THANKFUL

Good Friday, April 15, 2022,

Lord, Good Friday is good for whom? For Jesus? Maybe, but not so much. Good, pure, innocent Jesus, Your only Son, left Heaven on a holy mission to become the Lamb of God to take away the sins of mankind (John 1:29). Jesus became a human like me—like all of us. And like us, He faced temptations in this fallen world. But Satan worked overtime to tempt Jesus, the Son of God, in every way imaginable, yet He lived a sinless life as a human. He never sinned. Not one time. Ever!

Because You are a Holy and Righteous God, You take sin seriously. Scripture states sin can only be removed by the shedding of innocent blood (Hebrews 9:22). Over the centuries, the countless millions of perfect, innocent lambs sacrificed every year failed to remove sin from mankind. Therefore, only Jesus, the Lamb of God, would be an acceptable sacrifice for our sins. Sinless Jesus was about to have all the sins ever committed in the history of the world dumped on Him while You poured out Your Holy wrath on Him. Was it unjust? Absolutely! And for the first time in eternity, You, Lord God, would turn Your back on Your Son Jesus, because He was now sin! (Matthew 27:46).  

Was it necessary? Absolutely. But Jesus, Your triumphant cry, “It is finished!” still resounds throughout the universe. The Lamb of God has satisfied the punishment for sin once and for all. And all who believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for sin have eternal life (John 3:16–18).

So, for whom is Good Friday good for? For mankind? For you and me? Absolutely.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Lord, Your grace is remarkable. On that Thursday night when You celebrated the Passover with Your beloved disciples, the example You set for serving one another is beyond gracious.  John’s Gospel chapter 13 describes how after what we call today the “Last Supper,” You washed each disciple’s feet. But, what irony. 

How Your heart must have been overjoyed, as You washed Your beloved disciples’ feet. Yes, You were fully aware that these same feet would within a few hours desert You in fear, fleeing for their lives when You were arrested. But You were also fully aware these same feet would one day carry the Gospel around the world, to proclaim the Good News of Salvation through Your sacrifice on the cross, and forever change the world.

You were fully aware of Judas plot to betray You to those who would nail You to a cross, You tenderly washed his feet, the feet that would soon leave to meet with the religious leaders who hated You. You washed the feet that would lead a contingent of soldiers to arrest You in Gethsemane. You washed the feet that followed the mob to the high priest’s home for Your unlawful trial. You washed the feet that stood in the Roman praetorium when You were condemned.  You washed the feet that ran swiftly back to the Temple to throw down the 30 pieces of silver in remorse. You washed the feet that would sadly turn away, rejecting repentance and forgiveness. How Your heart must have been broken as You washed the feet that would within hours hang lifeless after willingly walking into a godless eternity. 

Lord, create in me a servant’s heart, that loves as You love. As Isaiah described the beauty of the message of salvation, use my feet to carry Your Gospel of Grace and Love, redemption from sins to those around me to change my world. Amen. (Isaiah 52:7)

Monday, April 11, 2022

Lord, after Your triumphant entrance into the holy city Jerusalem, cleaning house was one of the first items on Your agenda during that Holy Week. Over the years You had seen the corruption taking place in the Temple grounds by the unscrupulous merchants and dishonest priests, selling “sacrificial” lambs and doves, cheating the worshippers who in good faith came to worship Passover. You had enough. The people were shocked how the kind and gentle Jesus of Nazareth overturned their tables, scattered their goods and animals, and drove them from Your Temple. “My House shall be called a House of Prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves,” You declared with Your holy authority (Matthew 21:12, 13). You cleansed the sin that had infested Your Temple.

The all-too-human psalmist realized he had “tables” that needed overturning in his life. Scripture tells Christ-followers are Your Temple because Your Spirit lives within us (1 Corinthians 6:19). I too realize tables within my heart that You did not set up and need overturning. The psalmist prayed, risking vulnerability. “Search me, O God . . . Point out anything in me that offends You. and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23,24). Oh, Lord. If I pray that prayer I may not like what You reveal, but I know tables must be overturned for me to be the Christ-follower You created me to be. Am I cheating You, Lord, out of time, attention, and growing closer to You?  Am I withholding affection that is rightfully Yours? Forgive me Lord.

May I sincerely echo the psalmist’s prayer. Once I begin the effort of overturning my tables, I know You will jump in to help turn them over completely. Amen.

Friday, April 8, 2022,

Lord, the psalmist tried it and it didn’t work. Many Christ-followers try it too, myself included. The results are always the same. On one hand, I had one foot in the world, following carnal man’s ways while on the other hand, I had my other foot in Your Kingdom, following You. That way of living falls short of what You have for Your followers.

You command us to decide: Choose wisely whom you will serve. Either ignore My standards and live as unbelievers live, or devote yourselves fully to serve Me, Your Lord. You can’t live both ways (Joshua 24:15).

The psalmist grew weary trying to live both lifestyles simultaneously. Finally, he had enough and put down a stake: “I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by Your regulations,” he publicly declared to You, Lord (Psalm 119:30). For those who choose to wholeheartedly follow You, we soon experience what the psalmist experienced: the demonic attacks increase against our growing faith. Trials, one after another, testing that stretches our newly heightened faith, problems blindsiding us out of nowhere. The psalmist stubbornly resolved to remain faithful, since he had been down that “cut-and-run” road before. “I cling to Your laws [promises] […] The more I seek You, the more You expand my knowledge of who You are.” He prayed most earnestly. “Lord, don’t let me be put to shame for failing You again, and bringing embarrassment to Your kingdom, (v 32). May I pray the same, Lord.

Let it be known today. As a Christ-follower, I choose to serve You, Lord Jesus. Amen

Wednesday, April 6, 2022,

Lord, the psalmist was so human. He could have hidden his many flaws, his shortcomings, yet he chose to reveal in his psalms his struggles, his fears, his temptations while trying to live for You in this broken world. He didn’t portray himself as a “super-believer,” never wavering, never falling, always completely obeying Your commandments. In complete transparency, he openly confessed his sins and failures. At one point he shared his vulnerability to temptation: “You made me; You created me,” he wrote. “Now give me the sense to follow Your commands.” (Psalm 119:73). After all these years, how did I miss this truism? If only this was everyone’s prayer. It should be my prayer.

You created us in Your image, with free will to choose our destiny. One of the devil’s great deception is convincing people we are intelligent enough to live by our own standards, do our own thing, be our own lord of our life. Many have fallen for that lie. Some have regrets. Others, not so much.  

You do everything possible to get us to follow You, but You respect our choice if we choose otherwise. Lord, when Your disciples complained about the cost of following You, they had a choice: stay or go. Simon Peter answered wisely. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life. You are our only hope,” (John 6:68 Amplified Bible).

Our choice is a no-brainer. Lord, it only makes sense to follow You. Amen.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Lord, the psalmist learned some painful lessons. How easily he used Your “Word” to justify his sinful behaviors. One of the devil’s most subtle lies is to make people think they are acting biblically if they declare a Scripture “in faith” and presume You must act as they [selfishly] want. Forget the personal conditions You require for the fulfillment of Your promises. Just quote the promise, or bits and pieces of the Scripture, and Bingo, like a genie in a bottle, You will grant their every wish. How foolish to think they can manipulate You, Lord.  

Learning from his past presumptuous failures at taking Your promises out of context to fit his narrative, the psalmist saw through the devil’s trap and was not going to fall for it again. “Keep me from lying to myself,” he wrote about his life-altering decision. “Give me the privilege of knowing Your instructions.” He committed himself to learn and live by the truths of Your Word. “I have chosen to be faithful. I have determined to live by Your regulations,” (Psalm 119:29, 30).

May I not repeat the psalmist mistakes but order my actions to faithfully keep Your standards and values. Cementing Your promises in my heart is of uppermost importance to help “[k]eep me from presumptuous sins […] that I may be blameless before You,” (Psalm 19:13).

Manipulate You? Hardly, Lord. Your Word I will hide in my heart to not sin against You. Amen

Friday, April 1, 2022

Lord, these people have been around from the beginning. The psalmist grew tired of their mocking and ridiculing those who believe in You. In Your mercy, You have always allowed them time to repent and come to You. Some have, others couldn’t be bothered. The psalmist wrote, “I am overwhelmed with indignation, for my [Your] enemies have disregarded Your Words,” (Psalm 119:139). Little has changed since those words were penned.  He wrote how these “intellectual elites” looked down on those who trusted in You. Today, they still consider Christ-followers as gullible, insignificant, and despised, (119:141). But what kept the psalmist joyous and on-track is the same that keeps Your followers on-track today: we know Your Word, we know who You are, and we know who we are as Your kids. You are the Lord God Almighty, our Creator, our loving and kind heavenly Father, who sent Jesus to take our sin away.  Throughout Your Word, You remind Your followers of Your lovingkindness, mercy and forgiveness. The entirety of Romans 8 describes Your grace given believers and the glories of Heaven that await us after we leave here. Pity those poor “intellectual elite” souls. When they leave here, they face an unknown eternity.

Knowing You, Jesus, makes life worthwhile. Amen.

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Lord, reflecting on Your Word and dissecting Your truths in our hearts, we can’t help but acknowledge there is none like You. You alone are God, no one else. You are all righteousness, holiness, and sovereignty. Because You are God, You get to set the moral principles and standards for living, not man (Psalm 119:137). Beginning at the Garden, Adam fell for the lie he could set his own values. Things quickly went downhill. You set the bar and Your precepts are fair for the believer as well as the non-believer. Following Your principles bring contentment, peace, and an abiding faith and hope in Your promises, which have proven trustworthy over the centuries. And to seal Your promises forever, You sent Your only Son Jesus to redeem us.

Headlines, entertainment, social media, academia, et al, prove how ignoring Your standards and following fallen man’s ever-changing values brings social disorder, divisions among people, corruption at all levels, and hatred for all things righteous and pure. Despite the chaos, there is hope. You stand ready, arms open to receive all who want to flee from this broken world to place their faith in You, Jesus.

We praise You, Lord, for Your principles and standards have been tried and tested over the centuries and we can trust our lives by Your standards.  Amen.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Lord, ‘they’ must live unfulfilled, anxious lives, up one day, down the next. You won’t find their picture in the dictionary under “steadfastness.” And if I don’t follow You wholeheartedly, I could easily end up like ‘them.’ The psalmist identified ‘them’ as “having divided loyalties” (Psalm 119:113). The New Testament calls them “double-minded” people (James 1:8). These are not bad people. You know their hearts are in the right place, it’s just when facing mountains in their life, or a situation that is greater than they are and threatens to overwhelm them, their faith struggles and questions if You will do what You have promise? They’re much like the desperate father in Mark 9 who cried to You, “Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief.” We can’t kid ourselves. We’ve all been there. Lord, when I’m double-minded, am I tying Your hands?

Lord, protect me from becoming one of ‘them.’ Help me be like the psalmist, imperfect as he was—and I most certainly am too—fall in love with Your Word. May Your Word, Your sacred Scriptures, come alive in my heart to believe without doubting You are who You say You are and will do what You say You will do. One of Your great attributes is “faithfulness.” I desire the same. Help me develop steadfast faith to believe Your promises, no matter what I see or feel.

To live a peaceful, fulfilled life, I will trust You, Lord God. Amen. 

Monday, March 28, 2022

Lord, fallen man has mistakenly portrayed You as a white-haired, white-bearded grandfatherly type sitting on a throne among the “clouds of glory.” And we can’t forget Your halo. That image must leave You shaking Your head at our foolishness. That is so much not You. One of the first truths You revealed to mankind describes how You created man in Your image. This fact implies many truths.  One such truth states You, God, do not just love, but You ARE love (1 John 4:16,17). Therefore, if we’re created in Your image, then we have within us the capacity to love as You love. It is plain to all, however, how our sins cause us to fall far short of that capacity. Your first commandment was to “love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and second, to love our neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30, 31). Of course, loving those who love us is easy. How difficult it is to show kindness and civility, let alone love, to those whose actions and words makes being around them so unpleasant. How often am I included in this group? Forgive me, Lord, for failing to love You and others as I should.

Show us how to release this capacity to love all people as You love. Let people see how even when we are unlovely, You love us anyway and freely offer forgiveness, grace, and extend the invitation to what we desperately need, a personal relationship with You. Amen.