Grave Clothes

John 11:44

Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

This is when Jesus called Lazarus forth out of the tomb cave. Apparently Lazarus was not able to remove the burial bindings himself, and needed help to get free of them.

O my Father, am I still bound with some of those strips of grave clothes that remain of my fleshly nature? Help me, Father, to recognize them for what they are, and the strength to discard them; or send to me someone who can remove them from me if I cannot do it myself, like Lazarus. Show me how to "put off the old man" and "put on the new man" that is of Your Spirit Who lives in me. Teach me Your ways, for they are not my ways; and Your thoughts, for they are not my thoughts; that I may speak only Your words, and do only the things You have planned before time for me to accomplish to further Your kingdom here and bring glory to Your Name.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Only Two Lifetime Requests

Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of You O Lord; do not refuse me before I die; --

There are only two things I ask of You, my Lord and Master of me as Your slave: please grant me these every day of my life until I die.

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; --

Do not allow any false or misleading words to proceed out of my mouth (or my fingers as I write or type), and do not ever allow me to be mislead by any other false or misleading words from others.

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. --

Any more than food and clothing is considered riches. I ask only my daily needs, no more.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say, "Who is the Lord?" --

If I find I have too much more than I actually need, I may start thinking that I have gotten all of it by my own power, abilities and wisdom, and think that I don't need the Lord any more.

Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the Name of my God. --

Or if I find I don't have enough, I could be tempted to stop trusting in You, and use unethical methods to get what I think I need, by taking advantage of others, and by my dishonesty I would bring shame on the One I claim to worship. 

O my Lord, how often do I worry that I may become poor, that my resources will not last my lifetime? I testify that "God takes good care of me every day," but am I really trusting You to do that into the future? Or am I really trusting in my own ingenuity to grow my nest egg? O my Lord God, my Abba, Daddy, teach me to trust You to meet all my needs, and to accept joyfully all that You provide now and into the future.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

 

The Most Powerful Force In The Universe

Ephesians 3:14-19

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

It appears here that the "fullness of God" that we may be filled with, is love! Love is the most powerful force there is. Love created the universe, and God's faithfulness in maintaining all the balances in the universe is based on His love for it. And when we love Him and one another, then we will fulfill all His laws, all the "Manufacturers Instructions" for life in this world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Became Flesh

John 1:14

The Word became flesh . . .

The Word, that was with God and that was actually God Himself, the Creator and Lord of all Heaven and Earth and the whole Universe. This is Who came down, from His Glory in Heaven, and "became flesh." God is Spirit, always was and always will be. But this Word, this One Who proceeds from the Father, so is His Son, took upon Himself the actual flesh of humankind, and became a Man! The Creator became a part of His own creation! I cannot grasp the magnitude of this thing that God did--to leave the Home He deserves to dwell among filthy, evil little creatures is totally beyond my comprehension. But I know He did!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Worship

Exodus 23:33

...The worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.

The way they worship their gods; what they do that honors their gods. It will look so good, so beneficial, so right, that you will be snared, caught up in it. Today we don't bow down to statues in our society (except Catholics), but our culture encourages us to put our trust into our own abilities, to "lift us up by our own bootstraps." To trust in the money we earn, or the company we work for, or the government that encourages us to be dependent on it. But our trust is to be in the God who created all things and everyone, and His Son who paid our debt; we are to think His thoughts, not the world's.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Reconciliation

II Corinthians 5:17-21

If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -- Because we are "in Christ" we don't have to fall back into the old pattern of doing what we think we want, into that old way of responding to that bad habit, or that old hurt that formerly ruled our days.

All this is from God, -- God has performed a miracle in each of us in causing us to be born into His own family by the New Birth.

Who reconciled us to Himself -- Just as I change my checkbook register to reconcile it to the bank statement, so God changed us to agree with who He is; the life He has is spiritual and He has given us that same spiritual life that He lives, causing His Spirit to come into our spirits to make them alive. Where we were dead spiritually, we are now alive.

Through Christ -- Because of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross and His Resurrection.

And gave us the ministry of reconciliation: -- We have a job to do, a ministry, to let people know what God has done for us.

That God was reconciling the world to Himself -- God is the only One who changed (will change) everything in relation to Himself.

In Christ, -- Only by what Jesus accomplished.

Not counting men's sins against them. -- God doesn't need to consider our sins on our side of the Ledger, but can now put them on Jesus' side.

And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. -- This is the message we are to teach the world, that God has already taken care of all our sins, wounds and problems; in putting them on Jesus on the Cross to pay for all our debts; and God raised Him from the dead to prove that He accepted that payment on our behalf.

We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. -- We are to implore, to beg you, to take God up on His offer to allow Jesus to pay your debt in full, and let Him change you into the person God created you to be, in planting in you His own Spirit to make you alive and able to do the good works that God planned ahead of time for you to do, so that you will get the benefits and He will get the credit.

God made Him who had no sin -- Jesus.

to be sin -- to carry our very sin-nature.

for us, -- in our place, each of us, to pay our debt of death.

So that in Him -- Only in Christ, who paid it.

we might -- Now it is possible.

become -- Actually be, not just do.

the righteousness of God. --To be able to do what is right in every circumstance because of the power of His Spirit living in us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Each of us now is His temple, where He lives.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Live Up To What We Have

Philippians 3:16

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

We all know what we know. We have some idea of how God loves us, and some of what he has revealed to us of Himself, of who He is. We have learned that we ought to be kind, to love our neighbor, to help the poor, because that's how God is good to us. But how often do we just think of ourselves, of what would serve our purposes, of what would please us. We even sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that we are working for God's purposes, when we're really just following our own agenda. 

God has given each of us different combinations of personality, natural abilities and talents, and various spiritual gifts. Each one of us is different from every other one, even identical twins are different from each other. So the plans He has for each of us is according to the way He made each of us, different from every other. God made us all different, so that everything would get done. You are concerned for the environment? Good, we need to take care of this planet God has put us in charge of. You are concerned for the animals about to go extinct, or are being treated shamefully? Good, they are here for our use, but not abuse. You are concerned for the children who don't have enough to eat? Good, they are precious, and we can do much to meet their needs. You are concerned for the lost, and desire that they hear the Gospel to further God's Kingdom here on earth? Good, that's the most pressing need, and we are to pray that God sends more workers into the fields that are already white to harvest. 

Let us all do what we can, and everything will get done.

O my Father, You have been so good to me, and You continue to shower upon me Your goodness, every day and in every way. Thank you so much for all the ways You have taken care of me each day, and all the wonderful blessings You shower upon me continually. Please help me to remember Your ways as I leave my house to spend time with people, people You love. Let me get my focus off of myself and actually see them as You see them, to listen to them with Your ears, and enable me to be Your hands, Your feet, Your voice, to meet their needs in ways that will benefit them; and You will receive the credit, the glory. Help me to live up to all that I have already attained.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.