Deus Misereatur

“O my Lord, Let not my ministry be approved only by men, or merely win the esteem and affections of people; But do the work of grace in their hearts, call in Your elect, seal and edify the regenerate ones, and command eternal blessings on their souls. Save me from self-opinion and self-seeking; Water the hearts of those who hear Your Word, that seed sown in weakness may be raised in power; Cause me and those that hear me to behold You here in the light of special faith, and hereafter in the blaze of endless glory; Make my every sermon a means of grace to myself, and help me to experience the power  of Your dying love, for Your blood is balm, Your presence bliss, Your smile heaven, Your cross the place where truth and mercy meet. Look upon the doubts and discouragements of my ministry and keep me from self-importance; I beg pardon for my many sins, omissions, infirmities, as a man, as a minister; Command Your blessing on my weak, unworthy labours, and on the message of salvation g...

In following a long and ancient tradition  [for example, the old 1552 Book of Common Prayer's Admonition before Communion ]  that flows back to 1 Corinthians 11.17-34, we Presbyterians “fence” the table every time we have the Lord’s Supper. Below is an example of something I will say this Lord’s Day. It may cause some to shudder, some to jerk back repulsed; but I would encourage all to stop and ponder. ------ “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2.16-17). God set before Adam and Eve two ways, and which way did our fore-parents go? 3.11-13 says they ate of the forbidden food. Eating is a refreshing, satisfying act of obedience; or eating is a smothering, life-depriving act of disbelief. The crucial point is, do you feast at God’s command, or in outright disobedience to His command? Do ...

One of the certainties is that Sunday is coming. And once again we Christians will be assembling in the name of the Lord to worship God Most High. Our task on that day will amount to one of two choices. First, we are to come with a deep delight and satisfaction with the knowledge that God is God, and we aren’t. That He is the beginning and the end, the one who speaks and it comes to pass, who turns the hearts of kings, prime ministers and presidents whichever way He chooses, and who upholds the fallen, heals the broken, and restors life to the dead. That God is God and we aren’t should be sweet drink to our thirsty souls; a cool, refreshing breeze to tame our hot heads; a satisfying morsel to fill us full with everlasting delights! “O taste & see that the LORD is good. How blessed is the man the trusts in Him” (Psalm 34.8) The second honest, and godly, option is to come realizing that we DON’T possess this delight. That we are about to offer prayerless prayers and praisesless ...

Simply put: "Cruciform: Living the Cross Shaped Life" by Jimmy Davis, is a good little book. The 107 page, 8 chapter paperback is filled with Christ-focused encouragement and guidance. Everything from How to rightly perceive ourselves, others, God and creation, to the "why" of pursuing "Spiritual Disciplines". It makes for a wonderful Sabbath read, and if you purchased copies of this inexpensive book for each member of your immediate family (say, age 12 & up) it would be a worthwhile devotional for family worship. I recommend it for any and all. You can purchase the book here: https://www.cruciformpress.com/product/cruciform/ Mike

Memorials are good things! Everything from regularly repeated national holidays every year to historical markers on the sides of dusty back highways. They place before our eyes and minds that there is something worth remembering, and thus something to be gained from remembering. The opposite of memorials and remembering is forgetfulness. It’s when we forget that we often stray off and lose our way. In Scripture, to forget is placed on the same level as despising God’s gifts, refusing to heed His words and outright unbelief. A quick perusal through Psalm 106, for example, makes this connection clear. The writer describes how YHVH delivered His people from Pharaoh and Egypt through the plagues and the Red Sea, and how the people of God responded to this great deliverance, “Then they believed His words; They sang His praise” (v.12). But then, with an almost breathless speed: “ They soon forgot His works ; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,...

James wrote: “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (1.26-27). If we have true religion, then our religion is not just ritual, but it is also real, regulating, respectful and resourceful (Watch how James’s point works out in 2.1-9, reinforcing this little mediation). Ritual : The very things we do in our worship gatherings week after week, in word, sacraments, and prayer, punctuated with singing Psalms, hymns & spiritual songs, follow order and decorum so that we don’t blunder into God’s presence slipshod and superficial. Real : Our ritual splashes out from Sunday into Monday and beyond. No part-time, once-a-week religion but a full-time faith and an around the clock faithfulness. Regulating : Our ritualized, real religio...

Recently I was reading a Catholic author on prayer, Romano Guardini, “The Art of Praying”. As he was laying out the importance of having a routine for prayer, especially the “time for prayer”, he brought out what follows: “Six days of the week are dedicated to work, one to rest. On working days man is bound by duty, on the seventh day he is free. ( . . . ) Sunday, therefore, is the day of God and, for this very reason the day of man. Its meaning has been largely forgotten. In our modern age it has become a day of vaguely festive character and ultimately merely an occasion for recreation and pleasure” (25). I appreciated his observation and recognition. The Lord’s Day has fallen into the utilitarian trap of “what works for me” and so it has lost most of its vitality and meaning. It is only a matter of time before it is discarded all together. But if the Lord’s Day is primarily the Lord’s day, that changes things. Then it truly becomes the day of man, because “The Sabbath was made ...