A NEEDY CHRISTIAN'S SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER…
My Father and My God,
You are the Sovereign One: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
You alone rule in Heaven above, the earth below, the sea, and even in the abode of Hell, You are the Sovereign Ruler.
You control all the kingdom's of men for Your glory and the good of Your church.
You hold the heart of the king in Your hand and You turn it whichever way You choose.
And the breath of all mankind is in Your hand. You give life and You take life as You please!
You are omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, immense, and eternal.
You are loving, gracious, merciful, kind, long-suffering, forgiving, and at the same time holy, just, and righteous!
You are the great I AM! You have always been! There never was a time when You were not.
You are the Ancient of Days, the Eternal One, the One from everlasting to everlasting!
This knowledge is too wonderful for me to comprehend. It is too high, I cannot attain it.
But I can apprehend it because You have revealed it in Scripture.
But no mortal man can comprehend such depths of Your glory, splendor, majesty, holiness, and wonder.
O Lord, You are the zenith of purity, but I am very sinful in thought, word, and deed.
Who am I or what am I that You, O Lord, are mindful of me, that You should care for me, that You should redeem me?
I have violated all Your holy commandments! I have kept none of them! I have rebelled against You!
I am worthy and deserving of damnation! Of myself, I am vile, corrupt, and unclean in Your sight!
But in a wonder of Your grace, You have redeemed me, body and soul, to be Your own.
You have cleansed me with Christ's blood! You have covered me with Christ's righteous robes!
I am humbled right down to the ground "that You would give Your only Son to make this wretch (me) His treasure."
I have no words to fully express Your gracious, wondrous, awesome redemption. But, nevertheless, I praise Your name!
I praise You, Father! I praise You, Jesus! I praise You, Holy Spirit! One God in divine essence yet three distinct Persons.
O Holy Spirit, continue Your transforming work within me. Sanctify me. Sanctify my thoughts, words, and works!
Make me think and live like my Savior Jesus, Who always did those things that please the Father!
O Jesus, humble me when I obey You; chasten me when I rebel against You!
Retrieve me when I go astray, keep me within Your sheepfold, keep me on the narrow road that leads to life, O Great Shepherd of the Sheep!
Never loosen Your grip upon me lest I return to the broad road that leads to destruction!
Keep me from behaving like a dog and a hog as the Proverb teaches that "A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire" (2 Peter 2:22).
Keep me from returning to the stench and muck of sin from which You have delivered me, O Jesus!
My trust for redemption, from justification to glorification, is You, Lord Jesus!
Use me for Your glory, even though I am sinful, weak, ignorant, and feeble!
Use me up for Your glory! Fill me with Your Spirit and Word.
Holy Spirit, bring my mind captive to the obedience of Christ!
I know I am a sinful vessel, but please, O Father, I plead with You, use me for Your glory and the good of Your church!
As the hymn writer penned:
"Take my life and let it be,
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise."
In Jesus' name!
Amen!
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DELIGHTING IN WORSHIP
"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD."
—Psalm 122:1
DO YOU experience the same joy as the psalmist in going to the house of the Lord? Is the Lord’s Day a delight to you? Do you look forward to gathering in corporate worship with other believers? Our text demonstrates that when a person is truly made a child of God, he will delight to gather to worship the Lord with the people of God.
DAVID, THE writer of this Psalm, was in exile many times as he was being pursued by King Saul and even his own son Absalom. Because of this, David was deprived many times during his life from going up to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to worship. So, when he hears the invitation, "Let us go up into the house of the Lord", he’s overjoyed. Notice the invitation is not, "You go," but "Let us go." David meets another believer, and what a joy it is for him to hear another person expressing the same desire to worship the Lord. David was glad to be invited to public worship. He didn’t say, “I have something better to do.” Rather, he rejoiced to join other believers who were going to the house of God to praise the Lord.
ONE OF the marks of a true believer is a delight for corporate worship. A true believer rejoices to go to the house of the Lord. What about you? Do you wake up on the Lord's Day rejoicing to go to worship, or is it just out of habit or routine that you go? Is it a burden to you? Would you rather stay home and sleep or watch TV? Do you rejoice as David did or do you grumble and say, “Do we have to go to worship again? The service takes so long! I would rather go to the ballgame or watch it on TV.”
WHAT YOU do on the Lord’s Day reveals what’s going on in your soul. And if you would rather be some other place when the people of God gather for public worship then your heart is not right before God. You need to repent and ask God to forgive you and strengthen your weak, immature faith. You see, by God’s grace we are the children of God. And as children of God, we are those being conformed into the image of Christ, and Christ was never burdened by worship! He was never burdened to hear the Word of God! Therefore, as believers, we should delight more and more in the worship of God by hearing His Word on the Lord’s Day, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to Him, partaking of the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, coming before the Lord in prayer, and diligently fellowshipping with other believers. Our words should be those of the psalmist, “I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the LORD."
Friday Devotional: January 3, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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THE GOD OF SCRIPTURE
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
—Romans 1:20
THE WORLD was created by the Word of God (Gen. 1:3; John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2), and thereby reflects the mind and character of God (Rom. 1:20). Man was created as the image of God (Gen. 1:16-27) and therefore cannot escape the face of God. “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36). Therefore, all the facts of this universe, every human being, all the creepy crawlies, all the birds of the air, all the beasts of the field, all the fish of the sea, all the trees of the forest, all the flowers of the meadow, all the grains of sand on the seashore, all the stars in the heavens, all the tiny molecules in the atmosphere, every last thing that God created declares the invisible attributes of the true and living God! (Romans 1:20-21).
THERE IS, therefore, no environment, no dark little corner, no small hiding place in this world where man can flee to escape the revelation of God (Psalm 139:8; Heb. 4:13). “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). God’s natural revelation goes out to the ends of the earth and all people in every tribe, tongue, nation, and language of this world see His glory (Psalm 97:6).
THEREFORE, EVEN when living in open, idolatrous, rebellion against the true and living God, all men are in the condition of knowing the true and living God and not merely “a god” (Romans 1:21), albeit in judgment as covenant breakers. Therefore, the Apostle Paul says that all men are without excuse for their rebellion (Rom. 1:20), and even their conscience accuses them of their rebellion against the true and living God (Rom. 2:14-16). As the Apostle John wrote, Jesus is “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:9).
THEREFORE, DON’T believe the “agnostic” when he says, “I don’t know if God exists.” The God who “upholds all things by the Word of His power” (Heb. 1:3), and “who gives life to all things” (1 Tim. 6:13) “…did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 17:14). When people say, “I don’t know if God exists,” they are simply suppressing knowledge they already know to be true (Rom. 1:18). Therefore, believe God’s Word and not fallen, unregenerate, rebellious men who are liars and more vain than vanity itself. For Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth” (John 17:17).
New Year’s Day Devotional: January 1, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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“A PRAYER FOR THE TRANSITION OF YEARS”
—Dr. Joel Beeke
Lord, as we arrive at the cusp of another year’s end,
We feel reluctant to cross the finish line.
For we ought to have run a better race.
Both Thy record book of memory and ours of conscience,
Find us painfully lacking in Scripture’s balances.
We wish we had justified ourselves less and repented more.
We wish we had talked less and communed with Thee more.
We wish we had sinned less and loved Thy Son more.
We wish we had backslidden less and worshiped Thee more.
We wish we had judged others less and served them more.
We can’t understand why Thou has loaded us with so many blessings.
Why hast Thou been so much better to us than we to Thee?
Why hast Thou borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,
And interceded continually, and loved fully, even when chastening us?
Forgive, O Lord, our rewarding of evil for all Thy good.
We pray for grace to run the race of grace better in the year to come,
In and by Thy strength, making mention only of Thy righteousness,
Expecting nothing of ourselves but everything of Thee.
Jesus Christ, enfold us in Thy shepherding arms, pencil Thy image on us,
And ripen us for eternal communion with Thee to Thy Triune glory.
In 2025, may our gracious Father in heaven be pleased to deepen our faith, strengthen our resolve, and sweeten our love for the dear Lord Jesus Christ. And when we stumble and fall short, may we remain steadfast in full confidence in the unfailing power of the precious blood.
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