Cleanse me from my sin!

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

³For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Cleanse me from my sin!

Why is it that it is so much easier to see and address the sins of others and not my own? Maybe it is a combination of my own sinful nature and an effective distraction from satan. If I am so busy looking at everyone else’s sin, I have little time to examine my own. But, unexamined sin leads to a greater separation from the One who can cleanse us.

Look what we miss out on if we ignore or pass over our own sin! We miss the reconciliation and the relief of God’s grace and mercy. This cleansing business is repeated work. It’s a bit like dishes and laundry, it’s always there. But, our daily acknowledgement and awareness helps us not get so far stuck in the depths of sin. I don’t think the point is for me to be stuck in the “poor, miserable sinner” mode but to be celebrating the work of our Savior! Look at what He has done for us!

It’s cold and we are getting ready for another winter storm. There are things happening in the world that are out of my control. But, I know God loves me and He is providing for me every day. He restores my soul and cleanses me from my sin! I am so thankful!

Wash me thoroughly.

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

Wash me thoroughly.

A thorough washing has an attention to detail. God knows our details. He is thorough.

What Good News that is!

When I am thoroughly washed, I feel differently. I act differently. Give me a day or two in bed with an illness or injury and unable to take a shower, it feels icky and I don’t like it. At all.

When you take your next shower or bath, think about how God washes you thoroughly. Let the waters remind you of your baptism. Don’t fall for the lie that you’ve done too much or gone too far to be forgiven. That is satan whispering, talking, shouting….he wants there to be a wedge between you and your Savior.

But God….

He loves you.

He has mercy for you.

He blots out your transgressions.

He wants to wash away those sins and iniquities.

Thoroughly.

Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

Blot out my transgressions.

What a relief that the God who created the Universe tends to my offenses. They are numerous, to be sure. And I am grateful. I can always endeavor to do better, but the fact remains that I am not nor ever will be perfect on my own. My perfection comes through Jesus.

It’s a relief that I don’t have to work and work to try to erase my own sins. The work has been done. And my response? It takes a different twist every time I consider what God has done — and is doing — for me.

I am relieved.

I am grateful.

I more easily forgive others.

I stand taller.

I rest.

I can relax knowing that the work is done. God’s work is complete and continuous — all at the same time. The depth of God’s love and mercy is more than I can even imagine!

May you know the deep relief of God’s mercy and grace as you consider your transgressions. His provision is more than enough.

Have mercy on me, O God

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

Have mercy on me, O God

Originally, when I started this Lenten series, I was thinking about verbs and things that God asks of us through His Word. And then as I was processing the week and the highlighted verses, it seemed to me that I needed to shift the focus from what we should, can, or have been encouraged “to do” to what God has done.

It all starts with what God has done for us.

Can we give what we haven’t been given? No. Any mercy we can extend comes from the Mercy Giver.

So, as you go about your day, receive what God has gifted you. Consider His mercy today. And each day, during this Lenten season, let’s receive these good gifts from our Heavenly Father. An awareness of what we have been given better prepares us to give.

Praise the Lord

¹Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

²Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
³Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
⁴For the Lord takes delight in his people;
    he crowns the humble with victory.
⁵Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
    and sing for joy on their beds.

⁶May the praise of God be in their mouths
    and a double-edged sword in their hands,
⁷to inflict vengeance on the nations
    and punishment on the peoples,
⁸to bind their kings with fetters,
    their nobles with shackles of iron,
⁹to carry out the sentence written against them—
    this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord. [Psalm 149, NIV]

It’s easy to get bogged down in the daily stuff. In fact, it has been easy to be bogged down as we have sludged through this year. It has been a challenge for me. And I know it has been a challenge for a lot of people. We have needed to

stretch

shift

regroup

start

stop

hunker down

disinfect

stay away

stay home

But here we are, each day continues to arrive, and we are here to be a part of it. Praising the Lord is one of those things that helps us keep our focus off our circumstances and seeking His face.

Praise the Lord!
Liz

All the Ways

¹Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
²Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
³Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

⁴For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
⁹Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
¹⁰Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
¹²Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
¹³Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness. [Psalm 96:1-13, NIV]

There are so many ways to worship and praise our loving God! What are some of your favorite ways?

I must admit, sometimes I get distracted from this important work. There are times I let fearing and fretting and stressing take my energy and my perspective. Sometimes my ‘declarations” have been inaudible whispers. And other times they are loud and confident.

I am thankful that God knows and loves me in the midst of me. I need to think more about all the ways I can praise and get busy ascribing, singing, declaring, proclaiming, worshipping, and rejoicing!

God’s blessings on your week ahead!
Liz

Fearless

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³    he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever. [Psalm 23, NIV]

Most days I am fearless. But there are some days, I am a puddle. Feelings drive me crazy. Sometimes my thoughts drive me crazy. Focusing on The Truth of God’s Word is such an important process for me. Sometimes I am in a place where I forget some really important Scriptural truths that would calm my heart and mind and spirit. No matter how much I know Scripture, as a visual person, I love to see it! I love words and it is important for me to see the words — even just a few — that bring me back to Truth.

The Lord is my Shepherd…

[I shall not want….]

I can’t see that without thinking about the rest of the Psalm.

Create in me…

[a clean heart o God….]

I can fill in the rest but the first part reorients and reminds me, especially when I am floundering.

If you are visual, like me, find a few of God’s truths and write them out. You can doodle or color them. You can make or buy a wall hanging that reminds you of God’s perspective. With all that is going on in the world today and the general exhaustion that we all seem to be under, finding and creating places of peace is important work. It is easy enough to get caught up into the negative because we are swimming in it. If you are seeking peace, it might be that surrounding yourself with some visual cues taken from God’s word can create that place of peace.

Blessings on your week ahead!
Liz

Restoration

⁷Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

⁸You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
    its shoots as far as the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
¹³Boars from the forest ravage it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
¹⁴Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
¹⁵ the root your right hand has planted,
    the son you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
    at your rebuke your people perish.
¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved. [Psalm 80:7-19 NIV]

Restoration has a lot of phases. Sometimes our lives and circumstances are messy but that doesn’t mean important work isn’t happening!

There is much to pray about regarding our world, our nation, our states, and our cities. I am praying that I see what God is doing and that I work with Him and not against His purposes. God, open my eyes and gives me a clear vision of the needs of those around me. Restoration might mean me doing some work but it might also mean that some work is being done on me: a perspective shift, a growing awareness, an opportunity, etc.

Restoration has to start from within first. I cannot easily share what I have not experienced!

Blessings on your week!
Liz

PrayerPoints 2020

Hello! Hello!

Happy New Year! I love the freshness a new year brings, don’t you?

Each time there is a new season in the calendar year it signals new sounds, smells, tastes, and experiences. I enjoy the refreshment of the “new” when I am expecting them, but there are other seasons that catch me by surprise! Sometimes I am in a “new season” for a while before I even realize it! You may have felt similarly as you have traveled through the various seasons of:

Life
Employment
Parenting
Education
Marriage
Health
Family Life

We are all traveling through seasons, though not necessarily the same ones or in the same order, and certainly not in the same way. Sometimes I think I would love to have 2020 vision in what God is doing in my life or when I am in a difficult season but, really, I don’t. He asks me to trust in Him, no matter the season. He never promised that I will see, know, or understand it all!

The seasons of the church year are relatively consistent, if you pay attention to them. They can be a way of being united together in the course of a year with people all over the world, particularly if you are from the same church body. Of course, the church year “seasons” are a manmade sort of thing, but they are based on significant happenings in Scripture, organized in a way that helps us remember better while also providing a little structure.

Instead of just taking a deep dive during the Lenten season, I plan to post a new PrayerPoint each Monday. If you have been following PrayerPoints for a while now, you may have noticed that I shared a lot more this year than I have in previous years. This year I am aiming for a steady rhythm. While I seem to learn better with more intentional focus, I need to grow in my consistency. For 2020, each weekly PrayerPoint will include a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song that will correspond to the church season and highlight something that caught my heart. The rhythm of the church year will help me be a little more grounded and give me a little focus. I encourage you to contemplate the posted words each week and see what stands out for you and write it down. I love that God’s Word is so relevant to our lives and that God uses the Holy Spirit to personalize what we hear! We can each “bump into” the same piece of Scripture and take away a different application, depending on what God is working on in our hearts.

Feel free to join me on this journey. If you sign up to receive my posts in your inbox you won’t miss a week. Otherwise, Facebook algorithms (and whether I remember to post the link) will determine whether or not you see the weekly PrayerPoint.

I am looking forward to the growth God has in store for me this year. I hope you are looking forward to your growth too! If you have a favorite hymn you would like me to see in a post, send me a message at vospower6@hotmail.com and I will consider it.

Blessings and Peace!
Liz

Pace

Have you found your optimal pace? The rhythm and tempo you work best in?

I am still trying to figure it out!

I know I don’t love the “Hurry up and wait!” kind of thing. When I have put my mind to something, I like to move forward without interruptions.

But I also think it depends on what I am trying to accomplish. If I am visiting with someone I enjoy, I don’t want to rush the time. But, there are time limits all around me. Maybe grabbing a coffee and 60 minutes of conversation is all there is time for, even though I want more time. Sometimes those limits make me cut to the heart of things much more quickly because time is of the essence.

A friend of mine recently said, “A deadline is my muse.” And boy does that ring true for me! There is nothing like a ticking clock nearing its finally tock that can spring me into action.

If the task ahead is something I dread, it is hard to get motivated. But “the road to a friend’s house is never long,” [Danish Proverb]

What motivates your movement?

Relationships?
Accomplishment?
Accolades?
Commitment?
Obligation?
Love?

I do much better following through when there is an external commitment on me. I do get plenty of things done on my own, but I often fudge on my own, self-inflicted deadlines. I probably don’t do a great job estimating what space and time I need to accomplish a task. Also, I sometimes let perfection be the enemy of something that is “good enough”.

I know I am guilty of wanting a certain pace for things. For example, when I have a need — how often do I ask God to come quickly?

¹⁶Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
    in your great mercy turn to me.
¹⁷Do not hide your face from your servant;
    answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
¹⁸Come near and rescue me;
    deliver me because of my foes. [Psalm 69:16-18, NIV]

And God wants me to call on Him (He does quickly come) – but to also keep perspective on His pace and His much bigger picture plan.

⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. [2 Peter 3:8-9]

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:28, NIV].

May you have the patience to see God’s work unfolding in your life!

Liz

PrayerPrompt: GOOD, BETTER, BEST