Anyway, I have some mental preparation to do before the interview, but the spiritual preparation for the day is the most important thing, so here goes...
CONFIDENCE
O God, thou are very great,
My lot is to approach thee with godly fear and humble confidence,
for thy condescension equals thy grandeur,
and thy goodness is thy glory.
I am unworthy, but thou dost welcome;
guilty, but thou art merciful;
indigent, but thy riches are unsearchable.
Thou hast shown boundless compassion towards me
by not sparing thy Son,
and by giving me freely all things in him;
This is the foundation of my hope,
the refuge of my safety,
the new and living way to thee,
the means of that conviction of sin,
brokenness of heart, and self-despair,
which will endear me to the gospel.
Happy are they who are Christ's,
in him at peace with thee,
justified from all things,
delivered from coming wrath,
made heirs of future glory;
Give me such deadness to the world,
such love to the Saviour,
such attachment to his house,
such devotedness to his service,
as proves me a subject of his salvation.
May every part of my character and conduct
make serious and amiable impression on others,
and impel them to ask the way to the Master.
Let no incident of life, pleasing or painful,
injure the prosperity of my soul,
but rather increase it.
Send me thy help,
for thine appointments are not meant
to make me independent of thee,
and the best means will be vain
without super-added blessings.
One might think that I specifically picked that prayer for this day because of my interview. One would be wrong. I'm simply going through a section of the book, page at a time. God picked the prayer, God picked the day! Sometimes I wonder why I'm still amazed...
1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. 8 They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. 9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
Asaph is sending out a lament over the devastation of Israel. Possibly the worst part..."there is no longer any prophet."
"Asaph groans over the fate of his people, who are suffering at the hands of enemy invaders." The places of worship have all been burned down. "God's Word is not heard in the land, and no one knows how long the devastation will continue."
33 years ago, when Don Wyrtzen wrote this book, he identified some problems with the Church. While most of our buildings are not in danger of being razed, (there are, of course, random church burnings that happen from time to time, but these are simply moronic acts of vandalism) our pulpits seem powerless. Are we lukewarm, as described by Revelation 3?
"What is needed? Honest, courageous facing of our sin as God's people - individually and corporately. Repentance - crying out to God with contrite hearts. Forgiveness - accepting the covering of Christ's precious blood shed on the Cross. Renewal - allowing His Spirit to change our lives to conform to His image. Witness - sharing the Gospel with the unsaved world."
(From A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Continuing along with Saturday's topic of "joy," Tabletalk Magazine takes a slight left turn today. After using an illustration of the celebration that usually takes place after winning an important football game (in comparison with the extreme lack of celebration in the losers' camp), the reading proceeds to bring it home.
"All of this illustrates the part of fallen human nature that makes it hard for us to take joy in the success of other people, especially when we think that their success has come at our expense. Are we more often happy or provoked to jealousy when one of our coworkers gets the promotion for which we have been striving or when another student earns the award we wanted? Do we not find it easier to envy prosperous friends than to be joyful about their circumstances?"
OUCH??
"We who are children of God, however, are called to REJOICE when things are going well for others, even if they are not going particularly well for us." We should probably even look for opportunities to "enter into the joy of others."
Jesus was the perfect empathizer (not sure if that's a word), and had the ability to "selflessly devote Himself to others." He is our best example to help us put others first. "By rejoicing with other people, we show our love for them in Christ."
I pray for your Church in the world today, that it not be faced with the devastation that is described by Asaph in Psalm 74. However, even as I pray this, I realize that such persecution and devastation will be inevitable. So, perhaps my prayer should be that we would be strong in the face of coming persecution and devastation. Yes, I believe that is a better prayer.
May I always approach you, Lord, with "godly fear and humble confidence." It is important that the two go together. It is also important that my confidence be humble. I have seen many who approach you with confidence, but no fear, and certainly no humility, as though they were due some great reward from you. I know that this is not true. You owe us no reward. We owe you everything. Therefore, my approach to you will be accompanied by fear and humility.
I thank you, Lord, for your care for me, and the way you bring the right words at the right times in my life.
I pray today for the youth that we know that are going off to youth camp this week. Keep them safe, and speak to them through your Spirit while they are in a peaceful, secluded area.
Finally, I pray for this interview today. You know my needs, and you know if this job is the right one for me. If it is, make it clear to both me and the prospective employer. Most of all, I just pray for confidence in the interview, that I might at least look like I know what I'm doing.
THE WAR
A woman detonated explosives hidden under her burqa in Afghanistan this week, killing to U.S. soldiers and injuring
more than a dozen bystanders. It was the first suicide attack by a woman in that country.
President Barack Obama named General David Petraeus to be in charge of the mission in Afghanistan. Petraeus is
well-known throughout the world for his work in Iraq.
Pray that the transition to Gen. Petraeus will be smooth, and that the war effort will not be interrupted.
(Was that first one supposed to say "two U.S. soldiers?")
Grace and peace, friends.