Tag: mercy

Devotional 170: Well-Driven Nails

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Ecclesiastes 12:11 

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

Often, our Father’s work through the Holy Spirits spoke to the people of the times in language they could understand along cultural lines, teaching them by using the things they used in their daily lives. This work by Solomon is among those deemed to be worthy among the surviving books, so G-d has preserved it for us.

But this line in particular is striking in its contrast:  “…well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd”  What does a shepherd know of nails? Maybe they’d helped to repair fences in their duties, but that wouldn’t take much in the way of words beyond the conversation needed to repair the fence.

A nail well-driven is the sign of knowledge and skill, and in the case of a carpenter, craftsmanship. A well-driven nail by a shepherd means the repair to the broken part of the fence is complete, and will hold fast all that remains inside of it, and withstand what comes against it.

Don’t miss the imagery of the implied prophecy: A Shepherd’s words are like well-driven nails. What did the words of Jesus do, and how are they like nails? Let’s consider:

They were painful to the hearts of the wicked and sinful, and when something causes you pain, you aren’t interested in anything but removing the source of it so that your life is comfortable again. The source of our spiritual pain is sin, and it’s only removed through repentance. Resistance and denial can also remove it, but it won’t cure the condition.

They were strong and drove through the blockage of whatever was hindering the work  until Jesus spoke. Sickness, demons, nature, and death bowed to His will, and obeyed His commands.

They were enduring, because the use of cheap and ill-prepared materials meant the work would eventually fall apart. In that case a better, more lasting repair would need to be done, and cost more to the one in need of it.

They come at a cost because they must be purchased from the one who makes them. The Father gave the nails to the Son, but demanded a price from Him for using them for our salvation and redemption. And though He was given a seemingly impossible job to do, He loved us enough to buy them.

They are eternal because they will not pass away when we do. Neither will they pass away when He returns to see how well we’ve used the nails he’s given us to secure the hearts of mankind to His cross and resurrection.

Today let’s tell those we encounter about the Shepherd of unusual talents: the One who removes our sins, repairs our hearts, and refreshes our spirits, and redeems our souls.

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven,

Today this nation suffers with high emotions and heavy hearts. Our thoughts are fertile soil for the prince of this world to sow, and he is busy.

In the midst of the chaos and hate, let us drive words of healing, love, and peace through the hearts of those who are hurting, who have lost so much, and suffered through the departure of loved ones through no fault of their own.

Let us rise up in this hour to meet our divine appointments as shepherds to lead secure the disheartened within our compassion, driving off the fear and sadness of the times.

Reveal to us the task that lies nearest at hand, and give us the boldness and wisdom to do it, that we may be ministers in the healing work to come.

Keep us free from sin, and blameless of unrighteousness. 

Keep us in Your sight as we seek to walk uprightly in a time of pain and rage.

Today, as we rise according to Your mercy, rejoicing in the day You have made, we pray for this nation and all who dwell within it so that Your mercy and grace may yet abide on us. We ask for another chance to get it right, to establish the justice and freedom we so claim to love for everyone that dwells in the land you have so richly blessed and prospered.

By Your mercy restore our peace, and help us to discern the signs of the times, that we might address the needs of this age, being counted fruitful and profitable servants deserving of entering Your kingdom in the age to come where no sin exists, every tear is dry, and every heart is healed.

In righteousness, peace, and joy may we honor You.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Devotional 74: Rejoice in the Spirit

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Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit (Luke 10:21-22)

21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Part of the sovereignty of kingship is that the King gets to pick who belongs in the kingdom, and who doesn’t. I’ll admit that seeing this verse, particularly verse 22, gave me pause because in my youth, though I believed in G-d, I did not serve Him, and I wasn’t interested in following Christ.

After all, like so many others say, “I wasn’t hurting anyone.” But I wasn’t helping anyone, either. I was an unfruitful branch, dormant, empty, like the cursed fig tree when my Lord needed me to fulfill an earthly need. My life was undisciplined, spent doing what I wished, not planning for the future, and pretty much coasting and drifting with a jumbled set of ambitions, up to when I had my first child.

Fast-forward to my first day of Pentecost, when the Spirit opened my eyes to all that G-d was and meant to me on a new level, and all that He wanted to do for me and through me.

That brings me back to verse 22. Christ, in His mercy, sent the Spirit to reveal Himself to me, and through Him, reveal the Father. I was a basket case for a few hours, kept asking why, kept feeling His presence all through me. It was a glorious day I’ll never forget.

Fast forward again: No longer a husband, a father of adult children on their own, and I find myself again being able to do what I want, when I want, if I want.

I still don’t always stick to the path and do what I know,  yet again Christ in His mercy, through the Word, tells us this (Luke 9:23-26)

23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 

Self-denial, aka ‘crucifying the flesh,’ is a requirement, not an option. Professing to be a follower when I’m not damages both our reputations, and I again become unfruitful.

Paul reminds us in Romans:

4 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

And the writer of Hebrews says this: (Hebrews 10:26-29

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.[ And again, “The Lord will judge His people. 

Will we backslide? Of course. But we must repent as soon as we’re aware of it. It’s not something we should build up before we do. Again in Hebrews we read: (Hebrews 10:14-16)

14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Hold Fast Your Confession

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

And lastly, the words of Christ:(Luke 9:26)

26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. 

If I don’t confess Him before men, I can’t evangelize effectively. More importantly, He will not confess me before the Father.

I, for one, don’t want to fall into the hands of the living G-d if I’m covered in sin.

Do you?

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus, 

Let today be a day of praise and thanksgiving for Your mercy toward us, for taking our mustard seed of faith and planting it with the promise of eternal life to come, in Your presence, as we worship the Father in Your Kingdom.

We thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who has revealed the Truth of the Father’s word to us, a word that He holds higher than His name, sending You to fulfill it so we are reconciled back to Him, spotless and blameless.

Bring to mind, Lord, that it is only through You we come to the Father, and only because You were willing to put our names into the Book of Life. We would not have them blotted out Lord, by foolishly making Your covenant with us a common thing, lest the Father’s wrath be on us in the day of the His vengeance on His enemies.

You tell us that no one can take us from Your hand, but let us also seek Your face, and know Your voice, holding fast to our confession of You in all that we say and do.

We thank You for redeeming us, for trusting us to do greater works in boldness, proclaiming the drawing near of Your kingdom. Help us to discern the times we live in, and know what to do. Help us not to go down when the enemy would call us from the work. 

And let us, like You, when our days here are done, be able to say: “It is finished,” and enter into Your joy in being with the Father also.

I ask in Your name, believing I’ve received.

Amen