The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Lent

March 5, 2015

Lent Devotional: Psalm 86

Psalm 86 (click here)
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. (Psalm 86:5-7, 9)

Reflection
How is the Lord abounding in steadfast love?

If you’ve read Scripture at all, you’ve discovered very quickly that the Lord does not simply let sin slip by unnoticed. He executes righteous judgment against sin. Many perish in the pages of Scripture…and we all know many people who currently are perishing amidst their sin.

In view of so much sin and impending judgment… how is it that the Lord is ABOUNDING in steadfast love?

One word… ALL.

ALL who call upon the Lord may experience his goodness, his forgiveness, his abounding love, his steadfast love…his grace! The Lord does not discriminate! He doesn’t reserve his goodness for the wise, the beautiful, the rich…no! He gives himself to ALL who call!

There will be people from every nation he has made who will call upon him and experience his goodness! That is a guarantee! It’s a promise! His grace will be experienced by ALL nations!

In view of so much sin that deserves so much judgment…what other adjective could we apply to such steadfast love as this other than ABOUNDING!

Even God’s judgment is an expression of is abounding steadfast love! Love deals with sin! It deals with wrong! To let sin simply slip by would be unloving! God will not let any sin slip by! He will deal with it ALL…and for ALL who call upon him he has dealt with their sin through the cross!

What wondrous-abounding-steadfast love!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 4, 2015

Lent Devotional: Psalm 37

Psalm 37 (click here)
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. (Psalm 37:1-2, 8-9)

Reflection
Sinful anger is the result of short-sightedness.

We get caught up in the moment. We lose perspective. All we can see is our pain and the injustice of it all. Something needs to happen to correct the situation and it needs to happen NOW!

We have been promised that God will set all wrongs to rights…but we have not been promised that it happens right NOW.

Soon.

That is the promise we are given. The evildoer will SOON fade like grass. Jesus will come again SOON. We will inherit the land SOON. How can this word “soon” be used to describe something that feels eternally far away?

Perspective.

“Soon” describes the timing of these things from God’s perspective, not ours. We want to operate off of the perspective of “now”… God operates from his perspective of “soon.” We can only refrain from anger, forsake wrath, and let go of all fretting when we look at this world from the perspective of the eternal God.

This is how we wait for him. This is how we trust him. We strive to see things from his perspective and believe what he tells us is true. He will soon deal with all evil and bring us home to him. I trust him for this promise and so I will wait for “soon” instead of demanding the “now.”

Instead of growing angry in the “now,” I will wait to be amazed by the “soon.”

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 3, 2015

Lent Devotional: Psalm 25

Psalm 25 (click here)
Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:6-7, 11)

Reflection
Why do we pray for forgiveness?

If you’re a believer in Jesus, has he not dealt with all of our sin, past/present/and future, once and for all upon the cross? Are we not a forgiven people? Yet, even Jesus instructed us to repent and pray for forgiveness.

The apostle John counseled Christians to confess their sins so that Christ would cleanse them from all unrighteousness. James tells us to confess our sins to each other so that we may be healed.

Why all this confessing and repenting if Christ’s words upon the cross were true and “it is finished”?

It is true, on the cross Christ purchased our pardon and yet we experience the application of that pardon in real time. It’s like when I tell my wife I love her…she knows that I love her, I don’t say it because it somehow became untrue in the past few hours…no…I say it as a constant application of the truth. My words are one of the ways I express what is true and the truth of my love is felt.

The fact of our forgiveness through the cross cannot be changed! Jesus did finish the work needed to wipe away our sins, but we experience the effects of his achievement in real time through repentance, confession and assurance of forgiveness from our father.

In other words, our repentance is not accomplishing what was lacking in Christ’s work… no… it is the conduit through which we experience what was accomplished in Christ’s work! And when we experience it, we praise him! Herein, lies the ultimate purpose of our need to ask for forgiveness and experience the grace of God over and over… because it leads to the glorification of his name over and over again…day after day!

The psalmist yearned for this… “For YOUR NAME’S SAKE, O LORD, pardon my guilt…”

Our repentance shows our continual reliance on the grace of God… it reveals God’s greatness… it glorifies his name before the world.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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