For President Obama to desire and seek godly wisdom
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
�James 1:5
Holy and wise God, in You are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge. You are exalted high above all authority and power and no one can fathom Your greatness. Thank You for your kindness and generosity toward us, for You offer to us knowledge and understanding that helps us overcome our fallen nature. Thank You for this kind gift, O God, and thank You for all You do to help us succeed in fulfilling our calling in You.
Today I pray for President Obama, asking that You stir his heart first, to recognize his need for wisdom from You. Call his heart to Yours, O Father, and let him yearn for godly wisdom with every part of his being. Draw his heart to Yours, Loving God, and may he clearly see Your rich provision of needed wisdom the very first time he asks, encouraging him to ask again and again and again. I pray this in Jesus� holy name, amen.
(As I noted yesterday, I'm jumping into a new book I started this year, called Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms. It's already in progress, which is why I'm on Psalm 12.)
Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?"
"Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the LORD;
"I will place him in the safeyh for which he longs."
The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
Calvin says, "God is not deceitful, he does not delude us or beguile us with empty words, and he does not magnify beyond all measure his power or his goodness, but whatever he promises in word he will perform in deed." He then goes on to comment that we, however, are quick to "pour forth blasphemies against God" when he delays his assistance to us. "There is no truth which is more generally received among men than that God is true; but there are a few who frankly give him credit for this when they are in adversity." So, whenever we are tempted to doubt God's faithfulness to us, we need to lift up the shield of this Psalm, "that the words of the Lord are pure."
Review day again, so I'll look back at the last six devotions.
DAY 309--NOT A SET-UP FOR REJECTION--1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
In this passage about the second coming, Paul admonishes us to be alert and watchful, because the "Day of the Lord" will come like a thief in the night. But we are to also be encouraged, because we, as believers in Christ, are destined to salvation, not rejection or wrath. Therefore, we need not fear this event.
DAY 310--WE GIVE THANKS--2 Thessalonians 1:3-4
Taking Paul's example of bursting into spontaneous thanksgiving to God for people that gave him joy, I listed a number of people that I am thankful for. We can never be too thankful for those around us who inspire us and give us joy. And thanksgiving is good for pretty much anything that ails you.
(Side note to Jamie...thanks for your "advance prayers" regarding The Sims 3. LoL!!)
DAY 311--LIFE IN THE SPIRIT--2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
Which one of the "mundane" thoughts that I have been occupied with recently really matter? If my wife or I lose a job, will it really matter in the Great Plan? Won't God have the ultimate victory still? Oh, sure, there will be discomfort for a time, but we don't know what our Father has in store for us, do we? So what if one my kids doesn't do real well in school? She loves Jesus and loves to sing his praises. He will take care of her, no matter what.
God chose us before time began, picked us to be brothers and sisters of Christ. And the relationship that he has invited us to is similar to the relationship between the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), a relationship that I only just beginning to grasp. This excites me. Life in the Spirit need not be overly concerned with the "mundane."
DAY 312--IF YOU DON'T WORK, YOU DON'T EAT--2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Here, Paul gets all over some people who are mooching off of their brothers and sisters in Christ. This ought not be. If one is able to work, he should. This is a principle that our national welfare system should apply. When there are no jobs to be had, that's different. Here, Paul is talking about people who are just lazy. Not only does it create a financial drain on others, it also creates strained relationships between Christians, which also ought not be. We are to be generous with our blessings, however, I believe Paul is warning us here against "enabling" others.
DAY 313--UNCONTAMINATED BY SELF-INTEREST--1 Timothy 1:3-7
Heh. I just noticed that I somehow typed "1 Timothe a" in the original entry. I can't seem to find that chapter anywere. Must go back and fix that after this is done.
The major point of this reading was that we should all have a love that is "uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God." I'm almost speechless as I contemplate being able to live a life like that. I've known very few people in my life who even come close. Can count them on one hand. (For those who are mathematically impaired, that's five or less.)
If you have a chance, go back to this entry and read the beautiful poem by C.S. Lewis, "As the Ruin Falls." Then find the song that Phil Keaggy composed on that poem. (I don't like Thrice's version.) It gets pretty honest about how we are. Even uses the description, "mercenary." It's true, though, isn't it? We need to learn true love, and the only place we can learn this is from Jesus.
DAY 314--HUMBLE CONTEMPLATION--1 Timothy 2:1-2,8-9?
I like Paul's instruction here. "Pray everyway you know how, for everyone you know." That's what we should do, pretty much in a nutshell. But he goes beyond that to instruct us to pray for rulers and governments to "rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation..." And we have seen so often what happens when governments don't rule well. That's one reason we need to be praying so diligently for our current government. But what I got out of this passage more than that, was the idea of living simply, in humble contemplation.
Well, that's it for this week. If I could stay on schedule, I would be doing my review every Sunday morning. But we all know what they chances of that are... Sigh.
Grace and peace, friends.