Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“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!”
– Psalm 25:6-7

The psalmist’s prayer, and the deepest need of our own souls, is fulfilled through what we contemplate and celebrate this particular week. There is no greater evidence of God’s enduring steadfast love and mercy than what Jesus did for all of us on the cross. God demonstrated love beyond anything we could possibly imagine by sending His Son into the world to rescue us from our sins. When the sinless Son of God gave Himself over to a horrifying death on a cross, it was precisely so God’s love, mercy, and grace could be lavished upon His people. Including you!

It’s only through the work of Christ on the cross, His sacrificial death, burial, and physical resurrection, that our sins are forgiven as a gift of God’s grace given through faith in Jesus. Because Jesus died and rose, God will not remember your sins once you have confessed them to Him and asked forgiveness. He doesn’t think about them. He doesn’t talk about them. He doesn’t remind you of them. Because Jesus died and rose, God only thinks about you with steadfast, loyal, faithful love you honestly don’t deserve. Because God is love. God is gracious. God is merciful. That’s His nature. And because at the cross, Jesus satisfied the perfect justice, righteousness, holiness, and wrath of God.

Take time to meditate on God’s mercy proven by the cross. Give thanks for His forgiveness given through the cross. Delight in His love poured out at the cross. And remember the terrible price Jesus paid to answer this prayer! Believe, remember, and #FollowJesus

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”
– Psalm 23:4

The Lord IS our Shepherd! This week we remember that our Good Shepherd went through the valley of the shadow of death Himself. Jesus moved ever forward that week toward the Cross on which He would die. Toward the tomb His body would inhabit for a few days. Toward the glorious Resurrection we will celebrate on Sunday!

Nobody understands the valley of the shadow of death better than Jesus! He has experienced both dying and death personally. He certainly knows what’s on the other side of death. Who better to walk with you through seasons of sickness, sorrow, danger, and grief than the Risen Shepherd? If you have trusted your life to Him, then He has promised He will never leave your or forsake you. Jesus is always with you through your journey of life, every step of the way. He comforts, protects, strengthens, and even carries you through the dark valley of the shadow of death. He died and rose so that everyone who believes in Him will eventually come through the other side of that valley, rejoicing in the promised land of eternal life in His presence. #FollowJesus

“But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
‘He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!’”
– Psalm 22:6-8

As we enter into Holy Week, Psalm 22 vividly reminds us that what took place in Jerusalem that week was God’s eternal will to redeem us from our sins. What happened on the cross as Jesus of Nazareth suffered in agony for hour after hour until His death had been promised and described a thousand years earlier.

The eternal Son of God, through Whom everything was created, was betrayed, arrested, stripped, whipped, spit on, mocked, humiliated, and nailed to a cross. Jesus was tortured beyond recognition for the sake of your sins. Jesus was hated by the very people whose lives He held together by his divine will while nailed to that cross. He was mocked by passersby who thought His death proved Jesus wasn’t Who He actually was.

How wrong they were! How wrong we’ve all been at times in our life. At the cross, Jesus took the death penalty for our sins. At the cross, Jesus endured the righteous wrath of God for what we’ve done. At the cross, Jesus proved He was exactly Who He said He was as He fulfilled prophecy, died, was buried, and rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death.

Of course, you probably know all that. So perhaps the best thing to do today is to simply try and feel what these verses describe. Try to imagine and feel the scorn, humiliation, and hatred your Savior endured to redeem you from your sins. Feel it and #FollowJesus

“For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?—
the God who equipped me with strength
and made my way blameless.
He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.”
– Psalm 18:31-33

What God did for David throughout his life, He does for all His children. He’ll do it for you! God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is the one and only solid rock. When we build our lives on Him, we stand on solid ground no matter how shaky the rest of the world around us is. Good times, bad times, highs, lows – God will give you strength to endure them all. His steadfast love and faithfulness will not fail or fade away.

If Jesus is your Lord, then the Spirit of God lives in you. You have been made righteous through Christ and now the Spirit gives you the power to resist temptation and live blamelessly in God’s eyes. This fallen, sin-wracked world will be unstable until Jesus returns. Don’t build your life on wealth that can disappear, status that can be lost, a job that can disappear, or relationships that can end in a number of ways.

Build your life on Jesus Christ! Draw near to God and find your strength in Him. Understand your identity in Him. Ground yourself in your life as a beloved child of God! Then you will have the steady feet of a deer even at the highest peak of a mountain. You will be able to endure and glorify God no matter how things are going in your day-to-day life. You will be a testimony of God’s mercy, grace, patience, love, and faithfulness. #FollowJesus

“Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.”
– Psalm 17:7

What a prayer! The psalmist asks God to “wondrously show” His very nature. God repeatedly declares that steadfast love is His essential nature. His steadfast love is rock solid and never affected by whim, mood, or what we’ve done for Him lately. God IS steadfast love. Rather than try to limit God by specifying how he’d prefer God’s love to be revealed, the psalmist simply prays for God to show it in whatever wondrous, astonishing, unimaginable way brings God the most glory. This is a prayer God loves to hear and answer!

The psalmist celebrates God as Savior – from our sins and from our enemies. God is our refuge from the perils of this world. As the psalmist says, God shelters us not by removing our enemies but by drawing us closer to Him, placing us at His right hand. That’s marvelous to think about! And even more marvelous to pray for. Why don’t you do both today?

Think about God’s steadfast love for you in the past or present. When has God wondrously shown His steadfast love to you? Rejoice in those times and give thanks. Then pray this same prayer. Ask God to wondrously show His steadfast love for you once again. Don’t tell Him how. Let Him be Who He is – supremely wise, knowledgeable, loving, and good. Rejoice in whatever He decides. Delight in the refuge of your Savior! #FollowJesus