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, 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 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, January

January 22

Reality

Some realities are beyond detection by the five senses; they cannot be seen, smelled, heard, felt, or tasted. Despite these sensual limitations, the realities of the spirit dimension of life are powerful in their effect on us every day. Realities of the senses will pass away as we do. Realities of the spirit will last forever.

A Spiritual Reality
Prayer, although it can be seen, heard, and even felt, is essentially a spiritual reality. The Book of Revelation suggests that the prayers of the saints of God are stored somewhere in heaven. We add to that supply each time we pray.

Think of it.

  • Our praise is collected before the Lord.
  • Our adoration accumulates in the presence of the Lord.
  • Our intercessions are invested with interest in the power of the Lord.

When the sensual reality of how we feel as we try to pray threatens to defeat us, we need to remember the heavenly container with our name on the label. Even when we don’t feel like praying and we pray anyway, those prayers add to the collection:

  • Our praise collection grows.
  • Our accumulated adoration of the Lord Jesus increases.
  • Our intercessions in behalf of those in need increase by the power of another day’s interest.

Daily prayer and Bible reading arm us in spiritual realities, preparing us to walk in the Spirit during the coming day.

The Sense of the Spirit
Like everyone else we live in the real world, the world of the five senses. Like everyone else we also live in the spiritual world. Most people are unaware of this dimension of reality, thinking that what they see, hear, touch, smell, and taste is all there is. Not so. When the Lord Jesus reigns on the throne of our lives and with daily communion with Him through prayer and His Word, we are spiritually prepared. We can live with a very real sixth sense, the sense of the spirit.

  • We can see the spiritual realities beyond physical realities around us and engage the full truth of each moment.
  • We can hear the voice of the Lord in the sounds of nature and in the voices of those around us.
  • We can feel the embrace of the Lord deep in our hearts in quiet moments of peace.
  • We can sense the sweet aroma of the Peace of the Lord in the clamor stressful moments.
  • We can “taste and see” that the Lord is good.

The world delivered to us by our five natural senses can be anything from delightful to terrifying. The spirit world made real to us by the Holy Spirit, is more dependable. It is a secure realm, ruled by the Prince of Peace.

Scriptures:
Revelation 5:6-9; 8:3-4
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders… Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
1 Corinthians 15:44-47
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Ephesians 6:11-12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Galatians 5:16; 25-26 NKJV
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are the ultimate reality. You created me so I am real, too! My problems are real problems and so are my potentials. My joys are genuine, and so are my tears. You have provided us with powerful imaginations but life is not imaginary; it is very, very real. Our five senses tell us about realities, and, we have another sense, a spiritual one, to help us recognize realities beyond our physical world. Thank You, Lord, that You have sent the Holy Spirit to abide in our souls, to guide us, inform us, inspire us, embolden us, and fill us with spiritual power. Tune my ear to hear the voice of the Spirit. Quicken my mind to comprehend what the Spirit says. As Your Spirit bears witness with my spirit, I am assured that I am indeed a child of God. Father, I choose to walk in Your Spirit today, fully aware of seen and unseen worlds and the reality of Your nearness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Song:
Open My Eyes, that I May See
Words and Music: Clara H. Scott

1. Open my eyes that I may see glimpse of truth Thou has for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp, and set me free.

Refrain:
Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!

2. Open my eyes that I may hear voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear, Everything false will disappear.

Refrain

3. Open my eyes that I may bear gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart, and let me prepare love with Thy children thus to share.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved