Stand Fast: God is Coming!

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Thursday, April 9, 2009
Devotions: Ps 102, 142, 143; Jer 20:7-11; 1 Cor 10:14-17; 11:27-32; Jn 17:1-11

Lord, let my prayers come to You and be heard; answer, my God! My days blow past like smoke; my heart is withered. I’m like an owl in the wilderness, a bird perched alone on a housetop. My repast is ashes and tears; I suffer deprivation of God! I can’t sleep and my work is fruitless. But You, my God, are glorious and eternal. I know you hear my prayers and do not despise my supplication. Let the record show that God is trustworthy. God has broken my strength, but His strength sustains me. My descendants will be secure in Your care. I continue to cry out; I know I’m facing deadly opposition without a human support system. So I cry to You: deliver me, Lord. I thirst for you like a land in drought! Hurry, Father! I’m failing; let me hear of your steadfast love this morning! Teach me the way I should follow; let Your good Spirit guide me on a level path!

Jeremiah lamented to God: ‘Lord, You have prevailed against me. I am mocked throughout the community. But I can’t hold in Your words—they’re like a fire in my innards. But weary as I am, my position is powerful. God is with me as a mighty Warrior, and my persecutors stumble. Let me see Your vengeance on my enemies, Lord! ‘

Paul writes the Corinthian Christians: ‘Shun idol-worship. We are blessed to partake in the body and blood of the Messiah. As He is one, we become one body in Him. But whoever takes communion in an unworthy manner does so to his own harm—he is profaning the very body and blood of our Lord! Examine yourself before you accept communion. If we judged ourselves truly, we would not face God’s judgment. His judgment chastens us, so that we may not be condemned along with the unbelieving world.’

Jesus prayed for His disciples: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that I may glorify You. You have given Me power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Me. Eternal life consists in knowing You the only true God and Jesus the Messiah, Whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth by doing what You sent Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory I had with You before the world was made. I have manifested Your name to the people You gave me out of this world; they were Yours, You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything I have, I received from You; they have received the message, and know in truth that I came from You. I pray for those who belong to God! And now, as I come to You, they remain in the world; keep them and protect them in My name, that they may be one as You and I are One!’