pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 24, 2017 “Press”

Press

Divine guidance brings with it certain sensations.
An unseen but tangible hand presses the small of our back to keep us going. Two unseen hands equally tangible throw us a “stop sign,” like a third base coach to a runner who wants to score, and stops us in our tracks.

Divine guidance: Sometimes a hand from the back pressing us forward and at other times a hand in the front telling us to slow down or even to stop.

The Poet says it this way:

“You press upon me behind and before and lay your hand upon me.”

The NIV translates the verse like this:

You hem me in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139:5-6

These hands that hem us in are gentle hands, the hands of our best best Friend. There is wisdom here that sees beyond the obvious and knows what lies around the next curve in the road.

A Hand on Our Back
All of us need a push from time to time. Like a parachutist on his/her first jump we freeze in the door of the plane. Our Instructor pushes out into the freefall of faith, a sensation we could never feel in the safety of the aircraft and an on-rushing vision of creation we could never have seen through any window.

When the Lord tells us to do something, there is a natural hesitation to obey. This is good. We are warned in the Scripture to count the cost before beginning a new enterprise. It is proper to think things through, to plan, to gather resources and information and to build a team. Sometimes such careful analysis can lead to careless paralysis. At this point we feel that welcomed push in the small of our back, the gentle hand of a Savior leading us to greatness—and not just any greatness—but greatness in His eyes.

A Hand before Us
There is this thing in life called momentum and it must be accounted for. It is closely related to its cousin, inertia—the resistance to a change in motion. These things are of this world, a part of God’s creation. As hard as it is to get something rolling, if gravity and inertia get hold of it, it can be even more difficult to stop or even slow down. Just as that beginning parachutist needs the nudge from the back, he/she also needs the braking power of the chute itself!

Too many well-intentioned souls have crashed to the ground when momentum carried them through a stop sign. When that runner in baseball rounds third base to head for home plate, if he runs through the two-handed stop sign of the third base coach and he is called out at the plate, not only has he made an out, he is in big trouble with the team. The coach and the whole team can see the whole play in the field the runner cannot see. And so it is with the Christ-follower who does not slow down or stop when the hands in front give the sign. He knows when it is time to score and when it is time to slide safely into third base, 90 feet away from home.

We can rejoice with the touch of the Master’s hands on our backs to get us going and keep us on track and in front of us to slow us down when disaster looms. Loving hands are these and wise, hands to be trusted to guide us safely home.

Scriptures:
Psalm 139
Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O Lord, know it altogether. You press upon me behind and before and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it. Where can I go then from your Spirit? where can I flee from your presence? If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I make the grave my bed, you are there also. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand will lead me and your right hand hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night,” Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike. For you yourself created my inmost parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well. My body was not hidden from you, while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; all of them were written in your book; they were fashioned day by day, when as yet there was none of them. How deep I find your thoughts, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.… Search me out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts. Look well whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, that You for Your guiding hand. When I drift off course, even when I don’t know it, I feel Your hand edging me back to the proper coordinates. If during the course of this day, I wander to the left or the right, I know I can count on your guiding hand. If I get ahead of myself or of Your plan, hold me back! Your hands are gentle and firm and loving. I am so grateful that You have “hemmed me in behind and before and laid Your hand upon me.” Thank You, Lord!

Song:
I’ll Go where You Want Me to Go
Words and Music: Mary Brown

1. It may not be on the mountain’s height, or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still, small voice He calls to paths I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Yours,
I’ll go where You want me to go.

Refrain:
I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

2. Perhaps today there are loving words which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now, in the paths of sin, some wand’rer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if You will be my Guide, though dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet,
I’ll say what You want me to say.

Refrain

3. There’s surely somewhere a lowly place in earth’s harvest fields so wide,
Where I may labor through life’s short day for Jesus, the Crucified.
So, trusting my all unto Your care, I know You always love me!
I’ll do Your will with a heart sincere,
I’ll be what You want me to be.
Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 22, 2017 “Muzzled”

Muzzled

The Holy Ghost muzzle is a grace, not a punishment.
We all need it from time to time. No exceptions. The Poet says,

“I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are in my presence.”

I had a beagle named Bailey.
He was my pal. Every night when we let him out before bedtime, he would station himself in the backyard to warn the neighborhood of some danger only he could sense. A full moon really set him off. I am sure the neighbors would have gladly supplied us with a muzzle for Him.

There isn’t another reason I can think of to muzzle a beagle; they are such gentle and playful dogs. They were, however, designed to make noise, to bay and howl on the trail of a rabbit and to warn of the approach of an intruder. He was a little dog but his “big dog bark” was impressive.

We also may be gentle souls; dutifully saved by grace and full of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. We can also, however, be noisy. Not everything that runs through our minds need to flow out of our mouths.

Edit yourself!
In simple words we need to watch what we say and sometimes shouldn’t say anything at all.
The metaphor for speech often used in the Bible is the tongue. James, the Lord’s brother, has the most to say on the subject

  •  “Keep a tight rein” on the tongue
  • “It makes great boasts,”
  • “Is also a fire,” and finally,
  • “No man can tame” it.

So, how do we know what to say? The answer is simple—edit yourself! Think before your speak. Ask questions like:

  • Is this true or false?
  • Is this helpful or hurtful?
  • Is this private or public?
  • Is this any of my business?
  • Where will this lead the conversation?

Another question is: when do we speak and when do we keep silent?

  • When saying something is kind, we should speak.
  • When saying nothing is kind, we should not speak.
  • When something must be said, we should speak.
  • When nothing needs to be said, we should not speak.

King Solomon proved this wisdom:

Eccl 3:1-8 NIV
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…
a time to be silent and a time to speak…

When it is time to speak we need the boldness of the Holy Spirit and when it is time to be silent we need the Holy Spirit’s muzzle.

The Holy Ghost muzzle is a grace, not a punishment. We all need it from time to time.

No exceptions.

Scriptures:
Psalm 39
I said, “I will keep watch upon my ways, so that I do not offend with my tongue. I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are in my presence.” So I held my tongue and said nothing; I refrained from rash words; but my pain became unbearable. My heart was hot within me; while I pondered, the fire burst into flame; I spoke out with my tongue: Lord, let me know my end and the number of my days, so that I may know how short my life is. You have given me a mere handful of days, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight; truly, even those who stand erect are but a puff of wind. We walk about like a shadow, and in vain we are in turmoil; we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them. And now, what is my hope? O Lord, my hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions and do not make me the taunt of the fool. I fell silent and did not open my mouth, for surely it was you that did it. Take your affliction from me; I am worn down by the blows of your hand. With rebukes for sin you punish us; like a moth you eat away all that is dear to us; truly, everyone is but a puff of wind. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears. For I am but a sojourner with you, a wayfarer, as all my forebears were. Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, before I go my way and am no more.
James 1:26-27; 3:3-12
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
1 Peter 3:8-12 NIV
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
1 Peter 2:15-16 NIV
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me speak when it is time to speak and give me the words to say. Help me to hold my tongue when there is nothing right to say. Let my words be measured in grace. Help be speak the truth in love and never in hate or prejudice or petty nonsense. Somehow, may others hear Your voice in the sound of my voice. Let me speak peace and healing, comfort and challenge—just the things that need to be said! And, Lord, help me to really listen to others! Amen.

Song:
Be Still My Soul
Words and Music: Don Moen

Be still my soul. Be still my soul.
Cease from the labor and the toil.
Refreshing springs of peace await
The troubled minds and hearts that ache.
Be still my soul. God knows your way
And He will guide For His name’s sake.
Plunge in the rivers of His grace;
Rest in the arms of His embrace.

Be still my soul. Be still my soul,
Though battles round you rage and roar.
One thing you need and nothing more
To hear the whisper of your Lord.

Be still My child I know your way
And I will guide For My name’s sake.
Plunge in the rivers of My grace;
Rest in the arms of My embrace.

Be still, be still my soul

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 20, 2017 “Midnight”

Midnight

The darkness fell hours ago. The morning light is hours away.
Midnight—the suspended time in the middle, the dissonant chord without a resolution, the question as yet unanswered, the song without an ending, repeating, repeating.

Midnight.

Most nights we sleep through midnight, our long slumber breaths undisturbed, our eyelids dancing to a tune we will never hear in the daylight.

But there are those other nights when sleep is far away. The mind relentlessly runs a race to nowhere like a small animal on a cruel treadmill in some heartless laboratory. On nights like this there is usually another midnight in play, some unresolved dilemma robbing us of rest.

God knows about time—it is His invention. He created the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night. He knows the beginning from the ending and He also knows the middle. He is with us at midnight, whether we are asleep or awake, and He has something for us—a song!

A Song in the Night
Not an unending beat or an unresolved chord pattern, but a song of rest and peace, a song of praise. It is a song made for the midnight hour for it turns our unclosed eyes heavenward, away from the trial before us to the victory ahead of us, from the darkness of the unresolved to the promised dawn of resolution. It is a song about Him and not about us, about His power and not our weakness, about His success and not our failure, about His Word and not our worries.

The song in the night must be sung—it demands action—a deliberate transfer of thoughts from nightfall to morning light. As we sing of the faithfulness of God and rehearse in our minds the promises of God, a gentle smile will reassure us that all is well, even in the darkness.

“Why be downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God!

The Midnight Cry
Soon, at some undisclosed midnight to come, we will hear a cry—not the weeping of fear, but the Midnight Cry of the Bridegroom. Jesus will return or His church. Then for us a day will break that will never end and the last midnight will have passed.

Scriptures:
Psalm 119:49-64
Remember your word to your servant, because you have given me hope. This is my comfort in my trouble, that your promise gives me life. The proud have derided me cruelly, but I have not turned from your law. When I remember your judgments of old, O Lord, I take great comfort. I am filled with a burning rage, because of the wicked who forsake your law. Your statutes have been like songs to me wherever I have lived as a stranger. I remember your Name in the night, O Lord, and dwell upon your law. This is how it has been with me, because I have kept your commandments. You only are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to keep your words. I entreat you with all my heart, be merciful to me according to your promise. I have considered my ways and turned my feet toward your decrees. I hasten and do not tarry to keep your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked entangle me, I do not forget your law. At midnight I will rise to give you thanks, because of your righteous judgments.
I am a companion of all who fear you and of those who keep your commandments. The earth, O Lord, is full of your love; instruct me in your statutes.
Psalm 42:5-8 NIV
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon — from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me —a prayer to the God of my life
Psalm 32:7 NIV
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 77:1-6 NIV
I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night.
Psalm 16:7-8 NIV
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Acts 16:25-26 NIV
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
Matthew 25:6 NIV
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, each morning the midnight hour seems far away, the one that is past and the one yet to be. Help me remember the song You gave me in the night all through this day. Let my song of praise be constant, just as is Your care. In Jesus’ Name! Amen.

Songs:
You Can Have a Song in Your Heart
Traditional Chorus

You can have a song in Your heart at night,
After every mile, after every trial.
Anyone can sing when the sun’s shining bright.
But you need a song in your heart at night.

The Midnight Cry
Words and Music: Charles and Greg Day

1. I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind and
It’s closer now than its ever been
I can almost hear the trumpet
As Gabriel sounds the call
At the midnight cry we’ll be going home

Refrain:
When Jesus steps out on a cloud and calls God’s children,
The dead in Christ shall rise to meet him in the air.
And then those that remain will be quickly changed
At the midnight cry When Jesus comes again

2. I look around me and the prophecies fulfilling and
Signs of the times their appearing everywhere
I can almost hear the Father as He says son go get my children
At the midnight cry The bride of Christ shall rise.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 12, 2017 “Procession”

Procession

The music was a majestic march, a processional.
One does not play a waltz for a procession! Solemn-faced marchers held tightly to the poles that carried the banners they carried down the aisles of the sanctuary. Each banner proclaimed a different name of God:

  • King of Kings
  • Lord of Lords
  • Emmanuel
  • Mighty God
  • Prince of Peace

Praise on the march—a moving revelation of the character of Almighty God. The attention of the people was focused and expanded all at once by the combination of musical and visual praise.

God was glorified in the procession. As the Music Minister who put it all together, I felt I had done my job.

Life is full of processions.
The root word is process—a systematic procedure—a step-by-step sequence of events, of actions, of thoughts, each leading seamlessly to the next until the destination is reached.

When we march in the procession—that is, when we engage the process—things tend to work out for us. Events happen in their course. They are well planned and well brought off. When we short-circuit the process—that is, when we get out of step or take a short-cut in the procession, unnecessary problems crop up that distract us and delay our arrival at the destination.

The poet proclaims his intention of joining the worship procession:

“I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, that I may go in procession round your altar, singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and recounting all your wonderful deeds.”

Life, like worship, requires preparation.
The choir and orchestra that played the processional had to rehearse for that moment. The banner bearers had to practice their posture and route through the church. They prepared for much longer than the time it took to perform.

And so it is with life—preparation for the procession qualifies us to march in peace.

How can we “wash our hands in innocence?” Not based on our own record, but in faith in the innocence of Christ. Sinless was He on the cross bearing our sins. Christ is both our process and our destination.

We should hear His music and get in step today—it isn’t a waltz—it is a march of victory.

Scriptures:
Psalm 26
Give judgment for me, O Lord, for I have lived with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered. Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and my mind. For your love is before my eyes; I have walked faithfully with you. I have not sat with the worthless, nor do I consort with the deceitful. I have hated the company of evildoers; I will not sit down with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, that I may go in procession round your altar, Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and recounting all your wonderful deeds. Lord, I love the house in which you dwell and the place where your glory abides. Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with those who thirst for blood, Whose hands are full of evil plots, and their right hand full of bribes. As for me, I will live with integrity; redeem me, O Lord, and have pity on me. My foot stands on level ground; in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 42:1-6 NIV
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 68:24-26 NIV
Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines. Praise God in the great congregation; praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
Psalm 118:26-29 NIV
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to march through this day in perfect step with You. Let Your great heartbeat be the cadence. May the music of heaven be the march: Introduction; First Strain; Second Strain, Trio; Break Strain; Trio, again—all in order from the first note to the stinger. I will wave the banner of my life high for all to see, for it bears Your name—Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Your name, Your story will be the content of my song, the beat of my drums, and the melodies and counter-melodies of this day’s procession! For Your Glory, Lord! Amen.

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

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

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

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

Refrain

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

Refrain

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

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 8, 2017 “Melted”

Melted

I was told a story by my college music theory teacher.
A huge symphony orchestra was recording a huge symphony, probably by a late Romantic composer. During a particularly loud part of the music, the two bassoon players who had rests at the moment and were having a conversation. They forgot that there was a sudden “grand pause” in the music and suddenly it was deadly quiet. In the moment of silence, one said to the other, “I fry mine in butter.” Recording ruined; bassoonists everywhere disgraced.

Some things gain their usefulness only when melted.
Butter is one of those delicious things. Our baked potatoes, toast, hot biscuits and rolls could testify to this if they stayed around long enough.

In a way, the Christ-follower who has been melted by the Refiner’s Fire of the Holy Spirit is the one who is useful to the Master. The Lord is the only One who can change hearts. We can cajole, nag, manipulate, plead, and abuse those whose hearts need changing and nothing works. We can change their behavior with rules, regulations, penalties, and cruel and unusual punishment but these things harden rebellious hearts instead of melting them.

Melting requires heat.
Life is full of heat: time pressure, performance pressure, unbroken self-destructive habits, financial demands, relationships, unspoken expectations. It is a heat we feel every day and it keeps us awake at night. In a character sense, this pressure hardens us in a good way—giving us inner strength and the confidence of experience.

The Refiner’s Fire spoken of in the Bible is a different kind of heat.
It isn’t based in circumstances or personalities or even our own shortcomings and commanding dreams. This fire is the fire of the Spirit of God applied to our human spirit. This part of us is deeper than personality, or ambition, or patterns of behavior. It is the source of those things. Let’s call it the “heart of us,” the place where the spirit abides within us.

Precious Metals and Us
The original language used in this passage refers to the refining of precious metal by the application of heat. The gold or silver melts quickly so the hard and worthless material bonded to it can fall away.

Do we see that we are precious to the Lord? We are to Him gold and silver, worthy of careful refinement. He controls the heat and will never harm us. When the fires of the Spirit are burning in our spirit, we can rest, knowing that we will better for it, cleaner because of it, more fit for the Master’s use, tried in the fire.

When the heart of someone we love seems impervious to logic, unaffected by reason, unyielding to the appeals of what is right and what is wrong, there is only one way that heart can change. Only the fires of the Spirit can melt a heart as frozen as this.

The plan of action is this: prayer. And when we are done praying, pray some more. There is a marvelous promise in the closing lines of the Old Testament: The Lord will turn the hearts of parents and their children to each other. If your child is the one with the frozen heart, claim this promise in prayer every day.

The Lord is the only One who can change hearts.

Scriptures:
Psalm 17:1-3
Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord; give heed to my cry; listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips. Let my vindication come forth from your presence; let your eyes be fixed on justice. Weigh my heart, summon me by night, melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
Malachi 3:1-4 NIV
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord , as in days gone by, as in former years.
Malachi 4:5-6 NIV
“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
2 Timothy 2:20-22 NKJV
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 NIV
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
Hebrews 12:28-29 NIV
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, send me Your Refiner’s Fire to purify my life at the deepest level. As the song says, “Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me.” There are stony places in my mind; I invite You in, Holy Spirit, to melt that frozen rock. There are cold places in my heart; Come O Fiery Holy Ghost and melt my icebound heart. “Oh Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me. Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame. Grant my desire to magnify Your name.” “O Lord, Send the Fire!” Amen.

Song:
Spirit of the Living God
Words and Music: Daniel Iverson

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.
Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 7, “Sure-footed”

Sure-footed

Animals can run, climb, and stand in amazing places.
They turn and look at the camera as if to say, “What are you looking at? This is simple. Can’t you do this?”

No we can’t and we don’t want to!

God made deer, big horn sheep, and mountain goats sure-footed to live the lives he planned for them. They may rightly fear their many predators but they never fear for their feet. Their unchallenged sure-footedness can speed them away from the cheetah or the wolf and deliver them to high and safe places even the climbing leopard cannot reach.

The Christ-follower has his/her own kind of sure-footedness.

  • When our feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, we can stand in places where those who try to walk bare-footed (without the Gospel) through life cannot.
  • When the Holy Spirit sounds the alarm, we can run like the wind to flee youthful lusts, outrunning any temptation that would dare pursue us.
  • When we have climbed above the danger and outrun the enemy, we can stand in high places where truth itself stretches to the far horizons.

The Word of God balances us.
The key to being sure-footed is a sense of balance. God has equipped these animals with senses of balance far beyond anything humans can achieve. Spiritually He can do the same for us. We can have an inner sense of balance based on truth, stabilizing truth. In the New Covenant the Lord promises to write His word into our hearts. This means that the truth of God is not an outward force, a philosophy forcing its way inside our minds despite our natural tendencies. This wisdom is a match for us, working from the inside out. The Word is alive in us through the enablement of the Holy Spirit giving us a sort of spiritual inner ear to help us keep our balance.

The place for the Word is already in us—our redeemed hearts—but the Word itself has to be written into our hearts. This happens as we give our attention to the Word through Bible reading and study, through teachers and preachers, and through praying the Scriptures.

The worship of God strengthens us.
A sense of balance is only good when the mountain-dwelling animal is strong in limb as well as in mind. Our spiritual stability is the strength that comes when we spend time with God. Daily worship and weekly Lord’s Day worship are times when our spiritual muscles are stretched and exercised. This is a process of emotion converging with faith producing joy—and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

This means Christ-followers can run, climb, and stand in amazing places.

Scriptures:
Psalm 18: 21-34
The Lord rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; because my hands were clean he rewarded me; For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not offended against my God; For all his judgments are before my eyes, and his decrees I have not put away from me; For I have been blameless with him and have kept myself from iniquity; Therefore the Lord rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight. With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; with the forthright you show yourself forthright. With the pure you show yourself pure, but with the crooked you are wily. You will save a lowly people, but you will humble the haughty eyes. You, O Lord, are my lamp; my God, you make my darkness bright. With you I will break down an enclosure; with the help of my God I will scale any wall. As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a shield to all who trust in him. For who is God, but the Lord? who is the Rock, except our God? It is God who girds me about with strength and makes my way secure. He makes me sure-footed like a deer and lets me stand firm on the heights.
Hebrews 8:10 NIV
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
Psalms 17:5 NIV
My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
2 Samuel 22:31-34 NIV
“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
2 Timothy 2:22-26 NKJV
Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep me balanced today. With Your steadying hand I will not fall. Guide me with Your Shepherd’s Staff today—Your eternal, sure and certain Word. Your will for me make take to some tricky or even treacherous places where the path is narrow with deep gorges on each side of the path, but show me each footfall and keep me looking forward the heights of Your will for me. “My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay.” Lord, lead me on to higher ground. I will be sure-footed all through this climb! Higher, Lord higher! Amen.

Song:
Higher Ground
Words: Johnson Oatman, Jr.; Music: Charles H. Gabriel

1. I’m pressing on the upward way
New heights I’m gaining every day
Still praying as I onward bound
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain:
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith on heaven’s table land
A higher plane than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

2. My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay
Tho’ some may dwell where these abound
My prayer, my aim is higher ground.

Refrain

3. I want to live above the world
Tho’ Satan’s darts at me are hurled
For faith has caught the joyful sound
The song of saints on higher ground.

Refrain

4. I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright
But still I’ll pray till heaven I’ve found
“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 6, 2017 “How?”

How?

We all know this move.
There is a two-hand gesture, a dropped jaw and the “o” vowel formed with the lips that go with the question, “How?” This little piece of improvised human choreography accompanies the sudden need for a solution.

  • Some impossible task is demanded;
  • some totally new job must be done;
  • some inexplicable event has just unfolded before wide-open eyes and mouth and both palms outstretch to the sky, “How?”

This is usually followed by an oath, “—in the name of _________ how can we____________?”
Documentary evidence of this gesture and petition achieving anything at all is more than sketchy.

Truth be told, adults can suffer from over-stimulation as much as children.
We need solutions, too. We are often presented with new problems, challenges, and worst of all new unspoken expectations.

  • Bosses tend to send work to those who can get the job done.
  • They send problems to those who are good at finding solutions and
  • they assign puzzles that no one solve to the those who can unravel confusion and make the necessary connections.

In the process, the “chosen ones” feel like spreading their hands to heaven and asking, “How?”

For those who ask in faith—God has answers. When you are on speaking terms with the One who knows everything, you can get answers to your questions.

The poet poses this question: “How shall a young man cleanse his way?”
A commendable question to be sure. I want to meet young men like this one. They are swimming upstream in this generation and have earned my respect. I prefer these to those who seem to want to know how to pleasure their way through life, not cleanse it.

Whether in the ancient days of the Psalmist or in this post-modern age, the answer is the same:

“By keeping to Your words.”

The Bible it is unique among ancient books—it is up to this moment in truth. These are words here not only to be heard and read but to be kept.

The New Testament makes the most astounding claim—“We have the mind of Christ.”
We don’t have all of it but we have all we need. Not only the “How’s” but the “Why’s” are covered in the Book. God has communicated His heart to us in words, in saving deeds, and in human form by sending Jesus to show us how, and why to live.

Take the same gesture: palms uplifted to heaven, mouth and eyes open to all praise and possibilities and use a different word, no longer a question, “How?” but a confession of worship, “Hallelujah!”

Scriptures:
Psalm 119:9-16
How shall a young man cleanse his way? By keeping to your words. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. I treasure your promise in my heart, that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; instruct me in your statutes. With my lips will I recite all the judgments of your mouth. I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees than in all manner of riches. I will meditate on your commandments and give attention to your ways. My delight is in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 NIV
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 speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom 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: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, 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, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 John 2:3-6; 18-19; 3:16-20; 23-24
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
2 Timothy 1:12 KJV
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am so glad that Your know how. No what is demanded of me today, the answer is in Your great mind. Give patience, concentration, insight, so that I might be a problem solver today. You know “how” and I ask You to show me “how.” Of course, if it takes more than today, help me keep listening tonight and tomorrow add in the days to come. Use the dreams of my sleep to speak to me. You have placed me in this position, help me prosper in it by showing me “how.” My hands are lifted to You in faith and my mouth is open and filled with praise. To God Be the Glory! Amen.

Song:
I Know Whom I Have Believed
Words: Daniel W. Whittle; Music: James McGranahan

1.I know not why God’s wondrous grace To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love Redeemed me for His own.

Refrain:
But “I know Whom I have believed, And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed Unto Him against that day.”

2. I know not how this saving faith To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word Wrought peace within my heart.

Refrain

3. I know not how the Spirit moves, Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word, Creating faith in Him.

Refrain

4. I know not what of good or ill May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days, Before His face I see.

Refrain

5. I know not when my Lord may come, At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him, Or meet Him in the air.
Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer
For more on Pride: “The Invisible Mountain”

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 4, 2017 “Peoples”

Peoples

“Peoples” is word Bible uses for “nations.”
We Americans are a nation and we are a people. These terms carry similar bonds but also some different bonds unique to each one.

We are a nation because we live in the same geographical location and under the same set of laws. We are a people because we live with the same ideals, or at least with enough of the same ideals to give us

  • a shared character—the American Spirit,
  • a consolidated hope—the American Dream, and
  • an agreed upon ideal—American Freedom.

Guest Teaching at Continental Seminary in Brussels, Belgium, I visited the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, pictured here. This was my first missions trip to Europe and I was full of the missionary spirit. I am also a Baby-Boomer, the son of a WWII veteran, so I have always had an interest in the war. Inside the beautiful chapel I found an inscription that brought the missionary spirit and the American Character together for me. Beneath a cross it says:

GRANT US GRACE FEARLESSLY
TO CONTEND AGAINST EVIL
AND TO MAKE NO PEACE
WITH OPPRESSION

In that beautiful chapel the extraordinary truth of the American Spirit enveloped me—Who else goes across the seas to fight for the freedom of others? My father did, and my father-in-law, my pastor, and all my friends’ dads went. They are the greatest generation of a great nation and a great people. General Patton’s grave stands a lonely guard in front of the chapel facing row upon row of crosses and Stars of David.

On the grounds of a rural Catholic church in Belgium I also visited a memorial to Rev. J. W. Tucker among the names of missionaries from all branches of the church killed in the Belgian Congo in the early 1960’s. Heroes one and all, named and nameless, they sprang from a great nation and a great people to die in behalf of others on foreign soil.

Could they speak to us today, they would blush at our faint praise, and quickly remind us that the job isn’t finished.

  • There is still evil abroad in the world that someone must oppose.
  • There is oppression behind the high civilized walls of nations and violence walks randomly among the cities of the peoples of this earth.
  • We cannot make peace with wrong by calling it right.
  • There are nations and peoples bound in chains and in darkness. They sing empty songs, tell elaborate, meaningless stories, and trudge from day to night in hopelessness.

Our heroes would remind us that the nations and the peoples of need Jesus.
If there are seas to cross, let us set sail. If there are nations in bondage let us cry out as the prophet did, “Let these people go!” If there is darkness let us go there to shine our light.

Let this resolve be our pledge to our children and to their children and our prayer to God:

Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil
And to make no peace with oppression!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scriptures:
Psalm 2
Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter empty threats? Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, against the Lord and against his Anointed? “Let us break their yoke,” they say; “let us cast off their bonds from us.” He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; the Lord has them in derision. Then he speaks to them in his wrath, and his rage fills them with terror. “I myself have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Let me announce the decree of the Lord: he said to me, “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall crush them with an iron rod and shatter them like a piece of pottery.” And now, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Submit to the Lord with fear, and with trembling bow before him; Lest he be angry and you perish; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are they all who take refuge in him!
Isaiah 60:1-3; 62:10 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. …Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.
Psalm 117 NIV
Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.
Psalm 102:18-22 NIV
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the Lord.
Mark 11:17; 13:10-11 NIV
And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”
And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
Luke 24:45-49 NIV
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I will judge my life and work today, not by standards of success or wealth or influence but by the benefit of my being here on this earth. I do not serve you to the point of my comfort for you meet all my needs. I do not accumulate the acclaim of people for Your pleasure in me is my goal. Save me from a diffused life that accomplishing little. I temper my passions to focus them on Your plan for me, the steps You have laid out for me since before the foundation of the world. Help my solitary life to somehow bless the nations. Just as You multiplied the little boy’s lunch there in the wilderness, multiply my words and my songs and my deeds to bless the peoples of the earth. In Your holy name. Amen.

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

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 pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!

3. 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!

4. O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood  From sea to shining sea!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, July

July 1, 2017 “Poison”

Poison

In an outstanding gift of mercy, God supplied rattlesnakes with rattles.
They warn before they strike. It is like an audio warning label—POISON!

Thank You, Jesus!

If life were a kitchen or a garage, all the containers with poison in them would be clearly marked. No one would accidentally die by poison.

Life isn’t a kitchen or a garage. It is an open field, a running game, a moveable feast, the “oldest established, permanent, floating craps game in New York” (from “Guys and Dolls) and everywhere else. The containers in our kitchens and garages have few warnings—the poisons are hidden among the blessings. How can we identify them without having to taste each one?

The playing fields in the Game of Life are infested with rattlers.
It is rumored that some snakes are helpful but most of us shiver at the sight of any snake, unwilling to make the close examination of the shape of the head and the eyes. Snakes depend on stealth, hiding in weeds and tall grasses, drain pipes and holes in the ground before they strike their chosen victims with serpentine lightning. Punctured and poisoned, the small victims of the poisonous snakes face the destiny of a long digestion.

The Poet compared his enemies with poisonous snakes:

“They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adder’s poison is under their lips.”

We need to be as wise in our day as the poet was in his.

Avoiding Snakes and Poisons
Woods are made to be walked in and fields were made to be stood in so we can let our souls breathe air that isn’t sooty. Yet these wonderful places are habitats for snakes—poisons lurk unseen just off the path or in the tall grasses.

Avoiding snakes involves constant awareness—keeping a watchful eye on every step and on the way ahead, and a weapon at the ready. (My dad loved to hunt and fish. I am the proud owner of the 5-shot .22 revolver that was his “snake gun.”) How do we affect this constant awareness?

  • Daily time with God—prayer and Bible reading—is constant awareness, warning us of paths not to take and dangerous places not to go where there are sure to be dangerous snakes.
  • The choice and ready weapon of the Word of God causes poisonous things to light up like radioactive materials in 1950s Sci-Fi movies. The name of Jesus on our lips protects us from the corruption of Satan’s poisons.

Avoiding poisons involves:

  • Constant awareness of sources—keeping a watchful eye on every communication we encounter. Every container (entertainment, art, news, publications) has a source. With the fresh taste of the Waters of Life in our mouths, we can smell the polluted streams when our paths come upon them.
  • Constant consumption of the “Good Things” is a necessity. If we go about hungry or thirsty, these needs become drives that take control. We become vulnerable to the temptation to taste the pretty poisons on any shelf we find. If we go into the world full of good things from God’s supply, our lives are not driven by hunger, but are led by the Spirit.

We can enjoy the fields, the woods, the garage and the kitchen because the Word and Presence of Jesus protects us there. Since there are no labels, let us be constantly aware of the sources that produce the poisons hidden among the blessings.

In an outstanding gift of mercy, God supplied people with His Word, “Wonderful words of life,” and with common sense.

Thank You, Jesus!

Scriptures:
Psalm 140
Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, Who devise evil in their hearts and stir up strife all day long. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adder’s poison is under their lips. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who are determined to trip me up. … I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the poor and render justice to the needy. Surely, the righteous will give thanks to your Name, and the upright shall continue in your sight.
Gen 3:1-5 NKJV
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Mark 16:15-18 NIV
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Acts 28:1-4 NIV
Once safely on shore… Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. …But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
2 Peter 2:1-3;18-21 NKJV
… there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. … For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I love walking in the woods or on an old road by well mowed fields. But I do so with an eye for snakes and an ear tuned to the sound of a rattle by the road. Give me a like caution as I walk through this life. I know that the snake that slithered in the Garden of Eden is still at work, stealthily stalking each believer. I will not fear him but I will be wary of him. The delights of this world shimmer on every shelf around me; so many of them are poison. I feast on Your Word today. I will drink deeply from the Waters of Life so that I am no hungry or thirsty on my walk. I will be safe in the market place, on the road and in the field because I will be full of good things from You. Amen.

Song:
Wonderful Words of Life
Words and Music: Philip P, Bliss

1. Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life;
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.
Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty;
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.

2. Christ, the blessed One gives to all wonderful words of life;
Sinner list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
All so freely given, Wooing us to heaven;
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.

3. Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever;
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer
For an article on dealing with deceptive people: “Handling Snakes with Safety”

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved

pathoflifedevotions Devotions, June

June 29, 2017 “NightWatch”

NightWatch

We cannot imagine the world before electric lights. It was, shall we say, dark.
Each time the sun slipped over the western rim of the world, a gathering darkness crept across the land from the east. Only the thin flames of candles, the withering wicks of oil lamps, and an inconstant, silvery moon challenged the night. The stars, more than we can see these nights, decorated the darkness but did little else.

With darkness came fear and with the fear came the night-watch.

Someone had to stay awake through the night; it was filled with danger.
Evil people did evil things in the dark. In the military, in industry, in cities and in towns, watchmen take this job: police, firemen stationed near the alarm, emergency personnel on duty around the clock, and other folks who have trouble sleeping.

Mark Twain paints a poignant scene of the 19th Century night in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Huck and Jim are running downstream aboard a raft on the huge Mississippi River. They traveled at night, keeping time by the lights on the shore. Most of the candles and lanterns went out after midnight and when they started reappearing it signaled the approach of dawn. Some candles burned through the night, “Where there is sick folk, maybe.” Huck said.

Setting the Night-Watch is an ancient practice.
In the scriptures the watchman makes a powerful metaphor for an important aspect of pastoral leadership and priestly leadership in the home. There had to be a constant awareness while the town or the home was unaware and vulnerable to the villains and villainy of the dark hours of night. Someone would sleep in daylight so those who slept in darkness could do so in safety.

Still today, the darkness is real and it is an encroaching darkness. Parents and Pastors must be vigilant on the NightWatch for the darkness wants to steal the light in our homes and churches.

The problem is: we are only mortal and cannot go long without sleep.

Who can be our Night-Watch? The Lord and His friendly angels, of course.
We can rest and wake up rested. We can dream and wake to follow those dreams. Families can bond together and the Family of God can enter into that rest because Jesus and His mighty angels have the NightWatch.

Scriptures:
Psalm 119:145-152
I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes. I call to you; oh, that you would save me! I will keep your decrees. Early in the morning I cry out to you, for in your word is my trust. My eyes are open in the night watches, that I may meditate upon your promise. Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your loving-kindness; according to your judgments, give me life. They draw near who in malice persecute me; they are very far from your law. You, O Lord, are near at hand, and all your commandments are true. Long have I known from your decrees that you have established them forever.
1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
John 3:19-21 NIV
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
John 1:3-5 NIV
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
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.
Revelation 22:3-5 NIV
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Romans 13:11-14 NIV
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Isaiah 21:11-12 NKJV
“Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” The watchman said, ‘The morning comes, and also the night.

Evening Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer:
Against Perils
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in Your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of Your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
For the Presence of Christ
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know You as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of Your love. Amen.
For Rest
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give Your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for Your love’s sake. Amen.

Song:
All Through the Night
Traditional Lullaby

1. Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night;

2. Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,
I my loved ones’ watch am keeping,
All through the night.

3. Angels watching, e’er around thee,
All through the night
Midnight slumber close surround thee,
All through the night

4. Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and vale in slumber sleeping
I my loved ones’ watch am keeping,
All through the night

5. While the moon her watch is keeping,
All through the night
While the weary world is sleeping,
All through the night

6. O’er thy spirit gently stealing,
Visions of delight revealing
Breathes a pure and holy feeling,
All through the night.

 

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer
For more on Pride: “The Invisible Mountain”

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved