pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 26, 2017

Restoration

Jesus and Violence: the Exception
When Jesus and violence meet in the Bible, He is usually on the receiving end.  There is an exception:  The cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem.

How strange to think of the gentle Jesus, whip in hand, driving out the money-changers, overturning their tables, and scattering their coins and goods to the mercy of the crowd.  Yet, that is what happened.  We must ask questions:

  1. Was this out of character for Jesus who is supposed to be meek and lowly?
  2. Why did the merchandising of “spirituality” upset Him so when the religious leaders stood by approving?

What was wrong with this corrupted system of “worship?”
When reading the gospel narratives we sometimes skip over the parts we don’t understand or find unpleasant.  Therefore, these parts of the story are forced from our memory as we ruminate on the gentle, compassionate, and friendly side of Jesus’ character.  Our reluctance to embrace the entire revelation of the person Jesus when He walked this earth does not morph Him into our image of Him.  He remains who He was and is.

Sometimes He got angry.

The full range of His character is so important for us to consider:

  • Note the times of discouragement when He was misunderstood.
  • There were times of grief when He wept openly.
  • Disappointment came when those closest to Him did not believe.
  • His biting anger against the religious leaders erupted from Him in the names he called them like, “snakes” and  “white-washed tombs.”
  • His unbridled joy is seen in the many parties and dinners He attended.
  • His delight in children is apparent as they must have squirmed into His lap for a hug.

But why this anger and violence at the Temple?

The Restoration of Worship
Sometimes one must destroy something once good but now corrupt to build something better. What Jesus was doing with the whip and the shouted quotation of prophecy was more than the purging of the Temple.  He was destroying the corrupted worship of men in order to restore the True Worship of God.

  • On the local scale, Old Covenant worship had been so thoroughly corrupted by wicked leadership that a totally new beginning was needed.
  • On the cosmic scale, the Old Covenant was about to be dismantled and the New Covenant erected in its place.  In 40 years or so, the Romans would do to the Temple  what Jesus did to the moneychangers.  Jesus predicted it that day.

The prophecy Jesus shouted as His violence against spun itself out was this:

“Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”

A Covenant of Restoration
Indeed, true prayer for all nations is the essence of the New Covenant. Jesus’ ministry was and is to restore our relationship with God.   Jesus’ message while He walked this earth was the coming access to the Father each of us would have in prayer. Prayer is so much more than asking God for things.  Times of prayer are times of communion with God Almighty!  Without the atoning blood of Jesus, none of us could ever have communion with our Maker.  Our sins would consume us in a flash.

  • With the New Covenant there would be no need for the animal sacrifices—Jesus would be the final Lamb!
  • There would be no need for a building called the Temple—each believer in Jesus would be a Temple of the Holy Spirit.
  • There would be no need of an exalted priesthood.  With the New Covenant each believer is a priest unto the Lord.
  • There would also be no single race serving as a doorway to God. The church would be the “chosen generation” and the “One Holy Nation” on earth making the New Covenant House of God a place of prayer for all nations.

The violence meted out by Jesus was not out of character.  True Spirituality must never be corrupted by profiteering.  To do so is to grieve the Spirit and risk the anger of Jesus. (See Acts 5:1-11!)

May all our houses of prayer be suitable for all nations.

Scriptures:
Luke 19:41-48
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Mark 11:15-19
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, sometimes in the Bible we see Your anger. I see Your deep rage and sorrow at  scenes of injustice. The corruption of worship is a supreme injustice to mankind. Help me honor “Your Father’s House” as a house of prayer for all nations. Help me brook no prejudice there, no power-mongering leaders, and no profiteering of any kind. Instead, help me pray in Your Name and worship in Spirit and Truth. Your cross restored True Worship. Help the prophesy of the angel hosts be fulfilled in Your house—“peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” Amen.

Song:
Jesus Opened Up the Way
Words and Music: Eugene M. Bartlett

1. Jesus Christ the Lord opened up the way to glory
When He died to save us from our ruined state,
And He asks that we shall go tell the world the story,
How His blood will save them from their awful fate.

Refrain:
Jesus opened up the way to heaven’s gate
When He died on the cross,To redeem all the lost;
He prepared the roadThat leads to His abode,
’Tis a road marked by blood But it leads us home to God.

2. And the way is marked by the footprints of the Savior,
With His blood he made it, made it plain and straight;
If you walk that way, it will lead you into heaven,
Lead you safely into glory’s golden gate.

Refrain

3. Sinner, will you come and join in this heav’nly journey,
Walk the bloody pathway that the Savior trod;
Then when life is over and all the sheaves are garnered,
You will meet the Savior and be not afraid.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 17, 2017

Preaching

Jesus was a preacher.
Paul and the other disciples were preachers, too. They had a message to deliver to anyone who might listen. People did listen to Jesus; some of the scenes are recorded in the Bible.

  • He would talk with a loud voice when He needed to be heard by many people from the crest of a hill or from a boat in a lake.
  • He could also speak softly to a Nicodemas who came to Him secretly at night and to a shy, thirsty woman at a well in Samaria in the middle of the day.
  • Sometimes His sermon was a dialogue as friends asked sincere questions and enemies tried to trick Him with words.
  • It was possible to interrupt Him and change the subject but He could not be silenced until He was done with His preaching.

In the Power of the Holy Spirit
He did all this preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, not from some inexhaustible personal strength.

  • He said that He preached what the Father gave Him to say.
  • Sometimes the Holy Spirit would reveal to Him what was happening in the hearts of His listeners and those secret things were preached to the crowd. Preaching and secrets do not go well together.
  • No one who heard Him had ever heard anyone like Him before. Some people in the crowd compared His preaching to that of the religious leaders they were used to hearing. It was brutal. “He is not like the others we hear—He speaks with authority!”

Authority also came with His hands and the commands of His voice.

  • Things that just don’t happen happened with a shouted command or with a fleeting touch. Afflictions undid themselves.
  • Demons departed to parts unknown with great haste.
  • The best minds of the day were left speechless, as if they had been struck as dumb as the dumb had been set free to speak.

His actions were unconventional to say the least.

  • He ate with sinners and crooks and women of the streets.
  • He spoke freely to Roman soldiers as if He understood their authority.
  • He was afraid of no one yet He was not threatening to those who sought Him out; children thronged Him with laughter and running little feet to always find His lap and a friendly hug.

His sermons came from life.
Life went on around Him when He preached the Good News and He incorporated the details of life into His sermons: agriculture, fishing, public prayer—both true and false—the marketplace, family life, all found a place in His repertoire of illustrations. He told great stories, full of memorable characters, high drama, and poignant moral lessons. Often His meaning was clear to those who heard Him and the impact of His presence somehow validated the things He said. At other times His sermons confounded the people so much that His disciples would ask for private explanations.

His prayer life was private.
He was known to pray, off by Himself before the break of day. Somehow this gave Him the strength He would need to fulfill each day’s mission: souls to be touched, bodies to be healed, comfort for the distressed, and rebukes for the fakers. It is safe to say that no one walked the earth the way Jesus did.

The Disciples
Paul and the other followers of Jesus preached and performed miracles in the name of Jesus for He was with them—in them—by the power of the Spirit of God.

  • They needed no show to gather a crowd.
  • They desperately sought to disappear into the story they told—they knew there was no power in their names or in the touch of their hands and certainly not in the sound of their voices.
  • Jesus had called them to preach and now He was continuing His preaching through them.

Whether with words or with deeds, let Jesus be the story we tell today. Let His truth be seen in the work of our hands and let His song be heard in the music of our lives.

Scriptures:
Luke 4:18-19 NIV
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Mark 1:38 NIV
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, empower my life today to be a witness for You, a sermon preached in sweetness, in serenity, and in simplicity. May my words tell Your story, my actions illustrate Your life, and my attitudes reflect Your peace. You are my message today. Your praise is the song of my life. Holy Spirit, set my heart on fire with the truth about Jesus. As I live today, let me preach the Good News. Amen.

Song:
Our God Reigns
Words and Music: Leonard Smith

1. How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him
Who brings good news, good news,
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness.
Our God reigns! Our God reigns!

Refrain:
Our God Reigns! Our God Reigns!
Our God Reigns! Our God Reigns!

2. He had no stately form, He had no majesty,
That we should be drawn to Him.
He was despised and we took no account of Him,
Yet now He reigns with the Most High.

Refrain

3. Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty,
He is alive, he is alive.
God loves us so, see here His hands, His feet, His side.
Yes, we know, He is alive.

Refrain
Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions February

February 1, 2017

Tenacity

“Hanging in there” is more than just a handy report in times of stress; it is a life skill. As this new day begins, each of us is making the attempt to “hang in there.”

The power to hang in there is deep within us.
Sometimes it gets covered up by layers of discouragement or disillusionment, fear or fatalism, but as we discard those things in prayer and confession of scripture, the power beings to flow unhindered from our inner depths to our outer disciplines. That power of the Spirit is resident in us because Jesus lives in our hearts and the Father surrounds and permeates us with grace.

Heroes of the Faith
The heroes of the faith possessed tenacity—the ability to hang in there day by day.

  • Noah used gopher wood and tenacity to build the boat that saved the world.
  • Abraham built altar after altar and made daily sacrifices, hanging on to his faith in God in spite of conventional wisdom’s prognosis. In time he held Isaac, the incarnation of God’s promise, and Sarah’s laughter was justified. Abraham even held on when God commanded another altar and his son as the sacrifice. It took an angel’s hand and a ram caught in a thicket to stop the tenacious man of God from obeying the Lord’s command.
  • Moses tenaciously unlearned the leadership techniques of Egypt and learned how to be a shepherd, a forty year plan of study, so he could lead the flock of God.
  • Jesus did carpenter’s work for most of His life waiting for the time to come for him to “set his face” toward His Father’s altar in Jerusalem all the while knowing there would be no rescuing angel and that He was the inevitable and final Lamb.

Jesus encouraged us to be continually faithful in so many ways:

  • “Love me and keep my commandments.”
  • “Build your house upon the rock.”
  • “Pray in the secret place and the Father will reward you openly.”
  • “Ask and keep on asking.”
  • “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
  • “Take up your cross daily.”

His Cross; My Cross
The cross was the Father’s will for Jesus. He carried it every day, not just on the road to Calvary. The every-day nature of the Christian life is crucial to each of us. For most of us, our daily cross is not an instrument of torture and death, but a structure for life—the will of God for us—the reason we were created and called out of darkness. Never does a day dawn for us to forego our cross and let it lie in the back of our minds.

In the daily, personal will of God for each of us dwells these powerful things:

  • the light we need,
  • the strength the day will demand,
  • the wisdom the tasks ahead of us will require, and
  • the seeds of the harvest that we must sow today.

Tenacity Exercises

  1. Take a deep breath of the Spirit’s oxygen in praise.
  2. Stretch your sleeping muscles with adoration.
  3. Massage your mind and heart with truth.
  4. Bend down in prayer and take up your cross.

Be thankful that Jesus carried His cross of pain so yours can be a burden of joy and service.

Scriptures:
Isaiah 50:7 KJV
For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Luke 9:51-52 NKJV
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.
Matthew 16:24-26
…”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Galatians 6:9 AMP
And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of tenacity. Thanks also for the amazing example You set for us in Your life among us. As I begin another day of work, I know that You will be with me, strengthening me, encouraging me, and empowering me. Thank You for meeting me here in this place of morning prayer. You deserve my complete attention, my whole heart and mind. I remind You of the covenant You have made with me—You will be God and I will be Your partner. I will give You my life and You will give me Yours. I will live in You and You will live in me. From such a position of strength, I will hang in there! Thank You, Jesus! Amen.

Song:
Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand
Words and Music: Jennie B. Wilson

1. Time is filled with swift transition, Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal, Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Refrain:
Hold to God’s unchanging hand, Hold to God’s unchanging hand;
Build your hopes on things eternal, Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Refrain

2. Trust in Him who will not leave you, Whatsoever years may bring,
If by earthly friends forsaken Still more closely to Him cling.

Refrain
3. Covet not this world’s vain riches That so rapidly decay,
Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures,They will never pass away.

Refrain

4. When your journey is completed, If to God you have been true,
Fair and bright the home in glory Your enraptured soul will view.
Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 26

Work

Are we confused about work?

It is both noun and verb, art and craft, active and passive, finished and continuing, debilitating and renewing, and it is both labor and leisure. The law in physics (W=Fd) that says work happens when force moves a body in the direction of the force. Work is also the term for manual labor, a painting, poem, a production on a stage, and a white collar corner office This is an amazing noun!

The verb is equally diverse describing our actions from our motivations deep within, to the principles commanding our choices, to the simple actions of the day, to the business of leisure, to the reflection at the end of the day, and even to our restless subconscious minds while we sleep through the night. Human beings are working all the time.

When we have had our New Covenant Sabbaths—days of rest and worship— for most of us it is time to go back to work.

There is no way to summarize in this space how the noun and the verb affect each of us. Suffice it to say that we have jobs to go to and work to do. Until we consider the wisdom of God, work is one of our deepest needs and one of our least favorite things. This contradiction is easily observed. Listen to our declarations.

  • “If you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life.”
  • “Thank God it’s Friday!”
  • “I hate Mondays!”
  • “Back to the salt mines!”
  • “I’m out of work. I need a job!”

Indeed, to be out of work is a terrible thing, yet so many spend their lives working at jobs they hate, living for retirement and the all-too-brief vacations between now and then.

So what wisdom can be found to combat these natural responses to work?

The will of God is something to be proved in our lives.
We are not meant to live randomly or to work pointlessly. God has a plan for each of us. If we discover it early in life, we have time to prepare for it and to do that chosen work throughout our lives. If we discover it later, this has not short circuited God’s plan. He can work all the circumstances to allow us to do the work of getting back to the work He made us to do. We prove God’s will for us by either doing the work He called us to do or preparing to do that work

The attitude we possess when we are at work changes everything. Paul tells three ways we are to do the work before us:

  1. With all our life force,
  2. As unto the Lord and not unto men, and
  3. In the name of the Lord Jesus.

Today we have the choice to do our work sullenly, resentfully, half-heartedly, and in our own name, or to work cheerfully, thankfully, with our whole heart, and in the name of Jesus.

  • We can choose to work for the boss, for the family, for the company, for ourselves, or for the money.
  • We can also choose to do the work before us for the Lord Himself. When this is our choice, our work, if it is honest and helpful, becomes worship.

And it is fit to be God’s habitation.

Scriptures:
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
1 Chronicles 28:20
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You have a work for me. Thanks for including me in the building of Your Kingdom on earth and Your church in the world. Let me be inspired by others but not distracted by them. They have their work; I have mine. Show me how I can do my work in the way the Bible says I should: as unto You and not unto people, in Your Holy Name, and with my full life force. Then my work will be a witness of You and an offering of worship to You. Help my work to be a blessing to those to whom I am responsible and help me be a blessing to those for whom I am responsible. Help me hear the words David spoke to his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work.” In Your Lovely Name, Amen.

Song:
Take My Life and Let It Be
Words: Francis Ridley Havergal; Music: Henry A. Cesar Malan

1. Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days—Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

2. Take my hands and let them move At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee.

3. Take my voice and let me sing Always only for my King;
Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee.

4. Take my silver and my gold—Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect and use Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

5. Take my will and make it Thine—It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart—it is Thine own, It shall be Thy Royal Throne.

6. Take my love—my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself—and it will be Ever only, all for Thee.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 18

Setbacks

We never can be sure what the day will hold.

Some days go as we planned them but most are filled with unplanned interruptions. It has been said that some of the most important teachings of Jesus came when someone interrupted him. It is good to look at unplanned interruptions as opportunities the Lord sends our way.

There. That was easy enough.

But what about those huge interruptions when we fail at something really important to us? Most of us don’t shoot from the hip in things that really matter. We take careful aim but still, sometimes, we miss the target. Our momentum is lost. Our rhythm gets off by a beat or more. We have to regroup, re-plan, reorganize, and somehow restore our enthusiasm. Talk about interruptions!

Sometimes things just don’t work out.
When, on the well-imagined, finely tuned, well-plotted journey of life, something just doesn’t work out, this setback must be carefully managed. The high hopes that sung us to sleep each night have stopped singing altogether. In their place is a mournful lament. As mature as we might like to think we are, the truth is our feelings are hurt. Setbacks are painful for they strike us in the heart with disappointment and in the mind with questions we thought we had answered correctly.

What is the old worn out saying? “The best laid plans of rodents and regents sometimes fail.”—something like that, anyway. Being neither rats nor rulers, this certainly applies to us. So how do we respond to setbacks, large and small?

Setbacks Small and Large
The small setbacks are managed easily with simple time management and coping skills. We know we cannot react to everything that happens. We must choose where our limited supply of energy will go.

Big setbacks—failures, shortfalls, crises, unfaithful people, wrong-headed ideas and plans—demand careful thinking and intentional examination.

  • Examine the plan. Was it from God? Did it work to fulfill the call on your life?
  • Examine the motivation behind the plan. Was this a godly thing to attempt? Were the hearts of the leaders pure?
  • Examine the presentation of the plan. Was there a mixed message that undermined the ministry? Was this sold to the people? Was there a consensus in the minds of the people or was this a top-down effort?

The Holy Spirit will lead you to the right questions to ask. Remember,

James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault…”

Besides, you are certainly not alone:

  • An angel with a flaming sword posted at Eden’s Gate was a major setback for Adam and Eve.
  • Growing past the age of childbearing was certainly a setback to Abraham and Sarah.
  • Moses experienced setback after setback as Pharaoh continually hardened his heart.
  • King David’s heart broke when a young man lay dead by the Ark of the Covenant, but he recovered, consulted the Word of God, and called for the Priests and brought the Ark to Jerusalem.
  • John the Baptist became discouraged in prison and asked if Jesus was the One or should he look for another.
  • Jesus couldn’t heal in some towns because of unbelief so He just went on the next village.
  • Peter denied the Lord three times and all the disciples except John ran away. Later, they turned the world upside down.
  • Paul experienced too many setbacks to relate in this short space. His words to us are as powerful today as when he wrote them centuries ago.

Take heart. You will get another chance to get it right.

Scriptures:
Philippians 3:12-14
…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. … I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you lived on this wonderful, fallen planet. You ran a business and were part of family who didn’t quite know what to do with you. I am sure your hammer slipped a time or two and hit your thumb. You probably did quality work for someone who never paid you more than empty promises. You chose twelve men to follow you and one them didn’t. Lord, you knew the setbacks built into life. You had to think on your feet, dodge the sucker punches, and take the losses, so you know how it is done. Walk in me today so that if a setback should surprise me or a disappointment find me or a faithless friend should betray me with a kiss, it will be just the old routine of life on earth. Your experience and resilience will clothe me in peace. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Song:
God Leads Us Along
Words and Music: G.A. Young
1. In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along;

Refrain:
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

2. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along;

Refrain

3. Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along;

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 14

Mission

Each of us has a mission, a mission from God. Every day we make a list of “Things to do Today.” If we don’t write the list down, we try to keep it in our head. As a work week progresses, it is good to review the mission.

  • Do our plans for today flow from the call of God on our life?
  • Does today’s mission advance our life’s mission?

The God who created the vast and expanding universe is also the Creator of this day, this moment, and of our hearts. Just as “the heavens are telling” us the glories of God, the Spirit of God within each of us is telling us about God and what He plans for us today. He is not a random God; He has a plan and we are a part of it. He is the God of detail, large and small, from the movement of the planets to our actions between breakfast and lunchtime.

The grand scheme of things is His call on our lives. This is the central fact of our existence.

  • It is the guiding revelation for the choices we make—does this advance the call or hinder it?
  • It is the basis of our judgment when we stand before the Lord and give an account.
  • It is the source of joy and strength, tenacity and determination, faithfulness and effectiveness, for the lives we live.

God’s agenda for today is just as specific as his grand scheme for our lives. We face a choice.

  • We can charge into this day without listening to the Spirit, following our own agenda, or,
  • We can listen to the voice of God within us, tuning our spirit to His Spirit so that we live this day in holiness, love, and power beyond our natural abilities.

People will cross our path today. Questions will come our way. Our prayers will be sought by those in need. Deeds of creativity and mercy will be expected of us. There will be words of truth that we must whisper in the ears of some and other messages that we must shout from the rooftops.

We have a story to tell with details of our lives.  We have a mission that is ever with us–“Your Kingdom, come!  Your Will be done!”

Scriptures:
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Colossians 3:16-17; 23-24
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Psalm 89:15 NKJV
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.

Song:
We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations
Words and Music: H. Ernest Nichol

1. We’ve a story to tell to the nations that shall turn their hearts to the right,
A story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light.

Refrain:
For the darkness shall turn to dawning and the dawning to noonday bright,
And Christ’s great Kingdom shall come to earth, the Kingdom of love and light.

2. We’ve a song to be sung to the nations that shall lift hearts to the Lord.
A song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword.

Refrain

3.We’ve a message to give to the nations that the Lord who reigneth above
Hath sent us His Son to save us and show us that God is love.

Refrain

4. We’ve a Savior to show to the nations Who the path of sorrow has trod,
That all of the world’s great peoples might come to the truth of God.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 13

Victory

There are small victories like when the bathroom scales report one less pound than the day before, and large ones like those two in 1945—VE Day (Victory in Europe) and VJ Day (Victory in Japan)—which marked the end of the world’s greatest war. In between the small and large are daily victories we celebrate silently or call the one we love to give the good report.

Defeats, large and small, we absorb, either to study them and learn from them or to forget them and add them to the memories we would love to discard.

In large measure, victory is a choice.

  • We choose the right battles to fight.
  • We select the proper weapons to wield.
  • We join the army that has the strength and wherewithal to win.
  • We follow the General with both the will to take on the enemy and the might to defeat him.

Today, we choose to fight the good fight of faith.

  • That is, we choose to live right in a world gone wrong.
  • We select weapons for our warfare that are spiritual and mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
  • We march in the Army of God who defeats the terrible foe with a song.
  • We follow Jesus who is the Victor, the complete Master of all time and space.

The battle today will not be easy. The enemy is strong and wily. Deceit and despair are his artillery and he has strewn the roadway with mines. But we tread carefully, placing each step in a nail scarred footprint. Jesus has gone this way before us. He has clearly marked the hazards. He knows the enemy’s secret schemes.

He has gone head-to-head with the enemy of our souls,

  • in the wilderness of temptation,
  • in the war of words with the religionists,
  • in the battles for the lives of those tormented by demons and disease,
  • in the Garden of prayer and unlawful arrest,
  • in the betrayal of a dear and trusted friend,
  • in the legal courts of men,
  • under the lash of man’s wrath,
  • under the cross on the Via Doloroso,
  • on the cross at Mt. Calvary,
  • in the regions of hell to wrest the keys of death, hell and the grave from Satan’s grip,
  • in the tomb where death reigned supreme over His body until the Holy Spirit, who had overshadowed Mary to give Jesus human life, invaded His burial chamber to give him resurrected life, and
  • in the Throne Room of Heaven to wear the Victor’s Crown for all eternity.

Victory is our choice today because Jesus is our choice. Temporary setbacks will occur but they do not have the final word. The final word is “Victory” and Jesus has spoken it.

Scripture:
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are the absolute Victor. Hell falls silent when You open Your mouth to speak. Demons tremble at the sound of Your Name. Darkness flees away at Your entrance for You are absolute Light. My sins are gone because You sent them away. I sleep well because Your angels stand guard over my pillow. The path of life before me is clear because You walk ahead of me, Your footsteps blessing the earth with peace. You will never be defeated. But, Lord, when I feel I am at risk and that enemies rise up against me, You are a shield to me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I will walk in Your victory because You walk in me. I say to the day ahead, “Bring out your best, do your worst, I am not afraid. The Victor walks in me invincible!” Thank You, Lord Jesus! Amen

Song:
Victory
Words and Music: B.E. Warren

1. Hallelujah, what a thought! Jesus full salvation brought, Victory, Victory!
Let the powers of sin assail, heaven’s grace can never fail, Victory, Victory!

Refrain:
Victory, yes victory; Hallelujah! I am free, Jesus gives me victory.
Glory, glory, Hallelujah! He is all in all to me.

2. I am trusting in the Lord, I am standing on His Word, Victory, Victory!
I have peace and joy within, Since my life is free from sin, Victory, Victory!

Refrain

3. Shout your freedom everywhere, His eternal peace declare, Victory, Victory!
Let us sing it here below in the face of every foe, Victory, Victory!

Refrain

4. We will sing it on that shore, when this fleeting life is o’er Victory, Victory!
Sing it here, ye ransomed throng, start the everlasting song: Victory, Victory!

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 11

Stand

We can be sure of one thing this day will require of each of us—we must make a stand.

In an age of flexibility where almost anything goes, we will have to draw some lines in places that really matter, lines that we will not cross. We will have to determine the essentials of each task, and on a larger scale, of life itself, and hold to them.

The essentials of life are not negotiable. They are fixed in our hearts and they guide our thoughts.

The non-essentials are our flex points; we can

  • bend,
  • improvise,
  • learn from others,
  • even compromise for the good of the whole.

Not so with the essentials.

These are the points of unity with our fellows, our shared beliefs that bring us together and help us move forward together. Essential things mark the boundaries of the path we walk for within them we clearly see the footprints of Jesus.

Like a pilgrim on a long journey of faith, another morning on the trail demands another stand. Our destination does not draw near to us if we oversleep. We must stand to continue the journey,

  • check the map,
  • get our bearings,
  • sense the day’s conditions and
  • take the first step of a new day.

We do not stand alone, today. As the sun makes his pilgrimage across the sky, casting warmth and light upon the path before them, millions of fellow travelers take their stand as well. They draw their lines and check their maps. They stretch muscles stiff from sleep but strong and rested, ready for the trek.

Jesus, too, stands with us. He has our back. His Word is our guide, His blood our victory. He is our companion in the way.

The world doesn’t want us to make a stand. It wants to bend us this way and that, to distract us and break our concentration so, if we move at all, we will head the wrong way, a way so convoluted and confusing that we must sit down to catch our breath, another day wasted.

But the Spirit calls to us, “Arise! Take your stand! Your rest is complete. Take the first step of a new journey.”

In morning prayer, we renew the essentials as we rehearse the revelation of who God is and what He wants us to do. When the benediction sounds and the amen is spoken, we make our stand.

We stride into the day, confident of our Companion, with a lamp for our feet and a light for the path and victory ahead in the cause of Christ.

Scriptures:
2 Thessalonians 2:13-15
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14; 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love

Prayer:
In Your strength I make my stand today. In Your wisdom, my mind is poised, ready and equipped to answer, to discover, to reason, and to refrain from evil as I embrace the good. In your love I will touch those who cross my path. Through Your overcoming grace, I will be a force for good in this World. If I should fail in this stand, Your Spirit will inform me and I will renew my stand. Nothing matters as much as this, that I should stand for You today. Amen.

Song
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Words: George Duffield Jr.; Music: Adam Geibel

1. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.

2. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, The trumpet call obey.
Forth to the mighty conflict In this His glorious day;
Ye that are true, now serve Him Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, And strength to strength oppose.

3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor; Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there.

4. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, The strife will not be long.
This day the noise of battle; The next the victor’s song.
To him that overcometh, A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of Glory Shall reign eternally

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, January

January 7

Courage

Knowing God’s will is one thing. Doing His will is something else again. Courage is required.

Accomplishing something in this life is a matter of timing, skill, opportunity, sensitivity and often, sacrifice. What it does not require is luck.

Luck
Luck is all about randomness, chance, and unpredictable circumstances. Luck has absolutely no role to play for someone who seeks to know and to do God’s will. We confess that our lives are in God’s hands, our very steps are ordered by the Lord each day. This amazing grace comes to us contained in our free will. We have the choice to follow the Lord’s leadership or to go off on our own. When we choose to follow Him, He begins to order our steps and those of others who may or may not be following Him.

The people we need to meet will be right where we need them, right on cue. The things we really need will be in our hands when we need them. The words we need to speak will be in our mouths just when they need to be spoken, and on and on this grace goes. Continue reading “January 7” →