Benefits of Believing: Lifetime Guarantees
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6
(blessings, assurances, guarantees)
We have a lot of things that follow us, don’t we? Our reputations, mistakes, our regrets, even our shame all seem to attach themselves to us and we find them hard to shake off. They follow us and seem to make themselves apparent at inopportune times, whether to others or just to ourselves as a grim and nagging reminder of all that we’re not.
As parents, we would gladly unburden our sons and daughters from those things that would define them negatively and remind them of their failures and missteps. It’s a form of bondage that the enemy uses to keep us from being effective, and it’s debilitating.
But God says differently. He casts our sin aside because He paid the price for our sin with His blood and redeemed us at the cross. Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Our sin doesn’t define us any more. We are made new, the old is gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!”
When we become children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High, different things follow us. God ensures that all the days of our life we are hemmed in behind and before with His goodness and merciful love. Psalm 139:5 “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” He reminds us that we are His protected child, Psalm 91:14-16 ““Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
God guarantees us this protection for ALL the days of our life, not some, not most, but all!!
As parents, don’t we long for a lifetime assurance that our sons and daughters will be okay? Believe me, God wants that too- He’s a Father after all.
He’s assured us that if we are His sheep He will care for us, protect us, guide us, accompany us, and provide for us abundantly. But He also promises that surely, SURELY, goodness and love WILL follow us all the days of our life.
The word surely in Hebrew is ‘ak’. It’s an affirmation that means “certainly” or “nevertheless”. “It’s a positive affirmation with emphasis on the expression of a truth: surely there is no doubt.” (1)
Throughout Psalm 23, God shows us all of the ways He cares, protects and provides for us. Then, at the end, He affirms that He will, without question, bless us again (and again and again) with His goodness and loving kindness- always, forever, continually and without fail. God will never ‘fall out of love’ with us. Read that again. God will NEVER not love us. He cannot- it’s not in His nature to not love, because God is love, 1 John 4:11 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
Oh how we want our sons and daughters to believe this and experience it for themselves!! May they know the Love of God intimately, personally, perpetually so that their life is dominated and directed by it. May it be all-consuming, ever-comforting, and perpetually present and tangible to them. Today, let’s pray for just that. That our dear ones would come to understand and experience the goodness of God and His relentless, unexpiring, comprehensive love for them.
“Oh, gracious, loving Father, Abba. You are the One who loved us before we ever knew You. Father, I pray in your goodness and mercy, You would surround (name) today. Show them Your mighty protection from the things of this world that would pull their gaze from You and would seek to deceive them with promises of fulfillment that will never satisfy. I pray that as in Exodus 33:19, all of Your goodness would overflow abundantly to (name). “And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” I pray that not only Your goodness, but Your mercy would be present in (name)’s life. Show them, Lord, how You protect and keep them. Open their eyes to the spiritual shield around them. Give them knowledge and understanding that Your Sovereignty ordains their steps and determines their days. Help (name) crave Your goodness and Your mercy. Lord, may they live out the scripture of Psalm 23, following You as Lord and Shepherd, knowing their needs are fulfilled, their whole being is safe and protected and that their inheritance in the saints is secure. Lord, God, Almighty, I pray that You would draw their heart to Your own so that they desire and seek You all of their days. May they abide in You so that when You call them home, they will abide WITH You, eternally. I pray these things in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, amen.”
Pray without ceasing.
H389 - 'aḵ - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (ESV). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h389/esv/wlc/0-1/
Looking for Smoke, Watching for Fire.
Read Jonah 3-4
God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach of His pending judgment for their sinful ways and call them to repentance. Jonah’s response wasn’t obedience, but a fast dash in the opposite direction and from God’s command.. But then, the storm, the fish, the 3 day ordeal and Jonah repented….or so we thought. His prayer in Jonah 2:8 was profound, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
When we join him in chapter 3, Jonah is headed into Nineveh, a city of over 120,000 people. It was a large and influential city and a visit to all of Nineveh took no less than three days. That’s an important fact to remember.
Jonah began on day one, preaching “40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned”. Friends, this was one man speaking to a wealthy, influential city. Just one. We’ve seen accounts of someone storming a government meeting, shouting their warning- and being quickly whisked away, while all go back to their business. We’ve seen pictures of a man standing in a crowded city with a sign, “the end of the world is near” as people walk by, indifferent to his warning. Imagine Jonah, preaching God’s judgment in such a huge city- he was likely to be ignored, mocked or run out of town. But no. No, Nineveh listened. In fact, they listened so well that within a day, the entire city believed God’s warning. They began fasting and the king even made a decree that everyone should call urgently on the Lord.. Can you imagine a revival like that?! One day and the entire city was mourning their sin. That’s the power of God at work! Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”
You would think Jonah would be rejoicing- so overwhelmed, excited, and grateful that Nineveh responded to God’s message. But Jonah? He wasn’t impressed. In fact, he was angry. He was self-righteous and resentful. Jonah 4:2-3 “He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”” Jonah then went outside the city, made himself a shelter and sat to wait and watch what would happen to the city (v. 5) He wanted to see Nineveh receive what they deserved- a fiery judgment from the Lord. So he waited. He watched. He wanted to see smoke. And his attitude kept him from seeing the blessing and grace of the Lord revealed to over 120,000 souls.
Here’s the thing, Jonah elevated his own standard of justice above God’s. Jonah resented God’s forgiveness of the Ninevites. He wanted to see them receive the just reward for their sinfulness. He was eager to see smoke and he was ready to be smug and say “you got what you deserved!” Yet, he was ignoring the sin in his own heart. Oh, he obeyed God…on the outside, but inside, he was still as resentful, rebellious and selfish as he was when he stepped foot on the boat.
Friends, I fear we are more like Jonah than we might imagine. We have a fierce sense of justice. We hate to see people get away with wrongdoing. We hate to see the wicked prosper. When someone wrongs another, we want to see them caught in their sin and punished for the pain they caused. Yet, what if they repent? What if they confess their sin and seek forgiveness? And what if they receive mercy instead of punishment? If we’re honest, we struggle with forgiveness and mercy toward those who did wrong because it’s not what that ‘other’ deserves. They deserve condemnation. They deserve for God to ‘smite’ them. Our sense of justice might demand they pay a little more, they suffer a bit longer, they earn their way back into grace. Oh friends, God’s justice is not ours. Isaiah 5:16 says, “But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.” Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”
Jonah lost sight of his own sin. He couldn’t see that he was rebellious against God, too. He didn’t see the depth of God’s forgiveness and mercy for him- he could only see the ‘injustice’ of God’s mercy on Nineveh. Jonah was outwardly obedient to God’s command and inwardly turning his back to the Lord’s standards and creating his own. Jonah, himself, had a idol- craving his own sense of justice and fairness, and that idol robbed him of the grace he would receive from God through his surrender and obedience.
Oh, the story of Jonah holds much appeal for our little ones as they learn the miracle of his rescue in the fish. But friends, the story of Jonah holds much for us and our adult sons and daughters in the bigger story of his outward obedience but his inward bitterness and rebellion. It’s not difficult to live in such a way that we ‘appear’ obedient- especially if we were raised in church.. We check all the boxes; we show up as we should; we ‘talk the talk’. But, we can appear outwardly obedient and still rebel against God in our hearts. We can resent his mercy to those who are undeserving….and totally miss the fact that we are just as undeserving. Romans 5:6-8 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We were undeserving. Justice demanded that we pay for our sin with our life- for eternity. Yet, Jesus stepped in on our behalf. He showed us mercy when we deserved none. And if we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, God looks on us and sees Christ’s righteousness. That, friends, is amazing. It’s undeserved. It's a merciful redemption that changes our eternity. And we should rejoice when anyone believes, repents and surrenders to God.
Do we have a Jonah heart? Do we hold others' sins against them even when God has forgiven them? Are we giddy to see people receive punishment or do we pray for their repentance and that they would know God’s forgiveness? Friends, we have nothing to resent when someone is repentant and shown mercy- it should always be a reminder of the mercy we also received from God. We were and are undeserving. We should rejoice in the repentance of others. And if we can’t? Well, then it might be time to check our hearts.
And Jonah? He was the author of this book. He could have resolved the story and shared how he followed God faithfully. He could have painted himself in a much better light. But he didn’t. Jonah ended his story with God’s rebuke against this prophet’s rebellious, vengeful heart. There was no ‘neat little bow’ on top of this story. Instead, there was a hard lesson and an unresolved sin that leaves us to ponder how Jonah, the prophet and author, was used by God in spite of his heart. And he was used by God in mighty ways. Even unbelievers know the story of Jonah- and God can use those seeds to change lives. Our rebellion will never be powerful enough to prevent God from working…but it can be powerful enough to cause us to forfeit the grace that would be ours.
There is no doubt we’ll meet Jonah in heaven and when we do, I’m sure he will have quite a story…but it’s not just going to be about the fish. It’s going to be about his heart and the weight of God’s mercy toward him. Instead of looking for smoke and watching for fire, let’s look to see how God is working and rejoice when He turns hearts and lives to Him.
Let’s take time to pray today for our own hearts and for those of our sons and daughters. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for a surrendered heart. Pray for freedom from a judgmental spirit. Pray that God would use each of us in spite of ourselves. And pray that we would not cling to idols and forfeit the grace He wants to lavish on each of us.
Pray without ceasing.
Action. Affection. Direction.
Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8 is an oft-quoted verse that is so familiar. It’s on plaques and bumper stickers. It’s emblazoned on t-shirts and mugs. It’s a staple of ‘Christianese’.. And often we look at it, mouth the words and in our hearts say ‘Yes! Yes!’, but it’s likely we miss the real depth of the message. Oh, friends, it’s so much more.
God used the prophet Micah to warn the nation of Israel of pending judgment. But what was Israel doing that was deserving of judgment? Well, they strayed from God, followed false gods and were using their power to oppress others. They didn’t want to listen to God’s word and when Micha prophesied, they told him to stop. Their deeds were evil and their hearts were hard (see Micah ch. 2) Couldn’t that be a commentary on our world today?
But when faced with pending judgment, the Israelites were quick and ready to make sacrifices to show their repentance. But, that’s not what God wanted from them. As Micah’s predecessor, Samuel, told the Israelites earlier, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22) God made it clear, through Micah, what He wanted Israel to do…and it didn’t involve sacrifice, rather, it involved submitting their hearts and lives. He said they must: 1. Do justly. 2. Love mercy. 3. Walk humbly. God addressed their actions, affections and direction.
This is big-picture thinking here. When we pray for our sons and daughters, we pray for safety, we ask God for wisdom, we pray for their relationships, we plead for protection from sin and temptation…and the list goes on. But, friends, that is all encompassed by these three things. Action. Affection. Direction.
Why is it that we struggle with these? “Do justly”. It shouldn’t be difficult, yet we hesitate, we don’t want to get involved, we don’t have time. But God loves justice and it’s a quality of His character. If we are to reflect God and bear His image, shouldn’t we be concerned for just treatment of all those who also bear Him image? (hint, that’s all of mankind, friends)
Then, we’re called to love mercy. LOVE mercy. Yet, we often mete out mercy based on who we think deserves it…and if we deem someone undeserving, we withhold mercy. But being merciful is another quality of God that we’re called to reflect. And we are ALL undeserving of His mercy, yet He gives us to us lavishly.
Here’s the thing…too often we fall into the lure of ‘head knowledge’ and we’re quick to show how much we know and perhaps we become ‘puffed up’ with our theological depth. We mistakenly think that knowledge is the ultimate mark of our spirituality and we lack mercy toward those who may not be as ‘learned’ as we. But our lives lack a reflection of the character of God. Oh, knowledge is good and important, but if we value knowledge above all, we are incomplete. There’s a name for that…it’s called being a Pharisee. Matthew 23:23 ““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” You see, the Pharisees had a lot of knowledge, and they were quick to sacrifice….but they lacked an understanding and personal knowledge of the heart and character of God. In all of their knowledge, they didn’t reflect Jesus to others. And they lacked humility.
Finally, we’re called to walk humbly with our God. God calls us to secure our direction and ensure we’re moving with Him, not away from and not sitting idly by the way. Colossians 1:10-11 “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;”
Action. Affection. Direction. It’s what we’re called to. It’s what we must be mindful of and intentional to pursue in the context of our faith in Christ.
Let’s pray today that the Lord works in each of these areas in our sons and daughters so they are moved to be imitators of God’s character and followers of His leading in their lives.
“Lord, I pray today that You would empower (name) to act justly today. May their desire for what is right rule every choice they make. Let them be a defender of the oppressed and a lifter of those who need encouragement and help. Keep them from compromise that would desensitize them to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And Father-God, help them to love mercy. May the affections of their heart and mind always be centered on how you poured your love out to us through Jesus’ death while we were still powerless and drenched in sin (Romans 5:6-8) That that love be what motivates them to be merciful to others and demonstrate Christ in them to all those they meet. Finally, Lord, I pray that they would always, always follow after You. May their direction never waver and their moral compass always be true to Your Word and running the race You’ve set before them. I pray that their actions, affection and direction would always reflect Jesus and be a testimony of your saving grace in their life. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Yet He Saved Us
Psalm 106:8 “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.”
Look around. Our world is coming apart at the seams, isn’t it? People are gasping for life and grasping for anything to catch them from falling further into despair. Anger is strong and is expressed freely and often against others. So many people are struggling with a lack of purpose and meaning. They chase after things to fill the emptiness and yet they look around and exclaim, “there has to be more than this!” Sin is a destroyer. It decays us from our outward self with sickness and age all the way down to our innermost soul, trapped in darkness desperately searching for life and light.
When man sinned in the garden, God could have wiped it all away and started fresh. But He didn’t. No, He loved us too much for that. We were His image-bearers, the ones who walked with Him in the garden in the cool of the day, with whom He enjoyed sweet fellowship. So, instead of starting over, He made a way for His image-bearers to be redeemed and restored to fellowship with Him. And that way? Oh, it wasn’t the grand production you might imagine, no, it involved God stepping out of eternity and into time as a baby, the Christ-child, born to die for our sins.
Our purpose in life is bigger than our own agenda or accomplishments. It goes beyond ‘living our best life now’ and discovering ‘who we are meant to be’. God’s eternal plan was set in place long before the world was even created and each of us has a role, custom-written for us by the Father. Psalm 139:16 says “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
He saved us not because of anything we have done or could do, but for His glory and might alone! We, on our own, are so unworthy. 2 Timothy 1:9 says “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” Oh dear ones, do we realize how precious we are to our Father?
Parents, have we instilled enough Biblical, Godly wisdom and knowledge into our sons and daughters that they truly understand this? -That their worth is in God alone to bring Him glory? Or, have we pressured them on the performance level, reinforcing an undercurrent of ‘I love you more if…’
You please me as a parent and do what I expect
You perform on the scoreboard
Your GPA is strong
Your career is successful
You have a family-husband, wife, grandkids… that I am proud of…
Oh, that may seem harsh, but friends, far too often young people strive to gain the approval of us, their parents, because we’ve created a narrative that tells them that is where their worth is found… or we withhold encouragement and love if they have not done these, and thereby reinforce those messages again. In our warped, human frailty, we struggle to make ourselves worthy and we fall into the trap of thinking we actually can.
Friends, if God loved us that way, we’d all be goners. There is NOTHING we can do that would make us acceptable to God or make us fit to gain His approval. And that, friends, is why Jesus came. He provided a way of salvation for us when there was no way. And why? “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.”
Today, let’s pray that our sons and daughters would know, without a doubt, that their worth, purpose and meaning are found in Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, and their relationship with Him. Let’s pray they are not ‘performance driven’ but soul-stirred by the Holy Spirit to run after God with all they have and all they are. Let’s pray they are sold-out for Jesus…and let’s encourage them in that!!
Christmas Season Challenge: Whenever you see a manger scene, pray that others who see it would have their eyes opened to the gift of Jesus- the eternal stepping into the temporal to save our weary souls. Pray for salvation for all who need the Lord.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Pray without ceasing.
Mercy, Delivered in Faithfulness and Righteousness
Psalm 143:1-2 A psalm of David. LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.
If any of us has a son or daughter who is not a believer, God’s mercy is likely the plea of our heart. If we have a prodigal, God’s mercy is what we plead to bring them back to the family and back to the cross. When we are watching our children make unwise and ungodly decisions, our hearts ache for God’s mercy in their lives and their recognition of what His mercy offers them.
David, in Psalm 143, cries out to God for mercy, appealing to His faithfulness and righteousness for deliverance. Why is that? It’s important to understand God’s attribtes and what they mean for us.
He IS faithful:
Firmness, steadiness, security (1)
Established & trustworthy (2)
To support, be established, stand firm. (3)
When we cry out to God, we can be confident that He is steady, strong and secure. He is trustworthy- He will always provide what is appropriate and necessary. He will not deceive and He will not do a ‘bait and switch’ on us. His support is firm and reliable and is always what we need in every situation. When we cry out, His response is faithful.
And He is righteous:
Justice and righteousness in rule, morally and as an attribute of God (4)
To be just, have a just cause, to do or bring justice, vindicate (5)
God is the standard of righteousness. When we appeal to Him, we know we are calling out to the Source of Truth and the model for all that is right.
Think about those attributes. Our God, alone, is faithful. His nature is the example of faithfulness, reliable in and out of season. Everything points back to Him alone. He is steady, secure and trustworthy. He is righteous. He alone determines what is right and true. Truth is not relative to a situation or an individual. Truth does not change, depending on circumstances. God alone embodies moral rightness and determines and makes us righteous through His blood.
When we pray for our sons and daughters, do we stop and appeal to the perfect attributes of our God, resting and believing confidently in Who He is and what He is able to do, or do we simply list out our needs?
Do we ponder from what aspects of God’s character those answers come? Mindful prayer. It can change our perspective and deepen our awe and fear of God.
What is it that you long for as you pray for your sons and daughters today? Rescue? Protection? Blessing and favor? Any of the answers that God gives us emanate from His character and nature.
David appealed to God’s faithfulness and righteousness when He cried out for mercy, forgiveness and relief. Today, let’s appeal to God’s faithfulness and righteousness as we pray for the burdens we carry. Trust that in His perfect character, He will answer completely and perfectly in His time. Trust that He is faithful and righteous.
“Lord, today I cry out for mercy on (name)’s behalf. You know where they are and what they are doing. You know, better than I do, what they need and long for. Lord, you know where their heart is. I pray that they would be aligned with and committed to You. Lord, don’t allow them to compromise or be pulled away by temptation. Help them stand firm in their faith. Have mercy, Lord, to ensure (name) walks faithfully with You. Father, you understand a parent’s heart. I plead with You today that you would protect and preserve (name) so they would stand with you in glory as one of Your own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Resources:
1. H530 - 'ĕmûnâ - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h530/kjv/wlc/0-1/
2. H529 - 'ēmûn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h529/kjv/wlc/0-1/
3. H539 - 'āman - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h539/kjv/wlc/0-1/
4. H6666 - ṣᵊḏāqâ - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6666/kjv/wlc/0-1/
5. H6663 - ṣāḏaq - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6663/kjv/wlc/0-1/
Sunday Worship
Before the day's last moments fly,
Maker of all, to you we cry;
Beneath your kind protection take,
and shield us for your mercy's sake.
Let no ill dreams, our souls alarm,
No power of night approach to harm;
Let us lie down and take our rest
In knowledge that your love is best.
Father of mercies, hear our cry;
Oh hear, co-equal Son most high:
Whom with the Spirit we adore,
One only God for evermore.
Based on an anonymous text from the 7th or 17th century, translated by Robert Campbell (1814-1868)
gleaned from: https://www.godsongs.net/2014/02/before-the-days-last-moments-fly.html
Saturday Review
Once again, lets review our prayer points from the week and pray over them one more time. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16b
Pray Hebrews 4:16 over our sons and daughters, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Ask the Lord to help them draw near to Him and be willing and expectant to receive His mercy and grace.
Take a look at that list you made this week of the most unlikely people to be prayed over. Pray for them again, sincerely. Pray for those you struggle to love. Pray for those whose actions repulse you. Pray for those who seem too far gone to ever be saved. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Pray for them by name or affiliation and ask God to work in hearts and minds. Ask Him to let them see Jesus. His mercy is great. Be willing to plead His mercy for others and pray that our sons and daughters would be willing to do the same.
Pray that our sons and daughters are the aroma of life because of God’s mercy shown to them. Pray that they fully grasp the greatness and beauty of God’s mercy and all it has rescued them from. Pray that they have a heart for the lost, to pray and share the gospel to those who are dying.
Ask the Lord to help our sons and daughters realize the wonderful forgiving mercy of our Lord and Savior. In their failures and shortcomings, His mercy is great and it’s what they need to continue moving forward, accomplishing what God has planned for them.
Pray that we, as believers, would wait for God’s justice and would look for His mercy in even the most difficult and painful situations. Let’s pray that our sons and daughters would realize the blessing of His mercy, held for them and showered on them by a God who is willing to wait and show patience.
Pray without ceasing.
Start Chiseling…
Exodus 34:4-7 “So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.””
Exodus 34 follows the whole debacle of the golden calf and the Israelites exchanging their worship of God for worship of something made by their hands (Ex. 32). Moses saw what was happening and was so outraged, he smashed the stone tablets on the ground. Yes, THOSE tablets, given by God, showing the 10 commandments. Moses had just come from the presence of God and then walked into the scene and totally lost his temper.
Oh, friends, how many times do we do that? We come out of a beautiful quiet time or time of worship and immediately our human nature takes over- we speak harsh words, cast judgement, or show selfish behavior and then, like Moses, we have to go back to the Lord and face our errors.
God could have told Moses that he’d blown his one and only chance. Sure….but He didn’t. The Lord could have banished Moses and chosen another to take his place. But He didn’t. The Lord could have berated Moses and made him feel worthless and a failure, yet He didn’t. He showed mercy. He simply told Moses to ““Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.” (Ex. 34:1)
God’s mercy is more than we could ever fully comprehend. Yet, too often we gloss over it or disregard it. Too often we want to withhold it from others because we’ve decided they’re not deserving. Oh, we are so foolish and full of ourselves. Our pride and arrogance stand in the way of the most wonderful gift God could give us- His bountiful mercy. He is a loving God, faithful and slow to anger. Do our sons and daughters understand this?? Do they really know what God’s mercy is and that it can be theirs?
Friends, our kids will mess up. They will make poor choices. They will focus on the wrong things, yet, they are still learning. If we’re honest, we are still learning too. Can we show mercy as God does or are we going to hold it against them because they didn’t meet our expectations?
Today, let’s pray that when our sons and daughters ‘mess up’, they realize the wonderful forgiving mercy of our Lord and Savior. Rather than berating them or telling them all the ways they disappointed Him, He simply hands them another tablet and says “start chiseling”. Can we do that with our sons and daughters as well?
“Lord, I pray that You would help me to be merciful. Keep me from arrogant sin that would elevate my expectations and my abilities over someone else and cause them to feel inferior, insufficient or incapable. Help me not to do this to my sons and daughters. Lord, if you did that to us, we would never survive. Yet, in Your mercy, You reach down and support us, encourage us and give us the strength we need to complete the task You’ve given us. I pray for (name) today. Let them focus on You, not things, people or accomplishments. Help them to trust You and rest in You for all they need. May they securely find their identity and meaning in You. Give them insight to understand how Your great mercy is the very thing that sustains their life each day. I pray that they would humbly acknowledge You and all You do for them and then, following Your example, show mercy to others who need to know You too. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Pray without ceasing.
Oh, His Mercy Brings Life.
Ephesians 2:4-5 “ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Roadkill is something we’re sure to encounter if we spend any amount of time driving. And roadkill in the summer...well, that is a whole other experience that is difficult to put into words. It smells...no, it reeks. It is pungent and awful and we can smell it long before we see it. We might quickly put up the windows and hold our breath until we’re past the offensive carcass, but somehow the stink of death lingers and we remember it even when we are long past the location. And somewhere, someone is tasked with cleaning that up, but it’s not a job to be envied and few would admit to doing it.
What if we took that roadkill and ‘dressed it up’? It would still be dead and stinking. Oh, we could put it on a pedestal, give it a title, but, even then, it would still be dead. The process of decay would continue and the stench with it. You see, it’s dead. It is unredeemable. No amount of effort, attention, accolades or affection will revive it. It will just continue to bear the stench of death. It has no life and cannot mimic it.
Friends, that was us. We were dead in transgressions. We were rotting corpses of sin, stinking and decaying spiritually. Oh, maybe we tried to dress ourselves up and go through the motions, but we were still decaying. Perhaps we tried to give ourselves importance and align ourselves with others who could give us value, but death ruled and robbed us of any worth.
And then came Jesus. He was and is bold and brave enough to step into our death and misery. He could tolerate our stench because He already faced death and won. He paid the price for our sin. Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. He loved us when we were unable to love Him. He made us alive in Christ when we had no power to embrace life on our own.
He wasn’t afraid of our stench. He wasn’t repulsed by our rotting souls. He could have swept us aside, scooped us up with the refuse or walked away to a cleaner, more pleasant experience. But He saw our worth despite the death that surrounded us and He took hold of us and redeemed us. He gave us a new name and called us His child. Now, we bear the fragrance of Christ, the fragrance of life.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”
God’s mercy is powerful.
Today, let’s pray that our sons and daughters are the aroma of life to those around them because of God’s mercy in their lives. Pray that they fully grasp the greatness and beauty of God’s mercy and all it has rescued them from. Pray that they have a heart for the lost, to pray for and share the gospel to those who are dying.
Pray without ceasing.
Time is Short but His Mercy is Great
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
The events going on in Afghanistan are heartbreaking. The news is devastating. Desperate people are scrambling to get into the airport for a chance to leave the country. They’re climbing walls and fences and even clinging to the sides of a transport plane as it taxis for takeoff. Parents are desperately trying to give their children to anyone who might carry them to safety outside of the reach of the Taliban. They’re trying to leverage who they know and what they’ve accomplished to buy their way out of the country. The panic on their faces and the fear in their eyes communicate much more than words ever could. They see how this is going to end and they want to do everything possible to save themselves and their loved ones.
But why didn’t they leave last week? Yes, there was concern in Afghanistan, but no real desperation. Although the threat of evil was present, it wasn’t as visible. They thought they had more time.
Friends, this scenario is very much akin to the spiritual condition of the world right now. Things are getting worse and Jesus’ return is near, but few seem to be concerned. People think they have ‘more time’, they’ll get right with God ‘later’, yet, when that moment of Jesus’ return is upon us and believers are taken from this world, there will be massive panic and desperation. People will be scrambling to find a way out. The pages of Revelation will come to life and those who thought they had more time to get right with God will be desperate. But who they know and what they’ve accomplished will mean nothing.
Admit it. We are overwhelmed with the evil that we see and we just want God to smite the evildoers and be done with it. Yet, He waits. Why? Because He wants to give many the opportunity to turn their hearts to Christ. He doesn’t want any to perish...and neither should we.
Rather than complain and worry about how bad things are getting, let’s pray. Really pray. Let’s point our sons and daughters to the value of an eternal focus and get them to pray as well. Pray for those being persecuted. Pray for those who fear for their lives. Pray for believers, that they would stand strong in their faith and pray for unbelievers, that they would come to know Jesus. We can do that, right?
But here’s a challenge for you….pray for the evildoers. That’s a shocking thing to think about. Maybe it startled you to read it. Good. Jesus died for them too. They are image-bearers. Despite the evil that indwells them, they have a Father in Heaven who longs to have relationship with them. 2 Peter 3:9 says “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” That “ALL” includes even the most evil people. They need Christ. It is not for us to decide who deserves prayer. It is just up to us to follow Christ in obedience. Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
God has the power to do more than we could ask or think. Today, sit down and make a list of the most unlikely people to be prayed over, and then do it. Pray for them, sincerely. Pray for those you struggle to love. Pray for those whose actions repulse you. Pray for those who seem too far gone to ever be saved. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Pray for them by name or affiliation and ask God to work in hearts and minds. Ask Him to let them see Jesus. His mercy is great.
And then pray for our sons and daughters that they would have a heart that longs to see others know God’s mercy.
Pray without ceasing.
Expect Mercy
Hebrews 4:16. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
As a school-aged child, the thought of being sent to the Principal’s office was often an anxious one. If we were sent there, it likely meant we did something wrong and we would have to face the consequences. We knew enough about the Principal to know he was an authority figure who we feared. We likely carried our backpack and waited with trepidation to hear our sentence. We expected punishment.
But, if the Principal was a friend, someone we trusted who treated us with kindness, we might find ourselves eager to stop in and say hello. The office wasn’t a place to be feared but a welcome place where we were seen and encouraged. We could drop our backpack, unload our worries and likely get a sticker and a smile to encourage us. Even if there we’d done wrong, we trusted those there to treat us fairly.
When we mess up in life, what is it that we fear most? If we don’t know the Lord, maybe we fear the consequences of what we’ve done- the fallout from our choices, actions and words. Perhaps we struggle with the angst of ‘karma’ and the just repercussions of what we deserve. We drag our baggage with us with no sign of relief or rest and no expectation of any mercy. Or maybe we know enough to understand the wrath of God is to be feared… and we fear how it will impact us.
But knowing about God and knowing God are two very different things.
If we know the Lord, we should understand the mercy of a Loving Father. He welcomes us into His throne room. We can run in without hesitation, drop our baggage and throw ourselves into His merciful embrace. He’s got mercy for us in abundance. No, He won’t excuse away our willful sin, but He will forgive our trespasses when we come to Him with a contrite heart. He wraps His loving arms around us and tells us that His mercy is enough to cover all of our mistakes, completely and for all time. We can approach His throne of grace with confidence, not fear and expect mercy.
What do our sons and daughters understand about God’s mercy, really? Let’s pray Hebrews 4:16 over them today and ask the Lord to help them know and have confidence in His mercy.
“Heavenly Father, I pray for (name) today that they would, with confidence, draw near Your throne of grace. Lord, don’t let them be anxious or fearful, but to come before you knowing that You love them and want to welcome them in, show them grace and mercy and help them in their time of need. Lord, work in (name)’s heart this morning. Help them not just know ‘about’ You, but to know You personally and to love you deeply. Help them to be confident they can trust You with anything, even their worst mistakes, knowing You will treat them with grace and mercy. Lord, be near to them today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Pray without ceasing.