I had to get up early and take Duke to the vet for surgery (that's our dog). He has to have a growth removed from his butt. He's kind of old. I hope he comes through okay.
Christi's mother is struggling after surgery. More mental stuff than physical. She seems to be a little bit delusional.
O Source of all Good,
What shall I render to you for the gift of gifts,
your own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him you have given me so much that heaven can give no more.
I don't know about that last line. But I understand the prayer writer's sentiment. Heaven cannot run out of resources, though.
Wonder of wonders, he came below to raise me up.
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob.
Israel has been released from bondage, and this psalm celebrates that deliverance. Asaph calls people to a festival. "God Himself has decreed this worship service as an ordinance and statute."
What we can learn from this is that our worship should include memorializing God's acts in our lives. "I learn that I need to get creatively involved in praising the Lord - reading Scripture aloud, praying the Word back to the Lord, or sharing the work of the Holy Spirit in my life with another person."
Being a musician makes that kind of easy. I can do all of those things with a song.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3)
One of the most powerful verses that I ever discovered in Scripture, 2 Peter 1:3 brings hope and life to me every time I read it. I need to keep coming back to that verse to remind myself where my power comes from.
"We are not to wage this warfare against sin in the strength of our own willpower. Instead, just as we by faith look to Christ for our righteous standing before God, so by faith we're to look to Him for the enabling power to live the Christian life." Where does this power come from? Jesus refers, in John 15, to a relationship between him and us that is compared to a vine and its branches. We are instructed to "abide or remain in Him by faith." "We're to actively rely on Christ for the enabling power we need to wage war against the sin that remains in us, to put on the positive virtues of Christlike character, and to serve Christ effectively in all that He calls us to do."
Paul says, in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Paul was a very powerful speaker and teacher. But his power came from Jesus Christ, the same place we get ours.
The moment we try to do anything in our own strength, whether it be ministry or the struggle against temptation and sin, we will fail.
Let my daily worship be filled with memories of the things that you have done in my life. And as we meet together on Sundays to worship, let us do the same. Let us constantly be reminding each other what great things you have done for us. We praise you because you are Almighty God, but we give thanks for the great and mighty things you have accomplished in us, through us, and for us!
I thank you, Lord, for the "wonder of wonders" that is the gift of Christ. The inexplicable love that was shown when he came down to us because we could not rise up to you. And he saved us when we had no ability to save ourselves. Nay, we had not even any desire to do so!
Hallelujah, Lord!
I pray for our dog, today, Lord. I know he's just an animal, but he is dear to our family. I pray that he comes through his surgery okay.
I pray for my mother-in-law. Lord, straighten out her brain, and help her husband deal with both her and the hospital staff. And I pray for Christi as she deals with these issues, as well.
THE WAR
In the first incident of its kind, NATO mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies in an airstrike while they were
attacking insurgents. Three American soldiers were also reported killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
Publicly, the U.S. credits Pakistan with helping against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Privately, the relationship is often
marked with distrust and double-dealing as Pakistan runs double agents against the CIA.
Pray for our military and other special forces acting to secure freedom for the people of Afghanistan.
Grace and peace, friends!