Temple of God, September 3
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
For even Christ did not please Himself…
Romans 15:1-3, www.solascriptura.com
Jesus, we see from Paul’s words that You lived among us and did not focus on pleasing Yourself. You eventually made the ultimate sacrifice for us and You made it clear it was a very painful act. The suffering was one thing but absorbing all of the sin of mankind meant at least a temporary separation from the Father.
Jesus, we sometimes feel that we must “have our way”. We too often focus on our rights and our needs. Help us today to see that You set the perfect example for us. In loving You with all of our hearts, mind and soul, we serve You. In loving our neighbor as ourselves, we serve them.
We humbly pray for more patience as we place our hopes and needs before You and as we extend Your love to others. It is much easier for us to “wait upon the Lord” knowing that Your will for us is what is best for us, even when we beg You to intervene in difficult circumstances, than to be patient with our neighbor.
Help us to show the same consideration to our neighbors and friends as we do to You. Keep us from rejecting people simply because they are irritatingly persistent at times. What a wonderful thing it is when You honor our persistence instead of getting impatient with us. Give us a servant’s heart towards our neighbor, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: Christ, Father, hearts, mind, neighbor, Paul, rights, Romans 15:1-3, servant, soul, suffer, Temple, weak
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Forgiven, September 2
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me!
Psalms 40:11-13 , www.solascriptura.com
Father, here King David admits that his iniquities have overtaken him. Father, at times some of us feel the same; our iniquities weigh so heavily on us that we don’t know how You could possibly love us or forgive us. That is the miracle, Father, that makes life worth living. It is never about the present, with its moments of difficulty, but it is about the future. We know that is only true if we admit, as David did, that we need Your help.
We do, at times, feel we need to say “hurry up Lord” because we are overwhelmed with a sense of our impotency. We can not win when it comes to fighting the power of the flesh but You teach us we never need fight that fight alone. It is the Holy Spirit, sent by You, Jesus, which empowers us and leads us away from sin.
We pray, this day, that You do not withhold Your tender mercies from us and that as we sense Your forgiveness, love and mercy, help us extend that kind of attitude towards others. We pray these things in the name and in the power of Jesus. Amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: evil, Forgiven, iniquity, mercy, Psalms 40:11-13, truth
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Salvation, September 1
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
John 17:1-19, www.solascriptura.com
Jesus, here You pray to the Father that none of us who choose You and obey You will be lost. You, in this situation, and for all time, are our Advocate. We know that Judas, the son of perdition, chose badly and that he suffered for his choice. Jesus, help us not to choose badly but to in fact be loyal and loving toward You and the Father, forever.
Jesus, You tell the Father that You gave us the Word, Your personal testimony. Your Word is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path. Jesus, help us, this day, to know Your word, to store it in our hearts that we might not sin against You.
You have told us that You have chosen to not take us out of this world, yet, so we could serve You in proclaiming the Word. We have been “sent” by You. You have prayed to the Father that the evil one will be kept from us. What a bonus, Jesus; Satan held at a distance from Your children. Help us this day to find ways to bring glory to Your name. In Jesus’ Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: evil, Holy Father, Jesus, John 17:1-19, joy, obey, salvation, sanctify, Scripture, truth
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Providence of God, August 31
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; he shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.
Psalms 105:15, Psalms 108:12-13, www.solascriptura.com
Father, You have taught us to “look up” as we seek You, that Your glory is in the heavens. There is a lot of stuff to look at as we look down, but even the beautiful flowers will wither. We appreciate the beauty of all Your creation, but help us as we seek to focus on the eternal, the heavenly reward that has been prepared for those who love You.
Here You teach us that in heaven, the sun will not strike us in the day or the moon by night. You have taught us elsewhere that there will be no night and day in eternity. You, Father, will be the Light eternal in this place of eternal joy.
We also learn that in that place we will not encounter evil, our souls will be preserved forever and Your hand will protect us as we move about in this place of eternal peace.
Thank You Father for slipping Your testimony about heaven into a Psalm, teaching us that we must study all of Your word to get the complete picture of what You have prepared for us. You have greatly blessed us and we thank You. In Jesus Holy name we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: earth, evil, Heaven, Lord, moon, Providence, Psalms 105:15, Psalms 108:12-13, sleep, slumber, sun
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Perseverance, August 30
How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men?
What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?
Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You,
For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, his wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
Psalms 89:46-48, Psalms 56:12-13, Psalms 105:1-5, www.solascriptura.com
Father, when we are young, time goes too slowly and as we get older, times goes too quickly; your word teaches us that this life span is as a moment in time compared to eternity. At times we feel we are performing acts of futility, acts that do not make a difference. But You Father record every word, notice every action and are aware of all of our motivations. The record that exists is ours and we are actively creating it every day.
Purify our hearts afresh. Help us bring glory to your name. Our feelings can mislead us and our fleshly hearts often lead us to disappointing behavior. Teach us O’God to be renewed in the Spirit, constantly, knowing that Your Spirit abides in us forever. Teach us today that “feelings” are not facts. We know the facts concerning Your expectations. We are told to “crucify the flesh” that Your Spirit may live in us. This is not a possibility for lukewarm believers!
Help us never make a vow that we are not able to keep. It is only by Your Spirit in us that we can serve and obey You. In Jesus Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: death, fire, grave, Lord, Perseverance, Psalms 105:1-5, Psalms 56:12-13, Psalms 89:46-48, rejoice, sing, vows
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Humility, August 29
Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.
Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of the great;
For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.
It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s own glory is not glory.
Psalms 138:6,8, Proverbs 3:34, Proverbs 11:2,Proverbs 25:6-7,27 www.solascriptura.com
Father, we thank you for the words of David and Solomon, his son. Just as your mercy perfected that which concerned David, that same mercy is ours. The Wisdom of Solomon, which You gave, can be our wisdom as well.
Father, is there any sin more likely to be in our lives than pride? It seems not as we observe the actions of some of your most committed people. Help us notice how pride can creep into our lives. Show us how to convert prideful tendencies into joy in Your presence, joy in victories made possible by You. We are so tempted to “seek the best seat” but here you teach us how embarrassed, before You, we will be when we are asked to yield that seat to another.
Teach us not to seek our own glory but to look to meeting Your expectations of us. It is Your praise that we desire. Boy, is it hard not to be proud! Bless us, we pray, in all that we do. In Jesus Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: 27, 8, David, Humility, mercy, proud, Proverbs 11:2, Proverbs 25:6-7, Proverbs 3:34, Psalms 138:6, shame, Solomon, wisdom
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Industriousness, August 28
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep–
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.
A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth;
He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers;
Perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord.
Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
Psalms 126:5-6, Proverbs 6:6-15, www.solascriptura.com
Father, Help us learn from the lowly ant. He who would eat, must work. We know Father of the exceptions for those who can not work physically but even in their case you have provided a capacity to love and to receive love. Help us not only to be industriousness as we are able but to do everything knowing that You are noticing our motives and efforts.
Father, if we could just do “all things as unto You” the quality and consistency of the days of our lives would be improved. We know we can only be our best when it is You in us, guiding and teaching us. We indeed have our bad moments. Forgive us and renew us this day. In Christ’s presence and power we pray. Amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: Industriousness, joy, poverty, Proverbs 6:6-15, Psalms 126:5-6, reap, rejoicing, sleep, sow, weeping
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Heaven, Part 2, August 27
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4, www.solascriptura.com
Jesus, we sometimes do not focus on the fact that You are at the right hand of God, observing, caring and loving us as friends. We may be looking in the wrong places too many times as we seek Your comfort and presence in our lives. Help us to look up and know that what appears to be infinity to us is in fact where you are, far beyond the heavens that we see.
We have no idea how your omnipresence is as it is. We get a hint of it when the gentle breeze moves around us, encircling us at times, reminding us that You told Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit is as the wind, you don’t know where it comes from and you do not know where it is going.
Father, at times it is critical that we set our minds on things above because down here there can be some very cruel circumstances, brought on by sin and neglect, wherein Satan is permitted to tempt us to not look to You. You have told us that You permit the test but that You will provide a way to escape that we may be able to bear it.
Jesus, escaping to Your side is our hope and our aim. We know that when You appear, we will then appear with You, safely comforted and shielded from all sin, all suffering and every weakness that troubled us here. Help us today to set our minds on You, knowing that the present suffering can not be compared to the glory that awaits. Bless us we pray in Your Holy name. Amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: breeze, Christ, Colossians 3:1-4, friends, gentle, God, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Nicodemus, omnipresence
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Heaven, August 26
“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord.
You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name.
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Zephiniah 3:9, Isaiah 62:2, Revelation 3:12, www.solascriptura.com
Father, where we now speak many different languages we see that when we are with You in heaven we will all speak one pure language. It will be a heavenly language, perhaps unlike any language we now understand. That fact, in itself, gives us additional understanding that heaven will be something much different than we have ever experienced.
We also see that we will be called by a new name, which You will give to us. We can’t help but wonder why you will choose a particular name for each of us. Since that name is already chosen we wonder will there be any duplicates? Probably not but is that because there are not that many citizens of heaven? You have told us before that any of us who acknowledge Your grace and mercy and who place their faith in Jesus, will be “overcomers”. We will be as a “pillar” in Your temple. Now we know where the phrase “pillar of the community” comes from…
Finally Jesus, You tell us that we will have the name of God, Your new name and the name of New Jerusalem written upon us. We are very uncertain how that will all look but we do know right now that we have Your truth written upon our hearts. You have marked us for eternity! Bless us as we wait for that moment. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: eternity, God, Heaven, Isaiah 62:2, Lord, New Jerusalem, pure language, Revelation 3:12, Zephiniah 3:9
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Prayer, Part I, August 25, 2008
Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil.
Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”
But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
Psalms 40:14-17, www.solascriptura.com
Father, at times we feel embattled, pressured by our daily circumstances and needs. We have learned to flee from sinful reactions to pressure because You are pleased to deliver us, to lift us up in that moment, if we but turn to You. We know that our willingness to be in a relationship with You transports us from helplessness to dependence on You. Our peace and our comfort come from You as we look up and contemplate Your presence.
Father, help us not to be as a foxhole Christian, one that only seeks You when we are being attacked. Instead, enwrap us afresh with the presence, comfort and power of the Holy Spirit. Absent a relationship with You we are spiritually bankrupt, the worst possible way to exist. Give us an eternal perspective and keep us from feelings of despair. Our hope is in You. In Jesus Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
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Tags: bankrupt, deliverer, evil, Father, foxhole, God, Lord, love, Psalms 40:14-17, salvation, sinful
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