Tuesday Morning Prayer, 11 Aug 2020
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense,
and he will be my Savior
“If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”
Romans 8:31
Collect for Purity
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Scripture Reading (NLT)
Psalm 93
The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.
Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
The world stands firm
and cannot be shaken.
The Lord God Reigns / Psalm 93 – Mark Baldwin
Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.
You yourself are from the everlasting past.
The floods have risen up, O Lord.
The floods have roared like thunder;
the floods have lifted their pounding waves.
But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore—
the Lord above is mightier than these!
Your royal laws cannot be changed.
Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.
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Scripture Reading (NLT
Romans 8:31-39
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Reflection on: “God is for us” David Guzik)
Most all men say or think that God is for them – terrorists commit horrible crimes thinking that God is for them. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit guards this statement with an “if,” so we may know that just because a man thinks God is with him does not make it so. God is only for us if we are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.
We certainly can be deceived into thinking that God is for us when He actually is not (as do cultists and those like them). Yet it cannot be denied that for those who are in Jesus Christ, God is for them!
The evidence that God is for us is the gift of Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father: Thank you for including me in your family, and thank you for giving up your Son, Jesus Christ, for me.
+ You are for me, even in times of trouble or calamity….
+ You are for me, even in times of persecution or danger….
+ You are for me, even in times of want for basic needs….
+ You are for me, even when threatened with imprisonment or death….
Heavenly Father: Thank you for loving me and making things right between us forever.
+ You love me, in life and death….
+ You love me, even when I’m afraid or worried….
+ You love me, even when I’m under assault by the powers of hell….
+ You love me, in spite of any earthly powers aligned against me….
Heavenly Father: Thank you for giving me overwhelming victory despite all these things, through Jesus Christ who loved me. It’s in his name I pray, and humbly appeal to his intercession for me.Amen.
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“If God” – Casey J
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Closing (Romans 8:39
“Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
The Peanut Gallery 