US - Prayers of Great Americans - George Washington's Birthday

 

O most glorious God...remember that I am but dust, and remit my transgressions, negligences and ignorances, and cover them all with the absolute obedience of thy dear Son, that those sacrifices (of sin, praise and thanksgiving) which I have offered may be accepted by thee, in and for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered upon the cross for me...Direct my thoughts, words and work; wash away my sin in the immaculate blood of the Lamb; and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit.

-- George Washington (1732-1799).
From a small prayer book he composed when
he was about 20 years old.

The Measure of It All

My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring Your splendor all day long.

My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,

of Your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure.

Psalm 71: 8, 15

I treasure these words. Did David write them?

All day long we can sing His praises - for His splendor, His righteousness and His salvation....

even though we know not its measure.

To measure means to determine the extent, dimensions, or capacity of something.

I wonder: will we ever know the measure of God's righteousness and salvation?

In the Bible there are examples of people seeing, sometimes in vision, glimpses of God's glory, or splendor.

(Splendor is a great word - comes from the Latin word meaning shining brilliance, magnificence, richness, and glory - conveys a sort of ethereal luminesce.)

Isaiah records:

     ....I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted,

     and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him

     were seraphs.. and they were calling to one another,

     'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty. The whole

     earth is filled with His glory.' At the sound of their

     voices the doorposts shook and the temple was filled with

     smoke.

Ezekiel describes:

    ...an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded

     with brilliant light...spread out above the heads of the

     living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling

     like ice and awesome....above the expanse over their heads

     was what looked like a throne of sapphire and high above on

     the throne was a figure like that of a man...and brilliant light

     surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds

     in a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

    This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the    

       LORD. When I saw it I fell face down. (Chapter 2)

Moses relates:

     Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders

     of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel, Under His feet

     was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as  

     the sky itself. (Exodus 24)

John tells us:

     At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne

     in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat

     there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow

     encircled the throne, resembling an emerald....(Revelation 4)

Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and John saw glimpses of the

radiance of God - His vast splendor.

But they did not see its measure.

I find these biblical images hard to envision. I try.

But I don't have the same gasp of wonder and awe

that they did. I am not seeing it with the glorified

eyes that God gave them to see His radiance.

But I do know of something I can sort of imagine

about the glory of God - John saw it, too.

It is a wooden cross on a hill called Calvary.

When I see that vision in my mind, I, too, like Moses,

Isaiah and Ezekiel, fall down on my face in awe and wonder.

And, in spite of all they did see of God's splendor, they didn't see that picture of God's righteousness and salvation.

I see the cross, wear a cross, ponder the meaning of

the cross daily, and yet I still know not its measure.

Will I ever? Even in heaven?

Paul prayed:

     I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may

     have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how

     wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

     and to know this love that surpass knowledge -- that

     you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of

     God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

And to the Romans he wrote:

    For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither

     angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,

     nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else

     in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of

     God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

We can still praise Him all day every day for His splendor, righteousness and salvation --  even

though we know not its measure.

Maranatha, Lord Jesus, come in Your glory!

    

    

Fortunatus and his friends

I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived because they supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.
1 Corinthians 16:17-18 (NIV)

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I am so glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus have come here. They have been making up for the help you weren't here to give me. They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you, too. You must give proper honor to all those who serve so well. 1 Corinthians 16:17-18 (NLT)



Paul writes these words to the Christians in Corinth. He was in Ephesus, and the three men, Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, brought him a message from the struggling Corinthian church.


Paul mentions a written letter from the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7:1. Probably this is the message they brought with them, and they could further explain and give detail through their verbal comments when seeing Paul face-to-face.

It was not a simple "Hello, how are you? We are praying for you" message. It was apparently long and detailed about the problems and ungodliness that had infected the church at Corinth.

We can tell from 1 Corinthians some of the problems they reported. The three men must have been greatly burdened to travel all the way to Ephesus to counsel with Paul.

We know very little about these men. In verse 15 (chapter 16) Paul writes, "You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achai, and they devoted themselves to the service of the saints."

So we know Stephanas and his family (Achai is in southern Greece - its major cities are Athens and Corinth) were the first gospel followers in the area and they were diligent leaders of the small congregation.

We know from 1 Corinthians 1:16 that Paul himself baptized the Stephanas household.

But even if we don't know much, we know that Paul applauds them: such men deserve recognition. They are to be honored for their dedication and faithfulness. They are serving well.

They were Christians who stepped up and filled in the gap - who filled an empty place for ministry - they deserve honor. They would minister to Paul as representatives of the entire body of believers in Corinth. What the whole congregation could not do, because of distance, they could do.

And because of their faithfulness and love for Paul, we have today
in our New Testament the book of 1 Corinthians, the letter from Paul they delivered back to their church in Corinth.

I want to be like those early Christians -- refreshing those around us who are ministering -- encouraging them -- holding up their arms as Aaron and Hur held Moses' -- and as we do that we are serving well.....

My Heart - Christ's Home - C S Lewis

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting in an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

         From Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  Ephesians 3:14-16

....that Christ would settle down and be at home in your hearts...(Weymouth)

Does the punishment fit the crime?

Sometimes the passages we read in the Bible, Old and New Testaments, record harsh penalties for sin.

At least, it seems that way sometimes.

Lot's wife, disobediently looking back, annihilated....
a priest killed for a wrong offering, etc.

An entire population (less Noah's family) killed in a horrific flood....

Is God too harsh when He hands out punishment?
After all, we are only human.

On the other hand, we see many times over more
evidences of His grace and mercy.

For every act of judgment recorded we see dozens more examples of His long-suffering patience.

Maybe the penalty of sin is not measured by our opinion of it. Maybe the seriousness of sin has to do with whom the sin is against.

If a prison employee strikes a prisoner, is he in trouble?

Maybe.

If that employee strikes the sheriff, is he is trouble?
Without a doubt.

What if he attacks the President of the United States?

For sure. A felony with heavy imprisonment.

The penalty of sin is determined by the magnitude of the one sinned against.

If we sin against another human being, we are guilty.

If we sin against the infinitely holy and eternal God, we are infinitely guilty and worthy of eternal punishment.

When it comes to all our misconduct, toward other human beings and toward God Himself, it indicates that we are always breaking God's Law, that "Royal Law" of loving God with all our heart, soul and mind,
and our neighbors as ourselves.

So all our sin is against God.

David the Psalmist and King wrote:

     For I know my transgression, and my sin is ever

     before me.

     Against You, You only, have I sinned and done

     what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved

     right when You speak and justified when You

     judge.

    (Psalm 51)

What about Bathsheba? What about Uriah? What about David's army and his countrymen?

Hadn't David sinned against them, too? After all, he had Uriah killed in the attempt to cover up his adultery? What about the baby?

So many victims in the story. But the laws telling us how to treat each other are God's Laws. And He calls us to obedience to them

So David was really sinning against God, in rebellion against Him, in these selfish actions. 

So what did he do?

Just what we are to do.

Throw ourselves on the mercy of God and seek His forgiveness.


     Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your
     unfailing love; according to Your great
     compassion blot out my transgressions.

     Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from
     sin...

     Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew
     a steadfast spirit within me....

     Restore to me the joy of Your salvation....

               -- Psalm 51


There was no provision for sacrifices David could offer to cover his guilt for these sins. Offering 10,000 lambs and 20,000 goats - still wouldn't do it.

Throwing himself on the mercy and grace of God was David's only option.


And ours....