Remembering God’s Salvation and Looking Ahead to the Kingdom by Mark D. Roberts

Luke 22:1-18

Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before
my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until
its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 22:15-16

In Luke 22, the dramatic movement toward the death of Jesus increases. No
longer is he teaching the people in the temple. Now Jesus walks forward on the
path to the cross.

One essential part of this path is a Passover meal. In fact, Jesus explains
to his disciples that he has been “very eager” to share in this commemorative
feast with them. But this is not just because he wants one last good meal with
his friends before he dies. Rather, Jesus longs to share the Passover with his
disciples because it affords him one more chance to help them—and us—understand
the meaning of his approaching death.

Jesus told his disciples he was eager to eat the Passover with them, “For I
tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in
the Kingdom of God” (22:16). The original Greek of this verse reads more
literally, “I will not eat [the Passover meal] until it is fulfilled in the
kingdom of God.” The Passover points, not only backwards to
what God did in saving the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, but also forward to
the coming kingdom of God.

How is the Passover fulfilled in the kingdom? In several ways. First, the
Passover commemorates the saving of the Israelites from Egypt. The kingdom of
God represents the fullness of divine salvation. Moreover, the Passover
commemorates the time when the Lord “passed over” the homes that were identified
by the shed blood of lambs. The kingdom of God will come as the Lamb of God
offers his life for sinners, so that we might be forgiven, our sins “passed
over.”

In tomorrow’s reflection, we’ll look further at how Jesus refocused the
Passover to elucidate his imminent death and its meaning. Today, I’d encourage
you to take time to reflect on your experience of God’s salvation and how this
has impacted your life to this point.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: In what ways have you
experienced God’s salvation in your life? How do you yearn to experience more of
his salvation in the future kingdom?

PRAYER: Thank you, dear Lord, for giving us many different
ways of understanding your saving work among us. Today, I thank you in
particular for the Passover, which not only points back to your salvation of
your people from Egypt, but also points ahead to the salvation offered through
Christ.

Help me, dear Lord, to remember all that you have done for me, all the ways
you have saved me. Most of all, may I remember and live my life in the freedom
of knowing that you have saved me from sin and death.

All praise be to you, my Savior, Savior of the world. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/remembering-gods-salvation-and-looking-ahead-kingdom

An Invitation to Hang in There with God by Mark D. Roberts

Psalm 88:1-18

O LORD, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.

Psalm 88:13

Chances are you won’t hear this psalm in church today. (If you do, let me
know!) Psalm 88 is one of those —psalms and, indeed, there are —many that leave
us perplexed. It is one long lament, with little by way of hope. Thus, this
psalm tends to be ignored, except in churches that work systematically through
the entire Psalter.

What should we do with Psalm 88? We don’t know exactly what Heman the
Ezrahite, who wrote this psalm, was facing,
but we know it was overwhelming to him. His life was “full of troubles and death
draws near” (88:3). His friends abandoned him (88:8) and his loved ones were
taken away (88:18). Heman sees the hand of God in his suffering. “You
have thrown me into the lowest pit,” he accuses the Lord.

Yet Heman keeps on praying. Sometimes he cries out
for mercy. At other times, he challenges God to consider God’s own loss should
Heman die: “Can those in the grave declare your
unfailing love?” (88:11). No matter what happens to him, Heman will
stay in relationship with a God he doesn’t understand, whose actions seem wrong:
“O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day” (88:13).

Thus, Psalm 88 offers us an invitation to hang in there with God, even when
we don’t get what he’s doing, even when it seems that God is being unfair, even
when we are exhausted and discouraged. Perhaps if we read this psalm more
often—yes, even in —church we’d be better prepared when the dark days come in
our own lives.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How do you respond to
Psalm 88? Have you ever felt like Heman? Have you ever prayed like Heman? Do
you need his invitation to hang in there with God today?

PRAYER: Gracious God, there are times when it seems as if
your grace has disappeared, replaced by your anger, or perhaps by your distance
from us. In these valleys of the shadow of death, we wonder if you still care,
or even if you’re still there. In despair, we may even think that there’s no
point hanging in there with you.

Thank you for Psalm 88, which invites us to stay in relationship with you
even in times of darkness. Thank you for the blunt honesty of this psalm. Heman
doesn’t pretend as if all is fine. Rather, he lays his soul before you without
holding back is discouragement.

Help me, Lord, to hang in there with you, both in times of delight and times
of sorrow. When I’m tempted to let go of you, don’t let go of me. May I remain
in prayer, like Heman, pleading to you day by day.

Today, I’m reminded to pray for those in my life who are in a place like that
of Heman. Help them to persist in prayer. Reveal to
them your love and grace. Hear their prayers and deliver them. Most of all, let
them know your peace, the peace that comes through intimate relationship with
you. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/invitation-hang-there-god

He Cares · Max Lucado

He Cares · Max Lucado.

Character At Play

Character At Play.

Tozer Devotional-Faith That Acts in Faith

Faith That Acts in Faith

People use the word fanatic whenever you get a little bit joyful about the Lord. They say you are a fanatic. Webster says that a fanatic is somebody who is too enthusiastic about religion, as if you could be too enthusiastic about religion. John Wesley said, “A fanatic is one who seeks desirable ends but ignores constituted means.” Suppose a farmer boy with his blue jeans, torn shirt and tattered straw hat wants to get a fish. His mother says, “Why don”t you go down and catch a couple of trout, son.” So he goes down by the creek. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and the cows are standing deep in the water under the shade trees. So the boy pulls off a stalk of grass and begins to nibble on it, and he starts wondering about those fish. He says to himself, “I remember the pastor said if we want anything to pray for it.” In the meantime the fish are breaking the surface begging to be caught. But there he is praying, “Lord, send me some fish.” He can pray until he dies and he will never have any fish. The Lord put intelligence in his head and gave him what we call constitited means. The farm boy takes a branch from a tree, ties on an ordinary piece of cord, puts a bent pin on the end and throws the hook with a worm on it into the streams. The fish will take it. Would it be proper for the farm boy to be pious and pray for fish or to throw in his hook and pull out fish? Everybody knows that if a farm boy addresses the Almighty God in a loud voice asking for fish when the fish are breaking the surface begging to be caught, something is wrong. He is a fanatic–he is trying to get a desirable end, but he is ignoring constituted means.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=339

The+Key+of+the+Greater+Work

The+Key+of+the+Greater+Work.

The Daily Spurgeon: The door to each man’s heart

The Daily Spurgeon: The door to each man’s heart.

Moving On to Maturity (2)

Moving On to Maturity (2).

Moving On to Maturity (1)

Moving On to Maturity (1).

“When the Crosses Are Gone: Restoring Sanity to a World Gone Mad”

In his most recent work, “When the Crosses are Gone: Restoring Sanity to a World Gone Mad,” Dr. Michael Youssef argues that the United States is entering into a period of spiritual and moral decline.   In his meticulously researched book, he reveals how organizations – such as the Freedom from Religious Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union – are tirelessly working to eradicate Christian crosses from American society. The cross, which has stood for generations as a symbol of religious freedom in the West, is now clearly and unequivocally under attack.

One major problem, he argues, is that Americans continue to tolerate a culture that is becoming increasingly more hostile towards Christianity.  The banning of crosses from public schools, county seals, and national memorials are only some of the ways secularists are threatening Christian values today.

The First Amendment, as Youseff reminds us, states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Yet over the past few decades, a growing number of organizations opposed to organized religion have purposefully and willfully misinterpreted the language of the Constitution to fit their own secular agenda.

Will Durant once said, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.” In his insightful study, Youseff argues that when the crosses are gone, the collapse of the United States will soon follow. Without faith and morality, he contends, the nation cannot survive.  This new work – which discusses some of the most important religious issues of our time – is a must-read for any thoughtful citizen eager to preserve and defend Christian principles in the 21st century.

http://townhall.com/columnists/danieldoherty/2011/10/17/when_the_crosses_are_gone_restoring_sanity_to_a_world_gone_mad