pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 5, 2017

Ascending

The thing is—He didn’t stop!
He broke the gravitational pull of the earth He had created, passed through the stratosphere, and sailed by other of His little projects, suns and moons, stars and other things we don’t even know about yet. He didn’t stop until He reached the Throne of Heaven.

I remember celebrating when the race of human beings ascended to the moon in July of 1969. But we had to stop there. Humanists do their best to install mankind on the throne of the universe. “Man is the judge of all things.”

What a bleak prospect.

We need a higher standard than who man is and what man can do.
The coronation of sinful man on a throne demanding our obeisance is a short step downward to Francis Schaeffer’s “line of despair.” His scathing examination of 20th Century philosophies revealed that without God in our thinking each of us must cross a line leading only to meaninglessness. Without a Creator, creation is marvelous, random accident with no meaning.

On the other hand, we have The Ascension.

The followers of Christ might have called the days since their Last Supper with Jesus a roller coaster ride if they had known what that was.

  • He’s with us!
  • He’s arrested!
  • He’s pronounced guilty!
  • He’s dead and buried!
  • He’s back!
  • He’s full of promises!
  • He’s gone!
  • One more thing:  He’s coming back!

They had the good sense to obey the Lord so they filed back into Jerusalem to wait for the Promise of the Father—the power to tell the world about Jesus.

Who shall ascend?
Centuries before, the Psalmist David spoke of a different kind of ascension. He asked the most fundamental worship questions: “Who shall ascend the Hill of the Lord” Who shall stand in the Holy Place?”

This is the joy and power of the New Covenant: Jesus ascended to the Throne of Heaven and now, in the wonder of “spirit and truth” worship, we ascend the mountain of revelation to stand with the throng before The Throne of God and of the Lamb.

Forget the technical help needed for flight. Focus on the story of Redemption and the face of our Redeemer. Empty your heart of its earthly passion, your mind of its temporal distractions, and your body of its time-driven tensions. Fill your resulting emptiness with the truth, the presence, the power, and the peace of Christ.

In others words: Ascend!
Don’t stop at the limits of Earth’s pull. Sail past the moon. Leave the stars behind and ascend to the Throne of God where Jesus dwells and reigns. In the process, you cross “the line of hope.” He welcomes you there with a smile on His lovely face.

He is the measure of all things.

Scriptures:
Psalm 24 NIV
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — he is the King of glory.
Hebrews 12:22-24 NKJV
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Acts 1:1-12 NIV
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You have ascended on high—to the very Throne of Heaven. Let me hear the songs of the angels all through this day. “Holy, holy, holy!” Let Your holiness go before me and behind me today—no enemy can penetrate this cordon of defense. I will ascend this day, every step will be a step up. I hear Your upward call today and move in Your strength. When this day ends, I will have ascended. All for Your Glory, Lord. Amen.

Song:
We’re Marching to Zion
Words: Isaac Watts; Music: Robert Lowry

1. Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known,
Join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord
And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.

Refrain:
We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.

2. Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God,
But children of the heavenly King, but children of the heavenly King,
May speak their joys abroad, may speak their joys abroad.

Refrain

3. The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields, before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk he golden streets, or walk the golden streets.

Refrain

4. Then let our songs abound and every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground, We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground,
To fairer worlds on high to fairer worlds on high.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions April, Devotions

April 26, 2017

Effect

We must remember that the heart of God never changes. 
His grace is a great River of Life that can never be stopped on its journey from HIs throne to the depth of our human need. “Wherever the river, everything will live!”  So said the Prophet Ezekiel.  God’s love has never diminished in strength from the days when He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day until today, when He delights to walk with us.  Just as His love has never grown or diminished, it has never shifted in its focus; God still loves what He has always loved and what has always displeased Him displeases Him still.

God made this world a realm of “cause and effect.”
Everyone son and daughter of Adam and Eve has been made for a purpose. We have each been designed to be the “cause” of certain “effects.”    Gravity (the cause) makes water run down hill (the effect.)  God made it so and the whole globe ebbs and flows with this dynamic.  Through the constant pull of gravity, great rivers drain their continents yet never fill the sea.  Jesus chose this image to represent the effect of the life of the believer—a cleansing, nourishing flow of life through a barren land.

The dictionary defines “effect” as:
noun

  1. something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence
  2. power to produce results; efficacy; force; validity; influence
  3. the state of being operative or functional; operation or execution; accomplishment or fulfillment
  4. a mental or emotional impression produced, as by a painting or a speech.
  5. meaning or sense; purpose or intention.

The River of the Spirit
The ministry of the Holy Spirit in us is the cause of certain effects God expects from us.

  • We walk this earth in the power of the Spirit (cause) and carry the Lord’s presence with us wherever we go (effect.)
  • The places we work (cause) are blessed with a living, breathing incarnation of the truth of God when we are there (effect.)
  • The residence and work of the Spirit of God (cause) makes us holy and powerful (effect.)
  • Just as Old Covenant Priests carried the Ark of the Covenant into the obstructing river and into battle and into the tabernacle and temple, Christ-followers likewise carry the Lord’s presence and power with them into this world.  Darkness rolls back like the River Jordan.
  • Enemies of God are thrown into confusion like the Philistines and the presence of God rests upon His people in worship as He did in the Temple.

Is this fancy?  Is this fiction?  If this is so, why do we not see hindering rivers roll back, enemies of God breaking ranks, and why do we have services without the manifest presence of God?

The Lord’s brother tells us why. 
It is because the greatest cause of any effect has been neglected—prayer!  James says that the fervent prayer of the one who closely follows the Lord Jesus is effective! It “avails much,” to use the King James language. God’s heart never changes.  He will still answer prayer and empower lives for His glory.  We are the one who change.

Life deflects us from praying.  The lazy flesh we all inhabit shrinks from the work of prayer. Time and convenience conspire against prayer.  Could it be that we don’t want to pray?  Might we be more interested in the effect than we are the cause?  God forgive us!

The apostles are unanimous in their call to prayer.  Jesus is detailed in His instructions on how we should pray.  The Spirit is resident and ready to empower our praying.  Our Covenant-keeping Father is poised to respond.  When our prayers approach the level of fervency (measured by consistency, not by volume) and faith our praying can be most effective; His power will flow through us.

Through consistent prayer we can each be a blessing to those around us just like an unstoppable river flowing to the sea!

Scriptures:
Isaiah 32:15-17
…till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high… The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
James 5:13-16
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Revelation 22:1-2
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Ezekiel 47:9
…so where the river flows everything will live.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are the spring of Living Water bubbling in my deepest self.  As I pray, let the gentle flow become a torrent. Use me to affect this world for good. As I live, flow through me to the healing of the nations—of the people You place in my path. May my words be filled with truth, my eyes see with Your perspective, my hands touch with Your compassion. With You as my cause, the effect of my life will count in this world and in the next. Amen.

River Songs:
O River of God
Traditional
O River of God, flow down on me.
O River of God, flow out through me.
O River of God, so rich and free,
O River of God, I long for Thee.

I’ve Got a River
Words and Music: L. Casebolt

I’ve got a River of Life flowing out from me,
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to;
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free,’
I’ve got a River of Life flowing out from me,

Spring up, O well, within my soul.
Spring up, O well and make me whole.
Spring up, O well and give to me
That life abundantly.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March, Uncategorized

March 11, 2017

 

Silence

Psalm 83:1
“O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still.”

The human soul cries out against silence when silence is the very thing that will heal us.

We want noise, so we fill our work spaces, resting places, traveling spaces with sound—recorded books, music, podcasts, anything but silence. We especially do not want God to be silent. We want to hear His voice, the music from His Throne Room, and the hum and clatter of His creation.

In our humanity we are convinced that silence is sinister, masking plots, hiding secrets, exciting our fears and suspicions.

Sometimes silence is the sound of progress.
Perhaps, the Kingdom of God advances in silence as much as it does in shouted sermons and in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Could it be that ambient noise is more dangerous than silence? Are there sounds that are only heard when the deluge of random noise we select each day subsides?

It was so in Gethsemane. Jesus’ tortured prayer to His father was answered with silence. And this silence also, the Kingdom was advanced.

The Noisy Soul
Before Isaiah was a prophet, he was a historian writing the story of his hero, King Uzziah. When the King failed God, the noise in Isaiah’s soul must have been deafening—His hero had fallen! King Uzziah lost track of his role in the Kingdom of God and supplanted the ministry of the priests. It cost him everything, position, pride, health, legacy.

Finally, a Profound Silence
In an amazing moment of worship, the noise of confusion in the heart of Isaiah was driven out by the sound of praise from the Throne Room of God—sound so great it shook the doorposts of heaven. Even as the room was filled with smoke, clouds of confusion seemed to clear before the eyes of Isaiah and He saw the Lord “high and lifted up.” This astounding vision justified the sounds of heaven. There followed a moment of cleansing when an angel took a coal of fire from the altar and touched Isaiah’s lips pronouncing his absolution.

I imagine that there followed a profound silence—angelic hosts waiting breathlessly to hear the words of God.

Into this silence God spoke. “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

I am sure this question echoed through the still trembling walls until falling into a deep silence. Into this silence, the shaken prophet spoke: “Here am I. Send me!”

Worship Leaders seek this high sounding praise. We want to see the Lord high and lifted up and well we should. But there should follow this manifestation of grandeur a silence as we listen for His voice.

And in this silence, the Kingdom is advanced.

Scriptures:
Isaiah 6:1-8 NIV
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Habakkuk 2:20 NKJV
“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, there is a time for me to speak, to praise you with a loud voice, to cry out to You in pain, and to sing with saints and angels as we worship You. Help me know when to quiet my soul and listen for Your voice. The Bible declares that You are speaking today. Forgive me for letting this noisy world muffle Your lovely voice. Save me from the cacophony of these times. There is a place where I can go to hear Your voice and drink deeply from the pool of Your presence. You called that place the Secret Place of Prayer. You said the Father was there. I seek this silent solitude, this peaceful quiet communion with You. Thank You, Lord.

Song:
The Solitude of Silence
Words: Stephen Phifer; Music: Angela Danadio

1. In the silence of my soul, Lord, I will seek You.
In the stillness of my spirit I will stay.
I will flee from all the rush and noise around me.
In the solitude of silence I will wait.

Refrain:
For Your voice cannot be heard above the clamor.
Your presence does not rest upon our haste.
In the silence of my soul I will find You.
In the solitude of silence I will wait.

2. I will ask the singing winds to serenade me.
I will let the sunlight dance upon my fears.
Thinking back to all who listened here before me:
Silent laughter, silent prayers, and silent tears.

Refrain

3. In the pages of the Book Your heart is calling
As the ancient words fall soft upon my ear.
Like an early season snowfall, cool and healing,
Heaven’s peace, a glistening blanket, quells my fear.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved