Serve the Lord With Gladness!
2009-09-06

Thank goodness I could sleep last night. Wow. I was awake from around 2am to after 5am Friday night, and we had to get up around 7 to go get Rachel and Justin, after which we went to meet the minister for the wedding.

This morning, we will go to church and try to make it for Sunday School.



Here's a prayer request from the PPT site.

Traveler Safety on Labor Day. Fewer people are expected to hit the highways this holiday weekend. AAA also predicts a 22 percent decrease in airplane travel from 2008. Experts say both forecasted decreases in passenger volumes are because of the recession. Pray for safety of travelers this Labor Day weekend.

Always a good idea to pray for travel safety on holidays.



Psalm for today: 100:1-2

1-2 On your feet now�applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
(The Message)

"The prophet commands that God should be served with gladness, intimating that his kindness towards his own people is so great as to furnish them with abundant ground for rejoicing."

(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calving on the Psalms)



Tabletalk Magazine

"Watching the Teaching"
1 Timothy 4:16

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (ESV)

The study of 1 Timothy is completed. There are two themes that are constant throughout. First is that we are to have nothing to do with heretical teachings. We should not be unaware of the false teachings, but they should never be given a hearing in our assemblies. "Practically, this means we must never allow in our pulpits men who preach their opinions and speculations rather than the pure milk of the Word of God."

The second theme is that our ministers and other believers guard the truth with vigilance. We must all make sure we are well-grounded in the "mystery of godliness."



Holiness Day by Day

"Removed"
John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, �Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (ESV)

Another seldom used theological word is "expiation." It looks very similar to "propitiation," doesn't it? But the meanings are very different.

Propitiation deals with God's wrath and Christ's absorbtion of it through his work as our substitute. Expiation means "removal," and accompanies propitiation as Christ removes or puts away our sins. As we think again on the two goats used on the Day of Atonement, the first goat represented propitiation and the second goat represented expiation. The first goat took the brunt of God's wrath and was sacrificed. The second goat carried away the sins of the people, symbolically removing them.

It is important to note the order of the ceremony. The sins cannot be carried away before God's wrath is satisfied.

"Do you see how the work of Christ is infinitely greater than the greatest depth of your sin? The work of Christ is finished. Nothing more remains to be done. God's wrath has been propitiated. Our sins have been removed. The question is, will we appreciate it, not only at our initial moment of salvation but for our day-to-day acceptance with God? Only as we do this will we truly begin to appreciate the glory of the cross and the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Hallelujah and amen!



Father, I am close to shouting with joy from the reading above. (There are people sleeping in the house.) I revel in your work, O Jesus! I praise you for your salvation, which has both satisfied the wrath of God and removed my sins from me, as far as the east is from the west. "From one scarred hand to the other." Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Father! I praise your holy name!

I pray that I will be able to continue in the instruction that is given us through 1 Timothy. Let me never fall prey to heretical teaching (I feel relatively safe after over 40 years of being a Christian...but we can never relax). I pray that I will always guard the truth with vigilance, being zealous for your truth and the Scriptures. But it is also important, Lord, that whenever correction is necessary, that it be done in love. That's the hard part. Give me love. Make me kind and gentle. Give me the characteristics of Christ in my life.

And let me serve you with gladness and come into your presence with singing.



And that's what I'm on my way to do right now!

Grace and peace, friends!



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