The Great Exchange
2010-01-28

Father, I thank you for answered prayers over the past couple of days. Keep me centered on you. Keep showing me fresh wisdom from your words.


Here's a prayer point from the PPT.

President Obama Addresses Economic Challenges

President Obama used his first formal State of the Union address last night to outline his efforts to rebuild the nation�s economy and put more Americans to work. In prepared remarks that took on Washington lobbyists in pointed language, Mr. Obama also painted a grim picture of the nation�s economic challenges and the dire state of health care costs in a nation that had been �tested� and �must answer history�s call.� �By the time I�m finished speaking tonight, more Americans will have lost their health insurance,� he said in his prepared remarks. �Millions will lose it this year. Our deficit will grow. Premiums will go up. Co-pays will go up. Patients will be denied the care they need. Small business owners will continue to drop coverage altogether.� But, he added: �I will not walk away from these Americans. And neither should the people in this chamber.�

Pray for an economic recovery in America to relieve the financial burden and restore jobs to millions of unemployed families.



A Musician Looks At the Psalms

Psalm 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. Verse 22.

After the lament of the first 21 verses, the Psalmist launches into a song of praise. God has delivered him, and he is shouting it from the rooftops. In the Old Testament times, they actually threw a party when something like this happened. They had a feast. "Joy and happiness were not to be kept private. Servants, poor people, and especially Levites were to be invited to the feast (Deuteronomy 12:17-19). The whole congregation was to celebrate what God had done for them."

This is what we do every Sunday morning when Wings of Freedom Church gathers. We celebrate. We pray. We praise. We worship. We weep and rejoice together. I declare the name of the Lord with my brothers and sisters "in the midst of the congregation."



Matthew Henry Daily Readings

Titus 1:1 ...for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

"Divine faith rests not on fallible reasoning and probable opinions, but on the infallible word, the truth itself, which is after godliness, of a godly nature and tendency, pure, and purifying the heart of the believer."

This is a hard thing for many to understand. We get too bogged down in the opinions and teachings of men, to the point that the truth of God's words is clouded over. But true "divine faith" does not come from these things. It only comes from God.



Holiness Day by Day

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

For a large part of his life, Paul sought to "establish his own righteousness through keeping the Law." There finally came a time in his life when he realized that this was a dead-end street. Not only did efforts to keep the Law not make him righteous, they "kept him from the only means of salvation God has provided."

At the point of this realization, Paul made what the author calls a "great exchange." He exchanged his own righteousness for the "perfect righteousness of Christ." He regarded his own righteousness as garbage. "He exchanged the garbage of his goodness for the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Paul could do this because God had already made this exchange. This is described in 2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In this verse, God exchanged our sin for Christ's righteousness!

"Our own efforts at righteousness are, at bottom, only sin because they fail to measure up to the perfect righteousness required by God's Law. They're only scraps to be thrown out as garbage."

Amen.



Father, help to keep working to throw out the garbage! I have no righteousness which I can call my own. I can only call it "sin." I praise you that you have exchanged my sin for the righteousness of Christ. Let that righteousness prevail in my life! Let me never try to replace it with any kind of "works-oriented righteousness," which is not righteousness at all.

I thank you for the group of believers that I meet with each Sunday. I thank you for the spirit that is present each week as we celebrate your grace together. I pray that, as we grow in grace, that we will become more comfortable ministering to each other in your mercy. Let his church become one that is fully functioning, with each member being a minister. But let us also be honest and not be afraid to seek the ministry that we are in need of each week. Let us never be embarrassed to share our weaknesses and needs with each other.

Father, let us never fall prey to the imaginations and opinions of men as we seek to know your truth. Let us seek only your face when it comes to knowing your words.

I thank you for the progress we have seen in Stephanie in the past days. This year, so far, has been remarkable. There have been a few "rough spots," but, over all, the year has been great. I have seen answered prayers over the past couple of days that are nothing short of tremendous. Keep me praying, Lord. Keep me praying.



Celebrate the "great exchange" today. Give praise to God that our sin has been exchanged for the righteousness of Christ.


1 comments so far

hosted by DiaryLand.com