True rest rather than deceitful sleepiness

...here comes Jesus to deliver you from the latter.

Verse for the week: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” I Corinthians 1.27

Prayer for the week: “Almighty and merciful God, for your mercy’s sake, keep far from us all that opposes you, that, unhindered in body and soul, we may serve you with hearts set free; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirched, 2nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p.216). 

Bible reading for the day:  Hebrews 3.12-19 (note: This letter was written around 95 AD, when Christians were experiencing persecution for their faith and had little hope that the crisis would become anything but worse. Many were losing the perseverance of faith and falling away. Hebrews was written to instill enduring trust in Christ alone.)

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, Christ alone is of a true heart. Thank you for exposing the deceitfulness of mine and rescuing me from it in Christ. Keep speaking your Word to me and by your Holy Spirit grant me ears to hear your voice… that in this wilderness of sin I may not fall but enter the true rest who is your Son, our Lord. In his name I pray, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, newer hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9-UNer6MQ&ab_channel=HadleighBaptistChurch

“I believe in Jesus Christ…”

What does this mean?

I believe that Jesus Christ – true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the virgin Mary – is my Lord.

At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil – not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.

All this he has done that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.

This is most certainly true. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction:  The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

                             The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

                             From this time on and forevermore.  Ps 121.7-8  

 
*The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:
T: thanksgiving
R: regret (repentance)
I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P: plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.