Trust in (insert here)

⁵ In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.

⁶ The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.

-Ps. 118:5-8

I really loved Obinna's idea to start a blog and told him, "since I have a lot of free time I hope we can coordinate a way for us (me and him) to not post on the same day." Well, as you can tell, I have not posted yet...until now!

Going through the Anglican Daily Office for tonight, I read this psalm in its entirety, and this particular passage stuck out. I can most definitely associate with the beginning of the passage, for there have been many times I have cried out to the Lord in anguish, emotional, spiritual and physical. Each time, the Lord has delivered me or, "set me free" as the psalmist writes. When my parents decided to get a divorce, it was a very emotional affair for the whole family and each of us responded it differently: my mother cried all the time, especially when she thought my brothers and I could not hear, my dad began to spend less and less time at home, as did my youngest brother, the middle brother stayed in his room all the time, only coming out to eat and use the bathroom. I prayed. I prayed while driving. I prayed while crying. I prayed while studying. I prayed every time I thought of my family. One day, after class at the local community college, my heart was so burdened that I could do nothing but pray through my tears for the entirety of the 35 minute drive home. When I got home, I could not stop praying, and continued to do so as I walked through the living room and into the dining room, on my way to my room upstairs. With my cheeks still wet, I witnessed the faithfulness of God displayed through my parents hugging in the dining room for the first time in six weeks and my mom saying through her own tears, "I have missed you so much." My dad just stood there and held her. My tears were from joy at this point, and I could do little else but praise my God.

I had tried throughout the six weeks of my parents planning the divorce to reconcile my parents. I listened intently to both sides and tried to speak life and truth where the enemy had sown discord and death. I talked to my brothers about how we could help our parents salvage a marriage of over 20 years and they answered with cynicism and hopelessness. I racked my brain and prayed for God to give me wisdom, for I saw myself as the solitary means through which my family would stay together. You see, I had forgotten Who was with me, and where my refuge was, and it was not until I was broken to the point of utter abandonment of self that God moved in His power and glory.

Another story, if you will.

A dear friend confessed a couple of years ago to me that he had lived a life of sin during the summer between semesters at college. He seemed repentant at the time and truly appeared to want to serve the Lord. Slowly over the course of the next two years, he turned his back on God, his brothers in Christ, and everyone he had opened his heart to. He began to reap the bitter fruit of worldly sorrow. He was unfulfilled. His life was continually on a razor's edge; all it would take would be a breath to topple it. Yet God upheld him. Many of us prayed for him. He responded with anger and sarcasm and lies. I tried to lovingly confront him. He feigned confusion at my questions. I gave him scriptures to ponder, words of wisdom to digest, and living water to drink. He treated all those as though I was offering him rotting garbage. So, with great sadness, I let my efforts fall to the ground and die, wondering who and what he would be in five or ten years. I did not like what I saw in my mind's eye, but I continued to hope in the Lord.

Last night, through a (seemingly) random series of events, he contacted me and a conversation ensued. He wanted sympathy and pity and a measure of love. Love he got. Heavily seasoned with fire and Truth. After the longest conversation I have had all week with someone outside of flight school, God's light appeared in his heart, and he agreed to meet with a pastor immediately. He was set free and God restored a most precious son. Once again tears of joy flowed unashamedly down my cheeks.

As I reflect on both situations, and many more, I cannot help but see the common thread: when my trust is in myself, little or nothing results. When I come to the end of myself, to the blessed realization that the Lord is with me and is my refuge, then and only then does the incarnate power of the Risen Lord rise like the dawn! I encourage each of you today to remember the many ways your God has heard your anguished cries and delivered you. Don't trust in yourself to fix things. Don't trust your friends, dear and godly though they may be. Don't trust fate, or whatever extra-biblical force you may ascribe to. Trust the King of Glory, the Lion of Judah, the Holy of Holies, the Ancient of Days, Emmanuel.

Feel free to post your stories of His deliverance for the encouragement of all!

Prized Possession

You were bought at a price. I Corinthians 6:20a

Have you ever saved up your money to purchase something that was very valuable and precious? Whatever that item was, you treated it with great care and held it in high regard. You make sure nothing bad happens to it, protecting it from all harm and danger. God feels the same way about us. The first part of I Corinthians 6:20 informs us that we were bought at a price. There are moments in our life that we feel God is dealing us a rough hand. We are under the attack of the enemy, notheing seems to be going our way, and it is as if our prayers are hitting the ceiling only to go un-answered. Always remember that God bought us with a price. Just as we take care of our prized possessions that we save up for and buy, God does the same for us. It is just that He is Sovereign and can see how our current difficulties come together to make us stronger and lead to our future success. Life is hard and we will have trials. Jesus said we would have them, but also know that we were purchased by His precious blood. God would not do anything to damage His most prized possession. Everything that He does and allows to happen, He does so in order to strengthen us and make us better.

Father, God, help us to remember that You purchased each of us when you gave Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We are your prized possession, and the apple of your eye. Every trial that we encounter comes to make us strong. Nothing that you allow to come upon us will hinder us from reaching our full potential. Thank You for giving us the grace we need to endure every trial, let us never forget that everything You do for us, You do out of love. In Jesus name, Amen.

Pray for Haiti

Due to the devastation that occured in Haiti we are encouraging you to pray for that nation. Please donate or do anything else that you feel God is leading you to.

I will be praying for the following things with scriptures as metitations on each area:

1. The Victims and their Families
2. The Survivors
3. The Aid Workers – Foreign and domestic, especially from the US.
4. The Nation
a) Its Stability
b) Its prosperity and restoration
c) Political and Moral Restoration
d) Its Faith
e) The Children
5. Us


Please pray especially for the orphans there and those who have been made orphans. If anyone you know has friends there, or has gone down there personaly, I'd love to add them to my prayers, just let me know!

In the meantime I request you pray for the efforts of WorldVision and Heaven's Family (they have an orphanage there). Pray also for all health professionals going to Haiti, may God give them an oppurtunity and environs in which to save lives.

From Today's Epistle...

Reading: Hebrews 3:12-19

¹² See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵ As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."

¹⁶ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Reflection

Today. What are the words for today? Hardness of heart? Deceitfulness of sin? Community responsibility? Judgement?

I was recently reminded of a quote made during the War of Independence by Benjamin Franklin who said, “If we don’t hang together, we most assuredly will all hang separately.” This little passage from Hebrews reminds me of the importance of the community. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of bondage to the promised land. For forty years he had to deal with a group of people that should have been the most joyful on their journey for they had seen the magnificent hand of God at work. But they grumbled and groaned. They not only angered Moses so that he broke the stone tablets on which God had written his commandments, but they angered God for forty years! The whole lot of them lost the opportunity to cross over Jordan.

While we each have responsibility for our own relationship with God, it is clear from this passage that we have a responsibility for our fellow traveler. It is a commitment for today. That also means tomorrow, for tomorrow will most assuredly become today.

During the Rite of Baptism, the gathered Christians are asked this question: “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” This is such a great and serious responsibility. It implies that the newborn Christians need nourishing till they attain their full stature in Christ. But we know that full grown individuals do not cease requiring nourishment when they are full grown. So we continue to support each other! This should not be considered an onerous burden but a joyful opportunity.

The writer of Hebrews urges us readers to encourage, to give courage, to each other to guard the heart against the deceitfulness of sin. Each is encouraged to be firm and persevere to the end. Today, we who are strong must gladly encourage the weak. For as sure as tomorrow turns into today, there will be that Today when we are the weak ones needing the strong encouragement of our brothers and sisters to prevent our heart from hardening and rebelling. We have a fundamental commitment as the body of Christ to help and nourish each other. Just as a hand that's cut off from the body can not survive, a weak Christian who is not nurtured may not survive. If we do not all hang together, we may hang separately.

Living God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ prayed for Peter that his faith should not fail and commanded him to strengthen the brothers, Grant us today the strength to guard against hardness of heart and the will to encourage the weak so that we may all hold firm our faith in Christ till the end to the glory of God. Amen

-RER

A True Champion

If any of you got the chance to watch the BCS national Championship on Thursday Night, you got to witness more than an exciting football game. The University of Alabama emerged the victor and the University of Texas at Austin lost in a game that was not decided until well into the 4^th quarter.

One of the big pieces of the game was the fact that Texas’ quarterback, Colt McCoy – was injured in the first drive of the night leaving the backup QB to play the rest of game. The reason that I am writing about this is that if you know anything about Colt McCoy you would know that he is a talented quarterback and a committed Christian.

When he got injured however, he spend the rest of the game getting x-rays and standing on the sidelines where the cameras covered his disappointment as much as they covered the game. Colt McCoy has pretty much had his face plastered all Texas on billboards for I am Second, the evangelism outreach that shares the testimonies of celebrities to show the fact that when Jesus Christ is in your heart, you are no longer the most important person in the world, He is. Thus, “I am second.”

Well in light of that fact, when the game was over and they congratulated the winners, the anchor lady went over to Colt for the usual post game interview. He commented that he was disappointed, that he would love to have played and competed but he could no longer feel his throwing arm. And then he said something that I am grateful to him for saying. Despite the fact that his team lost, despite the fact that he could not play, he still praised God for getting him there.

Its easy for a wide receiver or running back to kneel in the end zone or give a shout-out to God when they score a touchdown. Its easy to praise God in times of victory. Not so much when your team loses. However, for all the displays of faith that make some people uncomfortable and make others mock or take your faith for granted, its equally important what Christians do and say to praise God when life sucks, when things do not go the way we expect, WHEN WE LOSE.

Colt did not fake happiness, he did not dodge the question, he did not manufacture false joy and fake smile. He told the lady exactly how he felt, yet still praised and thanked his Lord. Its like the many psalms of David where he pours his heart out to God; his fears of his enemies, his anger at the way God is treating him, his disappointment with his current situation, his anxiety that God is being too hard on him or is not listening to his prayers – Yet he never ever ends any of these Psalms without saying “Praise the Lord O my soul.”

The Prayer of Saint Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

Fishing for Faith

“Lord, even though our nets our empty, we pray that you send us out again so that they may be filled”

These are the words that my father prayed tonight in just leaving to God the responsibilities and troubles currently facing him and our family. My mind seized on them primarily because I often ask God for his will to be done in a tangible and abundant way here on earth. Naturally my dad was inspired by the story of Jesus’ disciples – who were fishing all night long, catching nothing and facing immediate financial and emotional distress. In this economy I think we can especially relate – knowing and experiencing joblessness, overall lack and a future whose stability is in doubt.

I think the significance of this story found in John 21 is profound. Standing on the shore to help them was Jesus and the wearied and heavy eyed disciples obeyed the call of the man who was at the time, a stranger after they had fished all night – “Cast your net to the other side.” And behold, they caught a great multitude of fish in one moment that they could not do by their own striving the entire night. This miracle happened shortly after Christ’s crucifixion, the time in which the disciples felt completely abandoned by Christ and their God. And yet, there he was on the shore, willing to provide for their immediate need to remind them that He is their eternal desire.

We are going to be praying a lot and always in need of a lot of prayer. That is the nature of our lives – Christ even instructed his disciples to pray each day and to ask for their “daily bread” showing that God is well aware of our needs, wants and desires.

As humans I often do two things wrong however – fail to understand and fail to remember.
Fail to understand – Have you ever been in a situation where you think God did not answer your prayer or answered it completely opposite? Only to realize years later, that what God did then was the best result or answer possible? That you grew or were blessed in ways you could not anticipate or imagine because of that?

Fail to remember – If there was one thing God wants his people to do (outside of love and obey him) it is to remember everything He has done for us – all of it good, even when we were disciplined. If someone very close to you did not remember your birthdays, anniversaries and achievements, and did not even remember to talk to you; especially after you’ve done many great things for them, you would feel unimportant to them in the very least. How much more so God? It is in remembering God’s faithfulness to us that we can build faith in Him and maintain a right relationship.

Good Morning and Welcome to Always Triumphant!

This blog is essentially a place to share scriptures, thoughts, prayers and devotions that help to remind us that we have a perpetual victory in Jesus and through the temptations, trials and tribulations each day brings we are Always Triumphant!