Real faith is honest. Real faith struggles. And it is real faith we hear from the psalmist as he cried out to God in Psalm 130: “From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer” (Psalm 130: 1-2).
What are these depths of despair? They are deeper than gloom. They are deeper than the awareness of both sin and guilt. The psalmist was overwhelmed with a sense of God’s disapproval, God’s disfavor, God’s frown rather than God’s smile. He had sunk down into the depths of distance from God and darkness toward God. He knew that God forgives, for he wrote in verse 4: “You offer forgiveness.” But he didn’t feel personally forgiven. He believed that God forgives sin, but he wasn’t all sure that God would forgive his sin. In fact, he felt forsaken by God. And that is a deep pit. He was crying out for God to rescue him from the depths of his God-forsakenness. Yet even as he gave voice to the struggle within, the psalmist broke through to hope: “O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. He Himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin” (130: 7-8). Our greatest hope when we find ourselves in the depths of despair over our sin is that He himself will redeem us from every kind of sin. In fact, we can’t really welcome this redemption until we come to the place of true desperation. That was the problem of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day – they did not sense that they needed forgiveness or a Savior. God’s answer to every sinner’s desperate cry for forgiveness from God stood in front of them, and instead of rejoicing in Him, they rejected Him. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners,” Jesus said (Mark 2: 17). Jesus did not come to help the righteous people fine-tune their righteousness, but to help sinners come back to God. It is through his finished work on the cross that we can come back to the smile of God. From the depths we cry out for help and are met with forgiveness through Christ. If we were not too far from his help when we were lost sinners, then we are certainly not too far from his help as his redeemed children. Let us hold back nothing from Him and know that he will hear every prayer. Let us take everything to the foot of the cross and encounter God’s smile. Prayer – Long before I knew to call out to you for forgiveness, you were calling me to yourself, offering yourself to me. You have heard my cry and answered, and so I put my hope in you forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXIugwiN7Q “He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day; and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”
Luke 24: 46-47 John 16: 7-11 There are many recorded ‘famous last words’ of remarkable people in humankind’s history. I smile sadly at the poignant humour of the British-Irish comedian Spike Milligan who, as part of his epitaph, had recorded on his gravestone the words, “I told you I was ill.” Jesus is THE most remarkable man ever so His last words should be considered extremely carefully. There are a good number of His words recorded in the Gospels and Acts post resurrection and prior to His ascension. The verses detailed above are of crucial importance. Jesus spoke these words in an encounter with His disciples where He confirmed the reality of death’s defeat, explaining how His resurrection was the fulfillment of Scripture and exactly what He had said would happen. This the means of God’s salvation plan, the mission of reconciliation. Jesus went on to say that this Good News would be spread amongst the nations but notice His very important ‘famous last words’ within His statement; repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached. He is not telling His disciples, and therefore us, to judge, convict or condemn others or ourselves for our sin and failings. He is telling us to preach forgiveness.; to firstly know Jesus. On Monday we considered the deep love of our Prodigal Father God who will run to us with open arms when we repent and turn back to Him. Jesus is the means by which we enter that embrace; He paid the price for our sins and paved the way for forgiveness. In our western culture of individualism there is a contradiction of acceptance that quickly turns to condemnation when an individual or idea does not match society’s current standards. What an incredible wonder we have to know that our creator does not want to condemn but to forgive. Please know I am not saying that evil should not be challenged, nor am I saying that a brother or sister in Christ should not be called out over sinful behavior. What I am saying is that Jesus calls us to preach forgiveness. He tells us that the conviction of sin is within the Holy Spirit’s remit. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit has a threefold ministry to convict: the world of its sin; of the need for Christ’s righteousness; and of an accountability that awaits all of us (John 16: 8-11). So let us preach the good news; repentance for the forgiveness of sins; let us preach Jesus. Encouragement towards life works far better than condemnation that leads to death. To Ponder: What do you condemn yourself or others for? Do you naturally want to speak condemnation rather than forgiveness? Real forgiveness is truly liberating; how might you or others be freed by God’s love? We will be considering the deep truth of ‘no condemnation in Christ’ on Sunday 12th July at 9.30am when we look at Romans 8: 1-11 Prayer: Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God now and forever. Amen Praise: Forgiven Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRKAXU1Fjic I heard the voice of Jesus say Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mXMQqiLW9c Forgiveness Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMn0QNdiuGE Bible Verse: “Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid”. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water”. “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:25-33.
I have a friend in California with whom I often correspond. He, too, occasionally speaks at his church. One day he and I were messaging back and forth about the difficulty of remaining positive during these very uncertain times. As we were texting, I was reminded of one of my favourite TV shows from a few years ago called “Canada’s Worst Driver”. People were nominated by their friends or loved ones to go on the show to help them improve their truly abysmal driving skills. At the start of the show, these drivers would get into a shiny new car to compete in various driving challenges. Before each challenge, they would get help and instructions from professionals in order to help them maneuver through the course. Then I would sit there cringing at the sound of paint scraping on concrete and metal being tortuously bent out of shape. My favourite segment was when they tried to negotiate a tight course between Styrofoam obstacles. Repeatedly, they would plow through foam mannequins and destroy foam archways with dramatic effect. Then the trainers would explain their problem: we human beings have a tendency to go where we are looking. Our natural instinct is to focus on the problem at hand, in this case the Styrofoam archway, but this results in the car hitting the danger far more often than avoiding it. Once the drivers learned to look away from the obstacles and look for the opening, they repeated the challenge and the difference was stunning. With this simple change in focus, most participants completed the course perfectly. That was Peter’s problem, too, in the verse from Matthew 14. When he was focused on Jesus, he was able to do what no man had ever done before, which was to walk on top of the water. Out of the fury of the storm, the wind and waves lashing at Peter, Jesus said “Come”. Focusing on Christ alone, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked towards Jesus. But like most of us, his attention eventually strayed to the storm boiling around him, and he took his eyes off Jesus. At that point, Peter began to sink, and he called out to Jesus to rescue him. Too often, many of us are just like those pitiful drivers or like Peter. We go about our lives dealing with the problems or challenges that we all face daily, trying to do it in our own strength and wisdom. We see the problems pile one on top of the other, and it seems like no matter how hard we struggle to overcome them, there is yet another bill to pay, another argument to settle, another doctor to see. Our anxieties mount, our confidence lags, and we feel overwhelmed by the storms of life. But Jesus says, “Come”. Never mind the walls and the obstacles. Never mind the wind and the waves. “Come”. Focus your eyes on Him and He will help you deal with the uncertainties, the vagaries, and the challenges of life. When you feel overwhelmed and sinking, call out to Him and He will reach out His hand and land you safely in the boat. Thanks be to our Lord and Saviour! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3: 16-17 Luke 15: 11-32 The parable of the Lost Son. At some point you may have heard it called the parable of the Prodigal Son; but do you know the meaning of the word prodigal? The dictionary defines the word in the following way – ‘generous, lavish, bountiful, wastefully extravagant, to spend money or give resources freely and recklessly.’ When we look to this definition we begin to see that this parable tells us a lot about the Prodigal Father; God Himself. To grasp this truth let us first look at the two sons, in effect at ourselves. The younger son, dissatisfied with his lot, exercises his free will and asks for his inheritance. He then takes his leave for another land where he ‘squandered his wealth in wild living,’ (vs.13). Soon he is living in squalor feeding pigs. He ‘comes to his senses’ and in genuine humility returns in repentance to his Father. Humankind is reflected in this son. Living outside of our intended relationship with God, not in His Kingdom, we find ourselves in spiritual poverty. We too need to come to our senses and return to our Father. The second son is in a relationship with his Father but is angry and indignant at his Father’s welcome for his wayward brother (vs. 28). Perhaps in pride and self-righteous self-justification he sees himself worthy and his brother not. Many of us may see ourselves in this son and feel sympathy with him. What we really see though is a son who does not fully understand his Father’s love and who is not living in the fullness of a blessed relationship with Him (vs. 31). So we turn to the Father. The Father did not have to divide up the estate at his son’s request. He did not have to look for that son’s return nor run down the road to welcome him with open arms (only children ran, elders walked). He laid aside His honour twice and provided a lavish celebration for the wayward son. The Father with all his wealth, love and provision was always present for the second son, whether or not that son realised his rich position. In neither case did the Father force his love on His sons but was present in abundant, boundless and inexhaustible love wanting the absolute best for His children. This is our loving Prodigal Father God who loves the world so much that He sent His Son in love not to condemn us but to save us (John 3: 16-17). Our part, as with the sons in the parable, is to see who our Father is, to believe and return to Him – to wallow in His extravagant love in a very real relationship. To Ponder: In which son do you see yourself most reflected? Meditate on our Father God’s love for us by unpacking His love that we see in the parable and in John 3: 16-17. How does this love welcome and encompass you? Prayer: Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God now and forever. Amen Praise: How deep the Father’s love for us Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzQj7XvKFmA In the pages of Proverbs, Wisdom is personified as a woman who calls out to the son, inviting him into a mentoring relationship with her so she can impart instruction, understanding, good judgement, and discernment. She promises success, insight, and wealth. She describes being the architect of the creation of the world and dwelling with God from all eternity. But most importantly, she says that whoever finds her finds life.
While this Wisdom is good and pure and life-giving, she does not tolerate rejection. “They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them,” she says. “Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their schemes” (1: 30-31). She knows that those who reject her head down a dangerous path. When we come to the New Testament, we discover exactly whom Lady Wisdom was pointing us toward. We see it from the earliest accounts of Jesus, when he stayed behind in the synagogue to discuss theology with the teachers of the law. Even though he was only twelve years old, “All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:47). Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people” (2:52). Throughout his teaching ministry, one of Jesus’ primary teaching methods was the parable. The Greek word translated as “parable” in the New Testament is a translation of the Hebrew word for “proverb”. In other words, Jesus was a teacher of wisdom. The Gospels demonstrate Jesus’ wisdom, and Paul went a step further, asserting that Jesus was the very incarnation of God’s wisdom. Twice Paul identified Jesus with God’s wisdom. To the Corinthians he wrote: “For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself” (1 Corinthians 1: 30). And to the Colossians he proclaimed that in Christ “lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). The Wisdom who beckons us into relationship and offers us understanding and wealth is none other than Jesus Christ. This is where true wisdom is found. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out” (Romans 11: 33). Prayer – Jesus, I hear you calling to me, offering me everything I need for life if I will come to you and listen to you. So teach me everything you have for me. Impart your wisdom generously to me and make me wise in your ways. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSnzYnOe6kI Wisdom is a word that is often tossed around in the wind today. Many assume to be wise and many desire to find true wisdom. But really, what is true wisdom?
Through reading the book of Proverbs, we get to listen in on a father giving advice to his son about how to live life, avoid pitfalls, and achieve success. Over and over, the father points out to the son that two “ways” or two “paths” are open to him, and that he will have to choose one or the other. One choice is the way of wisdom, which leads to life in its fullest sense. God is with those who are on this path; he protects them from danger. “He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him” (Proverbs 2:8). The other choice is the way of folly. This path is called “dark” (2:13) and “crooked” (2:15). Its dangers include the evil people who take pleasure in doing wrongs, and hidden snares that may appear good but ultimately only bring harm. Most significant, however, is the path’s destination – destruction. “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (14:12). Jesus also spoke often of two choices, two ways of living and two paths. In the Sermon on the Mount, he talked about two roads, warned that people cannot serve two masters, and described two builders, one who was wise and one who was foolish. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate,” Jesus said. “The highway to destruction is broad, and its gate is wide for the many people who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it” (Matthew 7: 13-14). Whereas Proverbs describes a way of wisdom that leads to life and to God, Jesus defined that way in much more personal terms. He said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14: 6). The decision, as Jesus made clear, is not merely a matter of behavior or companions, but a choice about how we respond to him, whether or not we choose him as our path and our life. Let us never look back once we find the wise pathway that embodies truth and life. Prayer – Path to life, Way of Wisdom, I turn to run in your direction, knowing that only as I walk in you will I find joy and peace, satisfaction and security. Your Word is a lamp to my feet as I walk this path, enabling me to see your beauty and your worth, convincing me of the folly of any path that takes me in another direction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTQ_tOGKY6o Scripture Reading: “Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
In 1990, I was still a new Christian, and several people I knew in the church I was attending at the time gave their testimonies. One of them was a middle-aged woman that appeared to be in good health, so I was taken back when she told us about the time when her doctor told her that she had cancer. Having heard a few testimonies already over the preceding weeks, I immediately thought to myself, “Oh, oh. Here comes the ‘Lord. please take this cancer away’ statement.” But, to my shame and her credit, that’s not what she said. Her first thought was “Lord, help me to not stop loving you.” This totally caught me off-guard and really got my attention. In this one sentence, she had told an incredible God story! This one line captured her willingness to accept that she was weak; that she was susceptible to negative thoughts towards God, to unfaithfulness, and to selfishness. It also demonstrated her faithfulness, trust, love and obedience to Him. All those sentiments expressed in that one sentence! That was many years ago, and I honestly don’t remember much of her testimony anymore except that she said that she was cancer-free. But, I do remember the God story in her life. It had a profound effect on me at the time, and it still does today as I sometimes use this line when I prayer. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he boasts about God and talks about the thorn in his flesh and how he pleaded with God to take it away. God’s response, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” puts an end to Paul’s pleading, but, more importantly, it becomes Paul’s one sentence God story. The thorn in his flesh was not the primary focus of his life, just like the woman’s cancer was not the primary focus of her life. The primary focus of their stories was about God! His grace, His mercy, His love, and His faithfulness. And it was all expressed in one sentence. I’ve occasionally been known to deliver a clever one-liner just for fun, but one-liners are not limited to humour. Our God stories, our testimonies, can often be summed up in just one sentence, easy enough for someone else to remember and use as encouragement and inspiration for their lives. “Within you is a great oak. Just be the tree God made you to be.” This is the continual refrain in Max Lucado’s book, The Oak Inside the Acorn, which tells the journey of Little Acorn, who happens to fall into the back of a farmer’s truck and then into the fertile soil of an orange orchard. When Little Acorn awakes as a small tree, he begins to grow and wonders why he has no oranges. He remembers Mother Oak’s last words to him, “Within you is a great oak. Just be the tree God made you to be.” One day the young farmer comes and transplants Little Oak to his backyard. Every spring and summer, the growing sapling wonders when he will bloom with flowers like the petunias, roses and daisies around him. In his dreams he hears his mother’s words, “Within you is a great oak. Just be the tree God made you to be.” Many, many years later, Little Oak becomes Big Oak, a strong tree with branches perfect for a swing and tree house built for the farmer’s daughter. And at last Big Oak knows he has become the tree God made him to be.
What I love about this story is how it shows us that sometimes we don’t know what God is doing with us—what He is making us into—and the purpose for which we were created. In these moments of uncertainty, we wonder what is the fruit of my life? When the temptation comes to compare our life to someone else’s, we must trust that God is still growing us, taking us from the ‘seed’ and making us into the ‘tree’ we were meant to be. I was drawn to this story as I considered how many people may be re-thinking their life purpose and calling, given the current COVID19 pandemic. Businesses are closing, many jobs have been lost, families are experiencing a new dynamic with more time together at home, and church has become less of a physical gathering experience and more of a network of relationships. Many of us are beginning to recognize the weight of the shift happening among us as life continues with the future remaining uncertain. Things will likely not “return to normal”, rather we are experiencing a new reality we have not yet known. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24 NIV) What have you lost in this season? Might God use the discontinuation of this to initiate a new thing? What sprouts do you see? Where is the new life springing up? And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NRSV) Whatever the specifics, Scripture tells us God’s big picture intention is to transform us to look more and more like Jesus. This process, often called sanctification, is a life-long journey. It especially comes about when we focus our attention on Jesus. The more we look at Him, the more we look like Him. The first Psalm paints a metaphor for a person who meditates on the law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3 NIV) Notice, the tree yields fruit “in season” and its leaf “does not wither”. When we set our hearts to know God by meditating on scripture, we can be assured that our lives will be fruitful. Is it a season for fruit? If not, don’t despair, fix your eyes on Jesus and you will not wither. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6 NIV) Perhaps it is a season of preparation and new growth. Whatever the season, God is our source of nourishment, to grow and sustain us. If we are feeling uncertain about what good our lives are producing and what God is doing, the best thing to do is to wait with our gaze fixed on Jesus. Remember, Jesus was raised to be a carpenter—for 30 years he grew into this profession. But when God’s timing came, he stepped out of the old thing and into the new. If you are unsure of your specific purpose, you can always borrow Jesus’. On the day he began his ministry, he quoted these words from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV) Song: “If it’s not beautiful, you’re not done with me” -Pat Barret https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL66Byq3r1w Yesterday’s blog talked about valuing Jesus as the priceless treasure that He is. When we come to acknowledge how valuable He really is, we can then worship Him with proper reverence.
Psalm 72 contains a description of an exalted King and of the blessings of his reign. His Kingdom will be universal, eternal, securing perfect peace. And through this King, all nations will be blessed and bring Him praise. The psalmist (Solomon) prophetically saw a glimpse of when this King would be born, even as he described the nature of His Kingdom when it is fully consummated: “The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring Him gifts. All kings will bow before Him, and all nations will serve Him” (Psalm 72: 10-11). Kings from the most uncivilized, the most distant, and the most opulent nations will pay homage to the King of kings. The prophet Isaiah saw a glimpse of this event, too, when he wrote of the Messiah, “All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance” (Isaiah 60:3). Matthew wrote his gospel with a focus on helping the Jewish readers to see Jesus as the King they had been waiting and longing for. Matthew alone recorded the story of the kings who came to worship the infant Jesus: Some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.”…….. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. …….. They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2: 1-2, 9, 11) Matthew did not give us a lot of detail about the men themselves. He was more interested in telling us that Gentiles came to worship the Jewish Messiah and that they gave Him kingly gifts. He wanted us to see that Jesus is the King the psalmist and Isaiah saw. The apostle John helps us to see that these kings who came to Bethlehem were but a glimpse of all who will one day bow before Jesus in the new Jerusalem: “The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory” (Revelation 21: 24). Let us worship Jesus with a reverence that acknowledges He is the King of kings. Let us open up our treasure chests and give him the gifts of our trust, devotion, time, love and obedience. Prayer – King of kings, you are worthy of my most reverent worship and worthy of my most costly gifts. Therefore I bow low before you in anticipation of the day when every knee will bow and acknowledge you as King. From the beginning of time, humans have had difficulty discerning what is beautiful and valuable from what is worthless. Over and over again we have traded what is good and glorious and given by God to bless us for what is destructive and diminishing and intended to trouble us. The psalmist described how God’s people did this in the desert when “they traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull” (Psalm 106: 20).
The people of Jesus’ day had the same problem. The Son of God stood before them and they did not recognize how beautiful and valuable He was. Standing in a boat at the water’s edge, Jesus told a story about two people who recognized an object’s true value. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! (Matthew 13: 44-46) Though most who heard this parable had a hard time understanding its meaning, Jesus was telling them the He is a priceless treasure, a valuable pearl. It is worth trading everything you own to have him. It is only as the Spirit of God works in us that we can see the true value of things, and most importantly, the truly magnificent value of Christ. This is what the psalmist was saying when he wrote, “I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God then live a good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84: 10). The writer of this psalm saw it as a good trade to give up the stuff of this world for a relationship with God. Paul also recognized the value of Christ and so was willing to trade anything and everything to have him. “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it as nothing, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him” (Philippians 3: 8-9). Recently, we have come to see the fragility and insufficiency of the treasures of this world. But Jesus is a priceless treasure that will never pass away. Let us value Him more then anything. Prayer – Jesus, priceless Treasure, how my value system needs an overhaul. I so often value the things of this world that are worthless and passing away. I devalue what is worthwhile, priceless and eternal. Only your Spirit can give me a heart and eyes to see your beauty and worth. Help me to value you as the magnificent treasure that you are. |
Preachers BlogIn 2024, each week's blog is a follow-up reflection written by the preceding Sunday’s preacher to dig deeper into the sermon topic and explore engaging discussion questions. Archives
June 2024
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