April 29, 2009

• Thy Kingdom come - our idols must go

  Please read Joshua 23 and 24 and Colossians 2 and 3. (I have based quite a lot of the prayer which follows on these passages.)

  Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come . . .

  Our Father which art in heaven,

  You have brought us out of Egypt, You have bought us, You have brought us out of slavery to sin, to self and to Satan. You have carried us, You have fought for us. You have given us an inheritance. You have promised to push back our enemies and drive them out of our sight. You have promised we shall possess their land. You have fought for us as You said You would.

  You have warned us:

  Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day...

  11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.

  –Joshua 23:6-8, 11-13

  In our hearts and souls, as Your children, all of us know that not one word has failed of all the good things You, our loving heavenly Father, have promised concerning us. All have of them have come to pass; not one of them has failed.

  You have warned us about idols and other gods. You have warned us not to swear by them, serve them or bow down to them. You have warned us to put them away. You have warned us, yet instead of clinging to You, Lord God, we cling to them. How often do we go back to where we once dwelt and serve other gods. How often do we worship other kings.

  You alone are God. You alone are King.

  How often do we cling to other gods and other kings rather than clinging to You. How easily and how often do we allow these idols to easily ensnare and entangle us and keep us from running the race marked out for us. How often do we look to these idols rather than looking to Your Son Jesus Christ.

  In our hearts and souls, as Your children, all of us know that not one word has failed of all the good things You, our loving heavenly Father, have promised concerning us. All have of them have come to pass; not one of them has failed.

  Our Father, You have been so good to us. You have provided all we need. You took us and called us by name and chose us and made us a people to Yourself, not because of anything good in us or anything we have done. We were not a people, but now we are Your people. We were not shown mercy but now You have shown us mercy in Jesus Christ. You found us lying in our own blood. You found us in the marketplace of sin. You found us in the pig sty. You saw us on the slave block. You loved us because You loved us. You have loved us solely for Jesus' sake. Our Father, You have sent Your only begotten Son to pay the ransom to bring us back to You. You have given us all things. You have promised to give us all we need. Because You have given Your Son to us, You have given us the ultimate Gift, so we know You will not withhold any good thing from us. We are Your children. You love us. You provide and care for us like a father, except You are a perfect and holy Father. You can do no wrong or ill to us. So then it makes no sense that we have turned to other gods. It is an abomination to You that as Your children we should flirt with idols. It is an abomination to You that we would play the harlot for You are a perfect Bridegroom to us. It is an abomination to you that we should bow to other kings. Yet we confess we have done so. We have not made You King as we ought. We continue to build and serve our own kingdoms rather than letting your Kingdom come. We allow our own kingdoms to get in the way of our serving You as our King.

  You ask us to serve You as King. You ask Us to put away our idols. You ask us to incline our hearts to You alone. And You are right to do so. You own us. You are a jealous God. You are our husband.

  O Lord God, we confess that apart from Your power we cannot serve You as King. We continue to want to make ourselves kings. We continue to seek to build up own kingdoms rather than praying for Your Kingdom to come.

  Merciful Father, Obedient Son and Holy Spirit, incline our hearts to fear Your name and serve you in sincerity and faithfulness. Guard our hearts, we are prone to wander. Unite our hearts to crown You King and make You King in our entire lives, every moment of every day. Our flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit lusts against the flesh. O, how as Your children, You have put it in our hearts to love and serve and worship and adore You, but we still we continue to battle our fleshly desires and lusts. Incline our hearts to worship You and only You, O LORD God of Israel. Through the holy and incorruptible seed of the Word and the seed of Christ, by grace through faith in His sacrifice for us, You have birthed us into Your family by Your Spirit. You have circumcised our hearts with a circumcision not made with hands, You have put off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision which is in Christ.  We have been baptized into Him by one Spirit and buried with Him in baptism. We have been raised with Him through faith in Your powerful working. You are the One who raised Jesus from the dead. We too were dead in our sins and trespasses. Our hearts were uncircumcised, but You, O Lord of Life, Giver of Life, author and finisher of our faith, You have circumcised us and made us alive together with the risen Christ. You have forgiven us all our trespasses and sins. You have canceled the record of debt that stood against us. You have taken that all away and nailed it to Your cross. You have disarmed ruler and principalities and put them to an open shame and have triumphed over them in it. We have been sealed with Your Spirit. Thank You that You have done what we could not do:

  And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
  

  –Deuteronomy 30:6.

  
  Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  

  –Jeremiah 31:31-33; see also Ezekiel 36

  But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says:
  
  

  Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
  when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
  and with the house of Judah,
  9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
  on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
  For they did not continue in my covenant,
  and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
  10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
  after those days, declares the Lord:
  I will put my laws into their minds,
  and write them on their hearts,
  and I will be their God,
  and they shall be my people.
  11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
  and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord,
  for they shall all know me,
  from the least of them to the greatest.
  12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
  and I will remember their sins no more.

  
  13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
  

  –Hebrews 8:6-13

  
  In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
  

  –Colossians 2:11-12

  
  

  
  Through Your Spirit, through Your new life in us, we are new creations. You have freed us from sin, self and Satan, so we can choose to obey You and serve You. Through You, we can put away our idols and make You King:

  Colossians 2:1 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him...11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
  
  Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God..12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones...
  

  We have been circumcised and raised with Christ, so help us to seek those things which are above.

  Help us to no longer serve other gods, but serve You alone as God.

  Help us to no longer serve idols, but serve You alone, O LORD God.

  Help us to put off the old man and put on the new.

  Help us to no longer bow to other kings, but to bow to You alone as King.

  Help us to no longer seek our kingdoms but to pray for Your Kingdom to come.

  Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come . . .

  33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,
  And I shall keep it to the end.
  34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
  Indeed I shall observe it with my whole heart.
  35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
  For I delight in it.
  36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
  And not to covetousness.
  37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
  And revive me in Your way,
  38 Establish Your word to Your servant,
  Who is devoted to fearing You.
  39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,
  For Your judgments are good.
  40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;
  Revive me in Your righteousness.
  
  (Psalm 119:33-40, NKJV)

  Holy Spirit, increase our vision of the glorious redemption God has showered on us through Jesus Christ, so our hearts will be less and less charmed by idols and more and more captivated and enthralled by the love of God: the perfect love which held nothing back for us but gave it all when He gave His only begotten Son to die for us in our place on the cross.

  Holy Spirit, make us ever mindful of the abundant and perfect provision our Father has given to us in and through Jesus Christ, so we will more and more see our idolatry as an abomination.

  Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth, show us the idols of our hearts and strengthen us to put them off so we might serve the LORD alone and crown Him King as we ought, so we might truly say in sincerity and faithfulness,

  Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come . . .

  • 7:29 AM
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