Show Notes
In this seventh week of Eastertide, we are encouraged to remain faithful, even in seasons of waiting on the Lord to move.
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Episode Transcript
Although the Easter season formally concludes this week, in some ways it never ends. As we have previously reflected, we ever live as Easter people in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet we do so in the light of what still is still to come.
Selections from Revelation, chapter 22:
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Most everyone who’s been married for any length of time will tell you that love changes. Those first giddy days, weeks and months when all you could think about was that special person give way to a more seasoned and reasoned love. There are still feelings, of course, but there’s also the choice you make as you live out your “I do.” This may be something like what the disciples experienced in the wake of the resurrection. As they waited for the promised Holy Spirit, perhaps their initial amazement, joy, and wonder began to dissipate. When would God come to them as Jesus had promised? Well, perhaps you’re in a similar situation as the Easter season draws to a close. God has spoken to you clearly at some time about what is to come. You may have initially been full of anticipation for a new venture, a new opportunity, a new direction in your personal or vocational life. But time is passing and you are still waiting. What do you do in the meantime? Like the disciples, you remain faithful. You continue to meet with other believers and devote yourself to prayer. By doing so, you remind yourself and each other what God has said and done in the past and what he has promised for the future. You also go about the business at hand to the best of your abilities, just as the disciples chose a replacement for Judas. Some who champion prayer for revival emphasize the importance of our fervency. And it’s true that God does respond to passionate hearts just as he has promised. We just need to keep showing up.
The 97th Psalm.
The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols—
worship him, all you gods!
Zion hears and rejoices
and the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments, Lord.
For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light shines on the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.
And now let us pray with Charles Spurgeon.
Father, send us the Holy Spirit. Awaken us to both the breath of spiritual life in Christ and the fire of unconquerable zeal for Christ. You are our God. Answer us by fire, we pray. Answer us both by the wind and fire of your Spirit, and then we shall see the glory of Christ for all he is. We don’t see your kingdom coming. It seems people are turning away from Jesus. Even Christians are weak in faith and uninvolved. Please send the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit. We know you will do this when we are all of one accord, all believing, all expecting, all prepared by prayer. So Father, move in us until this is true and all believers bring us to this waiting state. Send us a season of glorious disorder. Do whatever it will take to shake us and wake us from our complacency by the power of Christ and cause our nation to seek our Lord Jesus Christ as the only one who can save us. We pray for fire to fall again, fire which will affect even the most complacent. Let such a fire first sit upon all who belong to Jesus and then fall on all those around us. We know your Holy Spirit is ready to work with us today. Just as you did at the beginning, do not hold back, we beg you, but go to work at once. Break down every barrier that hinders the incoming of Jesus’ supremacy and fullness. Amen.
From John’s Gospel, Chapter 17, verses 20 through 26.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
