You come
comforting me,
forgiving me,
recreating me,
giving me a destiny.
You come
teaching me,
healing me,
nourishing me, and
sharing Yourself with me.
Though infinitely above me, You come to be
all around me,
all within me,
ever before me,
ever beside me.
Almighty, all-holy, all-loving God,
You wrap me in Your presence,
enabling me to
speak and
live and
be like You.
Praise to You!
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Hymn: Isaiah 40
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A reflection on Revelation 17:7-18,
the Lamb’s victory over the beast
Just as the appeal of evil is a lie,
so its power is a lie.
All reality has only
one Master,
one Creator,
one King.
Evil is built on
a truth,
a world,
a good,
a reality
outside of God, and
no such reality exists.
No such good exists.
Evil is self-deceived, and
in the end,
it will self-destruct.
It will unwittingly serve the purposes of
the one Master,
the one Creator.
Outside of Him, everything is only
a lie,
a shadow,
a false hope,
without substance,
emptiness,
nothingness.
All truth,
all good,
all power
is in God alone.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Great Lord of All Reality
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There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
For the one who has entered His rest
has himself also rested from his works,
as God did from His.
(Hebrews 4:9-10, NASB)
Jesus, Jesus, Lord and Brother,
Wisdom, joy, and life in me.
Fullness of my Father’s presence,
Peace and perfect liberty;
As You spoke and out of nothing
Bloomed Your love’s abundant wealth,
So You spoke and filled my darkness
With the beauty of Yourself.
Great Creator, Christ exalted,
As You rest, Your work complete,
So I come and leave my struggles,
Living, learning at Your feet,
Free to rest and free to listen,
Knowing that Your love will speak.
Jesus, Savior, ever present,
You are all I need and seek.
Here I find my satisfaction,
Here is where my heart is home,
Fruitful in Your living Spirit,
Driven by Your love alone.
Let me share Your endless Sabbath,
Holy, Lord, in all I do,
In my working, in my waiting,
Resting in and unto You.
My tears have been my food day and night.
O my God, my soul is in despair.
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over Me.
(Psalm 42:3, 6, 7, NASB)
Father, grief and sorrow have come in like a flood,
and I am overwhelmed.
Tears are my constant companion.
I need joy, the joy that comes only from You,
but I cannot grasp it.
Father, now I am ready to hear the words of Christ.
Now I am ready to look hungrily at His example.
Hours before His arrest, torture, and brutal execution,
what was He so eager to share with His disciples?
The fullness of His joy:
“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:11, NASB)
“[Father,] now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” (John 17:13, NASB)
Jesus stood on the brink of the greatest
physical, emotional, and spiritual assault
any human has ever faced.
What strengthened Him, encouraged Him, and drew Him on?
His fullness of joy.
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2, NASB)
Jesus endured every humiliation that unbridled hatred could throw at Him, yet
He despised the shame.
He considered it unworthy of consideration in light of
the joy set before Him.
Father, Jesus found His joy in You, in
knowing You,
pleasing You, and
glorifying You.
Father, You are the fullness of joy for me as well.
With Jesus, I seek,
not joy,
but You.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Fullness of Joy
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A prayer response to Revelation 17:1-6,
the doom of Babylon
Temptation comes
appearing to be alluring beauty,
pretending to provide something good,
offering pleasant and harmless stimulation.
But Father, help me to see evil for what it
really is and
always is:
destructive,
ugly,
cruel,
corrupt, and
deadly.
Its appeal is a pretense,
always shallow and
always a lie.
It is unable to give anything
good or
lasting.
It is impotent,
unwise,
unbeautiful, and
unloving.
The tempter is a sworn enemy of all that is good.
His purpose is always to
steal,
kill, and
destroy (John 10:10).
Following him always leads to
disappointment and
failure.
But Father, I cannot handle temptation on my own.
When it comes, help me to immediately
turn to You and
trust You to deliver me.
And when I fail,
help me to repent immediately,
knowing that You are always eager to
forgive and
restore completely.
You are good, Father, and
Your love endures forever!
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ, Arise
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A Hymn for the Lord’s Supper
Remember your darkness, remember the Light.
Then far from your Father, now all is made right.
Now one with His Son, we can live unafraid.
But bow and remember the price that He paid.
Remember His glory, remember your shame.
Remember the curse that His love overcame.
Come drink all the life that His dying began!
As death passes over, come feast on the Lamb!
Remember His promise, remember your crown.
Remember His beautiful bride coming down.
Remember the dawn of creation restored.
Remember to thank Him. Remember your Lord.
Father, it’s nearly bedtime.
My mind is tired.
My body is tired.
But I don’t want this day to end
without turning to You once more, at its close.
You were good and faithful today,
just like always.
Thank You, my Father!
You being You
is what makes life wonderful!
I was not always like Christ today:
harsh words…
missed opportunities.
Too often I was distracted from what was
truly important.
Sometimes I forgot to pray
when I needed You.
But Father, You are
so good,
so forgiving, and
so generous
that I still end this day with a glow of joy.
You are with me, and
I am with You,
always,
completely,
forever.
You love me,
deeply,
with all Your magnificent being.
How can I help but smile all over,
even when I’m weary
and imperfect?
How can I help but love You?
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Evening Prayer
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A reflection on Revelation 16,
the pouring out of the bowls of wrath
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9, NASB)
Our loving God is so patient.
He seems to
delay and
delay and
delay His return,
anxious for all to repent and come to Him.
But our patient God will not delay forever.
He warns us that after delays that seem endless,
the end will come suddenly.
The God who has waited for so long will move
quickly and decisively.
That is His way.
He will come unexpectedly,
like a thief in the night.
Turn to Him
now.
Give yourself completely to Him
now.
Whatever good you know to do,
do it now.
The only way to be ready for
that unknown day and hour is to
stay ready.
Stay busy at your assigned task.
Stay faithful.
Keep your hopes and desires focused on
Him alone.
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Hymn: Christ Is Coming! Lift Your Eyes!
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Quietness in You,
Stillness here in You,
Deeper than the world can give,
Jesus, now in You;
Always here in You.
Confidence in You,
Changelessness in You,
Loved for all eternity,
Jesus, now in You;
Always here in You.
Harmony in You;
Wholeness here in You,
Father, Son, and Breath of God,
Ever one in You;
Peace, my Lord, in You.
Luke 11:5-13; Ephesians 3:14-19; Colossians 2:9-10
We parents are weak and limited in so many ways.
Though we love our children,
there is much we simply do not have and
thus cannot give them.
Yet we gladly pass on to them whatever we can.
But more importantly, day by day,
without even thinking about it,
we share with them all that we are.
Father, You are the perfect parent,
infinitely greater than all that the best human parent
can even aspire to be.
All that exists is Yours,
so there is no limit to what You can give Your children.
You are complete and perfect in Yourself,
so there is no limit to the gifts and graces You can impart to them.
And You are perfect in love.
No selfishness ever taints or limits Your giving.
You joyfully, unreservedly share with Your children
all that You have and
all that You are.
Almighty God, You share Yourself with us!
You fully incarnated
Your pure and perfect Son
in our human flesh
so that through Him,
we might share in You.
You breathe into us
Your own Spirit,
Your own
holy,
boundless,
eternal life
that we might be filled forever with
all the fullness of God Himself.
Praise to You, magnificent Father,
infinite in greatness,
infinite in goodness,
infinite in love!
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Fullness of God
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