pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 4, 2017

Forsaken

Turning Points
They are not easily forgotten though at the moment they occur their significance might not be clearly seen. After an initial season of acceptance when crowds came to marvel at His words and deeds such a turning point in the earthly ministry of Jesus happened out it the wilderness of Galilee. The day after He famously fed the multitude Jesus attempted to make spiritual sense of this material miracle. The disappointed crowds turned away from Him and the downward spiral of forsaking began its inevitable plunge toward Calvary. The crowd broke up and wandered away, still hungry but contemptuous of His message: “I am the Bread of Heaven!” They did not know they needed Him more than another fish dinner.

Heart-broken, Jesus turned to the twelve to ask what must have been a painful question: “Will you also go away?”

Peter swallowed hard as he and the other chosen ones exchanged desperate glances. He said what needed to be said. “Lord to whom would we turn? You have the words of life. You are the Christ!”

Only a Few
So a multitude forsook Him and twelve men chose to follow on with Him. This was the beginning of His forsakenness. Even his own family, except of course for His mother, turned away from Him, refusing to believe. They asked Him to leave Galilee and head south to Judea, out of their hair and no longer a family embarrassment.

How it must have hurt to work miracles that ended the pain of the possessed, the poisoned, the paralyzed, the fearful and the frail with no relief for the pain in His heart. His smiles at these joyful deliverances hid the pain inside Him at the rejection of the religious leaders.

In the Season of Lent We Seek to Share His Pain.
This season of the Christian Year invites us to read the Psalms that describe the pain of being forsaken. This is a deep sort of rejection because it comes along after one has encountered Christ—professing interest and perhaps even love. But unexpected events or unpleasant lessons rub us the wrong way and we decide to abandon Him.

The crowds, His half-brothers and half-sisters, His former patrons in the carpenter’s shop, and the leaders of His faith, all forsook Him. Some even made the unbelievable journey from follower to detractor to enemy.

In Gethsemane’s garden even His Disciples could not watch with Him, letting sleep, perhaps with their bellies full from the Last Supper, overcome them.

He was alone: forsaken.

And thus He would be until He bowed His head to give up the ghost on the Cross.

In this He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah Jesus must have memorized as a boy in the Synagogue at Nazareth. “We hid our faces from Him.”

We must not repeat this injustice today. We must turn our faces toward Him.

Scriptures:
Isaiah 53:1-6 NKJ
Who has believed our report?…He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him… All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
John 6:61-7:5 NIV
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, …The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. … From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea… For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
Hebrews 12:22-24 NIV
…you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant,

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are no longer forsaken; You occupy the Throne of Heaven. Thousands of angels in joyful assembly sing and play the music of Your praise. In an immense gallery witnesses, some who bear my family name, join the song of the angels. It seems I can hear them now: sweet voices from earth who overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of Their testimony harmonizing with the hosts of eternity. Help me always turn toward You in prayer. Help me to follow You and never again forsake You. Amen.

Song:
O for a Thousand Tongues
Words: Charles Wesley; Music: Carl Glazer

1. O for a thousand tongues to sing My Great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace.

2. Jesus! The Name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease,
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ‘This life and health and peace.

3. He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me.

4. Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come; And leap, ye lame, for joy.

5. My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad, The honors of Thy name.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 3, 2017

Foolishness

Seldom does “foolishness” sound a positive note. In musical terms the foolish song is usually dissonant or disjointed or pointless or pretentious, or simply silly.

But foolishness, like beauty, can be found “in the eye of the beholder.”
It is possible for the finest art or science or invention the hands and minds of men may produce to actually be only foolishness. When compared with the creativity and ingenuity of the Holy Spirit, “foolishness” is a predictable result of the arrogance of ignorant men and women. Foolishness may make millions of dollars, produce names and terms that become common usage and move whole civilizations to foolish pursuits wasting God-given talent and energy in what the poet Solomon called “vanity and vexation of spirit”—like eating the wind—an emptiness of soul and spirit.

And on the other side of the fence, the things of God are foolishness to the world.
This is not a hidden secret; the Bible comes right out and says it is so. So, what can we who are thought to be foolish because of the things we believe and know to be true do about this? Do we argue and with unbelievers to try and convince them of their foolishness?

For sure we must answer their questions; the Bible tells us to do that. But how do you answer someone who does not believe? If they don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God, no amount of scriptural evidence will convince them of the truth. What can we do?

Tell the Story!
My mentor, Dr. Robert E. Webber gave the best strategy I have heard for this ministry—Tell the Story! All spiritualties are based on a huge story, a meta-narrative, that tells the story of who made the world and why, why people exist, and what comes after death. (I recommend Bob’s last book, Who Gets to Narrate the World.)

During Lent we tell a tender and tragic part of the story of Redemption—the Passion of the Christ. To the world it is foolish to think of the trials and death of Jesus as anything other than another sad story of a brilliant young man who was so far ahead of his time, the world he challenged had to eliminate him.

Foolish it may be but this was not your everyday brilliant young man—

  • this was God come in the flesh.
  • This was sinless humanity here on the earth for the first time since Adam and Eve.
  • This story is about the greatest of injustices ever seen.

And it was no accident—it was the plan from the beginning.

  • He whom heaven worshiped would abandon the ivory palaces of another world to surface quietly in an obscure stable hewn from a rock in this world.
  • He who knew no sin of His own would drink deep of our many, many sins.
  • He would lay down His life for it was beyond the reach of the law, Jewish or Roman, to take it from Him.
  • Another tomb hewn from a rock could not hold Him for more than three days and He came into and out of death for all who are similarly destined for the grave.

Now He reigns, returned with scars to heaven’s throne, and there in Zion’s holy halls we worship Him forever.

Foolishness?

No. Truth!

Scriptures:
Ecclesiastes 2:17 KJV & AMP
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.
1 Corinthians 1:20-31 ESV
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Prayers:
Lord Jesus, You promised that the truth would set us free. Let me walk in that freedom today for I believe in You and Your amazing story:
The Apostles’ Creed
BCP (Adapted by are SRP)

  • I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
  • I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
  • I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Song:
Tell Me the Story of Jesus
Words: Fanny Crosby Music: John Sweeney

1. Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth.”
Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.

2. Fasting alone in the desert, Tell of the days that are past,
How for our sins He was tempted, Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of His labor, Tell of the sorrow He bore.
He was despised and afflicted, Homeless, rejected and poor.
Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.

3. Tell of the cross where they nailed Him, Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him, Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender, Clearer than ever I see;
Stay, let me weep while you whisper, Love paid the ransom for me.
Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 2, 2017

Broken

“I am as useless as a broken pot.”
So said the Psalmist in a moment of weakness.

But “useless” and “broken” are not invariably linked. A broken piece of pottery may be utterly useless but a broken heart before the Lord can be a mighty weapon in His hand.

When we think of Jesus, we think often of a Garden,

  • not the beautiful, useful Garden of Delights called Eden, the place of our beginning, and
  • not the wonderful New Heaven and New Earth where we will walk with God once again in the cool of the day.
  • The Garden we must consider is the Garden of Brokenness—Gethsemane.

Here the seeds of our redemption—our usefulness—were planted in the good soil of a Savior’s broken heart and watered there by sweat tinged with blood.

He was absolutely alone.
Abandoned by his sleeping disciples, Jesus was alone in this Garden, alone to bear on His sinless shoulders the sins of mankind. He alone could seize in his healing hands the violence done at the hands of men. His innocent heart was the only heart qualified to take in the corruption of the human heart from Eve’s first taste of forbidden fruit to the terrible taste for blood that marks a fallen humanity. Only the lips that brought to us the life-giving Word of God could now embrace the bitter cup of deception and drain it dry.

So, the strongest man who would ever live was broken, “crushed” was the prophesy of Isaiah and the report of Jesus’ words to His followers in some translations.

Crushed, broken, grieved, exceedingly sorrowful, yes. But, useless? Never.

The Drama of Redemption
For centuries ignorant animals had gone under the knives of the priests on the altars of Jehovah. In their frightened eyes there was not a glimpse of understanding of what their substitutionary death would provide the men with sharp knives wearing colorful robes, glittering with jewels. These unknowing animals filled a role in the on-going drama of redemption. Thousands of them played the part of the One Final Lamb who would come and make the Final and complete sacrifice of brokenness.

If we could have looked into His eyes…
If we could have looked into the eyes of Jesus in this garden, we would have seen no such ignorance, no empty role playing. Jesus knew what it meant.

  • He had to hold back his goodness to take on our wickedness.
  • He had to restrain the strength of His flawless character to submit to the corruption of a deadly mix of religion and politics.
  • He allowed his humanity to be broken.
  • With the kiss of a friend, the soldiers took Him away, no doubt, in chains that He could have broken.

Don’t forget the angel.
Between the prayers of Jesus and the approach of the Temple Guards, another friend touched Jesus there in the Garden—an Angel of the Lord. In spiritual ways that we cannot understand, the Angel imparted strength to Jesus for the ordeal just beginning.

Why? So that even in His broken condition, Jesus would still be powerful in spirit, useful to all of us by not only bearing our sins far away, but be winning our redemption.

In this time of voluntary brokenness, may the Lord make us useful to His purposes.

Scriptures:
Psalm 31:12-13 NIV
I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.
Matthew 21:42-44 NIV
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Luke 22:39-44; Matthew 26:36-38 NIV
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Psalm 51:17 NIV
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, life can be a crushing thing. Sometimes the pressure is so great and the violence is so relentless that it seems I will be broken. Much of my trouble has been my own doing. It helps me somehow to know that You allowed life to crush You and it was not the end of the story. You took the pressure and the violence, none of it your own doing, and let life do its worst. In three days, You rose again, conqueror of death and master of life. In these days of thoughtful prayer, help me feel things more deeply, both the crushing and the rising again! Thank You, Lord! Amen.

Song:
Broken and Spilled Out
Words and Music: Bill and Gloria Gaither

Lord You were God’s precious treasure His loved and His own perfect Son
Sent here to show me The love of the Father Just for love it was done
And though You were perfect and holy You gave up Yourself willingly
You spared no expense for my pardon You were used up and wasted for me

Broken and spilled out Just for love of me Jesus
God’s most precious treasure Lavished on me
You were broken and spilled out And poured at my feet
In sweet abandon Lord You were spilled out and used up for Me
In sweet abandon, let me be spilled out And used up for Thee.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 1, 2017 Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2017

Fasting

It was justice, of a sort.
Smudges of ash on my forehead in the rough shape of a cross, no, the Cross, the one cross that counts. So many crosses, so many executions, so many guilty souls departed this life from rough-hewn timbers, and perhaps, a much smaller number of innocent souls but with the same outcome. It was justice, of a sort—the Roman sort that kept the peace, Pax Romana, in the known world. All of them are nameless now, forgotten, all save One: Jesus of Nazareth. The actual wood of His cross has long ago rotted into dust. The blood He shed that day has long ago dried and returned as water to the cycle of life from death, life from death.

Yet somehow, that cross remains and that blood still saves.
Lifted to the sky as far as man can reach, the cross graces buildings as diverse as tall stone-cold cathedrals and small rickety wooden churches made of kindling standing in defiance of any threatening flame. The cross has become ornamental to fashion and glitters around the necks of sinners.

The blood is not so popular; it is too close to home. We have blood flowing in us and we want to keep it there, hidden from our eyes for we hate the sight of blood.

Now this—ashes in the shape of the cross on my forehead, expressing hope in the continuing power of that blood—the cleansing blood of Jesus—a spiritual force of forgiveness. It has never lost its power. That blood is my hope. So I take the sign of the cross in deep repentance. I will discipline my rebel flesh with fasting.

I will not speak of it or boast. It will be a secret between Him and me. Like that stone-cold cathedral and that rickety wooden little church, I have lifted His cross as high as I can.

Now, I must be still and let His blood do a deep work in me.

Scriptures:
Joel 1:13-14 NIV
Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
Matthew 6:16-18 NIV
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Acts 13:1-3 NKJV
Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Prayers:
(from The Book of Common Prayer)
Prayer of Repentance
Most merciful God, I confess that I have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved You with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbor as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Prayer for the Adminstration of the Ashes
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Song:
Just As I Am
Words: Charlotte Elliot; Music: William Bradbury

1.Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come!

2. Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come.

3. Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come!

4. Just as I am, poor wretched blind; Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee I find, O Lamb of God, I come!

5. Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 29, 2016

February 29, 2016

Remembering

Some memories take up permanent residence in the heart and there is nothing, it seems, we can do to evict them.  Others, perhaps memories with greater significance, seem determined to escape the confines the mind.  We must regularly review and rehearse them to keep them on file.

It would be unbearable to remember everything—it would just be too much.  Somewhere between those memories lodged too deep to expel and those that are so near the surface that they seem to evaporate like so much mist, lie all the other events and people and words we have encountered thus far. Most of them do not become memories and that is a blessing.

It would serve no purpose here to evaluate all the different kinds of memories each of us holds.  It is broad enough to say that we remember things that have happened to us, things that have been said to us, and things we have done or failed to do.  Some memories are comforting, running like pleasant movies in our head whenever we need an emotional lift.  Others are so painful we must turn away from the screen in our mind, turn off the projector, or switch to some other, more pleasant narrative.

If we do not tend the pains of the past, they will visit us in the night, strange tales with characters and settings all confused and making use of bizarre symbolism to try and make us remember the causes of our pain and perhaps to do something about it.

Remembering is a function of prayer. 

  • In the presence of the Lord, with His Word open before us, we deliberate re-read passages we have read for years and we remember.  Along with the memory of what we heard God say long ago, we also hear new things to remember from now on. 
  • When we consult the list of those who are depending on our intercession, we remember faces and voices that are dear to us and these memories add power to our prayers for them. 
  • When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we recall “our sins” and “those have who have sinned against us.”  It is time to search our memories for sins we have yet to repent of and to see that faces of those we are in the process of forgiving.
  • When we celebrate the Lord’s Table, we do so in remembrance of the sacrifices Jesus made for us somehow we are strengthen by His sustaining grace.  In a holy reverse of memory we also anticipate the soon return of Jesus. 

Facing the challenges of everyday life, we must remember the promises of God, for sometimes events seem to be random and people are hostile.  We must remember that God is faithful—He keeps His covenant!

Thanksgiving and praise are essential parts of worship and they are the essence of remembering.  Hearing ourselves rehearse the record of God’s faithfulness and calling to mind the excellence of our King and His Kingdom strengthens us for whatever might be ahead. 

Remembering is a process of taking control of the mind, of selecting our thoughts, and of facing the dangers of the day ahead armed with Truth.

Scriptures:            

Deut 8:11 NIV

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

John 15:20 NIV

Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.   

Phil 4:8-9 NIV

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Ps 77 NIV

I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me.  When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.   I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. Selah

You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.  I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;  I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:  “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?  Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah  

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.”  I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?  You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.  With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah  

The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed.  The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.  Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.  Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.  You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Prayers:

Lord Jesus, today I choose to remember.  I remember the prophesies so ancient in origin and current in application:  You came, born of a virgin, living a sinless life, showing us the Father, taking on our sins, dying on the cross, rising from the dead, ascending to heaven’s throne, sending Your Spirit to abide in us.  I remember Your presence so warm in my heart as a child, so faithful in my life as a young man, so tested and true to me with my family, so near to me in this moment.  I remember Your call on my life, the exciting doors You have opened, the painful ones You have closed.  I remember Your name, Your cause, Your reward.  Holy Spirit do not let me forget.  Amen.

Semper Reformanda!

Stephen Phifer

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 28

February 27, 2017

Fellowship

Child of God, you are never alone.
Christian spirituality is more than an individual faith, it is a corporate reality as well—a fellowship.

2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

You are never alone. Even if all your friends and loved ones were taken from you, you would still not be alone. Our Christian fellowship is rooted in the fellowship within the Trinity:

  • The Father with the Son,
  • The Son with Father,
  • The Father with the Spirit,
  • The Spirit with the Father,
  • The Son with the Spirit, and
  • The Spirit with the Son.

We came from God.
The most amazing truth is that our very existence is rooted in the existence of the Triune God—we came from God. When Adam and Eve sinned and passed on their sinful nature to us, a barrier fell to earth and barred us from fellowship with God, just as the angel with the flaming sword barred re-entry into Eden. For centuries the sin barrier remained. The Old Covenant provided forgiveness in the innocent blood of animals. Fellowship with God was based in symbolic worship and the common bond of the Word of God.

It took a Roman cross on a Judean hill to break this barrier of sin—Jesus came as the final, innocent Lamb. Just as the veil in the Temple gave way to the mercy of God for all of mankind, the sin barrier between each of us and our Creator was destroyed by the death of the Lamb of God. When we repent of our sins and confess the Lordship of Christ, we are welcomed back into fellowship with Almighty God.

Fellowship, not isolation
As personal as our reception of communion with God may be, it is not done in isolation. Communion with God initiates communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter how alone you may feel, you cannot know who among your faith family is praying for you at any moment. The same Holy Spirit who abides in your heart, abides in their hearts, leading and empowering them. Their effectual, fervent prayers avail much—in your behalf.

The New Covenant disciple should enjoy close fellowship with a group of intimate friends from the church. These companions share our faith, our passions, our interests, and even our sense of humor. Some call this an accountability group and certainly our friends should function as that, but this fellowship goes deeper than that. Miles may separate these friends but distance does not break this fellowship. Words of affirmation and admonition as well as humorous comment and heartfelt confession sustain these relationships without reference to passing time or diminishing ability.

“In the midst of the congregation”
On the Lord’s Day we gather with the local expression of the whole family of God as our fellowship with God and His Covenant people draws us another step closer to heaven. One of the most important prepositional phrase in the Scripture is, “In the midst of the congregation.” If we are to feel the presence of God in our quiet, lonely moments when we are tempted to feel alone, we must be well schooled in the fellowship of Grace at all levels: Our fellowship with the church, with our closest friends, and our fellowship with God, Father, Son, and Spirit.

Scriptures:
Psalm 68:24-26
Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians, with them are the maidens playing tambourines. Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.
Psalm 111:1
Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
Psalm 26:12
My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
Psalm 52:9
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
1 John 1:7 7;3:14
…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Matthew 28:20 NKJV
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Even when I cannot feel Your presence I know You are still with me. You have promised to never leave me and You haven’t. Expand my heart, O Lord, that I might learn from You how to love and have fellowship with others. Help me pay closer attention to people around me, to hear a note in their voice that may be a call for help, to see a look that signals trouble within. Help me be an encourager of others, helping them to walk more closely with You. For when others do this, they are also closer to me, and as promised, walking together in the Light, we have fellowship with one another. For Your glory, Lord. Amen.

Song:
Song:
The Family of God
Words and Music: Bill Gaither

1. You will notice we say “brother and sister” ’round here,
It’s because we’re a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.

Refrain:
I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God,
I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I’m part of the family, The Family of God..

2. From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I’m not worthy to be here, but praise God I belong!

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 26, 2017

Between

42 Bridges
On US Highway 1 travelers cross 42 bridges to get all the way from Miami to Key West, Florida—113 miles. The highway follows a 1912 railroad plan and was completed in 1938 with recent modern replacements on most of the bridges. It is called the Overseas Highway. For an impressive stretch of this highway, motorists can see the Atlantic Ocean on south side of the car and the Gulf of Mexico on the north side. Nothing separates the two except these small islands and bridges. The traveler is literally poised between two immense bodies of water every moment. The Florida Straits are the meeting place of great ocean currents from the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Public worship is much like this amazing, beautiful drive.
The worshiper is traveling between time and eternity. Out one window a vast ocean shimmers and out the other a huge gulf glistens. The ocean of eternity and the gulf of time touch beneath this road.

And so it is with worship.

We who are bound by time and space, travel in spirit to a timeless destination of spiritual coordinates—the Throne Room of God Almighty. Here the gulf and the ocean merge. Just as deep currents battle each other in these waters, human tendencies and cultural mores conspire against worship.

This isn’t just fanciful language; this is descriptive. The Book of Hebrews says that when the church comes before God in worship, we are transported spiritually to Mt. Zion, “…to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God…” (Heb 12:22)

What does this mean?

  • Worshipers who are locked into time, get a taste of eternity.
  • The gravity-like pull of time is countered by the upward winds of the Spirit.
  • The fog of earthly confusion is shredded by the warming, clearing light of truth.
  • The homeless ones of earth rest for a while in mansions made for them.
  • The solitary ones, the neglected and forgotten here on earth, fellowship in God-redeemed families.

Today when the hour for worship comes, we must realize that we live our lives between two great forces, time and eternity.

  • Through one window the tide of the gulf may draw us away from worship. The pull of time is heavy and the conflicting currents of human weakness are difficult to fight.
  • Out the other window, the ocean is calling with strength to pull us homeward–deeper tides than those of time and mightier currents than those of the soul.

Eternity is stronger than time and in worship we can enter the eternal—for a moment. There we can touch God and be touched by Him.

Scriptures:
Hebrews 12:22-24 NIV
…you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-12 NIV
… He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1 NIV
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I thank You for my life today. Made in Your image, I can enjoy the warmth of the beautiful gulf of time and the prospect of the ocean of eternity, gleaming beyond my imagination. In this life I travel a road between time and eternity. As I worship today, lift me beyond the sensational to the spiritual. Open my eyes to heavenly things. Tune my hearing to the music of Your Throne Room. Help me empty my heart of pride so that Your Spirit can fill me with Your love. Take us to Mt. Zion, today! The in-between-road we must travel will be straighter and safer and more meaningful tomorrow, because today, for a while, we worshiped before Your Throne frolicking with angels and singing with saints to the music of eternity. Joyfully in Your Name, Amen!

Song:
Launch Out
Words: A.B. Simpson; Music: Russell Carter

1. The mercy of God is an ocean divine,
A boundless and fathomless flood;
Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,
And be lost in the fullness of God.

Refrain:
Launch out, into the deep,
Oh, let the shore line go;
Launch out, launch out in the ocean divine,
Out where the full tides flow.

2. But many, alas! only stand on the shore,
And gaze on the ocean so wide;
They never have ventured its depths to explore,
Or to launch on the fathomless tide.

Refrain

3. And others just venture away from the land,
And linger so near to the shore
That the surf and the slime that beat over the strand
Dash over them in floods evermore.

Refrain

4. Oh, let us launch out on this ocean so broad,
Where floods of salvation o’erflow;
Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,
Till the depths of His fullness we know.

Refrain
Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 25, 2017

Delay

Delay has more to do with life than with death.
Death stops the clock; delay winds it. Death and delay are not even casual acquaintances, much less intimate friends.

However, delay can feel like death and disaster, calamity and crisis. When the answer to prayer is delayed in its arrival, we feel the need to pace, to panic, and to pursue “Plan B.” We must fill the deep hole delay digs in our schedule—we have to do something!

Something, but not just anything.

A great temptation is to worry.
Worry requires the same mental skills as faith:

  • Constant rehearsal of the problem, in words with wringing hands during the day and in coded imagery in the night,
  • Relentless planning for contingencies that might occur, and
  • Repeated visualizations of the disaster looming before us.

While the answer is on the way, we can employ these imaginations in a positive way:

  • Constant rehearsals of the promises of God, in prayer during the day and in safety through the night,
  • Relentless rest, listening for the still, small voice of the Spirit giving comfort and direction for what will occur, and,
  • Joyous visualizations of the moment of release, of victory, of the moment when we realize the pain is gone.

Delay can make us stronger if we let it.

Meanwhile, a different drama is playing out on a stage we cannot see.
In the spirit world things beyond our imagination are happening while we are waiting out the delay. The Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of those who are part of the answer. When they are ready, the answer will come. Angels are on assignment to guard us and restrain the opposition to our progress. We can’t see them but we know they are stationed nearby with flaming swords and binding chains.

With unseen hearts prepared and opposing forces restrained and rebuked, soon the waiting will be over. Delay will become delight. Disaster itself will be destroyed. Provisions will arrive in packages of grace.

Until then we will sing with the Psalmist, “Why so downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God.”

Scriptures:
Psalm 42:11 NIV
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 70:1-72:1
Hasten, O God, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me. May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” turn back because of their shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “Let God be exalted!” Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.
Psalm 71 NIV
In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you….Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me. .. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. … My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — whom you have redeemed. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, hope rises in me even as the clock keeps ticking and Your answer to the cry of my heart lingers just out of reach. I will hope in You. I will confess Your promises. I will rehearse the revelation of Your faithfulness. Your very name, Lord Jesus, is “Faithful and True.” I will not fear what man can do to me. Use this time of delay, O Lord, to make me stronger. When the answer comes, I will rejoice even if it is not the answer I hope for. That is simply another way to trust You. I will say to my soul, “Why be downcast? Put your hope in God. Amen.

Song:
Who So Downcast, O My Soul
Words and Music: Marty Nystrom

Why so downcast, oh my soul?
Put your hope in God Put your hope in God
Put your hope in God
Oh, why so downcast, oh my soul?
Put your hope in God
And bless the Lord, oh my soul.

Bless the Lord–He’s the lifer of my countenance.
Bless the Lord–He’s the lifter of my head;
Bless the Lord–He’s the lifter of my countenance
I will never be ashamed.

Why so downcast, oh my soul?
Put your hope in God Put your hope in God
Put your hope in God
Oh, why so downcast, oh my soul?
Put your hope in God
And bless the Lord, oh my soul.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 24, 2017

Judgment

Kings and Judgment
In King David’s final prayer in the Book of Psalms, (Psalm 72) he prays for the kings who would come after him to occupy the throne of David. It is sure that David was thinking of his son, Solomon, but it is also likely that he had some inkling of the Great King to come, Messiah.“Endow the king with Your justice, O God, the royal Son with Your righteousness,” was the cry of David’s heart.

We are familiar with the way King Solomon chose wisdom over riches when given that choice. Judgment became the fame of Solomon’s court—justice—wisdom put to work in a useful cause.

A Foolish, False Hope
It is difficult to think of a word that is more distasteful to the public taste than “judgment.” No one wants to be judged by anyone. A judgmental attitude is universally detested. People do not want to be held responsible for their deeds or words or tastes or values.

  • All of these public things are really private—nobody’s business but the individual.
  • As long as one doesn’t hurt someone else, anything goes.—Right?

A necessary corollary to this belief is the hope that there is no such thing as a Final Judgment:

  • When we are dead, it is all over. We fall into nothingness, the oblivion of non-existence.
  • All the words we have spoken, all the deeds we have done, the sins committed, the hatred harbored in our hearts, the prejudice and ignorance we chose to live with, all of these things and more will plunge into oblivion with us.
  • So, live for the moment; it is all we really have.—Right?

Such nonsense! Such a false hope!

There is a judgment to come.
Everyone who walks this earth leaves footprints. Every person who holds to someone else for a moment or for years of time leaves finger prints. Every word spoken into the heart of another person is inscribed there for good or for evil. These pain-prints remain after we are gone. In this way the sins of the fathers and mothers are visited upon their children to the third and fourth generations.

Enter Jesus…
But there is One who volunteered to take the judgment we deserve upon Himself. We famously say that Grace is amazing because by His Grace we can stand before God as if we had never sinned. By His blood we are declared “not guilty” and through His Spirit we are made holy in a life-long process of being conformed to His image—our sinful rags stripped away and gleaming robes of righteousness provided in their place.

Yet injustices remain.
Believers do not always win. I don’t understand it, but we are told in the Bible that part of following Jesus involves something called “the fellowship of His sufferings.” I don’t know how it can be true since Jesus declared, “It is finished!” from the cross. Yet, sometimes it seems the enemy triumphs over us, that sin defeats righteousness, that destiny denies grace. But these chapters end only to have a new page added to the narrative.

The story isn’t over at times like these.

  • We simply rest in faith, trusting Jesus to do the necessary repairs and get us going again.
  • He will defend the afflicted and save the children of the needy.
  • He will crush the oppressor.
  • He is like a gentle rain refreshing the earth.
  • One day righteousness will flourish.

All is not lost. On the contrary, we are safe in the cradle of His Judgement.

Scriptures:
Psalm 72:1; 17-200 NIV
Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice….May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Philippians 3:7-11 NKJV
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 NIV
So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Prayer:
For Social Justice
(from The Book of Common Prayer)
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the people of this land], that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Song:
Let Me Touch Him
Words and Music: Vep Ellis

1. Let me touch Him, let me touch Jesus
Let me touch Him as He passes by
So when I shall reach out to others
They shall know him They shall live and not die

Refrain:
Oh to be His hand extended,
Reaching out to the oppressed.
Let me touch Him, let me touch Jesus,
So that others may know and be blessed.

2. I was straying so far from Jesus
I was lonely, had no peace within
Then the hand of my savior touched me
Now I’m reaching to others in sin

Refrain

3. There’s a river, a river flowing
From within and to cleanse my soul
And the flow sets my heart to glowing
Holy spirit, more than silver or gold.

Refrain
Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 23, 2017

 

Overwhelmed!

Tsunami!
We have all seen the heartbreaking video of a tsunami looming over a beach and then sweeping away everything in its path. Such a sight is the very definition of “overwhelming.” There is no escape and no place to hide from the rolling destruction. When the wave passed unbelievable destruction was in its wake:

  • Homes and neighborhoods turned to rubbish,
  • Families torn apart as the water seemed to select children to strip from their parent’s arms to sweep them away,
  • Amazing stories of miraculous survival scattered among the bodies taken by the waves.

Life can be something like that.
The Psalmist felt it, the terrifying approach of destruction, a rising flood of misfortune, a pending disaster with no escape in sight.  What to do? Cry out to God! There is a Rock, a safe place to hide, a place the overwhelming food can never reach.

His name is Jesus.
No one has broken through His security system.

  • He sends his angels with weapons, sharpened with grace and wielded in supremacy.
  • No spiritual foe can withstand those who guard us.
  • When our house is built on this Rock, the storms will rage, the rain will drum the walls around us and the winds will attack and retreat to attack again.

But all of this will be to no use for the Rock we build upon is a proven fortress.

  • Hell has thrown its greatest rage against Him and He stood in His goodness, unmoved by evil.
  • He remained in His grief, steady in His faith.
  • In spite of the weakness of his flesh, His spirit was willing.
  • In the midst of such a bloody triumph, He bowed His head and died.
  • Neither man nor Satan took his life; He gave it and in this way He broke the tidal wave of death.

Indeed, Jesus initiated a counter wave of grace.
This was the flooding River of Life, the ceaseless, unstoppable flow of the love of God from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. On the heights of the Place of the Skull, another storm broke, a storm of justice. Eventually all wrongs will be righted and all diseases destroyed as justice rolls down like a river. Safe in the cleft of the Rock we will see the rule of truth, the tide of evil beaten back by a torrent of goodness. As the waters of this flood recede, a new heaven and a new earth will emerge.

“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”

In that safe place, I cannot be overwhelmed for this Rock will never be broken.

What is today’s forecast? Are there clouds on the horizon? Do lightning bolts walk the land in our direction? If so, run to the Rock.

Scriptures:
Psalm 61:1-4
O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
Matthew 7:25 NKJV
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Mark 4:36-41 NKJV
Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. …And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Amos 5:24 NIV
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are my protection from the whelming floods of evil today. I rest in the shadow of Your wings. That settled, let me be a riverbed where your rolling River of Justice flows to the righting of the wrongs before me, the healing of the wounds around me, and the securing of Your peace which follows me. Thank You for rescuing me from the flood; lengthen my arm as I reach to those about to be overwhelmed and strengthen my grip on those who reach out to me. In Your Name, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Song:
Love Lifted Me
Words and Music: James Rowe

1. I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore
Very deeply stained within, Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea Heard my despairing cry
From the waters lifted me, Now safe am I.

Refrain:
Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help, Love lifted me.
Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help, Love lifted me.

2. All my heart to Him I give, Ever to Him I’ll cling,
In His blessed presence live, Ever His praises sing.
Love so mighty and so true Merits my soul’s best songs;
Faithful, loving service, too, To Him belongs.

Refrain

3. Souls in danger, look above, Jesus completely saves;
He will lift you by His love Out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea, Billows His will obey;
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved