All Saints Nov 1

Psalms am: 111, 112 pm: 148, 150

Neh 4:1-23

am: Heb 11:32-12:2 pm: Rev 21:1-4, 22-22:5

2012/Year B

Psalm 111:7-10 (MSG)

He manufactures truth and justice;
All his products are guaranteed to last—
Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:
He paid the ransom for his people,
He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!

Psalm 112-4-6

Light arises in the darkness for the upright, gracious, compassionate, and just [who are in right standing with God].

⁵ It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.

⁶ He will not be moved forever; the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) shall be in everlasting remembrance.

First there was Prevenient Grace. All the people, places and things God placed in my path. The nouns that caused me to stop and turn to see who was REALLY tapping on my shoulder

Next there was Saving Grace. The mystery of faith. Christ came, Christ died, Christ rose, Christ is coming again. All the verbs that caused me to stop and turn and place my life, my being in the hands of God.

Next there is Sanctifying Grace.  All the adjectives and adverbs that give faith it's meaning. From Paul and the apostles I learned it is sanctification by grace not works. From Luther I learned  it is the working out of my faith. From Wesley I learned the theology is in the hymnal. For me it is learning to be rather than to do. But out of the abundance of my heart, I give and give and give. Until there is less of me and more of Him.

 

^32-38 I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.

^39-40 Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

 

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 ^1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (MSG)

 

Some days, the work seems too hard, too scary, too far to go. But I am reminded over and over again. Do not look at the work or the adjectives or the adverbs. Look only to the goal.

 

I only know that every morning I wake up it is because God must have something more for me to do. More prayers to pray, More cards to send, More love to give, More blogs to write. More books to read. Whatever it takes to draw nearer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

The New Jerusalem

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.^{[a] 4} He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”