pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 15, 2017

Rejected

A Pervasive Fear
How many great novels lie hidden on hard drives, never submitted to a publisher? How many fine actors find something else to do when auditions for a great play with a part just right for them is announced? How many wonderful songs are packed away in guitar cases under beds somewhere? Who can tell the number of really good singers with great hearts for God who sit in the congregation instead of joining the choir or worship team because to do so would require the risk of an audition or interview?

The cause of all these wasted treasures is the fear of rejection.

Nothing hurts the sensitive person quite like being rejected. When the rejection seems unfair or unkind the hurt goes even deeper. I knew of a worship team of excellent singers and players who were taken off the church platform to make room for professionals. They went to a different ministry in the same church and called themselves, “The Rejects.”

It takes courage to put yourself out there for some expert to judge. At the very best is unpleasant for both the one auditioning and ones doing the judging. At the worst it can be a sickening ordeal for everyone involved. Talent must be found. Competent artists must have a pathway into a system that will need their abilities. The risk of being rejected is real and unavoidable.

Not for artists only
The fear of rejection is not limited to the arts; each one of us must take the risk of being rejected as we walk through life. Elementary schools try to manage the pain of the students who are not selected by giving everyone a trophy. OK. But the kids who did poorly know they did poorly. The teams that scored the fewest points somehow know they lost the game. Rejection, being listed among the losers, is a fact of life for just about everyone at some time.

The risk of not being chosen extends beyond school years to all of life:

  • Finding someone to date,
  • Applying for Jobs,
  • Interviewing for jobs,
  • Seeking promotion on the job,
  • Getting credit for a major purchase,
  • Sitting first chair in the community band, and so on.

The fearful among us will shrink to the background to avoid any risk of rejection that isn’t absolutely necessary.

“He was rejected.”
The pre-incarnate Jesus knew that when He laid aside His heavenly crown and came to live among us, He was entering the painful realm of inevitable rejection.

  • As a carpenter, I am sure some patrons rejected His shop for the one down the street.
  • As a family member Jesus was rejected by His brothers and sisters until after the resurrection. After the death of Joseph only His mother was true to Him.
  • He traveled among the people with healing in His touch, authority in His words, and the creative power in His prayer to feed a multitude a good lunch. The next day, most of them rejected Him.
  • He walked into the Temple of the Father and found rejection from the leaders—rejection—hostility—slander—and finally a death plot.
  • In the Garden of prayer His sleepy disciples were unable to watch with Him for even an hour and when the soldiers came Peter and the rest of them ran away.
  • No one spoke to His defense in the trials that night.
  • On the cross, when laden with the sin of all mankind, even the Father could not look upon Him.
  • He was totally alone.

The reality is that for all of us there will be

  • parts we actors don’t get,
  • ensembles we musicians cannot join,
  • jobs and the raises that we do not qualify for, and
  • a multitude of little rejections that make us tremble and hide from the potential pain.

Nothing we experience will ever come close the rejection Jesus knew.

Why? Because He loves us and because He came to share our pain so that, when we believe in Him, He can share with us His victory. We will be accepted by Him.

Scriptures:
Isaiah 53:3-5 NIV
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Prayer:
from The Book of Common Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, You stretched out Your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of Your saving embrace: So clothe us in Your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know You to the knowledge and love of You; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

Song:
Hallelujah, What a Savior!
Words and Music: P.P. Bliss

1. Man of sorrows what a name for the Son of God, who came
ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

2. Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood,
sealed my pardon with his blood: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

3. Guilty, helpless, lost were we; blameless Lamb of God was he,
sacrificed to set us free: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

4. He was lifted up to die; “It is finished” was his cry;
now in heaven exalted high: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

5. When he comes, our glorious King, all his ransomed home to bring,
then anew this song we’ll sing: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 4, 2017

Forsaken

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was alone: forsaken.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 3, 2017

Foolishness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Foolishness?

No. Truth!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 2, 2017

Broken

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, March

March 1, 2017 Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2017

Fasting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 26, 2017

Between

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

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

And so it is with worship.

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

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

What does this mean?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Refrain

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

Refrain

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

Refrain
Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 22, 2017

Records

Our Permanent Record
When we were children in school we were told of an object of great fear—our Permanent Record. Anything bad that was ever inscribed on that dreaded document would haunt us forever. The most imaginative among us could envision a large safe with an incomprehensible combination lock guarded by big silent men with the Popeye-the-Sailorman arms folded with menacing dogs loosely tethered nearby—all just to keep unauthorized eyes from even a glimpse of our Permanent Records.

I still don’t know what my 7th grade IQ was; I only know it was an issue. But by the grace of God I got into college in spite of the shameful rap sheet that was my Permanent Record—and I seemed to have turned out OK.

Heaven Keeps Records
In one of the Psalms that helps us identify with the sufferings of Christ or our sakes, the poet speaks of keeping records. His enemies may have chronicled their assaults on him keeping careful records of their treachery but, if so, there are lost to history. The records that remain are those kept in the Heavenly books. The Psalmist speaks of laments and tears as the recorded items in the files of the Kingdom of God.

King David and King Jesus
The endangered King David was sure that every blow struck against him was seen by His God and recorded there and somehow there was comfort to be found in this spiritual bookkeeping.

As in so many cases, the life of David forecast the sufferings of Christ, the Son of David. There were no anonymous fists in the courts of Pilate, no nameless hecklers in the crowds, and no lashes unaccounted under the Roman whips. Just as the tears of those who loved Him, the blows of those who hated Him were faithfully added to the record. His was an account that compounded interest with amazing speed, growing in severity and quantity until the record was full when Jesus was hammered to the cross.

The indictment?

“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

No prayer of Jesus ever went without an answer.

  • For every lie that was ever told, Jesus spoke overpowering truth.
  • For every foray into lust, Jesus brought purity.
  • For every hateful word that landed like a hammer blow against the innocent, the One Innocent Man took the repeated blows of evil until the record was expunged.
  • For every child of God ground to dust beneath the feet of the proud, Jesus humbled Himself, suffering the weight of Satan’s own feet until the Savior’s heel was bruised.

In a matter of hours, the record was clear.

“It is finished!” Jesus cried from the cross.

For those who will repent of their sinful record and iniquitous hearts and who will believe in what Jesus has done, the record, the indictment, against them has been nailed to His cross.

Now, new records are kept in heaven:

  • Deeds of mercy done in Jesus’ name,
  • Acts of service/worship presented in the power of the Spirit, and
  • The prayers of the saints, collected in holy vessels before the Throne of God and of the Lamb.

This Permanent Record brings a smile to the Savior’s face.

Scriptures:
Psalm 56:1-59:1
Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me.
They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations. Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?
Psalm 130:1-4 NIV
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.
Colossians 2:13-15
Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Revelation 5:7-8 NIV
He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Prayer:
(Adapted from the Pronouncement of Absolution from the Book of Common Prayer)
Almighty God has mercy on me. He forgives me all my sins through our Lord Jesus Christ. He strengthens me in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keeps me in eternal life. Amen.

Song:
It Is Well with My Soul
Words: Horatio Spafford Music: Philip Bliss

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well with my soul, it is well,
it is well with my soul

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

Refrain

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

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 Devotions, February

February 14, 2017

Passion

Today is a day for passion.
The scripture tells us to gather all our inner feelings and concentrate them on actions that express love for the Lord. There is no reason to hold back, to keep a measure of our love in reserve. In a worship service, when the moment comes to praise, we must release the joy pent up in our hearts. Our opening acts of praise in a worship service  must be full-throated, hot-hearted, and mentally captivating. No less praise will do.

Why? The measure of our praise is not that of our passion for God, or our knowledge of God, or even our faith in God. The standard we are given in the Scriptures has nothing to do with our feelings, our knowledge, or even with the level of our faith. The standard, the measuring rod is this: “the glory due unto His name.” (Ps 29:1-2)

All other measures are changeable

  • as passions heat and cool,
  • knowledge is gained and forgotten, and
  • faith swells and shrinks in our hearts.

His worthiness goes on and on and on and on forever.

Our praise is a matter of justice—the praise due unto His name!
He is worthy of nothing less than our very best praise—our best music, our finest words, our most sincere gratitude and our most humble hearts. Any part of our mind held back for lesser considerations is a sacrilege, a selfish, careless oversight to be corrected at once as we marshal all our mental resources to consider and express the wonders of Who God is.

When another Sunday comes and you join the Saints of God in the House of God and the call to worship sounds, lift your eyes beyond the music and the lights, the singers and players of music and their leaders, and tune your heart to heaven’s songs. Some of them are recorded for us in the Bible. Others are works of the Spirit through His troubadours.

The Spirit speaks through songs in every generation.
Surrender to the spirit of the song and join the songs of angels, thousands of them in joyful assembly. You will also be singing with loved ones who have gone before you, gathered as a special choir of the redeemed in a gallery made just for them. You will take your seat with them someday and today you may add your voice to theirs in worship.

Lord, send a heavenly fire to ignite a passion for You in each of our hearts today!

Scriptures:
Psalm 29:1-2 NKJV
Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Colossians 3:1-3
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Prayer:
You are God
From the Book of Common Prayer (adapted SRP)
You are God: we praise You; You are the Lord; we acclaim You; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships You. To You all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. The glorious company of apostles praises You. The noble fellowship of prophets praises You. The white‑robed army of martyrs praises You. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you; Father, of majesty unbounded, Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. You, Christ, are the King of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. When You became man to set us free You did not shun the Virgin’s womb. You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come and be our judge. Come then, Lord, and help Your people, bought with the price of Your own blood, and bring us with Your saints to glory everlasting. Amen.

Song:
I Love You, Lord
Words and Music: Laurie Klein

I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship You, O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what You hear;
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, February

February 9, 2017

Remembering

All Memories Are not the Same.
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, lodged between all the other events, people, and words we have encountered thus far and those memories lodged too deep to expel, other memories reside so near the surface that they seem to evaporate like so much mist. Most of them do not become memories and that is a blessing.

Memories Affect the Present.
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 ourselves have said or not said,
  • things we did 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 deliberately 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 strengthened by His sustaining grace. In a holy reverse of memory we also anticipate the soon return of Jesus.

Remembering the Promises
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 is the act of Remembering.
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:
Deuteronomy 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.
Psalm 77:1-6 NKJV
I cried out to God with my voice — To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah You hold my eyelids open;I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.

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.

Song:
Standing on the Promises
Words and Music: R. Kelso Carter

1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing, I’m Standing on the promises of God.

2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the Living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:

3. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

4. Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved