Mercy; Truth; Righteousness; and Peace

Psalm 85:1-13 KJV

Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

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Verse 10 caught my eye this morning. Mercy and truth; righteousness and peace... I have seem some wonderful examples of this in the people around me. I have also witnessed just the opposite as well.

As the world seems to go wonkers around me my greatest hope for life in this world is to live the rest of it out in peace. I am tired of the greed; the jealousy; the anger that I witness so often. Yes, there is a righteous anger that impels us to aid those who are in desperate need because of various forms of persecution. The well-known Serenity Prayer reminds us there are some things that we can change and there are others that we cannot do anything about. Worrying and complaining about things we cannot change takes away time and resources from the things that we can change. There are some things we must just leave in the Lord's hands whether he works them by some miracle or through someone he has called and gifted to make changes that we cannot. 

Prayer for Serenity

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

taking, as Jesus did,

this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it;

trusting that You will make all things right

if I surrender to Your will;

so that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

                                                             Reinhold Niebuhr

Live life in peace! -  Pr. J.

Falling Asleep?

Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Mark 14:41-42 NIV)

On the night in which he was betrayed, the disciples completely oblivious to the inner torment that Jesus was experiencing, fell asleep. Rather than pray with or for Him; instead of being there for him, they fell asleep.

How often have we fallen asleep when our neighbors or friends or family were in need? How many times have we turned our back on others because we had better more personal things and often more enjoyable things to do? How often? Every time we have, we have turned our back on Jesus for what we do or do not do for others; we do or do not do for Jesus.

How many times have we paced the floors in the middle of the night or fell on our faces praying throughout the night, asking God to deliver us or someone else while everyone else was fast asleep oblivious to the trouble around them or about to come upon them? We pace, we pray, until peace comes upon us and the resolution is at hand. 

The resolution for Jesus was to be betrayed with a kiss by a follower, a friend. What comes for Jesus is death and ultimately resurrection. Sometimes, (OK - often) the resolution that comes is not an immediate reprieve; but, a journey through even darker times; a place where even our friends will desert us. What comes is a journey through the valley of the shadow of death so that ultimately, not our; but, God's will is done.

In order to get to the place where we can know peace no matter what God's will is for us, we pray. We find solace in His presence.

May God grant that we should live in His presence now and always.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Do Not Take The Gift of Life For Granted

    

    "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
     Greet one another with a holy kiss."
                                                                                                                   2 Cor 13:11-12 NIV

If you are reading this you have reason to rejoice. If you are reading this, it means you woke up this morning to another day. God has chosen to give you another day to live life reconciled to Him and to your neighbors. Give life a real chance to live in peace; to live in the light; to love one another; and to rejoice in the many things that God has given you.  Do not take for granted this gift of life that was given to you and to others. Do not throw even one minute away on trivial pursuits or vain hopes. One day this gift will be taken from you.

It is inevitable that one day we will all die. (Heb 9:27) But, in the meantime God has chosen for you to live life here on earth. He has a purpose. He has a good purpose for you to rise each morning. Live that purpose! Live life in Christ that you might rejoice in the life that God has given you!

May God grant us peace as we love and encourage one another to live life in such a way that it gives glory to God!

God's Peace - Pr. J