Reading, Reflection & Prayer: Fri, 04 Aug – John 1-2 ~ we have seen his glory

Reading, Reflection & Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Please Read: John 1-2 (NLT) click here

Reflection & Prayer

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. – Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)

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Lord Jesus Christ: It’s hard for me to harmonize the gentle Jesus, meek and mild, taught in Sunday School with the eternal Word, preeminent and preexistent, taught in the Bible. And yet, you are one and the same – lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Help me to understand what I am reading here today – that I might give you the reverence and honor due your name, and see your glory made manifest through your unfailing love and faithfulness.

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Christ, the Eternal Word

John 1:1-5 (NLT) – In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:10-14 (NLT) – He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:16-18 (NLT) – From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:5-11 (NLT)

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Lord Jesus Christ: Once again, the contrasts within your being are astounding. You are one with God, high and exalted, and yet you are the Lamb of God, crucified on a cross. You emptied yourself of your prerogatives as the Son of God – in order to take away my sins – that I might inherit all the prerogatives as a child of God. Your humility and obedience were truly beyond my comprehension. All I can say is: “Thank you!”

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Jesus, the Lamb of God

John 1:29-34 (NLT) – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”
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Lord Jesus Christ: Baptize me now in the Holy Spirit. I receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit right now by faith in Your Word. May the anointing, the glory, and the power of God come upon me and into my life right now. May I be empowered for service from this day forward. Thank You, Lord Jesus, it’s in your name I pray. Amen.

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“In Christ Alone” – Passion 2013

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Blessing – (Northumbrian Community)

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Reading, Reflection & Prayer: Thu, 03 Aug – Daniel 1-6 ~ faithfulness / the handwriting on the wall

Reading, Reflection & Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening – (Northumbria Community)

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Please Read: Daniel 1-6 (NLT) – click here

Reflection & Prayer

Lord God: Thank you for rewarding the faithfulness of those who love and serve you. And thank you for the examples of Daniel and his friends who remained faithful even in the face of government threats, injustice and death sentences. They put their lives in your hands – live or die, they would not recant their faith.

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Faithfulness

Daniel 3:16-18 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

3:28-29 – Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!”
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Daniel 6:19-22 – Very early the next morning, [King Darius] got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”

Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
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Lord God: I pray for all who find themselves in similar circumstances today. Strengthen their resolve to take up their cross and follow you. Be their Shield and Protector, their Sustainer and Provider in their time of trouble. And deliver them from the hands of lying, deceitful people. Put their accusers to shame and reward your faithful with life-to-the-full now, and life-eternal forever.

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The Handwriting on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-6 – Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

Daniel 5:22-31 – O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! So God has sent this hand to write this message.

“This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. This is what these words mean:

Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.

Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.

Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
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Sovereign Lord: You rule over all the nations of the earth; kings and kingdoms rise and fall according to your good pleasure. As citizens of your heavenly Kingdom, help us to understand the handwriting on the wall” for our once-great earthly nation.

+ Teach us to number our days, that we make make the most of the time you have allotted to us.
+ Teach us to measure our success by your standards of righteousness and justice for all peoples.
+ Teach us to heal our divisions and unify our country under your banner of love – for you, and for one another.

Sovereign Lord: Make our nation a positive force in the world – for freedom, justice, and peace – through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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“Only King Forever” – Elevation Worship

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Blessing – (Northumbrian Community)

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Reading, Reflection & Prayer: Wed, 02 Aug – Proverbs 16 ~ a guide for successful planning

Reading, Reflection & Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening – (Northumbria Community)

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Please Read: Proverbs 16 (NLT) – click here

Reflection & Prayer

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NLT)

Proverbs 16:3 (NLT) – “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

Sovereign Lord: You rule over heaven and earth; you see everything, and know everything. Even before I was born, you knew me and laid out a good plan for my life – a plan with a hope-filled future. You made me in your likeness for your own good purpose.

Lord, as the remainder of my life unfolds, guide me along your path for my success –

+ Examine my motives and grant me purity of heart
+ Rid me of my pride that I may have a humble, contrite heart
+ Cover my sin with your unfailing love and faithfulness
+ Fill me with proper respect that I may honor you in all I do
+ Keep me close to you that I may not run ahead, or lag behind
+ Provide me with wise counselors to help me avoid pitfalls along the way

Lord, my life is in your hands. Thank you for your loving-kindness to me over the years. Fill me with the joy of your Spirit, and continue to train me in godliness through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives in unity with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“My Life is in You Lord” – by Joseph Garlington

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Blessing – (Northumbrian Community)

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Reading, Reflection & Prayer: Tue, 01 Aug – 2 Kings 21-25 ~ Apostasy, Exile, and the Fall of Jerusalem

Reading, Reflection & Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening – (Northumbria Community)

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Please Read: 2 Kings 21-25 (NLT) – click here

Reflection & Prayer

Sovereign Lord: Today’s reading reminds us that you rule over all the nations of the earth; you tolerate allegiance to no other gods. You reward faithfulness and you punish apostasy; even your covenant people Israel could not escape your wrath.

Give us wisdom and understanding for our day as we read through these events of long ago. Our circumstances may be different, but you are the same – you never change. Lead us on the path of repentance and reform, that we may experience reprieve from the impending disaster unfolding in the world around us.

Apostasy leads to disaster

2 Kings 21:10-12 (NLT) – Then the Lord said through his servants the prophets: “King Manasseh of Judah has done many detestable things. He is even more wicked than the Amorites, who lived in this land before Israel. He has caused the people of Judah to sin with his idols. So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror.

Repentance, Reprieve, and Reform

2 Kings 22:11, 18-20 (NLT) – When [King Josiah] heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.
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“But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord. So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.’”

2 Kings 23:1-3, 25 (NLT) – Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
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Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

Relapse and the Fall of Jerusalem

2 Kings 24:19-20 (NLT) – Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.
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2 Kings 25:8-12 (NLT) – On August 14 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.

Sovereign Lord: Your Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom – a kingdom of love and light – ushered into our world by your Son, Jesus Christ. Pour out your Spirit upon us; drive us to our knees in sorrow, humility and repentance for our apostasy in this our time. Turn the hearts of your people back to you, that we may seek you and your Kingdom first, above all else. And stay your hand of judgement, that we may tell your story to the nations, and that many may come to know your Son Jesus as their Savior and Lord. It’s in his name that I ask it. Amen.
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“We’ve A Story To Tell To The Nations” – Larry Lawson

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Blessing – (Northumbrian Community)

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Reading, Reflection & Prayer: Mon, 31 July – Leviticus 22-24 ~ on worthiness, festivals, and justice

Reading, Reflection & Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening – (Northumbria Community)

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Please Read: Leviticus 22-24 (NLT) – click here

Reflection & Prayer

“And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered — to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” – Revelation 5:12 (NLT)

Leviticus 22:31-33 (NLT) – “You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord. Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who makes you holy. It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the Lord.”

A Worthy Offering

Leviticus 22:21 (NLT) – “If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind.

Lord Jesus Christ: You are the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world. Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Your death purchased my life; have mercy on me, and grant me your peace.

The Appointed Festivals

Leviticus 23:1-4 (NLT) – The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

“In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
Celebration of First Harvest
The Festival of Harvest
The Festival of Trumpets
The Day of Atonement
The Festival of Shelters

Heavenly Father: You made the Sabbath a day for rest, reflection and worship. And, you established for us a weekly rhythm for work and rest. Forgive us for turning your Sabbath into a day for sports, hobbies, catching up on chores and shopping. Forgive us for ignoring your holy assemblies and neglecting the care of our own souls. Forgive us for running on empty, only to search frantically to satisfy our emptiness. Teach us that you alone can fill the emptiness within us; and restore among us a weekly rhythm of work and rest, with your holy assembly as the highlight of our week.

Just Punishment

Leviticus 24:15-16 (NLT) – Say to the people of Israel: Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin. Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any native-born Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death.

Mighty God – Father, Son, and Spirit: You are exalted above all the nations, and your name is holy.

You love justice and have established fairness; you reign with righteousness and your kingdom has no end. Let all the nations praise your great and awesome name. Forgive our pervasive irreverence and ignorance in the use of your name. Restore us as “one nation under God” that we may honor and glorify your name – through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives with you in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Worthy is the Lamb” – Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir