Holy Spirit

A St. Patrick’s Day Prayer

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I found a prayer attributed to St. Patrick that seemed appropriate and fitting for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s also very useful for the other 364 days of the year:

“I arise today
 Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity.
 Through belief in the threeness,
 Through confession of the oneness,
 Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
 Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,
 Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
 Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
 Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
 Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
 In the obedience of angels,
 In the service of archangels,
 In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
 In the prayers of patriarchs,
 In the predictions of prophets,
 In the preaching of apostles,
 In the faith of confessors,
 In the innocence of holy virgins,
 In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
 The strength of heaven,
 The light of the sun,
 The radiance of the moon,
 The splendor of fire,
 The speed of lightning,
 The swiftness of wind,
 The depth of the sea,
 The stability of the earth,
 The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
 God’s strength to pilot me,
 God’s might to uphold me,
 God’s wisdom to guide me,
 God’s eye to look before me,
 God’s ear to hear me,
 God’s word to speak for me,
 God’s hand to guard me,
 God’s shield to protect me,
 God’s host to save me
 From snares of devils,
 From temptation of vices,
 From everyone who shall wish me ill,
 afar and near.

I summon today
 All these powers between me and those evils,
 Against every cruel and merciless power
 that may oppose my body and soul,
 Against incantations of false prophets,
 Against black laws of pagandom,
 Against false laws of heretics,
 Against craft of idolatry,
 Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
 Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;
 Christ to shield me today
 Against poison, against burning,
 Against drowning, against wounding,
 So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
 Christ before me,
 Christ behind me,
 Christ in me,
 Christ beneath me,
 Christ above me,
 Christ on my right,
 Christ on my left,
 Christ when I lie down,
 Christ when I sit down,
 Christ when I arise,
 Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
 Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
 Christ in every eye that sees me,
 Christ in every ear that hears me.”

Lessons from 1 Peter

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“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message).

At my church, we’ve been going through the book of 1 Peter, written to believers who were living in exile away from their home and undergoing all sorts of suffering and persecution. That seems to fit the current situation for many Christians all around the world, especially in places like Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Those believers’ lives are in very real danger.

But even in this country, it’s becoming more and more difficult and dangerous to identify as a believer in Christ. If you believe the Bible and hold to your convictions, you’re more and more likely to be called any number of names from bigot to fascist to transphobic and homophobic. More and more, the possibility is real you could lose your job and your reputation. But the heavenly reward is so much better than anything you might lose down here.

We often forget that we’re strangers and pilgrims in this world. Heaven is our true home. Our allegiance is to a King and a kingdom above any flag or country or political party. I think we’d be a lot more effective as a Church if we remembered that little fact more often. We won’t effect any kind of eternal change through politics and power but through the cross and through servanthood.

There’s a fair amount of suffering and hardships that come with being a faithful follower of Christ, but it always serves a purpose. God is refining and remaking us to look like Jesus. Every trial and tribulation serves a purpose of removing anything that isn’t of God until what’s left is like pure silver and pure gold.

The end result is that God gets glory and we’re the better for it. And many people are drawn to the hope that we hold in the midst of it all and they find Jesus in the process. That’s what I call a win-win.

Prone to Wander: A Prayer for Prodigals and Deconstructers

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“O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above” (Robert Robinson).

I read where Robert Robinson, author of the famous hymn “Come, Thou Found of Every Blessing”, actually walked away from his faith for a while but eventually returned. I don’t know any details. I know that God’s power to restore and redeem His own children is amazing and never failing.

My prayer is for those who have altogether left the true faith or have watered it down to make it humanly palatable. I pray you come back. I pray that you will know that the God who made you is the same God who loves you. He is the same God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as revealed in the Old Testament. He is the same God as the God who became incarnate in Jesus in the New Testament. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Truly, we are the ones who are prone to wander. We’re the ones who will drift into error and heresy if we forget our first love or quit striving for Christlikeness and settle into complacency and compromise. It’s easier to let go of our convictions for the sake of so-called peace and fitting in. It’s so much easier when we’re liked and when all people speak well of us. But Jesus said woe to those when everybody praises you and says nice things about you.

The truth of the matter is that Jesus said much that made people quit following Him. He said some hard truths that people didn’t like because what they heard made them uncomfortable and challenged them to change. He preached love toward those who were the least but He also emphasized repentance because the Kingdom of God was at hand. He told the woman that He didn’t condemn her but also to go and sin no more.

Lord, I’m praying that those who have fallen away will come back to true faith. I’m praying for some who were never Yours but who thought they were and even did amazing things in Your name though You said that You never knew them. May they truly embrace Your gospel of grace and find forgiveness and salvation in You. May they know not my truth or their truth but Your truth because You are the Truth, the Life, and the Way.

Restore Your truth to churches and denominations that have lost their way. Redeem them to places where Your Word is taught and Your gospel is preached. Revive Your Church, Lord, so that we can again be the ones who bear Your name well and share Your love faithfully until everyone has heard. Amen.

God’s Hall of Fame

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“Your name may not appear down here in this world’s hall of fame
In fact you may be so unknown that no one knows your name
The Oscars and the praise of men may never come your way
But don’t forget God has rewards that he’ll hand out some day
This crowd on earth will soon forget when you’re not at the top
They’ll cheer like mad until you fall and then the praise will stop
Not God, He never does forget and in his hall of fame
Just by believing on His Son, forever there’s your name
I tell you friend, I wouldn’t trade my name however small
That’s written there beyond the stars in that celestial hall
For all famous names on earth or the glory that they share
I’d rather be an unknown here and have my name up there” (Jim Caviezel)

That’s the goal — to have my name up there and to have other names up there as well because I wasn’t ashamed to speak the name of Jesus. Hopefully, that’s the goal of every believer because any fame down here is fleeting and and remembrance of your name will soon fade and you will be forgotten.

I remember a pastor saying once that at best this earthly life is like an airport terminal. It can be warm and inviting. It can have all sorts of amenities and comforts. It may be the best airport terminal you’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean you want to live there forever. It’s just a stopping off place.

Heaven’s our real home. We’re just pilgrims and strangers here. It’s easy to forget when 99 out of 100 voices tell you that this life is all there is. But the one that speaks a different word is the one who goes to prepare a place for you that will be your forever home.

Blessings > Difficult Times

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Perspective is everything. I remember reading somewhere that some people out there would just about kill to have one of your bad days. They’d love to have your bad job or your small house or your simple blessings.

It’s easy to forget that a vast portion of the world’s population doesn’t have access to clean water. Many people have food insecurities. If you have a roof over your head and more than one change of clothes, you are considered wealthy compared to many around the globe.

My old boss used to say that any day without a toe tag is a good day. I agree to a point. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for those who are in Christ Jesus. That’s not a bad day. The Apostle Paul said it’s good for Him to go away and be in heaven, but it’s also good to stay for the sake of those who need mentoring and discipling.

But I get the gist. To be alive is a gift. We do God a disservice when we take our daily breath for granted or don’t give thanks for waking up every day. We forget that to be still living means that we still have a purpose and our lives still have a meaning.

To be alive means that we’re still called to be disciples who make disciples. We’re still students in the school of Jesus. We still have much to learn and much pruning and chiseling before we look like Jesus.

Times are hard, but don’t let them make you forget your blessings. You can still count them one by one. You can still give thanks for each of them by name.

To Love Is to Tell the Truth in Love

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“Anyone who sets himself up as ‘religious’ by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world” (James 1:26-27, The Message).

I’ve been watching videos on Youtube from a guy named Becket Cook. He’s a former homosexual who is now a kind of apologist for orthodox biblical Christianity. One of his tenets is that it is not truly loving to affirm anyone in their sin, whether it be in the LGBTQ camp or pre-marital cohabitation or any other sinful lifestyle. He say that the most loving thing you can do is to tell someone the truth in love.

If I believe that the Bible is true, then I must live by it and I must also be willing to abide by what it teaches when it comes to alternate lifestyles and behaviors. I must come from the place where I view my sin just as seriously as I do anybody else’s. Homosexuality or adultery is no more sinful than my pride or my judgmentalism. It’s all sin to God and we are all called to repent.

To love is to be compassionate as Jesus was. He reached out to those who were marginalized and excluded from society. He never turned away anyone who sought Him out in faith. But He also always told them the truth. He never compromised for the sake of acceptance and peace. In fact, many people quite following Him because He spoke the truths that made them uncomfortable and convicted.

We need both. Compassion and conviction aren’t mutually exclusive. We need to hold to our convictions in the midst of compassion toward those in need but we also need to be compassionate when we’re sharing our convictions about what we believe and why.

The point is not to change an aspect of the person. It’s not to get a liberal to vote conservative or to get a gay person into a straight marriage. It’s about redeeming the whole person with the whole gospel. That means that every part of the person needs to be transformed and renewed. The gospel isn’t about making bad people good or making good people better but about making dead people alive.

We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. We all need to repent and to be forgiven. We all need a Savior who will pay the debt for those sins that we could never hope to pay. We all need a righteousness that we can’t produce on our own but has to come from somewhere else. We need Jesus.

Walking in His Strength

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That’s what I’m learning. It’s not about gritting my teeth and living the live of faith in my own strength and willpower. That never lasts. Eventually, I give up or burn out. It’s not a sustainable way to live.

But if I could call on the life of Christ inside of me, then I could live the way Christ lived. The Bible says that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the indwelling Christ.

Also, if we could tap into the life of Christ within us, then it would be possible to forgive the unforgivable and love the unlovable. We could demonstrate a lifestyle and character totally opposite to what the world considers normal and would certainly grab their attention.

I’m reading a little book by Watchman Nee called Sit. Walk. Stand, based on Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. It starts from sitting and resting in the finished work of Christ, then walking in the power of the resurrected Christ within us, and finally standing firm in the victory He has won for us.

I think if we read the Bible less as a how-to manual for behavioral modification and more as a love letter from our heavenly home and a guide for tapping into the heavenly resources God has placed within us through His Spirit, we could see radical transformation not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us.

Here’s a link to the book in case you want to pick it up. It’s a quick read at 77 pages but it is packed full of wisdom and godly insight:

Suffering and Speaking Out

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“If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:13-18, The Message).

The old adage says that we should preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words. According to 1 Peter 3, you will need to use words. It won’t be enough that people see you living differently. They need to know why you’re different. Why it is you don’t live like almost everybody else, and especially why you don’t react like the rest when bad things happen.

Suffering is the school where God prepares us to be ready. How we handle hard times is what gets people’s attention, but the logical next step is for them to want to know more. If all you have are your actions, then the message is unclear. If all you have are your words, you’re hypocritical. You need both.

As I was watching a podcast video earlier today, it struck me that there are no throwaway parts to your story or your life. God uses all of it. God works all of it for good. The mess becomes the message. The test becomes the testimony. God’s redemption of you becomes the billboard of God’s grace to get people’s attention and make them curious about what is unique about how you choose to respond rather than to react.

There’s always a reaction and a response. We react to a diagnosis of cancer or to losing a job or to going through financial hardships. People see how we react and ask how and why we acted that way. That’s where the response comes in. That’s where the Holy Spirit gives us words to tell people about the hope we have that makes us joyful rather than bitter.

Lord, You promised that suffering is not an if but a when. It will happen. As we walk through trials, strengthen us and enable us to endure with grace. May others see You at work in us, so that they’ll be drawn to want to know more not about us but about You. Give us the words to say that will glorify You and point others to You as their ultimate hope and salvation. Amen.

Another Song Stuck in My Head

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I have a virtual jukebox playing in my head just about all of the time. There are rare moments when a song of some kind is not playing in the background of my brain. Even when I’m praying or trying to be silent and still, a song will sneak in and refuse to go away.

Last night, I had trouble getting to sleep. This time, the song in my head was an old worship song from back in my Fellowship Bible Church days. It was written by Jason Ingram and Reuben Timothy Morgan and was one of my favorites back in 2009 or so.

I suppose if I have to have music playing in my head, it might as well be worship music. At least I don’t have to worry about being inappropriate when I blurt it out randomly somewhere in public. I’m posting the lyrics so you can be edified and hopefully have something better to have stuck in your head when you can’t sleep some night:

“You are good, You are good
When there′s nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear in crippling
You are true, You are true
Ever in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You’re the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life
In You, death has lost its sting

Oh, I′m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In Your presence, I’m made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else, I′m letting go

Oh, I′m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
I′m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus

Oh, I′m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
I′m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus”

The Third Sunday of Lent

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“Almighty God, 
you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: 

Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, 

that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 
one God, 
for ever and ever. 

Amen.“

If you’re keeping score, you know there are four more weeks until Easter Sunday. That means 28 more days of Lent. How are you doing with your Lent fasting so far?

I realize not everybody gave up something for Lent. I gave up social media, so I have no idea what’s going on in the outside world. At least I’m missing everybody’s politicized takes on what’s going on in the world, which is probably not a bad thing some days.

But hopefully Lent is a time when we give up something to make room for something better. Hopefully, we replace the time spent watching television or on social media (or eating chocolate) with time to spend with God in worship, adoration, and prayer. Often, we end up substituting in another mindless addiction to take the place of whatever we gave up. Guilty as charged.

But I hope to take whatever time is remaining before Easter Sunday to devote to prayer. At least I hope to spend it reading actual books (including more of the Bible) and going outdoors more. It’s almost like if your life is closed room, it’s good to open up the windows and let in the fresh air.

The older I get, the more I understand that we need God’s help to please God and to do what God wants us to do. Any self-driven efforts will fail and fall far short of what God wants. But if we’re living in the resurrection power of the indwelling Spirit, we can do what pleases God.

Lord, help us to desire You more. Help us to seek You above any amusement or mindless entertainment that helps to pass the time. Help us to know how precious our lives are and to redeem the brief amount of time we’re given in comparison to eternity for Your glory and our greatest good.

Thank You for Your grace that seeks after us even when we’re not all that interested in seeking after You. You are relentless in chasing us down not to punish us or to chastise us but to show us a better way to think and to live. Help us to want for ourselves what You want for us. Amen.