Image from lifefellowshipchurch.net
Hear the devotional read here: http://bit.ly/2nnDZRj
7 Because of you I look like an idiot, I walk around ashamed to show my face. 8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street; My family treats me like an unwanted guest. 9 I love you more than I can say. Because I'm madly in love with you, They blame me for everything they dislike about you. 10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting, All it got me was more contempt. 11 When I put on a sad face, They treated me like a clown. 12 Now drunks and gluttons Make up drinking songs about me. 13 And me? I pray. God, it's time for a break! God, answer in love! Answer with your sure salvation! 14 Rescue me from the swamp, Don't let me go under for good, Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy; This whirlpool is sucking me down. 15 Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me. 16 Now answer me, God, because you love me; Let me see your great mercy full-face. 17 Don't look the other way; your servant can't take it. I'm in trouble. Answer right now! 18 Come close, God; get me out of here. Rescue me from this deathtrap. (Psalm 69:7-18 The Message)
A blessed and terrific Thursday to you, dear Friends, is my prayer for you and yours. I thank you for the birthday wishes for my darling wife. She sends her thanks to you all. We ask for continued prayers for the world during this pandemic and especially for those who are ill with the virus. Pray for peace and understanding among all people during the events that show racial divisions in our midst. Pray that God would show us how to receive and share His love. Pray for one another; pray for yourselves.
This is a question that may be difficult to answer; but have you ever been angry with your father or mother to the point where you avoided speaking to them? I have, and it's funny that this passage comes to us as we prepare to celebrate Father's Day. I love and miss my Dad so much; and Sunday without him is a sad part of an otherwise joyous day. Or the way that they used to be, given all we face today, I may not see all my girlies nor my grand babies, but I'm blessed to be a Dad to four wonderful daughters, Father-in-law to my three sons-in-law, and grandpa to five and a half grandchildren. And yes, my girls have been angry with me at one time or another, and so have my grandchildren. I thank God that the anger did not last a long time, because forgiving one another and loving each other beats anger. To this day I do not remember the reason of my last quarrel with my Dad, but though it was late in the evening and we were visiting them in Houston with our home in the Valley, I loaded up the wife and family in our car and we went home, with me believing that I would never again speak to my Dad. Soon it was Father's Day and as I shared the Children's Sermon I asked how many of the kids had a grandfather. All of them raised their hand except our youngest, who kept her hands to her side. Gulp. It hit me hard that I hadn't spoken to my Dad, and my girls had not spoken to their only Grandpa. I went home and called my Dad, and though I swear I was not to blame, I apologized to him and told him that I loved him. And we made up, and I promised myself that nothing was worth not having a father to talk to.
The psalmist shared prophetic words about Jesus in this passage. These are perhaps the very words used by our Lord on that night in Gethsemane, when Jesus poured out His heart to His Father. This modern version makes it all the more real, as a son might share with his father in anger. And honestly, the words in the first part of this passage, just as easily could have come out of our mouths in anger towards our dad or mom. We tend to forget that Jesus faced the cross with much fear and trembling; even asking there in the garden that if it were possible to go another route; but He does say that God's will mattered more than His.
Jesus suffered all for our sake; the humiliations, the spits, the scourges, the death on the cross; all for you and me. Jesus loved His Father so much, He was willing to suffer all things and anything, just to reconcile us with the Father. And as the gospel lesson on Monday reminded us, sometimes there is an absence of peace in what we do as believers even to the point of disagreements and silence. And there is no greater silence than the perceived silence of God. Sometimes the silence is not really all that long, but for us when we are in agony or in fear, each second seems like an hour, and each hour seems like a day; when in reality God has been speaking to us in ways we had never experienced or understood. And we were never alone. I can only imagine the thoughts and feelings of Jesus in that Garden made it seem like He was in an eternity of solitude and misery. You and I may have been there at one time or another. So, whenever we may visit there again, we know that Jesus was there before us, and so He understands and can relate, comfort, and strengthen us as a result of His experiences.
There is no swamp, nor whirlpool, Black Hole, or anything created, that can keep you away from the love and purpose God has set aside for you. Whatever it is, God will reveal to you. It may not be ranked among the greatest experiences nor will it get you into the limelight; but it will get you through whatever it may be that you're facing or fearing. And God is with you and God will sustain you. God answered Jesus' prayers and gave Him the glory of Heaven. Whatever it is that God may have for you, will bless you in ways that one day will be completely understood.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank You for the prayers of our Lord, for He has surely endured all things and won all things; and He has understood all things for our sake. May we receive from this passage the wisdom and courage to continue on with our life's journey. Bless those who have not yet understood or accepted that which is from You for them, and use us to help and bless them. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Pray for those whom you know to be lost or suffering.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
