Christian Reflection and Prayer

God protects His people

How has God protected us in the past?

Before the mountains were created, before
you made the earth and the world, you are
God, without beginning or end.

You turn people back to dust, saying,
"Return to dust!"
Psalm 90:3-4 NLT

Our help in ages past

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
ISAAC WATTS (1674-1748)

In 1714, the people of England were anxious.
Queen Anne lay dying, and she had no son
or daughter to succeed her. Who would be
the new monarch, and what changes would
that make? Isaac Watts had reason to worry.
His father had been imprisoned under the
previous regime because his views did not
please the ruling family. As a young child,
Isaac has been carried by his mother to visit
his father in jail. But Queen Anne had brought
a new tolerance, and freedom for the elder
Watts. Now that she was dying, what would
happen?

Isaac Watts turned to Psalm 90 on this
occasion and penned what may be the greatest
of his more than six hundred hymns. In essence,
it is a poem about time. God stands above human
time, and in Him all our anxieties can be laid to
rest. The greatness of our eternal God was a
favorite theme of Watts. When the events of the
day bring worry, the God of all ages remains our
eternal home.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by
Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House
Publishers (1995), entry for January 29
A person can respond to suffering like an egg,
or like a potato. A potato goes into the boiling
water hard, but comes out pliable. An egg goes
into the boiling water soft and comes out hard.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Read John 1:1-18. TEXT: "The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it"
(John 1:5).
   
All of us struggle with the power of darkness in
our lives, the darkness of fear, doubt, dread
and anxiety. We see it in our health problems,
financial struggles and our strained relationships.
We see it in the darkness of our own struggles
within.

On this Ash Wednesday the Holy Spirit calls
you to gather with His people in church where
He will shine His glorious light into the darkest
corners of our sin-filled hearts and minds. The
ashes of Ash Wednesday remind us of the death
that darkness has brought to all. But it also
reminds us our Savior took our death upon
Himself, giving us His life and forgiveness.

THE PRAYER:
Light of the world, shine in my heart and bring
me peace. Amen.

(In part from
"Shining in the Darkness Ash Wednesday "
By Rev. Wayne Palmer )

 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Scripture:

"If you can?".....Everything is possible for him who
believes.  (Mark 9: 23)

Reflection:

The other day I heard a great definition of faith. 
" You just have to believe that He's done it and
it's done."  This is a big problem with most of us. 
After asking God to do it, we do not believe that
it's done.  Instead we keep trying to help Him,
get others to help Him, and anxiously wait to
see how He is going to work.

Real faith adds "Amen" to God's "Yes" then takes
it's hands off, leaving God to finish His work.  The
language of faith is, "Commit your ways to the Lord,
trust in Him and He will do this."  (Psalm 37: 5)

TRUST IN THE LORD AND HE WILL DO IT