. Show unto them the full measure of Your love that grace shall create in them strength and hope in the love that You have for them.

Let not their lives be claimed by despair and degradation but pour forth mercy upon them that life and love, that liberty and freedom shall bring a new hope in their lives as Your light guides them through justice and mercy to the better days that shall encompass their lives. Let then not languish in sorrow and hurt, let them not fade in agony and anguish, but show unto them that whatever the struggle that brings such destitution and despair, there is a God who love them and cares for them and there is no dark or hidden places where they can be held.... there is no dark or hidden places that can be removed from Your sights.

Then shall all come to know the transcending nature of Your divine will and the wonders of Your blessings as peace comes to bear in the lives of Your people and they shall raise their voices in praise to You for the wonders of Your miracles as they encompass the true justice that this world so longs for...

Then shall all come to know the transcending nature of Your Divine will as it will be inescapable in the love that You bring to bear and songs shall be given to praise 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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/23/10

Christ Triumphant Over Sin and Death, Peter Paul Reubens, 1615

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
James 1:12

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)

Throughout this world of adversity and trouble there are trials and there are tribulations that surround the scope of the human experience. There is brutal captivity and bitter iniquity that forsake the commands of the living God given unto us in Christ Jesus, those commands that we are to love one another (John 13:34-35), those commands to show patience and kindness, compassion and mercy in the lives of our fellow man (Galatians 5:22-23).There are moments where we wonder, amidst the pain and the suffering, the sorrow and the hardship of those left in grim estate and harsh darkness, how it could be that so much wrong can be inflicted against the hearts and the souls, the spirits and the minds of men as they are left destitute in a world that tries so desperately to break them.

Yet even amidst all of this there is a promise, a blessed assurance that comes through the power of the Lord’s transcending Word, held high for us as blessed inheritance, given unto us in the encompassing grace of His wondrous love for us. If we wait on Him, if we trust in Him then shall we receive strength and courage as we find the perseverance to endure even through all of the challenges that can be foisted upon us as this temporal existence comes to us with the full force of its burdens and its weight. Then shall we know that we have been offered the hope of that liberty that can only be endowed upon us by our Creator as He lifts us high from those pits of despair and desperation that we have been cast down to.

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

Once there was a dark power that had a hold on all of humanity. It gripped us all, strangling the life from us as we found that we were enslaved to sin, death and the Devil. There was nothing left in our lives that could redeem us, nothing left in our souls that could carry us forward, we were bound to the grave in the harshest of fates. Yet God did not forsake us, nor did He fail us. Instead, He would give His only Son, beloved and blessed, to save us all (John 3:16). There would be no chains that could bind us, no darkness that could devour us, no power or authority that could rob us of that blessed peace that would come from His hope.

This would be the transcending belief that would carry the prophets and the kings, the psalmists and the disciples, the apostles and those blessed martyrs forward from generation to generation as they found the strength and the courage to go on in a world that so often seemed so full of persecution and oppression, so full of tyranny and slavery that would hold cheap the dignity of life that God had assigned to it.

If this was the power of God’s love, as He proclaimed all people equal in His sight and deserving of His mercy through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, then how much more can He do for us now as this world seeks to hurt and to harm and to destroy?

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” (Psalm 16:6)

Through God this is our inheritance and our blessing as His promises, unchanging and unfailing, come to bear in our lives through all of this world’s challenges and adversity: none who place their hope and their trust in His faithfulness shall ever be confounded, the shall not be abandoned, nor shall they be let down. Disappointment shall be chased from their lives as they are guided through the days of sorrow and the moments of hurt to the deeper places of compassion and live as they find that though men might try to assert their authority over them the only authority that is left to stand is the authority of the Most High God seated upon His throne of might.

The Creator and the Conqueror, He stands vigilant, protecting the inheritance of His people. Throughout the ages He has preserved His sacred word that we might all be heirs to the hope that He offers unto us through it, never letting it fall or be destroyed. Weaving through the course of human affairs and human events since the dawn of the general civilization, in His righteousness He has gone even further than that though. Each and every step of the way He has proven unto us that His Word is truth and His promises shall guide our lives as our refuge, as our ever present shelter through all of the storms.

“Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” (Psalm 37:34)

At times we may wonder. We may cry out as we find ourselves feeling lost and confused, as we find that we just can’t seem to see God in all of this. The wickedness and the transgressions of this world have raised a dark fog over our eyes and it seems as if peace and solace are far distant from us as we cry our in the deep yearning of our souls, not knowing for how long we will be forced to endure such trials and temptations, such pain and suffering. The iniquity of men puts a veil over our eyes as we look to the captivity and the slavery that can be waged against others and this unsettled feeling may linger, as we want to do so much and find there is little left for us to do.

Where could God be in all of this?

He is there… Even when we have been so blinded by this world, we have to have trust and faith in an ever present, ever vigilant God who is forever and always contending with the cause of His people. It is here then that we know that when we wait on the Lord, He shall exalt the lowest amongst us, give strength to the weak, and guidance to the lost, all while cuts the wicked off as He shows to them that they cannot escape His justice. Even if it escapes our sights at present, God assures us that it will not for all time as we are given over to His plan and His righteousness in the blessings that He brings forth in our lives.

Have faith, trusting therefore in His Word and His promises, knowing that through perseverance He shall bless the lives of even the most lost as they find themselves bound to such hurt and pain.

Have faith, showing forth the love that He has intended for us to show, believing that through the power of His Spirit He shall make manifest His will and desires as He contends with the cause of His people, standing fast, holding fast to them in all that they are and all that they face.

Have faith, and know that through it all, in it all God shall reveal Himself in this age, just as He has in ages past, letting His mercy pour forth, that none shall ever be frustrated or forsaken, failed or abandoned amidst the plights that they feel and the hopelessness that seems to have engulfed their lives.

Then shall you work His will, and cling to His assurances, knowing that He is the force for good and that He shall use you for that good through all the days of your life that you may testify of His light and love as He gives courage to the lost and the captive, placing upon their heads the crown of life even when it seems as if their lives have been so painfully ripped from them.

Lord, grant this unto us all…

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

First Prayer:

The struggles that lay before Your people O Lord, the struggles that befall them in a world so prone to captivity and bondage are great and encompassing as they long for endurance and perseverance through the trials and the tribulation that would befall them. They yearn for liberty as they cry out for freedom and they are left to wonder, how long...

How long will they be left to wait on Your promises?

How long will they be left amidst their meagre estate?

How long will it seem as if the darkness and the pain of this world’s unrighteousness grasp at them, choking from them the life as they are robbed of their dignity and the value that You have assigned to each breath they take is held without worth?

Like those fisherman, hijacked and left for dead by Somali Pirates, rescue all prisoners and captives, all hostages and slaves, all of those held in such bitter estate by brutal iniquity and wickedness. As You saw fit to give them that second chance for life, sending that European Union warship to save them that they might live again, finding hope and peace amidst this temporal existence, extend that same guiding hand in the lives of all people in all places as they struggle against the darkest of days that would so ensnare them.

Grant unto the crew of the MV Frigia peace and courage, strength and hope as they find themselves held by pirates who view life cheap and with contempt. Give unto them an answer to the yearning of their soul and in Your time, in Your way set them free that they might once more live where it had seemed as if only death had come into their lives.

Unto these pirates who grow bolder and bolder, show them that they contend not with Your cause, nor do you contend with them. Let them see their iniquity and feel the pain that they have brought that they might turn from their unrighteous ways and cast from them the darkness that has engulfed their hearts. Uplift them by Your Spirit that they might find true and sincere repentance in their hearts that they may bring good into this world, casting aside their wickedness and their hatred.

Then shall Your Holy hand be praised for the strength and the endurance that it brings through all of the days of this corporeal existence in all that Your people are and all that they do.

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:

Let us not be weary amidst this world O Lord, nor let us be drawn down by it as captivity and bondage surround us, seeking to rob us of hope amidst grim power of unrighteousness and its dark hold over the hearts and minds of men.

Let us not be weakened in this life O Lord, nor let us find that strength is fleeting and courage has abandoned us as we see the tyranny and the oppression that makes slaves of men and leaves them to wither in destitution and despair.

Let us not be frightened as we live O Lord, nor let us wonder where it is that You are as we long for peace to encompass the lives of those who find themselves in the grim days of hurt and sorrow that encompass them now.

Be that rock of refuge, shelter Your people and guard Your children. Even as the chains fall upon them break those ties that bind them that there shall be nothing that will take from them the hope and the love, the mercy and the compassion that You have intended for their lives. Endow them with liberty that no longer shall freedom be stolen from them as justice, Your true and everlasting justice, shall come to bear through all of their days as they abide in Your transcending grace.

Whether it be a captivity of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, lift Your hand to the people in the promises You have made unto them and give them the courage and the perseverance that they so long for that they might endure even these, the deepest days of trouble that would engulf them. Let them not question Your presence or Your love but show unto them the hope that comes amidst Your faithful as they are brought from whatever has given unto them such pain to the everlasting compassion that comes when they are uplifted by the power of Your might.

Then shall see Your authority, then shall all see Your grace as Your mercy is made known and Your works are made manifest and Your name shall be exalted and praised for the wondrous deeds You have done in the lives of Your people.

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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/22/10

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)

The world around us... these days that we dwell in and amidst during the course of this existence... they can be hard and harsh, wrought with challenges and temptations that go beyond anything we could have ever imagined, and just when we think that we are strong enough, that we are good enough to withstand the pressures of life, there is a new trial arising as we find that the difficulties of this life are always upon us. It is then that we need to be cleansed, to be purged, that we might find that the blemishes of our spirits and our souls, the wounds of our hearts and our being might be washed and purified, that though we might have once found ourselves bloody and bruised, broken and hurt by the captivity and the bondage of this temporal existence, we shall find the strength to carry on in the perseverance and the endurance that comes from the Lord...

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

There is a promise that comes from the blessed assurances and the wondrous love that dwells in the mercy and the compassion of the Lord. It is a transcending guiding hope that comes through His Word, a light and a beacon that shines amidst this world as it leads even the most lost and broken of souls to a place of peace and comfort in an otherwise dark world. It is here that He vows His faithfulness and His vigilance, whispering words of eternal grace into the ears of His children as His healing touch finds the wounded places within and binds it up that, though we were once too weak from the slings and the arrows of this life bombarding us with the full force of that ancient adversary who brings death and destruction to lay waste to our souls, we might be able to once more stand even as the tides of the times beat against us.

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

Whatever the challenge, whatever the captivity, whatever the bondage, there has never been a time when God has forsaken His people, nor have their ever been any chains, whether they were spiritual or physical, whether they were linked together, forged by steel and iron or hatred and intolerance, that could not be shattered by the strength of the Lord’s might. Even as the wages of sin brought death, through Christ, He would break those chains of iniquity and heal the broken places within us that no longer would we be held in that dark and grim estate. Never would we be left to our own hurt and suffering, but rather, the transcending hope of our faith, the author and the finisher of our grace, He would show that not only the strength of our perseverance came from Him but the ultimate freedom that would come from the deeper yearning of the soul.

“Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.” (Psalm 119:151)

It’s here then that we know that God is always nearby, that Christ is always ready to take upon His shoulders our burdens, and that the Holy Spirit shall always weave within us to bring us hope, and peace. It’s here then that we know that nothing can separate us from the grace of our Lord as He creates in us a new heart, renewing a steadfast spirit in us (Psalm 51:10) that we might dwell in the new hope that comes amidst that new creation that we have been made into (1 Peter 1:3). As He draws near unto us we have been made into more than conquerors through He who loves us, we have been made into those who can withstand the force and the weight of those who seek, through their oppression and their persecution, to conqueror us, we have been forged in the fires of the Lord and given the strength to withstand the captivity that is waged by the Devil as he seeks to rob us of our peace and our comfort, that we might be drained of all endurance, and fall under the pressure of his power.

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2)

We may find that this world and all of its challenges seem to weigh on us as its pressure seems to bear down on us in the most significant of ways, casting a dark shadow over our lives as we seem to find that desperation and despair come so near at hand, as pain and sorrow seem to befall us in the most real and significant of ways. In those moments we may feel as if we are wandering amidst a spiritual desert, exiled to the wastelands of the soul, as darkness surrounds us and engulfs us, swallowing us whole. It’s not long before we just can’t find the strength to go on any further, and it seems as if all that is left to us is to curl up and just fade away, as if we never mattered to begin with. Our lives seem worthless and without meaning at those times.

Yet even as we find those moments are upon us there is always hope and it is never as dark as it seems for the Lord is our rock and our refuge. He is the deliverer of our spirits as He girds us in His strength and guides us by the horn of His salvation to a fortress of the soul that shall always and forever protect the spirit.

“The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” (Psalm 18:46)

Give your praise to the Lord, let your voices be raised even in times of trouble as the plights and the challenges befall you and the trials and the tribulation of this world seem to be right there in front of you. Even as our situations seem dark and chaotic, as they seem devoid of optimism as hardships seem to follow us in the most real of ways, God is there for us and with us to give us the strength and the hope that we need that we might be able to preserver as we find that He renews our strength amidst the blessed promises of His Word. It is here that we know that His assurances shall be faithful unto us as He always and forever contends with our cause and never abandons us to this world.

Shout to the Lord your exaltation and know that even when life seems its grimmest and captivity and bondage seem so near at hand He is there with salvation in His hand and grace pouring forth from His lips to give unto you the transcending freedom and the abiding liberty that can only be endowed upon you from Him as He shows unto you how much He loves you and cares for you in all that you are and all that you face throughout this temporal existence.

Lord, let us all abide in that transcending, encompassing hope of your perseverance and endurance that surpasses all human understanding...

Lord, grant this unto us all...

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

First Prayer:

Abiding in Your transcending hope O Lord, give unto Your children the strength that they might stand long amidst the power of Your love. Place upon them Your armor and gird them with Your authority even as the world seems to rise up against them, casting it’s dark shadow in their lives.

Be near, draw nigh unto those who are bound amidst captivity and bondage O Lord and let not the unrighteousness of wicked men, lead by the iniquity that has so enticed them, triumph over them. Give unto those who suffer and find that they are lost amidst the trials and the tribulations of this world the mercy and the compassion, the grace and the hope that they need to preserver and to endure all of the challenges that lay before them that they might never fall to the sword or find that the chains of this temporal oppression is too heavy for them to bear.

Stand true and firm in Your promises O Lord and be faithful to the assurances that You have made in the lives of Your people through the power of Your word. Draw the afflicted and the enslaved to You, to the love that comes from You and be the refuge and the rock that they so need in their lives as You bring Your liberty and Your justice to bear in their souls as You raise their spirits upon Your wings to carry them to the places of freedom where You do dwell.

Then shall all exalt Your name and the salvation that You bring as Your hope and love is made manifest in the compassion, mercy and grace that You bring to bear in the lives of Your people in even the deepest of struggles and the darkest of adversity that comes to encompass them in the deeper afflictions of this world as You stand as their fortress and their hope through all the days of their lives.

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:

Hear O Lord...

Bend Your ear and hear the name of Your children raised high to Your Heavenly throne as they find that they toil in tears and pain, as the afflictions and sorrow they sustain the injuries from the wickedness of this temporal existence. Unto them grant Your hope and Your peace through all of the challenges of this world as and let them never fall from the darkness that can be waged against them as You stand beside them through all of the challenges of this world and all of the trials and the tribulations that can befall them.

See O Lord...

Let Your eyes look upon the plight of Your children O Lord and see the hurt and hardship that so inflict them that they might find that from You shall pour forth the hope and the love and the grace and the mercy that they so need in their lives. See them and guide them to the places of peace that dwell in Your compassion that they shall find the strength to carry on even in the slavery and the bondage of this dark captivity that so holds them.

Purge them O Lord...

Cast Your Spirit upon them and create in them a new heart O Lord, and purge them of all fear that they may stand long and fast in perseverance knowing that Your strength shall guide them in courage and strength. Show unto them whatever the bondage, whether of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, it shall have no power over them as You set to flight poverty and destitution, hatred and intolerance, slavery and bondage, captivity and wickedness that these diseases shall no longer have any power over Your people..

Then shall our voices raise to You as we pour forth our love and our lips rejoice in song of praise for You in the miracles of Your mercy as it comes to bear in our lives, guiding us to Your transcending hope.

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.

Mid-Day Devotion 3/18/10

Christ in Glory, Andrea Orcagna, 1354-57

“And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
Luke 21:29-36

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

Though challenges and adversity, struggle and hardship may always be before us as we toil amidst this temporal existence, though there might be moments of anguish and agony, suffering and sorrow that seem so prone to overtake us as we are left with these lingering feelings of hurt that crush the spirit and lay waste to the soul, even these things too shall pass. There shall come a day when all of the pain that this world can bring shall be set to flight and the darkness and the bondage of this corporeal plane shall fade from our eyes as we stand before the throne of the Most High in the promises of His grace. Then shall the blessings that have been assured to us from even the most ancient of days come to bear amidst our lives.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

As generations rose and fell, as ages passed one after another and empires and kingdoms grew and spread only to crumble under their own weight, this was the only promise that has transcended the times to stand true from era to era amidst the sacred trust of our Lord. It is what generations of saints and apostles, disciples and prophets, the righteous and the faithful have placed their hope amidst as they found their confidence in their reliance in the Lord. Come what might have come, come what must have come, persecution, oppression, even martyrdom as the hands were raised against them in the wickedness of the sinful transgressions of men, they would not be moved by anything short of their full expectation... that full expectation that they rested upon the wings of the Lord’s strength as it carried them even in the most trying of times that sought so to overtake them.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

Like summer there would be then a glorious dawning of the soul as the answers to the spirit cried out in the promises of the Lord telling unto God’s people that there would be no slavery or bondage that would stand, there would be no tyranny left to wage its war against the hearts and souls, the spirits and the minds of men, for even the most lost of people, even the most fallen of sinners would be led from the darkness to the light. The world would set and the Lord would rise as His hope came upon His children to lead them from the rocky waters that tossed them to and fro to the safe shores and the green pastures of His grace and comfort, His peace and rest. Then shall the only true freedom be offer unto those who suffer, who find that destitution comes so near and so easily to them as this world preys upon the... the liberty that comes from the Lord’s righteousness and justice.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

Whatever the challenges may be, whatever the struggles are, whatever the bondage or the captivity may bring upon us, there is hope in this world. We may not always see it, there are going to be times when we try so desperately to find it and yet it seems like it’s somewhere far distant... so far distant that it seems to escape our sight all together as our souls yearn for peace and our spirits cry out for comfort. In those moments we find that there is a desperation that seems to overtake us in the abiding tribulation that dwells in this temporal existence and that works its way through this corporeal plane. Hardship comes then so easily to us as we find that we just can’t get away from this darkness and this chaos that seems to surround us and overtake us in the most significant of ways.

It is here that a veil is cast over our eyes so that the grace and the compassion, the love and the mercy that has been promised unto us can be hidden from our gazes as the tears fill our eyes. Why? Because the world wants to have a hold over us, it wants to assert its power over us. As the great American author Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry.” How can it that if not by hiding from us the hope and the peace that comes from the hand of our God, from the strength of our Heavenly Father as He seeks to care for us even in the most trying of times that would seek to overtake us?

Yet we are given a promise...

Through the words of Christ we are given a promise that shall never fade, and it is once that offers unto all of us the wondrous blessings of God’s assurances, for we know that “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Then shall the hardships and the turmoil, the anguish and the suffering no longer have any hold over us for we know that God shall be faithful to His Word and His Word is the blessing of His love unto us as it proclaims the ultimate freedom to the soul even as the adversities to the spirit seem so encompassing, so enslaving as to bind us amidst chains that seem so strong that they can never be broken.

Have trust and abide in faith, dwell in the promises of the Lord and have reliance on Him as you place your confidence in Him knowing that He shall always and forever move through the course of your life through the power of His Spirit to keep you steadfast and strong in all of the challenges of this world that you might find the endurance to preserver even as the challenges are laid out in front of you. Then shall you be carried from the darkness of this age and all ages to the blessed place of divine rest where oppression and persecution, captivity and bondage, slavery and tyranny no longer have any power or authority as their hold is broken and their grip is shattered even where it stands fast, seeming to have such a death grasp over us.

Lord, grant this deeper understanding unto us all...

Lord, carry us through this fading world to the dawning of Your glorious and wondrous summer that the warmth of Your love shall forever give us hope.

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

First Prayer:

Great is Your power O Lord, great are the wonders and the works of Your hand as You move through this world and in this world in the lives of Your people, guiding the course through the rocky paths of this temporal existence for Your children in all that they are and all that they face.

How many wonders have You worked? How many miracles have come through the power of Your strength? Untold are they as the numbers become lost in the glory of Your divine presence amidst this world, for You are always contending with the cause of those in need and trouble even in the times of their deepest trouble that all chains of bondage and captivity might be broken and freedom might be proclaimed in the blessed liberty that comes through Your justice and Your righteousness

It was Your wonders at work that brought about the freedom of Gauthier Lefevre, the French Aid worker held these long months after being kidnapped in Darfur. It was Your hand moving amidst the course of human events that have set the rebels at the table with the government to sign a peace treaty that the hardship and the strife amidst that part of the world might be set to flight. It was Your grace that was shown as the Dutch Warship was spared from trouble as the attempted hijacking was thwarted. It is Your love that is made manifest as hope is brought into this world in even the most trying and troubling of situations and the sanctity of life is preserved even as everything seems to be set ablaze amidst the darkness that can overtake the hearts and the souls of men.

Unto You then do we give all glory and praise, as we lift high Your Holy name, showing forth our gratitude and our love for You for the truth of Your righteousness as You uphold that sacred trust of Your divine and holy Word through all troubles and hardships that would seek to so inflict itself on the hearts and the souls, the spirits and the minds of Your people.

Unto You do we place all of our hope, as we gain confidence in Your blessings as Your miracles are worked through this world and in this world. Praise be Your holy name for that.

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:

Have mercy upon Your children O God...

According to Your unfailing love, according to Your encompassing compassion, according to Your faithful promises, have mercy upon Your children O God and lead them by the transcending nature of Your divine grace as You pour forth Your love in their lives.

Guide and protect Your children O God...

According to Your wondrous strength, according to Your divine authority, according to the might of Your glorious hope guide and protect Your Children that they have a firm foundation, a refuge that shows forth Your love in even the most trying of turmoil as tribulation seems so near at hand in their lives.

Throughout this world there is the darkness of captivity and bondage as persecution and oppression come so near, so easily to the hands of men as they work their unrighteousness in the lives of the people, holding that dignity that You have assigned to their time of grace cheap and without worth. Throughout this world there is hurt from the pain of poverty and disease, destitution and intolerance as the greatest of evils rob the hope from Your people and they are held amidst the most meagre of estates as the grimmest of days of trial lay before them.

Wash Your people amidst Your love O Lord and cleanse them from the wickedness and the unrighteousness in this world. Stand fast as their rock and their refuge and give hope unto their lives in even these, the most troubling days of harsh anguish and bitter agony that would so seek to overtake them. Whether it be a spiritual or temporal captivity, whether it is a slavery of the body or the mind, the spirit or the soul, in Your truth and justice set Your people to liberty in the love and the truth that You have promised in Your faithfulness for their lives.

Then shall all voices be raised to You in sacred praise for the wondrous grace and the blessed hope, the transcending love and the encompassing compassion you have showed forth in their lives.

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.