Slideshow image

Scripture for the day: Isaiah 57:15-16 For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before me and the souls which I have made."
Thought for the day: In the book of Isaiah the Lord was meticulous in letting his people know why their prayers weren't answered and why they were suffering the devastating persecution and loss that was theirs at the time.  He was brutally honest in His assessment of their spiritual condition and linked the destruction of their country with the fact that they had turned their back on the One who had established them and blessed them when they were but slaves in a foreign land.  
     He called them to a time of prayer and fasting - real prayer and real fasting. Oh, they'd prayed and fasted all their lives, as part of the worship ritual that took place in the Temple.  And they wondered why those prayers weren't answered and why their fasting wasn't effective.  The Lord told them through Isaiah that the reason was that their hearts were not in it; then He promised them deliverance, restoration and revival if they would but turn to Him once again with their whole heart and soul and mind and strength.  "I am perfectly able to do this," He said in chapter 59:1, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (V.2)  The call is out.  Time is short.  "Humble yourselves, pray and seek the face of God, turn from your wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive your sin, and will heal your land." (2 Chronicles 7:14 my paraphrase).
     So here is my prayer: (very loosely taken from Isaiah 64 and Revelation 2-3) Oh, that you would tear the heavens apart; that you would show yourself in unmistakable ways.  With the power of an angry volcano or the terrible force of a great earthquake; as a wildfire races through dense and dry underbrush, consuming everything in its path, or as a flame causes water to boil, with irrefutable signs, may you make yourself known to your people and your adversaries alike, that the nations may tremble and turn to you.  You have done awesome miracles in the past; things we never could have imagined you would do.  You have awakened entire nations through the prayers of a few dedicated souls.  You have honored the faithfulness of a remnant who waited upon you, rejoiced in your presence and did what was right in your sight.
     But Lord, you are angry with us today for we have sinned.  We have become complacent in our estimation of your holiness.  We have allowed the fire of devotion, kindled at Pentecost by the presence of the Holy Spirit and kept alive through the prayers of the saints of God through the ages, to become a dying ember as we've pursued our own agenda, and we need to be saved; we need to have restored to us the joy of your salvation.  We have perfected our worship style, advanced our educational opportunities, written more books than there are libraries to contain, and have spent billions of dollars on magnificent facilities in which to do church, but all our righteousness is as filthy rags.  We all fade as a fallen leaf in Autumn and, like the Autumn winds, our sins have carried us away.  And there is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself or herself up to take hold of you.
     But now, O Lord, you are our Father.  You are the potter and your Bride, the Church, is the clay.  We are the work of your hand.  Please, don't be angry with us forever; we are truly your people, as imperfect as we may be.  Yes, we have become stagnant in our worship.  Yes, we have become slaves to tradition and legalistic in our approach to the faith.  Yes, we have become the churches of Revelation.  We admit that we have lost our first love and have become so caught up in the mechanics of church and the nuances of good doctrine that we've forgotten what it means to fall in love with Jesus.  We have even become a stumbling block to those who are trying to follow the leading of the Spirit and have allowed sexual immorality to become acceptable among those who would call themselves by the name of Christ.  We have given ourselves the reputation of being alive through our many programs and activities and conferences when in fact we've not been living at all, but have been dead in our own good works.  We have become lukewarm in our devotion, our zeal for the glory of our God and in our actions.  
     Against you and you alone have we sinned, and done what was evil in your sight.  Create in us a clean heart, O God, and restore a steadfast spirit within us.  Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and uphold us by your generous Spirit.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart - these, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:4,10,12,17 my paraphrase) Amen.
Now go take on your world.  -  Bill