At Your Word

And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

Luke 4:36

At Your Word, Lord

even demons must flee

the light breaks forth

darkness ceases to be

By Your power, Lord

the hosts of hell all fall

and Your Kingdom advances

for You rule it all

With Your authority, Lord

You command it all

and restore this world

from the rubble of the Fall

At Your Word, Lord

marvelous miracles appear

and we stand in awe

of what You do here

You command it, Lord

and it comes to be

just like in creation

You speak, then we see

Your power, my Lord

ends sinful control and strife

You renew my heart

and give me Your new life

Your control, Lord Jesus

extends over everything

You are great God and Savior

You are the amazing King

whether slave or free

…rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Ephesians 6:7-8

These words were written to slaves. And though that world appears harsh to modern thinking, it was the situation in the First Century Roman Empire Christian culture. Paul addressed both slaves and their masters with transforming and authoritative truth. Slaves did not serve out of mere slavery once they became Christians. Instead, like all Christians whether slave or free, they were to do all things in Christlike service to other people. All Christians were called to be bondservants of Christ. All were called to do the will of God from the heart.

Christians live, not by a worldly set of perspectives, but by the kingdom rule of Jesus. All must surrender to Jesus as Master. All believers are called to serve God and others with the goal of pleasing the Lord, and not just for human recognition. We look for Christ’s approval alone.

And there is a promise attached to this kind of attitude. The good we do serving Christ will be given back to us multiplied by grace from the Lord. Jesus doesn’t demand just slavish devotion. He rewards His servants well. Thus, in Christ, all are equally loved, blessed, and brought together. We humble ourselves in service to Christ as we serve others, and we are promised to be rewarded in that service by our Lord Himself. May that transformed slavery mindset be our own rewarding service as Christians bring the gospel, expand the kingdom, and display the image of Jesus Christ in a society still very much needing His transforming authority!

I hope in Your word.

My soul longs for your salvation;

I hope in your word.

Psalm 119:81

Trusting God requires real hope. And one of the clear ways to find secure hope is in the Word of God. The scriptures give true hope. The Word of God shows us the person of God and the work of God so that we may find hope in the power of God to save His people. And so we can believe. God does not ask for blind faith at all. We believe because He has revealed Himself in His Word. We can trust God, finding His Word to be trustworthy.

But in order to find this hope and live in that kind of faith, we must be consistently encouraged in God’s Word. I have found that if there is a lack of Bible intake for me, there will be a dying of faith in me. I will struggle outside of regular scriptural exposure. I will seek hope and perspective in wrong places and be disappointed and discouraged, perhaps even depressed. I need to hope in God’s Word. And so I must be constantly exposed to it in reading it, studying it, learning from scripture, putting it to the test in my own life, hiding it in my heart, hearing it preached, and finding undeniable truth principles as a fixed point for true faith that shines hope everywhere I look.

O God of hope,

I long for Your saving work. I live in and for Your salvation. I seek to know You, find Your power, and enjoy my hope as I live in Your Word.

Amen

blameless today

May my heart be blameless in your statutes,

that I may not be put to shame!

Psalm 119:80

God’s Word will show me what I need to be. That was the prayer here in this verse. God’s Word shows me a holy God. And it calls me to be holy like He is holy. The longing in this prayer here is to be blameless before God, to keep His statutes and to be without shame before a holy God.

But ever since Adam and Even chose to disobey just one command God gave to them, the human race lacks the ability to be blameless without His intervening grace. As much as I want to be holy, my sinful self keeps me far from it in thought, in attitudes, and in my behavior. I need His Word to show me His ways. But I can only live in those ways as God changes me to do so.

Thankfully, that is what the gospel is all about. In Jesus, I can be changed! In Jesus, my heart is directed to holiness, not on the basis of my own righteousness, but in the perfect life of Jesus Himself. I am cleansed from sin, declared holy by Jesus’ death, raised to walk a new life in His resurrection, and led to do so by the Word of God, convicted, assured, and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God.

Lord,

May I not be put to shame today. I want to live in Christ. I confess I am still seeing sin as sinful as Your Word shows me Your higher ways. I am thankful that Christ’s righteousness allows me to be now forgiven by the Father, empowered by the Spirit, to live following the Son of God. Jesus, You have made my heart blameless in You. And I will look to You, my Master, to show me Your ways today!

Amen

watch what I say

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29

Lord, help me watch what I say

                                      today

I want to live in Your way

                                      today

so lead me to watch what I say

I’m tempted to speak my mind

                                      today

but corrupting words may unwind

                                      today

so help me find words that are kind

People need grace and building up

                                      today

I can help overflow their cup

                                      today

Lord, give me words that warm them up

As I speak word that encourage

                                      today

lead me to build up those discouraged

                                      today

and may Your Holy Spirit always nourish

Speak in me Your words of grace

                                      today

as I see Your loving Father’s face

                                      today

coaching all alongside me to run this race

world full of grace

The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;

teach me your statutes!

Psalm 119:64

We live in a world filled by God’s grace. That was the observation in this ancient psalm and it is even more clearly known in Jesus today. God’s faithful, steadfast love has always made Him known to His creation. We see it every day in a multitude of ways. We sense it in the steadily turning seasons. We know it as the world He gave us feeds us, waters us, clothes us, and shelters us. God created what we need to live in His common grace.

And God revealed Himself in the grace of His Word. We can read it and see Him, knowing what it is He desires of us. We can worship the God Who has graciously made Himself clearly known in the pages of His Word. It is a great grace to have so much truth readily at our fingertips when we open a Bible.

And of course, God has given us the greatest grace in the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. And He calls us not just to believe the gospel, but to bring it all over the world. His Church is to flood His grace globally in obeying the command of Jesus to make disciples everywhere we go. The world is full of God’s grace. May we see it, know it, and show it!

unity & maturity

…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Ephesians 4:13-14

The church exists to make disciples, and has been gifted with leaders and teachers who “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” in order to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). What is the completion of this work? How do we know when we do it? What are the measurements of successful discipleship? This passages emphasizes two measurements.

1) Unity. We grow together. Believers should be unified around a common faith, a common gospel that draws us together. We should also unify around the mutual expression of being like Jesus… the gospel calls us all to know our Master and follow Him. Unity in Jesus focuses not on our differences, but on the powerful reality that we all have the same great Savior.

2) Maturity. The text says we are not to be children any longer, but are instead to grow into mature manhood. A contrast is between between childishness and maturity. Childish characteristics include instability in belief (tossed around by waves), easy influence of opinion (carried by winds of doctrine), and vulnerability to deception (prone to be swayed by human cunning, not holy truth). The text later describes characteristics of mature Christians. They speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). They serve in their unique spiritual giftedness, not trying to usurp or damage one another, and they build up other believers in love (Ephesians 4:16).

Lord,

Grant me Your wisdom and grace to live in unity and seek maturity in Your Church. May I grow and be used to help my brothers and sisters also grow more like the fullness of Jesus as You desire.

Amen