Prayer - Stay Fresh & Green

Father God, it is good to make music and to praise You; to praise Your Name Most High.  To praise and proclaim Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night to the music of a 10-stringed lyre and the melody of a harp.  Father, not too many people nowadays play a harp, let alone a lyre, at least that I'm aware of; maybe a guitar, piano, flute or violin, nowadays but not the others.

However, I do know harps are very beautiful.  Not sure about the lyre but harps are so, so melodious and soothing and calming.  It's a wonderful instrument!  However, no matter which instrument we have, maybe its just our vocal chords, we can still make a "joyful noise" unto You, morning, noon and night.

Lord, help us to sing Your praises as we read and understand Your Word and obey them in our lives; may they bubble forth in praise, as You make us glad about the deeds You do for us.  We can give You praise for the forgiveness of sins, everlasting life, for making us Your sons and daughters; for knowing we belong to You and to Your Son Jesus, alone.  

Many do not understand this because they are likely not Your children.  They say, "Uh, isn't it better to trust in yourself?"  Some get their joy from imbibing a few beers or get a high from drugs.  Such false, short-lived "joy".

Lord, we know that the joy of the Lord can be our strength and happiness that can spring up from our innermost being; from our spirit and soul which are under Your Holy Spirit's control.

As we realize how great Your works are and how profound Your thoughts are, Your thoughts being bigger than our thoughts could ever be,  we just have to stay speechless and in awe of You and when we do find our tongues, loosen them to only give You praise and adoration.

May we remember to exalt You for ever.  We know when we get to heaven there will be unending praise and worship with multitudes upon multitudes of Your children.  Those who have gone on before us from ages past, and then from ourselves and generations to come: then there will be perfection of praise.  Yet, Father, accept the feeble praise we can give You now.

We know that our enemies and evildoers will be perishing and scattered abroad, but Lord, we can still rejoice in You even when our enemies want to bring us down, down here on Earth, in this dog-eat-dog world.  You can lift us up and exalt "our horn".  That "horn" being a symbol of strength.

A beast uses its horns to fight with, to show how strong it is.  However, Lord, our strength is in You.  We are Your kings and priests, Your royal priesthood and Your oil of anointing has been poured upon us as King David had had oil anointing him, 'king'.

You make us flourish in Your courts, Oh Lord our God and bear fruit even in our old age.  We will stay "fresh and green" proclaiming that You, LORD, are 

"...upright and our Rock and that there is no wickedness at all in You."  

Lord, we are getting older, we have to admit even though we are not yet very infirm, help us to still bear fruit in our "old age"; to stay fresh and green in You .

                                                        ~ERC  April 2020~
                                            (originally prayed 2 Feb 2020)

Prayer based on Psalm 92

                   

Lord's Day Devotion -Betrayal

Once upon a time there was a mother cat named, "Luna".  Luna had had kittens and was a very good momma cat, caring for her wee ones well.  They were nourished from their suckling and grew to be of an age to be given away.  So they were.  

Oh the agony of loss for Luna.  She prowled up and down the streets and alleyways of the neighborhood, crying and crying, and in search of her babies.  Finally, she had to be put away, confined to a cage and spoken softly to; even apologized to by her human.  

Her human, in turn, felt terrible.  She did not know that an animal could love her babies so much and miss them so unconsolingly when they were gone.  Luna's human could understand it though, as she too had once lost a baby.  So the two commiserated.  

Yet, the human felt like a betrayer.  Here she was the one supposed to look out for her feline friend, yet she unwittingly committed a seeming disservice to her furry beast.  

Betrayal.

How awful is that!

How dark and devastating!

David the King of Israel and Judah knew what that was like a few times over.  One of the worst ones was when his son Absalom won the hearts of the people away from his father.  On top of that, we read in Psalm 55, 

"If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it...But it is you, ...my companion, my close friend, with whom he had once enjoyed sweet fellowship as they walked with the throng at the house of God" (Psalm 55:12 &13 NIV).

David's so called, "friend," Ahithophel, had betrayed him and gone over to Absalom's camp and plotted against him! (2 Samuel 15:12)

David did turn to the One who would never forsake Him.  He knew what to do,

"Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you..." (Psalm 55:22 NIV).

He goes on to say,

"...but as for me, I trust in You."  (Psalm 55:23 NIV)

We expect insults and vindictiveness from an enemy but from a close friend?!

It surely hurts us to the core when someone who is "supposed" to love us and show it in kind, loving and caring gestures, does not.  This is not even, necessarily talking about over the top expectations.  Just a general everyday way of showing care from friends, spouses, family, extended family.  Those harsh, sarcastic words and innuendos or actions of someone who once upon a time, had loved you and even now believes he/she "still does", commits the unpardonable, and what we had least expected.   Physical, emotional, mental distress ensues in the aftermath.

 Likely we've all had that happen to us at one time or another to varying degrees.  Perhaps it goes on continuously?  

People jokingly say, "with friends like that, who needs enemies"?

Yes, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ knows exactly how that feels.  

He was betrayed by one who was supposed to be his friend, even one from his close circle; what ultimate betrayal!  Judas betrayed Jesus out of greed for money.  For money!

Yet, because of that, Jesus bought our pardon.  

"When we survey that wondrous cross on which the Lord of glory died" is a line of a hymn,  written by one Sir Isaac Watts, we often sing on a Lord's Day.  I had one friend once say we should not sing this song.  Why?  He said because the cross was anything but wondrous!  Well, for Jesus, it certainly was not wondrous.  However, for us we cannot go on without that unsurpassed sacrificial act of supreme love.

On this Lord's Day, let us remember that those awful moments when our blessed Redeemer, Jesus, endured through it all.  Even God His Father had to turn away His face as Jesus bore the price for our sins'.

Pass the bread and cup of wine; partake and drink in thankful remembrance.  Praise God that despite the treachery Judas unleashed at Satan's goading, God turned it into something exceedingly and stupendously wonderful for mankind.  

Salvation.  

Betrayal pain birthed the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank-You, Father God.  Thank-You, Jesus for enduring for us.

In Your most precious Name Lord Jesus, I give you praise and thanks.

                                                      ~ERC  April 2020~

Based on Psalm 55

On That Same Night Lord Jesus as sung by Alan Parks

Prayer - Rest In God

Ah LORD God, thank-You that my soul can find rest in You; in You alone because my salvation comes from You and Your Son, Jesus Christ.  You are my Rock, my Salvation, my Fortress.  I can cling to and trust in You and never be shaken because You are that strong, secure One.

Father, people try to take advantage of Your people.  They try to pull them down because of their integrity and righteousness or just because they trust in You.  They delight in telling lies about Your people because they even have that deceitfulness about them; blessing your people to their faces but cursing them in their hearts or behind their backs. Despite all these people who make accusations against Your children, trying their best to topple them down, may Your children find rest in You alone.

Father, may our hope always be in You because You are the Rock of our salvation; our Fortress.  Again, when we cling on to You we will not be shaken.  Your word says so.  

Help us to keep this in mind always.  You are my salvation and Your children depend on You because You are our mighty Rock and Refuge and we can trust in You at all times.  We can pour out our hearts to You.  We can rest in You.

Often there are things in our lives we don't dare to tell other people, because we are ashamed, or they might become angry or it might embarrass us.  However, we can pour out our hearts to You, O God, because You listen, Your ear is always open to our cry.

We thank-You that we can also take refuge in You whether we are, in the eyes of society, low-born or high-born; whether rich or poor or "just a breath", of little consequence.

Indeed, sometimes we don't even see ourselves as much more than "just a breath"; feeling insignificant.  Even those who think they are something, those who think they are high-born, may they realize through their arrogance, chip it away to realize that, yeah, in many ways we are, "just a breath".  

When we compare ourselves to You, Who comes from, in terms of our human thinking, eternity past, and You are going to be there throughout eternity future, and that this time we are in, how old is the earth?  Not much more than 5000 or 6000 years old, since the Creation, since that beginning of time.  Time being just like a parenthesis in Eternity; like a drip in a bucket to You or a little breath that we can take.  I know we can hold our breath but when we don't, a breath is very short.  It can be very small and seemingly insignificant but when we have many breaths altogether we have a living being.

Nevertheless, Lord, when we focus only on the "one breath" it's not long; it doesn't take long and to us, our 70 or 80 years of Earth-living breathing is also, 'but a breath'.

Help us therefore, Father, to put into perspective, 'us':  human beings and You the almighty God, the Eternal One.  May we ponder on the fact that we can truly trust You.  That we can put our confidence in You, pour out our hearts and souls to You because You already know it all anyway.  You are omniscient and we shouldn't forget that.

Lord help us to be aware when someone is trying to extort us yet may we not put our hope nor set our sights on increased riches. Help us not to set our hearts on these things nor to take pride in stolen goods.  Hah!  Hopefully none of us steal anything anyway, for that matter.

Help us not to take pride in riches, not to set our hearts on them because they easily fade away.  They are truly "just a breath".  Riches come.  Riches go, as easy as anything.   So, Lord, help us not to rely on riches.  Yes, money is useful, in fact, a necessity in this world so we can eat, have shelter and clothes.  Help us not to be greedy for those things nor obsessed with them.  Instead, may our greed, so to speak, be to trust in You with our whole heart.  

This, because You are strong, you are the One who is loving.  We know that You will reward each one for what they have done:  whether we belong to You, we will  be rewarded for what we have done with good motive, for your glory and honor and those who do not know You, Lord, it is very, very scary because Your righteous judgement will come upon them.  That judgment for their sins; for the rejection of Your Son Jesus Christ and the salvation of their souls.  Oh Lord, You do not want to see anyone perish, but yet when people harden their hearts, and become as stubborn as a mule and bray insistent, "No, no, no's"! to You  it's so seriously solemn and heart-breaking especially when it's one of our relatives!  

Father, I ask that anyone reading/praying this prayer themselves, will put their names in the different places, saying "Lord, help me, Roxanne or Randy or Ben", whoever, Father.  May each one realize they will have to account for what they have done in this life.  That the good deeds do not outweigh the bad deeds.  

Father, they may be very good-living people which is a very good thing.  However, it is not enough.  Let them know this.  Help them to wake up before it is forever too late.  Give them that "last chance" before eternity future arrests them, when they will then sleep the sleep of the dead.  The perishing.  You do not want them to end up in that eternal living death of "perishing" for ever in Hell which you have NOT made for them.

Hell was made for the Devil and his minions (Matthew 25:41).

Lord, those who do not repent nor accept Jesus Christ will be put there too.  That will be eternal devastation for that person.  Lord we do not want that at all.  Father, let all who read/pray this prayer, come to rest in You, Almighty God.

I implore You in the Name of Jesus and by the power of Jesus blood, Who shed His blood for the remission of those sins which separate your human creatures from You.

                               ~ERC  Prayed Feb 2020 - Blogged April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 62.

Song, Rescue the Perishing, written by Fanny Crosby - Acappella Christian Hymns

Prayer - Carry Them Forever

To You, LORD, I lift up my voice this morning knowing You are my strength.  Knowing I can trust in You, let not my heart be dismayed.

Thinking of shepherds today.  Of course, one of my favorite shepherds, not that I know many, is David of the Bible.  Reading so many of his Psalms we get to see how his life as a shepherd pours out of his very pores, so to speak.  So I get it that he got it why You would choose him to be king and shepherd over Your chosen people.

When David was hauled up from the back side of the wilderness, away from tending the family flock only to see a family confab in progress--the line up of older brothers with dashed hopes and a puzzled father, all gawking at him.  

"Uh-oh', what am I being blamed for now?  What is going on?!" he may well have wondered.

The "baby" of the family being anointed?!  Anointed to be King?!  David himself likely couldn't believe it when Samuel poured the anointing oil on his head.  You can just see the gears turning in the  father and brothers' minds, "Huh!?  Samuel, you sure you got this right?"

Father, You sure have a wonderful sense of humor.

Nevertheless, David, perhaps largely unbeknownst to his family, had honed his skills in well-rounded ways such as:  archery and sling shot target practice; killing wild beasts bare-handed (I wonder if his macho brothers could do that), a protector of sheep.  Add in his self-taught lyre and harp lessons; his open-air science lab discoveries, gazing at the moon and stars by night, observing the sun's shadow play by day; then an all-encompassing, superior knowledge of the character of sheep and their needs; how to provide food, water, shelter.

Then there was  the low-down on all the nooks and crannies in the hills and dales which put him in good stead when King Saul, and later his own son Absalom, made him a fugitive but where he had first sheltered his sheep from storms and predators.  

A protector.  A provider.  

What a home-schooled education that was!  Self-taught to a great degree, no doubt.  Hands-on experience.  Obviously, he could read and write to boot.

Astounding summation yet his family hadn't thought much of him, almost as if he was an afterthought or not a member of their family--certainly not a significant one.  

I have a gut feeling he must have been somewhat wild, not so 'civilized' for 'polite society' with his outdoor ways.  Maybe they insultingly asked him if he was born on a raft or in a barn.  After all,  when we read of his public kick-off exploit of conquering Goliath and of his many successful raids into the Philistine camps and war victories...well, even You, Father God, commented that he was too "bloody" to build Your house, the Temple (1 Chronicles 28:3).

Yet the quality of a good shepherd was instilled in David and You recognized this and had every confidence in him.  He must have been an amazing shepherd.  He had a lot to be proud of and rightly so.  That's why, when I read Psalm 28:8 and 9 where David, in turn,  beseeches You, His Heavenly Father, to be Israel's shepherd, I see he "got it".  He got why You had called him to be king over His people, yet he knew his own deficiencies and knew he needed You to take over.

"The LORD is the strength of His people...be their shepherd and carry them forever" (vs 8 & 9 NIV).

David was wise to turn to You Father, to seek Your shepherding-of-human beings skills, working in tandem with You.  He knew to Whom to turn.  It was a huge task and responsibility You gave him.

When we are given work for You, here in our day, may we too be encouraged to turn to You.  May it be our first instinct to do so.  May we turn to You to be our strength, our fortress our salvation and look to You and Your Word for sustenance and to be our shepherd; forever.  Carry us, Father.

David must often have carried injured sheep and/or lambs upon his shoulders.  You too, our Good Shepherd, carry us forever.  You gave Your very life for us, Your "sheep".  We can't live without You.

We give You humble, grateful thanks in the precious Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lead on and may we follow, wagging our tails behind us.

Amen.

                        ~ERC  March 2020 (originally) - Blogged April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 28

Sing, Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us along with by4Him

Prayer - Struck With Terror

David was so keen for others to experience God that he asked the LORD to,

"...not let mortals triumph..."

"...strike them with terror..."

and to,

"Let the nations know they are only mortal" (Psalm 9:19 & 20 NIV).

Not sure what happened in David's time to shake the fibers of the nations up into terror, but we all know what it is nowadays:  COVID-19!

Heavenly Father, God, may the nations turn to you.  May they seek You.  May they fall down on their knees and plead with You, in sincerity of heart.

Indeed, there seems to be many instances of this happening.  What a wonder You are Father!

No, I do not enjoy the misery of others!  In fact, it is all a travesty.  We implore You Father to stem the tide of all this deadly virus. And when it is all over, may the peoples of the earth still seek You.  May they not be angry at You for letting this happen.  I believe that You are just as deeply saddened over the state of mankind at present as we mortals are.

Therefore, Father, I ask that Your Holy Spirit continue to work mightily among the nations.  May their seeking of you not be short-lived once everything is going good again in the "new normal" flow of life. May all the nations and the individual mortals that make up the nations let this "terror" bring them to You and to Your Son Jesus Christ to be saved from a fate worse than COVID-19; that terror of eternity without You.  A terror of an everlasting suffering in the torments of Hell, separated from You with absolutely no chance of ever coming to You ever again.

This is so very solemn.

To strike someone with terror doesn't seem like a very nice blessing to confer upon anyone, even your worst of enemies.  However, Father, may the current "terror" drive people in droves, to fall at Your feet, to humbly accept Your offer of salvation and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives.  May Your infinite love and goodness be like a magnet and draw these souls to Yourself.

Then they will have forgiveness of sins, everlasting life and the many benefits of being Your child (see Ephesians chapter 1 for some of them).  Someday, if COVID-19 takes their life, or some other equally life-threatening disease or fatality, they will go straight to be with You.

Oh to be with You, forever, in Your presence.

What a consummation of a wondrous blessing that will be!

In Jesus Name I give You praise.

                                                         ~ERC  April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 9:19 & 20.

Jesus Paid It All sung by Kristian Stanfil

Prayer - Smile of Content

I like it, Father God, when Psalmist David says, 

"I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me" (NIV).

It makes me smile because I know You have been good to me too.  In fact You have "dealt bountifully with me" (ESV) over the many years of my life, continuing even until now.

In sorrow, I confess of my complaining, of grumbling and murmurings of discontent.  With Your help, Father, I'll see instead, Your goodness and blessings in my  life and count them.

To focus rather, on Your unfailing love and trust in You  so my heart will rejoice and sing praises of Your salvation and goodness and Your forgiveness.  Help all of us look to count and give thanks; one by one for all the goodness You bestow upon Your children, including me.

A joyful song of praise upon lips curved upwards, in grateful smile mode; that smile of content .

Thank You, Abba Father.

In Jesus' Name we praise You.

                           ~ERC  Originally Prayed March 2020 - Blogged April 2020~

 Based on Psalm 13

Johnny Appleseed Song

Lord's Day Devotion - He's Alive, Shout for Joy!

                    

This weekend is known as Easter Weekend.  On this Lord's Day, we remember Jesus' death and resurrection for us, like we do on any other Lord's Day.  Sometimes on other days of the week, we exert our privilege and right to do so too, as often as we wish.

Well, in some ways, it might be the same; however...perhaps you have some bread and wine prepared in the inner sanctums of your home during this world-wide, locked down, quarantine time.  The Bible says, "where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20 KJV).  Jesus, our Redeemer, is with us whether we are at church or at home.

We can still remember Him. 

Let us meditate on some verses before we give thanks for the BREAD…

Sing, “Up from the grave He arose…”  What a joyful event!

Let’s read Psalm 98:4-6 (NIV) which expresses some of what we might feel  regarding Jesus' work on the cross,

“SHOUT for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song…make music to the LORD, the King!” 

 …and our Savior…

 Let’s pray.

Father, we come to You with joy in our hearts for Jesus is no longer dead and hasn't been for about 2000 years;  HE”S ALIVE forevermore and we are FORGIVEN!  Our hearts truly do shout, “HOSANNA!” and “HALLELUJAH!” and “PRAISE THE LORD!” all in one breath.  

You have worked salvation for all of us who have accepted Your Son Jesus Christ as Savior.  We now thank-You and joyfully partake of this bread.  The bread being symbolic of Jesus’ broken-upon-the-cross body, to help us remember, often, that body of Jesus which was broken for us so long ago.  

Thank-You, Father,  so much for this sacrifice.  Jesus’ death and resurrection have brought us victory.

Thank-You Jesus, and it’s in Your holy Name we remember what Your compassionate, unfailing love has done for us.

Amen.

Let’s all partake of the bread in unison.

Before giving thanks for the WINE…think of this,

Most remember that the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt but God was going to rescue them…

Let’s read Exodus 12:12 & 13 (NIV),

“ON that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.  I am the LORD.” 

Now listen to verse 13, in particular…

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you…”

Let’s pray, giving thanks for the WINE.

Heavenly Father, You told Your people to go home and shut their doors, til Your fury had passed (Isaiah 26:20).  So the children of Israel put the blood of the sacrificial lamb upon their lintels and door-frames.  They shut themselves into their homes.  The angel of death passed over those homes with the blood properly applied.  Then Father, You delivered them with Your almighty hand.  They had been afflicted but You rescued them.

We, too, have been afflicted with our sin but You sent Your Son Jesus Christ, Who took all that affliction upon Himself.  All the fury of Your wrath against sin was laid upon Jesus.  He took all that punishment for our sin.  Our Lamb of God, who took away our sin because He shed His blood for us.  We, Your children, have the blood of Jesus, which washed away our sins, upon our hearts.   When You see that blood, You turn away Your wrath from us.

We praise You Father God, for Your rescue plan; for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Praise God, Jesus is alive!

We take the cup of wine in remembrance of Jesus sacrifice for us, with humble gratitude and thanksgiving.

In Jesus Name we give thanks.

Amen.

Let’s all drink of the wine together.

                                                           ~ERC  April 2020~

What a mighty God we have.  Close your eyes and listen to the following song.  

 He's Alive - David Phelps - Gaither Vocal Band

Prayer - Was It a Good Friday?

Father, You are our LORD who reigns.  You reign over all the earth.  Let us all be glad and rejoice in You.  Even though we stand in awe of You, in reverent awe, and see the clouds thick and dark surround You, we learn from psalm 97:2 and 3, that Your 

"righteousness and justice" are the foundations of Your throne".

"Fire goes before You and consumes Your foes on every side."

"Lightening lights up the world and the earth sees and trembles" (v. 4).

The mountains melt like wax before You; Father, before the Lord of all the earth (NIV).

The volcanoes and earthquakes of earth make people tremble with fear over the devastation they can cause.  They fear for their lives. Now we have something very akin to this sort of escalation multiplied 1000's of times over.  Now is the time of COVID-19.  People are shaking and quaking, not just from the virus but from those who've lost jobs and who can't feed themselves nor pay other bills.  What about them?

I do know You care Father but I don't know what to say or ask.

Except...

Father, may the peoples of the Earth look up to You and seek You, now, like never before.  May they look up to You, our Righteous and Holy God to Whom they will have to give account of themselves.  and their actions of life so far.

The leaders of the world, all the nations, all the people, down to the individuals in each and every nation, to all the ends of this earth: North, South, East and West.  may they realize You, and You alone, are the Righteous, Holy One Whom they need to fear more than anything else.

May they also realize Your goodness,  love and care for each of them.

As the heavens proclaim Your righteousness to all the citizens of Earth, may they worship You and NOT idols.  May they turn from all their gods that they have been putting their boast in. Those gods that can't do anything much for them.  May all of us earthlings realize that it is Your enemy Satan and his demons that are behind all those, supposed, gods.  Gods who did not send their sons to die a sacrificial death for them to give them salvation, to give them forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life.  Those are gods that demand and demand and demand their very life to earn their favor.  In the end, they will only face destruction in hell with the Devil and his minions.

May Zion rejoice and all the villagers  of Judah and everywhere else, be glad (v. 8).

Father, Your son Jesus walked among these villages, from Galilee to Jerusalem; all the regions of Samaria and Judea.  He walked them up and own, back and forth.  Many of that generation were glad and rejoiced but many others did not.  Many mocked Jesus, many wanted Him to leave their area.  many wanted Him to be dead so He wouldn't trouble their consciences, upsetting their "apple carts" or rocking their boats.

In the end, they shouted, "Crucify Him!"  and again, "Crucify Him!"  in rage and jealousy; angry maliciousness steamed with the sentence of 'the Cross'.

They did not want to hear Your judgments; Your convictions.  

Oh Most High God, Jesus would have brought them under His 'wings' like a mother hen does for her chicks and provide the needed protection.  Sadly, He could only weep over Jerusalem, that seat and symbol of the whole nation of Israel.  

Father God, how You must weep even now, over all the Earth; how people have renounced You; will not acknowledge Your existence; some shake their fists at You saying, "Where's God?!"

Yet we have recently heard wonderful stories emerge like the atheist doctor from Italy saying that because of this corona virus--the extent of it bringing everyone, without prejudice, to their knees--he had to acknowledge You.  In other places, men and women cry out to you in the streets.  They really seem to mean it.

You reign, Father God!

You are most High, reigning over all the Earth that belongs to You.  You love those who love You and let those who love You hate evil.  

"Guard the lives of Your faithful ones" (v. 10).

Indeed, You guard us, Your followers of Jesus Christ.  You do deliver us from the hand of the wicked (v 10).  You shed Your light upon us and we have joy in our hearts as we live in an upright manner.

Due to Jesus' atoning work on the Cross, may we allow Your Holy Spirit to reign freely in our hearts.  May we make You Lord and Master and King of our lives.

"Lord, reign in our lives".

As we sit in Your presence Father on this Good Friday, we remember the work You accomplished upon the Cross, for us.  While partaking of the bread and cup of wine, help us truly understand the portent of all Jesus has done for us.

In thankfulness, and in return thanks and devotion, may each of Your followers say, 'The LORD reigns" in my life, may He reign forever.

Yes, I know we still make mistakes and often fail You miserably, so we thank You that when we confess them to You, You forgive and  cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  You purify us 100% from even any single taint or stain of those sins.  We are grateful, glad, and rejoice in you, the Righteous one.  We praise Your Holy name.  

Reign, Eternal King Jesus, reign!  Let the Earth rejoice!

It was an awful Good Friday for Jesus and You, Father, but it was a wondrous one for us!

In Jesus our Savior's powerful Name, we give you thanks and praise,

Amen.

                                                       ~ERC   April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 97

Song, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - sung by Choir of Kings College, Cambridge 

Prayer - David's Secret

Heavenly Father, our hearts can be so full at times.  It is so comforting to know we can "pour out our hearts" to You (Psalm 62:8).  You are someone we can trust, who won't blab out all we say on a gossip vine.  "We can trust in You at all times," David the Psalmist confides to his people.  He encouraged them with this.  He had knowledge firsthand, of such experience so he wanted to share this goodness with them.

Subsequently, we too, so many centuries later, are blessed by his "secret" too.  Now we pause and whisper, from the depth of our hearts into Your ears.

Pause...pray...talk to Him...

Thank-You, Father, that we can rest and hope in You because You are "strong" and "loving" and we can fully, 100%, depend on You!

In You we put our trust.

In Jesus Name we give You praise and thanksgiving.

Amen.

                  ~ERC - Originally prayed 13 March 2020 - Blogged 3 April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 62

In Whom I can Trust posted by cogs 999

Lord's Day Devotion - Devotional Prayer - Made Righteous

Father, I'm so glad for my salvation because as Psalm 32, a Psalm of David, remarks,

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered...whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit there is no deceit" (vs. 1 & 2 ESV).

Father, we thank-You that You have imparted Your righteousness; "imputed" Your righteousness to all of the  followers of Your Son Jesus Christ.  They are those who have accepted Him as Savior.  You have justified us for the sake of Your Son who died to redeem us; to atone for our sins, to bear the punishment for our sins making that way of salvation open for mankind.  

I thank-You for that and Lord, as You are working on us in the process of sanctification, may there be no deceit found in our spirits.  It seems like its so easy to lie.  People lie, left, right and center, constantly.  

Lie to one's face.  

Lie with a straight face, looking so innocent all the while.

Maybe they aren't outright lies but Lord, its not the whole truth.  When people go to a court of law, they're sworn in promising to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them, God. Oh well, maybe in this day and age, they leave out the God part which may well be the whole problem.  No fear of God.

 So the truth often gets covered up.  What a farce!

May I ask that Your people, Your children, make every effort to be truthful as Your Son Jesus IS.  Jesus said that He is,

"The Way..the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6),

If we are going to be more and more Christ-like, help us to be more and more honest, to have integrity, that transparency, that people often talk about especially wanting political leaders to be so but forget to examine themselves.  May we be as innocent as babes..Perhaps, cunning as serpents but as innocent and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).

We represent You, LORD.  There are times though that we are not very good ambassadors.  We acknowledge our sins and that we often try to cover up our iniquities, however, as David said,

"I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" (Psalm 32:5).

May we be still in Your presence so we can be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's convictions, and humbly make our confessions to You Father. 

This also reminds me of 1 John 1:9,

"If we confess our sins..."

IF.

The 'if' is on our shoulders.  It's up to us whether we confess or not.  Oh, glory, Father, You are ever ready and waiting because as David goes on here in Psalm 32:5, he says,

"...and You forgave the guilt of my sin..."

He confessed.  

You forgave.

That is just like 1 John 1:9 again,

"If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins..." [emphasis mine]

What's more,

"He'll purify us from all unrighteousness..." [emphasis mine]

That is not just that one sin but from all.  He will scrub them all clean!  So clean there won't be any teeny-tiny stain remaining.

We thank-You for this mercy You bestow upon us.

"Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You..." (Psalm 32:6 ESV).

Father, compel us, Your children, to look up to You.  We need to cry out to You.  We need to be found in Your presence in communion with You.

David, in some of his other Psalms, said he loved to be in Your house and he loved to be there with other people.  Father, often, when we go to church, depending on which church, some are crowded, filled up with thousands of eager, expectant faces.  Others, are small; faint, yet pursuing (Judges 8:4).  Wherever we are, we know that even when two or three are gathered together in the Name of Jesus, Your presence is there among the congregation.

We can pray in our own closets, but also together with the two's and three's, or thousands.  This we can do in confidence because YOU are there and we trust You!  Even in this COVID-19 time, we can still 'zoom' and  "meet" via conferencing calls and the like.  You know our current troubles and You understand.  Thank-You Father for Your understanding.  We know You are still with us.

It says, "Let the godly pray" (v. 6).  May we all be godly.    May we all pray to the one true God.  There's no excuse because You've made us righteous in Your sight.  In addition to that, You are in the process of sanctifying us, through Your words as we obey Your will and ways in our lives.

Surely then, when the mighty waters rise they will not reach us (v. 6), they will not shake us.  If we are godly, praying truthfully, depending on You, when the "mighty waters" of temptation, of trials and troubles and tribulations assail us, we'll realize the "flood waters cannot reach us".  They cannot harm or destroy us.  Instead, we will have our faith firmly planted in You and You will give us the strength to overcome.  That's because there's no intentional deceit in us, we are godly, we trust and pray and look up to You, oh Father God.

That said from as truthful-as-possible, humble hearts, Father.  

Our sins have been covered and we can look up to You with dignity, a clear conscience, not in self-esteem but in God-esteem because You esteem us.  We can lift our eyes and hands up to You, not in pride nor arrogance but with all godliness and honesty; in confidence in You. 

"You are our hiding place and You will protect us.  You surround us with songs of deliverance" (v. 7).

Father, let the Christians sing songs of deliverance.  Teach them to sing.  Sing, Christians sing!  Burst into song!  Sing songs of deliverance of how Our God protected us, helped us to pull through all our times of distress.

It is actually exciting, Father, to see some of your people, and others around the world, singing to each other from balconies, sidewalks and even from their homes to uplift and encourage themselves and others during this depressing, stressful COVID-19 time.  That's really cool.

This is possible because You also taught us how to go, how to live. You give us the wisdom and insight through Your Holy Spirit and the Words we read in Your Holy Bible.  In Your words, because You instruct and teach You counsel us in the way we should go and watch over us.  Help us not be stubborn like an ox or mule that has little to no understanding and need to be controlled by a yoke or bit and bridle.

May we, as we are affected and infected with Your unfailing, unconditional love and with Your protection upon us, with our justification from You, all combine as our compelling force, then follow You.  Not to be whipped from behind, not to have the constraint  of the bit and bridle but because of Your unfailing love we would voluntarily follow You.

Like the good shepherd who knows his sheep and the sheep willingly following.  May we be "trusting sheep" following the shepherd's voice, negating the need of sheep dogs nipping from behind; nipping and barking at us, "Get going!"

Yes, some of us may well need the goading; that pistol shot to get us going but Lord, may it rather be your love that compels us and not Your discipline.  We know Your unfailing love surrounds us.  Help us to trust in You because of it.  Then we can rejoice and be glad in the Lord because You are the Righteous, Truthful One who has made  us righteous in Your sight.  May those of us who have been made righteous indeed be glad, rejoice and sing because we are of upright hearts, made so by You through Jesus Christ, Your Son.

On this Lord's Day, let us remember all this by partaking of the bread and wine showing the Lord's death and resurrection power.  He bore our sins upon the tree, paying the full price.  In turn He gave us His righteousness and more.  It is only because of this that we can appropriate all His love and blessings.  You have given us so many privileges through Your "salvation package".  Give thanks with grateful hearts, oh people of God.

In His Redemptive Name we give You praise, thanks and adoration, Father.  Its's also in this Name of Jesus Christ, our Royal Master, we rejoice and come into Your presence and commune openly, honestly, with You.

Thank-You, Father.

Thank-You, Jesus

In Jesus Name, 

Amen.

                                                      ~ERC  April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 32.

Onward Christian Soldiers as sung by Bill & Gloria Gaither crowd.

Prayer - Set A Guard

Heavenly Father, in Psalm 81 we read about David asking You to open wide his mouth so that You could fill it with good things.  Here however, in Psalm 141 and verse 3, we read of David asking You to set a guard over his mouth and to watch over the door of his lips.

So, yes, we can open wide our mouths, so You can fill us with those good things that You have for us but we must also watch what comes out of our mouths.  What has been in our thoughts?  What has been in our hearts?  Have we filtered it against Your filter of things that are noble and just and of good report?

Have we filtered it?  Set that watch over those words, indeed, over our mouths and lips.  Then we will not let any evil come out of them.

I remember the time in a Sunday School in New York where we had been visiting,  so long ago, when one brother-in-Christ, one of Your sons, Father, said God has put a double protection upon our mouths.  One is our lips and the other, our teeth.  Therefore, there are two doors:   the lips are one door, the teeth are a door.  Help us to keep our trap shut, Lord, with the double security of those "doors".  

We do not want to speak evil.  We do not wish to blurt those words that should NOT come out of our mouths.  No regrets, hurtful, harmful abusive words.  Help us Lord, to speak only what You want us to speak and say, in the manner and attitude which would glorify You; the Christ-like way of doing things.

It's so easy to speak evil.  Lord, we ask you to set that guard, keep watch over our mouths and lips.  Let us strike other people, instead, with our kindness, not with evil words.

Someone once recommended a beauty tip, she advised, 

"For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness."  

May we all have such beautiful lips, Father.

May others rebuke us, other brothers and sisters-in-Christ, when we speak and say the wrong things.  Also, let us take it in the spirit in which it was meant, for our own good and benefit.  Let it be like oil of anointing upon our heads that blesses so that our prayers can be without deceit, without hypocrisy and truly set against the wrong-doers.

Help us to fix our eyes upon You, oh Sovereign Lord, because it's in You we take refuge.  You keep us out of the snares people have laid for us; the traps set.  Maybe those who know how to get into our head or under our skin that would cause us to speak harsh, angry words.  They set those nets but LORD, help us to avoid such "landmines" that we will be able to pass by in safety.  Again, let us heap coals of fire upon their heads by pummeling them with kind words, using gracious words, gentle words, spoken in a gentle manner; just like that meek way Jesus had with the general populace during His walk on earth.

Nevertheless, Lord, aid us in our learning to confront through the convictions of Your Holy Spirit in the style in which Jesus also used with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law; those religious leaders who "knew it all".  In fact, they did know a lot.  They'd studied Your Word but they did not always put them into proper practice in the spirit in which You meant them to be employed in the life of the practitioner. 

Oh Lord, we thank-You for any intervention You give us that helps us to speak "gold"; to speak as You would speak.  Give us that desire and set a guard upon our lips.  Thank-You and praise You in Jesus most precious and sovereign Name.  Amen.

                                                    ~ERC  March 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 141

Scripture Memory Songs with Ben Eaton - Set A Guard

Prayer - Skillful Hand

A person can't, NOT like David the shepherd boy, nor David the king but I want to talk more about the former genre.  The more one reads his Psalms, the more one likes him.  Today's Psalm-of-the-day, Psalm 78, albeit, written by Asaph, gives a commendable perspective on David, which in turn, gave me the impetus to write about it.

This is what Asaph penned, from verses 70-72, 

"He (God), chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, Israel His inheritance.  With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand."

David likely never dreamed he'd be king at all.  Likely he thought he was "stuck" tending sheep.  Little did he know it was his training ground for bigger things.

No doubt it was rough out there and required a lot of hard work but I like to think of David, lying on his back at night and trying to count the stars (ha, ha, not sheep but maybe that too) and observe the moon in its various phases.  Very close to nature, so he was.  In his various Psalms he refers very often to creation and in turn points to the Creator, the Maker of it all.

What an amazing apprenticeship in sheep tending!  He was certainly socially distanced from people but he sure braved facing a lion and a bear and who knows what all out there.  Those were just "all in a day's work", nothing to fuss about.  Astonishing really, when you think about it.

Caring for the general welfare of the ewes, especially when lambing, and then of the newborn lambs themselves; being "mom" to rejected or orphaned lambs; protecting them all from predators; making sure all had plenty of grass to munch and still waters to lap up--sounds very much like a full-time 24/7 job.

It's a wonder David had the time to practice his archery and slingshot skills, honing them to precision.  Then the harp.  Possibly a lyre thrown in for good measure (Psalm 150).  What a guy!

Living an isolated, somewhat rather lonely existence, he learned every nook and cranny of the wilderness pasture land reaches.  Perhaps he'd "bump" into other shepherds from time to time and swap howdy's and enjoy the occasional time of camaraderie.  I'm assuming he certainly didn't sulk at his lot in life, rather he kept himself pro-active all the while.  Alert and ever ready.

David had so much going for him yet he seemed to have been thought very little of by his older brothers and even by his father, Jesse.  Thus, mayhap, some of the melancholy noted in his Psalms.  The youngest of a string of sons, the insignificant "baby of the family".  Send him off to tend the sheep.  That's what he's good for.  That's why they didn't bother to think he, their baby brother!! could be  the chosen one to become king.  Surely, not!  So he didn't get invited to the anointing party.

Ha, ha, ha...

God had the last laugh.  

All of the bits and pieces of David's life puzzle, thus far, came together, culminating in his mostly wise governing of the peoples in his kingdom.  David's great trust and reliance on God put him in excellent stead.  He had been faithful in that which was considered "least".  God, his Rock, Fortress, Refuge and Deliverer, gave him His most precious chosen people to shepherd; to be faithful in that which was "much" (Luke 16:10).

Asaph noted,

David guided the people's with an 

"...upright heart...and skillful hand".

So too with our lives, we never know what all the threads of life will combine and create to enable us to create and do in service for God, our King.

Thanks, Asaph, for this "peek" at David.

Father God, there are so many various threads in our lives.  Some exceeding joys, others that are so difficult they could send a person into the slough of despond.  Yet, Father, we beseech You to weave all those threads together into the masterpiece of Your unique, creative design, just as You did for David, a man after Your own heart.

We often only see the underside of Your work of embroidery in our lives, where all the knots and crisscrosses are.  You, Father, get the bird's eye view.  Continue Your work in us and may we too be found faithful, strong and steadfast in Your unchanging love, as David was.  May we too, work with "upright hearts" and "skillful hands" from the amalgamation and assimilation of our lives' experiences and lessons learned.  Most importantly that we too will live pro-actively for Your glory, and have firm trust and reliance on You, the ever, perfect Faithful One, Our Good Shepherd.

                                                   ~ERC  March 2020~

Based on Psalm 78

The Lord's my Shepherd-Stuart Townend

Further references to check out re: lyre in Psalms.  Turns out David mentions this instrument almost as much as he does the harp:

Psalm 5:2; 11:7; 33:2; 43:4; 49:4; 57:8; 71:22; 81:2; 92:3; 108:2; 144:9; 147:1; and 150:3.