pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 29, 2017

Memorial

Remembering and Forgetting
Forgetting what we should always remember and remembering what is better forgotten are the twin plagues that can rob us of our heritage, our joy in each moment, and our legacy.  For this reason, the Bible instructs us both to remember and to forget.

  • We should always remember who God is in Christ Jesus, what He has done for us, and what He has promised to do.  We must never forget the darkness out of which He called us and we must always remember to choose to walk in His light.
  • At the same time we must forget the guilt of our sin for these things have been cleansed from our record in heaven. We must let the Lord heal us from the wounds of our history. God can heal our memories so thoroughly that  there is no reason to cling to hurtful things.

In other words, the Lord can help us adjust our time consciousness to remember what we should remember and forget what we should forget.

There are memories and then, there are memorials. 
A memorial is a more formal reminder of something of high importance.  We celebrate the remembrance of birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with memorial rituals.  Some of us remember other milestones like the day we gave our heart to the Lord, the home-going of someone we love, or some other life-altering event.

In the USA, we celebrate a certain day in honor of the people who fought and died to preserve our political freedom.  We simply call it Memorial Day.  Throughout the country special ceremonies are held in remembrance.  Prayers of thanksgiving are offered to God.  People are encouraged to take the day off from work to enjoy the freedom won for us by those we honor.  This memorial activity has many effects:

  • We decorate the graves of the fallen.
  • We are reminded of the cost of our freedom.
  • We are humbled to remember those who gave all to preserve it.
  • We are grateful to live in such a land.
  • We renew our personal commitments to do our part to make their sacrifices count.

In the same way, each time of morning prayer is a memorial.
God not only hears our prayers, He collects them.  They are the record of our service.  In Acts chapter 10, we find an intriguing insight into this. An angel tells a Gentile believer named Cornelius that his deeds of mercy and his prayers had come before the Lord as a memorial—a remembrance.  He was about to be involved in the spreading of the New Covenant into all the world, not just the Jewish people.

When we take time to pray each day, the effect on us is similar to the effect of Memorial Day.

  • When we humble ourselves before our victorious Hero we do not bow at a graveside, for His tomb is empty.
  • We kneel before an empty cross, the symbol of death and of resurrection.
  • We honor the Lord Jesus who gave His life for us.
  • We remember those who brought Jesus to us, so that we might know Him.
  • We are thankful to live in this Promised Land of Grace.
  • We renew our commitment to live for Jesus in this, our time of service and sacrifice.

Prayer maintains the brain.
Faithfulness to prayer keeps us from forgetting what we must forever remember while it heals the wounds of memories best forgotten.   It is one thing when we remember—it is something else when God remembers!  In prayer today and in the way we live, let us give Him something to remember!

Scriptures:
Joshua 4:4-7
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
Acts 10:4-5
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Psalm 103:2-5
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Philippians 3:13-14
Brothers, 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.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to never forget! My freedom to worship You is mine because of those who gave all to secure it. The lovely sanctuary in which I worship You was by built by others. Generations before me handed down the Word of God to me, leaving their loving fingerprints on the Holy Book. Help me move out today in full remembrance of such blessings and thus fulfill my heritage. Other things are not helpful to remember. Help me, Lord, to forget these things. Remembering the right things and forgetting the rest, I walk forward into this day to serve You with joy! In Your name, Amen!

Song:
America, the Beautiful
Words: Katherine Lee Bates; Music: Samuel A. Word

1. O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain;
for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

2.  O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine.

3. O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 28, 2017

Seen

Some things are so beautiful they have to be seen to really know them.
The Northern Lights are like that. My father saw them in Alaska in WW2 and he told me about them. I was fascinated. Over the years film and pictures failed to help me see them. A few years ago on a teaching trip to Alaska I stood on a hillside in Kotzebue, inside the Arctic Circle. While the heavens danced over my head, a verse of Scripture repeated in my heart: “The heavens are telling the glory of God.”

Now I can say I have seen the Northern Lights—I have experienced them for myself.

When something has been “seen,” this often means more than a visual recognition of it. We use the word to also mean “understanding,” as in “I have seen the light!

How many eyes do we have?

  • the mind’s eye,
  • the eyes of the heart,
  • the eye for beauty, and
  • the eyes of our understanding.

In a biblical sense, all three parts of our humanity have their own kind of vision:

  • the eyes of the body see the reality of creation,
  • the eyes of soul see patterns of human behavior, the intricacies of mathematics and logic, and wide-screen technicolor movies of our imagination, and
  • the eyes of the spirit, the God-conscious part of us, see the throne of God.

With these eyes we perceive the world, we understand what is observable in life, and we obtain by the Holy Spirit an inner vision of the world beyond our senses and our minds.

This wonderful impartation of inner sight is the work of the Holy Spirit.
It happens when we worship God.

  • As we give God the glory due His name, He enables the eyes of our spirit to see Jesus.
  • To see Jesus is to be changed. To behold Him, to contemplate Him. is to be changed from glory to glory.
  • This is a Bible promise and it really does happen.

Seeing is knowing.
On this Lord’s Day when it is time to sing to the Lord, let’s give it all we’ve got! There is no greater enterprise for the expenditure of our energy. What other activity can open the eyes of our heart? Is there another One we can behold and be changed into His likeness?

When we have seen with the eyes of our own spirit, then we will know as never before because, like those dancing streams of light in the Arctic sky we will have gone beyond the testimony of others or even the high definition photos others have taken. We will have seen for ourselves that God is good and His mercy endures forever, even to our generation.

Scriptures:
Psalm 63 NIV
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God’s name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Psalm 34:8 NKJV
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Isaiah 6:5 NIV
“…my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Isaiah 9:2 NIV
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
John 1:14 NIV
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 14:9 NIV
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
John 20:18 NIV
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Prayer Songs:
Exalted Lord
Words and Music: Steve Phifer

I came into Your holy presence loaded down with care and fear,
Just one hope that something good might happen for me here.
As I hear Your people singing songs of worship, songs of love,
Something stirs within my heart; by faith I’m looking up.

I lift the eyes of my heart toward Your Holy Temple.
I lift my heart with heaven’s songs of love.
I lift my soul to see a throne of majesty and then
I see You, Lord, high and lifted up!

Exalted Lord, I hear Your angels singing,
“Holy, Holy! Holy, Holy!”
I join their song for You alone are worthy.
Exalted Lord, You’ve come and lifted me!

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

1. Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!

2. Open my ears, that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!

3. Open my mouth, and let me bear
gladly the warm truth everywhere;
open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 26, 2017

Future

Future: Each of us has a future, two futures, in fact—one here and one in the hereafter.
The questions remain, “What will those two futures hold?” God only knows, of course, but in the amazing grace of God, we have considerable control over each of them. The choices we make today produce results now and forever.

There isn’t any reason to go through life like a billiard ball bouncing from cue to rail in helpless reaction to what hits us at the moment. What an amazing opportunity we have to be proactive instead of reactive—to be purposeful and obedient to the principles of Creation:

  • sowing and reaping,
  • cause and effect,
  • praying and believing,
  • reading and obeying and
  • all the other elements of an ironclad Covenant with Almighty God!

Jesus told me so.
And it is this opportunity that so many squander, letting sure riches slip through their idle fingers like so much sand at the beach. It’s true the riches may not pile up for us on this side of our memorial service, but on the other side?—riches untold! How do I know? Jesus told me so. He warned us not to lay up for ourselves treasures here on earth. The place is just too unstable. There are moths, and thieves, and rust, and all sorts of bad people in this world, and way too many destructive processes. No earthly accounts are safe. He said we could lay up treasures in the security vaults of heaven, a place completely void of villains and varmints, rust and rot.

Such a deal!
What are these treasures that are accruing interest and increasing in worth in the celestial safes? The things that really count:

  • forever-love,
  • family, friends,
  • fellowship, and
  • freedom from death—
  • all the things life tries to steal from us.

Until then, we walk in this dangerous, decaying world, hoping to hold on to what we have.
We don’t know about tomorrow but we know Who holds tomorrow. He has promised that even when terrible things happen to us or worse, when terrible things are done to us, all things will work together for our good—eventually. We do not live at the mercy of forces and people and time. Our Covenant-keeping God has the final word. We may lose everything and everyone here, but our real treasure is safe in the heart of God, out of reach of wars and famine and natural disasters and human treachery and even what some call “bad luck.”

So let’s be smart.
When faced with the daily choice to spend precious time and energy on frivolous things that quickly fade like grass in a dry field, let’s make a better choice.

  • In reading the Word there are riches or truth to discover and live by.
  • By spending time with the Father in the Secret Place of prayer we can uncover a plan for our life that He wants to bless.

The Lord keeps watching over us and our stuff as our earthly future unfolds and multiplies our reward in heaven to come. Seems like a no-brainer to me. The choices we make today produce results now and forever.

Such a deal, indeed!

Scriptures:
Psalm 37
Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. … If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsake nor their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. … Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
Matthew 6:19-21 NIV
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart
Romans 8:28 NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, this moment is filled with distractions. Like shiny objects to a child, frivolous things capture my attention causing me to waste the precious moments you give me every day. At the same time, the past sings a siren song that sometimes catches my ear, causing me to waste time in fruitless ruminations on things I cannot change. Lord, give me this moment today! What a gift!—a day to serve You–opportunities to make a true difference in this world. These precious moments are not to be wasted for they contain the power of the future: treasures, secure in heaven. Thank You, Lord!

Song:
Until Then
Words and Music: Stuart Hamblin

1. My heart can sing when I pause to remember
A heartache here is but a stepping stone
Along a trail that’s winding always upward,
This troubled world is not my final home.

Refrain:
But until then my heart will go on singing,
Until then with joy I’ll carry on,
Until the day my eyes behold the city,
Until the day God calls me home.

2. The things of earth will dim and lose their value
If we recall they’re borrowed for a while;
And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,
Remembered there will only bring a smile.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 23, 2017

Consideration

“…a cup of cold water…”
Jesus encouraged us to live a considerate life; He said even a cup of cold water given in His name would be rewarded. What is the considerate life?

A considerate person is one who is thoughtful in many things.
He/she considers:

  • The needs of others,
  • The issues of the day,
  • The principles that guide our daily choices, and,
  • The long term effect of decisions made today.

An inconsiderate person is the opposite of this.

He/she:

  • Thinks primarily of personal needs,
  • Only considers the issues of the day in light of the effect on him/her,
  • Is highly pragmatic, considering only what works in each moment, and
  • Rarely gives a thought to the future harvest today’s seed may bring.

Obviously, the more considerate we choose to be, the more we will be welcomed into the company of others.  There will be some who feel entitled to our consideration so it probably will not be returned or appreciated.  Their failure, however, should not affect our determination to live considerate lives.

The Consideration of God and His Word
The first direction in which we should focus our consideration is toward the Lord Himself.  Such consideration of God is a vital form of worship.  When we think about God, deeply, personally, and regularly, He reveals Himself to us.  Reading the Bible with an open heart is a powerful way to consider God.  When we read the story of Jesus, we should put ourselves into the narrative so that when we read His words, He is speaking to us.

The Consideration of Creation
To pay close attention to the sky, the land, the waters, the animals, and the people God has made with His own hands, is a wonderful way to draw close to Him.  Considering the cosmos and the earth within it to be God’s handiwork provides a perspective on our place in things that is essential.

The Consideration of Culture
The thoughtful person seeks to understand the unseen forces at work in the world by closely considering what is broadcast, published, printed, and presented by the surrounding culture.  Jesus said that people speak from the contents of the heart. If artists and entertainers have wickedness in their hearts, it will surface in their work. Entertainers will make us laugh at things that aren’t funny at all.

  • They will celebrate and promote shameful things that should be denounced and suppressed.
  • They will present a seductive beauty that will tempt us to lust after the things of the flesh rather than the spirit.
  • They will propagate the themes of the moment rather than the wisdom of the ages.  Their passion is for the here-and-now and they show a callous disregard for the future.

If we do not listen critically and watch thoughtfully, the lies the culture tells will erode the force of the truth we hold inside that came from God.

  • The pressing present moment will supplant the silent but impending future that will surely come.
  • The trembling vibrations of pleasure today will all too quickly give way to the violent shaking of judgment tomorrow.

If we carefully consider the culture around us in the light of the Word of God, we will be warned to flee from the wrath to come.

The Consideration of Others
We do not live in a vacuum.  Our lives affect the lives of others and they affect us.  The Bible makes it clear that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.  This is no easy or natural thing to do; it is a gift from God, an enablement from the Holy Spirit.

  • Some of our neighbors worship with us and still others worship the same Lord in other churches.  They are what the Bible calls the household of faith.  We should consider them to be family: mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers.
  • Most of our neighbors are not members of the household of faith, but they, like us, were created to have a relationship with God.  When we are considerate of them, it is a witness, not to our character, but to the character of Christ.  Our thoughtful consideration of them, leads toward their Creator, not away from Him.

In prayer today, stop and consider: God and His Word, His marvelous creation, the fallen culture around us, and the people we know.  Look for “cups of cold water” within in your power to share. Such consideration makes us a force for good in the world.

Scriptures:
Psalm 8:3-5
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Psalm 77:12-15
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.
Hebrews 12:2-3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Galatians 6:7-10 NKJV
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Matthew 10:40-42 NKJV
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Again today I am inspired by the life You lived on this earth. Your kindness to those in pain, to the oppressed, and to those bound in poverty stands out on every page. When you talked about “cups of cold water,” people knew what You meant. Today I will live a life of consideration. I will ponder the meaning of things. I will judge the culture by the eternal Word of God and I will keep my eyes open for the thirsty soul within my reach. You have blessed me with living water to spare so I will share it today, not just in words but in deeds of mercy. All for You, Lord Jesus. All for You. Amen.

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

Verse:
There’s a river, a river flowing,
From within and to cleanse my soul;
And the flow sets my life to glowing,
Holy Spirit, more than silver or gold.

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 blest.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 22, 2017

Hope

Truth be told, we are all afraid of the dark.
It varies of course from person or person, but if the darkness is thick enough, cold enough, menacing enough, it will get to us. Jesus said evil people preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. And that’s why we fear the dark—someone evil is out there in the dark lying in wait for the innocent—for people like us!

Who can say how much of our country’s economy is spent on keeping back the darkness—not just in streets and buildings and alleyways and sidewalks, but also the darkness of ignorance and injustice, of addiction and avarice, of crime and corruption?

Whatever it costs, it is worth it. The contrast between light and dark is so readily seen that we use the words as metaphors for righteousness and wickedness, for truth and deception.

Taking imagery a step further we speak of hope as light and despair as darkness. Hope, like a beam of light, splits the thick darkness of the moment. It illumines the steps we must take today and tomorrow showing clearly the hazards choking the dark path before us. Hope is the brightening sky in the east that signals then end of a long and dangerous night.

Jesus, the Light of the World
Of course this ever-present Hope has a name—Jesus, the Light of the World, the Hope of the world. My favorite biblical poet, Isaiah, describes the Hope Messiah brings: “The people who walk in darkness will see a great Light.” Not some flickering glimmer, but a steady beam that breaks through the fog of confusion, melts the clouds of gloom and sadness and fills us with the light of Day.

Breaking this personal light out of any basket we may have put it in, we can be fearless—“Arise! Shine! For Your Light has come! Darkness covers the Earth and deep gloom engulfs the peoples but the Lord will rise upon you.”

The psalmist trumpets the character of God with these words, “The hope of the poor will not be taken away.”

To say there is no darkness is itself darkness.
Darkness is real. Darkness is dangerous. But the Christ-follower has light within and without, a heart-light to illumine the soul and a lamp and lantern for the steps ahead. Every window of the soul we open to the Lord will be filled with light. He is not stingy with it. It is His nature—Truth, Power, Love—all in motion through the window into our darkened space. More sure than the sunrise that chases shadows across the face of the earth, His light streams to us in mercy and peace.

Scriptures:
1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Titus 2:11-14 NIV
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem u s from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Isaiah 9:2 NIV
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Isaiah 60:1-3 NIV
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
1 John 3:2-3 NIV
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Just as clouds may hide the sun but not remove it from the sky, circumstances may darken the day before me. But circumstances, no matter how dark, can never remove Your presence from my life. Just as the sun is fixed as the center of our planetary system, You are fixed at the center of my life; everything I have, everything I am, revolves around You. You give me light and life and, above all, hope. Like the obedient earth, tilted somewhat but spinning on its axis and unceasing it its journey around the sun, I will spin out my dreams today and run my course as You have laid it out for me. Thank You Lord, for this hope secure! Amen.

Song:
The Solid Rock
Words: Edward Mote; Music: William B. Bradbury

1. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

2. When Darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

3. His oath, his covenant, his blood supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain

4. When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 21, 2017

Soul

We know it is there—somewhere inside us.
We can feel the soul better than we can define it. We use the term loosely calling some music “soul music,” some persons an “old soul,” and a close friend a “soulmate.”

We see the souls of others and sense that they have the same worth, the same value, as we have because we each have a soul. We are not sure about our dogs but we are pretty sure about houseflies and plants—not every living thing has a soul.

In the Image of God—a Trinity.
We sense also that this mystery living in us is connected to God in some direct way. The Bible indicates that we are each made of up three distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit. Here’s how I understand this:

  • The body is our sense-consciousness.
  • The soul is our self-consciousness.
  • The spirit is our God-consciousness.

Let me explain further:

  • We process the material world through the five senses resident in the human body.
  • We maintain an inner world through memory, emotion, and various kinds of intelligence.
  • We relate to God through the spirit He gave us and for the New Covenant believer this is done with the aid of the Abiding Holy Spirit within.

The soul then is our inner person: mind, memory, needs, wounds that have been healed and those that still hurt, passions (good and bad) and unnamed urges we don’t like to own up to.

Some may ask, “What about the heart?”
I have heard it said and it make sense to me that the heart is both the soul and the spirit of a person, the total inner life. When Jesus lives in our hearts He occupies both soul and spirit.

In Psalm 116 the poet implores the Lord to deliver his soul and later gives testimony to that deliverance. We cannot overestimate this miracle. It begins deep inside and works its way out to the surface affecting the whole of our being—body, soul, and spirit.

“Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”

Such complete deliverance bring freedom, joy, stability, and of all things—rest!

Scriptures:
Psalm 116:1-10 NKJV
I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!” Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NKJV
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Matthew 16:24-28 NIV
“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. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 22:37-40 NIV
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Luke 1:46-48 NIV
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.”
3 John 2-3 NKJV
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, from the depths of my soul I cry out to You! Like the panting deer pursued by hungry hounds, I thirst for Your presence. All that is within me, soul and spirit, longs for You—and finds You! You are near to me! You are “God with Us” and that includes me. When I stand beneath the banner of Your name, You are with me. When my mind ponders the wonders and riches of Your love, You are with me. When my wounded soul cries out for Your touch, You are there with healing virtue flowing. I repeat the words of Mary: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

Song:
Be Still, My Soul
Words: William H. Monk; Music: Jean Sibelius

1. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

5. Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 19, 2017

Pure

The opposite of pure is polluted.
When something is pure, it has integrity from the inside to the surface.

  • There is no rotten core for the passage of time has had power to breakdown its substance.
  • No pollutants have broken its surface to spoil its contents.
  • No structural decay has weakened its frame.

It is as it always has been—full-strength, undiluted, pristine, untarnished, without rust or decay—pure.

Perhaps purity is the most amazing characteristic of the God we serve.
The angels sense this of God and they can only sing one song—“Worthy, Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb! Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty.”

  • He has not grown into this purity for it was always His.
  • He has not increased in purity for He has always been completely thus.
  • He will never suffer corruption or weaken or age or even tire for time and use are His ideas.

God is other. His ways are not our ways and they are past finding out.

God with Us!
Yet He has chosen not to watch us from a distance, like some play from the back row. He has chosen to be “God with us,” on the front row. He wants to watch each scene we are in, to coach us on the dialog and help us remember our blocking.

The Psalmist tells us that He deals with us in ways we understand:

  • “To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
  • to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
  • to the pure you show yourself pure, but
  • to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.”

God does not change, but He reveals Himself to us in the way we choose to respond to Him—it is a mutual thing.

Amazing.

God is shrewd.
We cannot match Him in faithfulness or blamelessness or in purity but if we are crooked with Him—not good!

  • He will outsmart us every time.
  • He will foil our plans and wreck our dreams when we make plans and dreams without asking Him.

Why? Because His shrewdness is part of His love for us, His pure love for us.

Pure again?
When we allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from the pollution of this world, we can be pure again. The same Spirit can replace the rotting timbers of our sinful frame with strong supporting beams, composites of grace and mercy and truth. We can be blameless because our sins are nailed to the cross. We can live pure in a polluted world.

The opposite of polluted is pure.

Scriptures:
Psalm 18:24-30 NKJV
Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight. With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks. For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Titus 1:15-16 NIV
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Philippians 2:14-17 NIV
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life — in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.
Matthew 5:8 NIV
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Psalm 51:10-12 NIV
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Prayer Song:
Create in Me a Clean Heart
Words and Music: Keith Green

Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy Salvation
And renew a right spirit within me.

Song:
A Pure Heart
Words and Music: Rusty Nelson

A pure heart, that’s what I long for,
A heart that follows hard after Thee.
A pure heart, that’s what I long for,
A heart that follows hard after Thee.

A heart that hides Your Word so that sin will not come in;
A heart that’s undivided but You rule and reign;
A heart full of compassion that pleases You, My Lord;
A sweet aroma of worship that rises to Your Throne.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 16, 2017

Garments

Garments are temporary.
No matter how they might fit, tight and clinging or loose and comfy; no matter how old or new or clean or soiled they may be, garments are just temporary. We put them on just to remove them a few hours later and replace them with something else from a closet or drawer. Temporary though they may be, our clothes last longer than we have use for them. With infrequent use, they get pushed back in the closet or deeper in the drawer until we need the space more than we need the clothes and they get taken out to be given away or to be stored so we can give them a way later.

If garments are temporary, so are the bodies we clothe with garments. We are only here for a short while so we must make the days count as the years pile up to a significant heap.

Beneath the ever-changing garments the body is changing, too:

  • Shifting weight,
  • the eventual surrender to gravity,
  • pains in places that never hurt before, and
  • mental gaps that stop us in our tracks until we remember why we came in this room.

Changes, like garments that clothe the body, also dress our souls.

  • Do we remember the wonderful wardrobe change when guilty garments were cast aside and shining white robes of righteousness replaced them? It is called “getting saved!
  • There was that bad attitude that kept hanging around in your closet until you put in on and spoiled everyone’s day. Convicted in your heart, you repented of it and threw it out of closet and out of your life. Your friends were so glad they never saw you in that again! It’s called holiness.
  • The dark clouds of depression kept you in a raincoat all the time. You kept reading and memorizing the good things from God until the clouds parted and the sun came out again and you ventured forth into a beautiful day with just a sweater. It’s called healing.
  • It seems the only songs you knew where in the key of the blues. One day it was enough of sadness and your traded your sorrows for the Joy of the Lord. It’s called worship.
  • If there was a potential danger you saw it and prepared for it. Then you recounted all the grace in your life, the bad things that didn’t happen and you decided life was worth the risk. It’s called faith.

So in preparation for the day’s activities, put on the right garments—faith, worship, healing, holiness, salvation—and see how good it all looks on you.

Scriptures:
Psalm 102:24-28 NKJV
I said, “O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations. Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.”
Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn  and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
John 19:23-24 NKJV
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Revelation 7: 9-12
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for laying aside the garments of royalty, rightfully worn by You on the Throne. You emptied Yourself of heavenly majesty so the royal vestments were no longer appropriate. You came into the world in the scandal of human nakedness, a child born in a stable and placed in a manger. Mary dressed you as an infant and as a child. You wore the work clothes of the carpenter’s shop. In Your brief ministry You wore a seamless robe, one stained by the tears an sweat of Gethsemane. Soldiers stripped it from You and clothed You in mockery while pounding You with their fists and carving Your back with the Roman whip. You wore the cross like a cloak through the city streets and all the way up the hill called the Place of the Skull. Dying there You wore the robes of our unrighteous, so heinous a sight that, the Father turned His face away. They wrapped You in grave clothes and on Resurrection day You left them folded neatly in the empty tomb. Now You are robed again clothed in regal splendor. The rags I used to wear are gone. You have given me the garments of praise—Today I will wear them! Hallelujah!

Song:
Garment of Praise
Traditional

Put on the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Lift up your voice to God.
Praise with the spirit and with understanding.
O, magnify the Lord!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 14, 2017

Ponder

When something is worth considering, it is worth considering deeply.
This means to ponder a matter; to think deeply about it, turning in over and over and around and around in our minds until we get it—or until it gets us.

God is really interested in our thought processes.
He installed neurons in our brains so that could fire at each other. He gave us synapses so they could synapse (not a verb but I am using it as one) up a storm. He wants all the stuff swirling around in our disordered, post-modern heads to settle into manageable patterns. (Some truths are linear! Pardon my modernity.)

One of the most amazing verses in the NT claims that we “have the mind of Christ.”
What could that possibly mean? Certainly not that we know everything Jesus knows—that would drive us crazy. It cannot mean that we understanding everything that happens or that simply is, because we clearly don’t.

It must mean that we have access to the Mind of Christ. Better than any search engine we know about, we can ask of the Lord and expect an answer. Asking questions of God is a privilege every believer has; it is not blasphemy or doubt. Asking questions is how God designed our minds to work with His. Ponder these things:

  • We are His feet as we walk in His will
  • We are His hands as we touch hurting people in His name, and
  • His voice when we speak the truth in love and tell His story.
  • We listen to the sounds of a fallen Creation and hear what He hears.
  • We keep our eyes open so that He can see what He sees.

And when we consider the things of God and ponder what we have seen, we have access by the Spirit to the mind of Christ.

He hasn’t called us servants for it is not necessary for a servant to understand why an order is given. He has called us friends, because He shares His heart with us.

This deep thinking is a form of prayer.
We listen to an inner dialogue between His Spirit and ours, His mind and our mind. We share the feelings of the meanings of the truth. The New Covenant promises that God will write His Word into our hearts.

When we take time to ponder who God is and what He has done, He is writing His Word onto our human hearts.

Scriptures:
Psalm 107: 33-43
The Lord changed rivers into deserts, and water-springs into thirsty ground, A fruitful land into salt flats, because of the wickedness of those who dwell there. He changed deserts into pools of water and dry land into water-springs. He settled the hungry there, and they founded a city to dwell in. They sowed fields, and planted vineyards, and brought in a fruitful harvest. He blessed them, so that they increased greatly; he did not let their herds decrease. Yet when they were diminished and brought low, through stress of adversity and sorrow, (He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes) He lifted up the poor out of misery and multiplied their families like flocks of sheep. The upright will see this and rejoice, but all wickedness will shut its mouth. Whoever is wise will ponder these things, and consider well the mercies of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2: 6-15
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
James 1:5-7
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, the thought that I have access to Your mind is overwhelming. Your mind is revealed in the Word of God; I will hide it in my heart so that I might not sin against You. Your mind reveals the significance of things around me; I will see with Your eyes. Slow me down so I can ponder these things, think deeply about them, and act upon them at Your prompting. I ask You for the wisdom this day will require so that I might be single-minded as I serve You. Amen.

Song:
Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Words: Joachim Neander; Music: Traditional

1.Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

2.Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

3.Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

4.Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

7.Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, May

May 13, 2017

Quiet

On the day before the Lord’s Day, find some time for silence. 
It is not easy and it will certainly not happened by accident.  There is a kind of ancient silence that we find hard to achieve today.  With all the blessings of the industrial revolution in 19th Century and the information revolution of the 20th Century, a drawback has been the proliferation of noise.  We have learned to live with a “silence” that actually rumbles with low pitch machine noises and sizzles with high pitch whirrs and whistles.  We have to retreat far from traffic and industry and find the deep woods or the restless sea for a silence filled only with the sounds of God’s creation. For our Saturday purposes, let’s call “silence” the absence of sound and “quiet” the absence of any artificial sounds.

What is the benefit of quiet?  The Bible uses several terms to describe being quiet before the Lord:

  • be still,
  • be silent, and
  • Wait patiently for the Lord.

Stillness, the cessation of activity, is for some of us a difficult thing to achieve.
Modern life is sometimes a thing of inertia. Some of us are at rest and we tend to stay that way while others of us are in constant motion.  The Bible says, “Be still and know…”  There are things we cannot know, truths we cannot learn, concepts we cannot grasp if we are distracted by ceaseless motion.  Stillness before God requires discipline.   It is more than a physical stillness; we must also follow the words of the old hymn, “Be still my soul.”  Some achieve this spiritual stillness by quoting memorized scriptures or concentrating on the person of Jesus.  The reward for being still before the Lord is promised in the verse: “Be still and know that I am God and I will be exalted in all the earth.”

Silence before the Lord is a response to the belief that “the Lord is in His holy temple.” 
This stillness, this silence in the throne room of God, stands in contrast to the majestic sounds recorded in the scriptural accounts of that location.  In these the atmosphere is filled with sound, voices singing, instruments playing, and elders calling out, an accumulation of sound that is powerful enough to shake the door posts of heaven.  The command of the prophet Haggai is given to the earth, not the worshipers around the throne of God.  The writer’s setting is the silence of the earth before God rises in judgment of Babylon. For us, we should fall silent in honor of the Lord upon His throne.  Surely He is about to speak.  Surely we need to hear what He has to say to us.

Waiting patiently for Lord is another way of being quiet before Him.
Most people have a limited supply of patience.  It is natural for us to want to hurry into the day, to fill the minutes and hours of the day with productive action.  It seems the clock and the calendar have taken control of our lives and we are dancing to their tunes.  It is important to cease from activity, to refrain from work, to find a comfortable position for waiting while at the same time we command our souls to be still, adding patience to our lack of action.  Part of that patience is expressed in listening.  When we retreat from the noise of modern life and force our minds to concentrate on the reality of God’s creation around us, we can hear “the music of the spheres,” as another old hymn says.

There are things we cannot know until we are still.  In reverence before the Lord, let us be silent.  In deliberate postures of rest let us be quiet today.

Scriptures:
Ecclesiastes 3:7
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…a time to be silent and a time to speak…
Mark 6:31
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
Psalm 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I quiet my spirit before You. I will lay my questions aside. I will refrain from singing. I will be still before You, even in my restless mind. In stillness and in silence I will wait and as I do my strength will be renewed. My ceaseless mind will stop in its tracks for awhile. I will listen for Your voice. Speak, Lord. Your servant listens. Amen.

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

1. In the silence of my soul, Lord, I will seek You.
In the stillness of my spirit I must 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.
You presence does not rest upon our haste.
In the silence of my spirit 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 those 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 glist’ning blanket, quells my fear.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved