Ephesians 2 Death to Life right now!

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
—it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
(Ephesians 2:1, 5, 6 NIV)

We were literally dead, our life of sin was a living death. We were without hope. All was dark and broken.

Yet we have died and now we are alive! As we received Jesus we we were baptized into his death and resurrection. So we are alive as Christ is alive having risen from the grave victorious as we celebrated at Easter.

Yet this goes beyond temporal life in this world. This is spiritual life and death. Before Christ in us we were dead physically and spiritually. Now we are alive physically and spiritually! Though heaven is not yet fully here when Christ came he began to make things new and his kingdom began to break into the world. As Jesus sent his followers in Luke 9 and 10 to say the kingdom of God is near so we the church continue to bring pieces of heaven and the kingdom here and now around us. We are living pieces of heaven on our eternal trajectory now. We don't need to wait until heaven. We are bringing heaven even now!

Let us live abundantly and fully as citizens of heaven here and now in the world! Christ thank you for this life. Help me to live it abundantly and to bring your kingdom here and now around me!
He has risen and so have we, lets live!
Amen

Psalm 32 Sins, blessed forgiveness, confession

Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long. For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord."
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them. You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
(Psalm 32:1-7 NIV)

Jesus has already paid the price of our sin and set things right with us and God. God has already forgiven us if we would but acknowledge our sin and repent by confession and turning to God.

But we are afraid of our sin and our God. We hide our sin and we are afraid of the painful work of healing. But God is patient. Lord convict my heart of my sin and give me faith to confess and turn to you! Guide me to ask others for help and to fight sin to the point of shedding blood holding to my hope in you as so much better than the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Amen

Ephesians 2: saved by grace- through faith

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV)

This is the message of the Cross the gospel. That we could not and never could save our selves. For there is nothing we could do to be righteous or good. We could never earn love or forgiveness or salvation. We deserve nothing!

And yet out of the riches of Gods mercy and abundant grace upon grace Jesus gave up everything he had in order to give those spiritual blessings he had to us who did not deserve.

This is what we so often argue about:
Yet here the order is quite clear:
We are saved only by Gods grace
The means by which we accept that grace given as a gift is through faith
And out of that new life we receive we live for the good works that Christ created us to do.

Our faith and works do not earn grace. Our works are the way we live. We could never earn Gods love or our salvation by works or faith. And he grace is already given because of what Jesus did.

Thank you and thank you again!
All praise and glory be to you!
I humbly want to receive and enjoy this great gift!
Amen

Psalm 31: trust as you wait upon The Lord

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

in your righteousness deliver me!

Into your hand I commit my spirit;

you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, "You are my God."

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the Lord!
(Psalm 31:1, 5, 14, 24 ESV)

David cries out in great distress again and again. Often he feels God has abandoned him: he feels his situation is hopeless. Yet he sits in the tension of despair and yet does not fully lose sight of God who is his hope and savior and fortress.

For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my years with sighing;

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my acquaintances;

those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have been forgotten like one who is dead;

I have become like a broken vessel.

For I hear the whispering of many—

terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

as they plot to take my life.

I had said in my alarm,

"I am cut off from your sight."

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.
(Psalm 31:10-13, 22 ESV)

Lord help me as I wait upon you. Give me strength and courage. Give me endurance and hope! Let me see you first and not see my life by my circumstances. For you are bigger than me and far bigger than my circumstances. Lord I am sorry for my worries and my small faith. Lord I believe but help my unbelief.
Amen

Psalm 30 rejoice in the Lord's salvation

O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

and give thanks to his holy name.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
(Psalm 30:3, 4, 11, 12 ESV)

God we were in sin and death before Jesus. Before I knew you Lord I remained without hope. I was living in hopelessness and death.

But you have done the work on the cross for my salvation. You have paid he price of death I deserved.

You have drawn me from ignorance into your marvelous light. For I did not know The Lord and his love for me. But now I know the gospel and know your truth God.

God I want to sing your praises unending.

God I hope to give thanks to you forever. Seal my heart in you God.
Amen

Psalm 29 Do I really believe God is sovereign?

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord, over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth

and strips the forests bare,

and in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

May the Lord give strength to his people!

May the Lord bless his people with peace!
(Psalm 29:1-11 ESV)

Before I praise God for all of these things I want to stop and think do I really believe that God is sovereign?

Today as I portray Jesus walking to the Cross.
Is God sovereign.

Today as I sit in a massive hall built by the wealth of the petroleum industry that is sometimes marked by greed, waste and destruction and sin. Today as I walk across a campus with many faithful but thousands who reject The Lord God as their savior and reject God as our creator. Do I believe God is in control and loves each person even though many will reject him eternally?

Today as I fundraise and humble myself to depend on the provision of God and the generosity and zeal for the Lords kingdom, do I believe you are sovereign Lord?

To be honest I doubt a lot. But God has proved faithful and his plans are not my plans. In his great love and wisdom he allows us to choose. And the wisdom of God is rejected by the world. Your son Jesus Christ and his sacrifice is rejected by millions. Many who even call themselves Christians reject you and your name 363 or 364 days of the year. God you are the mighty creator of the universe, why do you let them disgrace your name? Why do you let us chase after idols? Why do you love us so much when we are so undeserving? What hope do you carry for humanity God?

Was it really worth dying for just the few of us who would believe and turn and repent? Is your kingdom really glorious or is it small and empty of true followers?

How can we go on believing when our own family and close friends reject you Lord. Perhaps they don't reject you in so many words but in their actions and often my actions we give more time to pleasure and even our works of righteousness than in truly seeking you.

God I am like Peter, I am confused and don't understand. But I believe you have the words of truth and you are the Messiah the Son of the living God worthy of praise. There is no other to whom I can turn. And so despite my doubts I believe, and I ask Lord help my unbelief.

I hold to the promises you have through the cross and that you are victorious. That one day which I don't know yet all will submit to you as Lord:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

Amen let it be so!

Psalm 28 David's understanding of God's wrath

To you, O Lord, I call;

my rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you be silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your most holy sanctuary.
Do not drag me off with the wicked,

with the workers of evil,

who speak peace with their neighbors

while evil is in their hearts.

Give to them according to their work

and according to the evil of their deeds;

give to them according to the work of their hands;

render them their due reward.

Because they do not regard the works of the Lord

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and build them up no more.
(Psalm 28:1-5 ESV)

Often times I have a hard time reading about David or the prophets proclamations of condemnation or punishment on others. Part of that may be the New Testament understanding of our role as humans not to judge.

But I think we have taken it too far and I have taken it too far. Sometimes I am so careful to be loving of the person that I condone sin. God never changed his mind on what is sin. Sin is destruction and it is evil. The consequences of sin are death. Jesus certainly loved the sinners but he despised the sins of people from pride to greed to lust. Jesus condemned the sins of people and called them to repent and turn towards what is right. Perhaps we see how easy it was for Jesus to rebuke and call others to repentance and when we find it to be much harder we give up.

But in this week before Easter I am reminded of our great sin. We are all sinners. I am a great sinner. My pride, selfishness, foolishness, lust, and failings in leadership that lead others to sin are great sins deserving of death. Yet we have a savior who already died for us on a cross. God remind me of my sinful nature and by your Holy Spirit convict me of sin, that I would feel a spiritual sorrow leading to repentance and redemption.

Thank you God for sending your Son.
Thank you Jesus for your incarnation all life and death on a cross for us.
God hep me to understand sin and your wrath that I might better understand your love and mercy and salvation.
Amen

Psalm 27 Hope only in one thing: to be with God

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, "Seek my face."

My heart says to you,

"Your face, Lord, do I seek."

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will take me in.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!
(Psalm 27:4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 ESV)

In my walk with The Lord I have come to believe I can only place my hope in one thing: to be with God. This is his promise to us. To put my hope eternally in anything else is death. For my hope is not in marriage or success or happiness. My hope is not in this life. My hope is not even in eternal joy and peace in heaven itself. Our hope as followers of Jesus Christ is that we may dwell in the house of The Lord forever and that we can experience a taste of that life with God here and now in the land of the living. But all things are cloudy and imperfect here. But in heaven all things will be made new and right. I will fully be in relationship with God my father and Jesus my savior!

Marriage is not lasting,
Family is not lasting,
Sexuality is not lasting,
Wealth is not lasting,
Success is not lasting,
Knowledge is not lasting,
Comfort and pleasure is not lasting,

But the Word of The Lord and his promises to us will never pass away.

As David trusted and waited on The Lord knowing the promises God had for him so now I want to hope and trust in God. Please God help me to hope in you and your presence and wait patiently.
Amen

Psalm 23 Hope in The Lord alone

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
(Psalm 23:1-6 ESV)

Often we hope in the provision of God instead of being content in The Lord alone.

This psalm reminds me to . . .
Be content walking this life with Jesus my Lord alone.
Grateful for others in my life but dependent on my Lord alone and content in him alone. I want to be fully satisfied in him not in my circumstances which are not in my control.

Also I want to remember that even in the worst of situations The Lord is with me and protects me. He does not keep me from dangerous situations always but he protects me for his purposes in this life and eternally. For my hope is not in long life or the good life but in heaven.

My hope and my prayer is to dwell in the house of The Lord my God forever which I am confident of because of the work of my Lord and Savior as confirmed to me in the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit of God.
Amen

Psalm 78: let us teach our children of God

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments;

and that they should not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God. (Psalm 78:1-8 ESV)

God I am excited at the hope that one day I might have a family if it is in your will. I look forward in the right timing to bringing up and raising up children into it ways God. But I am afraid because their faith is their own and between you and them God. I desperately hope they would come to know you God and hope in you and arise to live faithfully to you God passing your gospel to others and to their children. God I am afraid, but I want to prayerfully trust this in your hands. God if it is your will for me to marry and raise children I pray I would be faithful to you in raising them. I pray I would teach them of your deeds from creation to the cross through the church to my faith and on into your promise of eternity. I pray my wife and I would depend on you in raising them. I pray I would balance my work even in ministry with caring for and raising my family in your ways God. Thank you for the great joy and great responsibility of raising a family.
Amen

Psalm 75: Asaph rejoices in Gods authority to judge

We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds. You say, "I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity. As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob, who says, "I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up."
(Psalm 75:1, 2, 9, 10 NIV)

I have a hard time understanding psalms like this where Asaph or others are thankful for Gods wrath and judgement on the wicked. I am afraid of Gods wrath on other people. I trust in Christ for my redemption that in Christ we face no condemnation. But for the world, my friends and family who I am not sure know Christ I am afraid.

What if I get to heaven and they aren't there. What if I could have done more to help them remember and follow Christ? Will their lack of faith limit Gods glory. Will he have failed.

To help me understand I like what C.S. Lewis wrote in the Great Divorce:

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.
C. S. Lewis

Darkness cannot limit light. That eternally light wind and Gods salvation and glory is not limited by those who choose death without God.

But if God truly loves every person does he fail when they reject him and his salvation?
No, but it hurts him greatly I think. Yet he already know who will choose him and who will reject him. Is he diminished by this rejection? No perhaps he is magnified even more for so great a love.

God perhaps I can't truly understand the need for your judgement and wrath. I have been blessed beyond measure. I have never wanted for anything. My family has overall been healthy and whole. I have not really faced the cruelty of others. I have not fully experienced the pain of sin, the hurt of others. I have felt the extreme pain of sins I commit and the harm to others even for sins that many in the world would consider minor.

God I trust you and your goodness and love and the necessity of your wrath and judgement. I trust your plan for the world and for people to come to know you.

Lord thank you for the blessed life I have. But I know you promise us suffering in life and for following your name and preaching it. I pray you would strengthen me to speak boldly and to face hardship and persecution with confidence and trust in you alone God. I pray that I would never turn away from you but I would come to know you and trust you more my whole life and into eternity.
Amen

Psalm 73 wicked vs pure hearted

Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

And they say, "How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?"

Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

I was brutish and ignorant;

I was like a beast toward you.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may tell of all your works.
(Psalm 73:1-3, 11-13, 16, 17, 22, 25-28 ESV)

I think many of us ask this question: why do evil people have seemingly good things and sometimes good people have bad things?
For Asaph the author of this psalm this reality seems unclear and unfair until he enters the temple and sanctuary of God and remembers the eternal perspective.
But in language Jesus uses he came not to make dead people alive. Truly we are all dead to sin and all the riches of this world are meaningless because they are held by dead people. But Jesus came that we would have abundant life!

God please reveal to us part of your plan and the eternal view of earth and people. Please remind me that my only hope is you and in eternity and now all I need is you. God my flesh my fail but you never will. My ministry may fail but Lord you never will. Lord America may fail but you never will. Lord I want to trust in you alone.
Amen

Psalm 60: God rejects and saves

You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger. But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow. Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered. Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless. With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies. (Psalm 60:1-5, 10-12 NIV)

I have a hard time understanding the psalms and this view that God constantly rebukes and then saves. I am handful that I am not under the law but under grace. But Lord you are sovereign and I don't understand what that means for how you interact with your world and all that happens here good or bad. Please Lord teach me.
Amen

Meditation Psalm 59: Trust in the Lord

Deliver me from my enemies, O God;

protect me from those who rise up against me.

Deliver me from evildoers

and save me from bloodthirsty men.

See how they lie in wait for me!

Fierce men conspire against me

for no offense or sin of mine, O Lord.

I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

Arise to help me; look on my plight!

But you, O Lord, laugh at them;

you scoff at all those nations.

O my Strength, I sing praise to you;

you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
(Psalm 59:1-4, 8, 17 NIV84)

This one is pretty simple but not easy: trust in the Lord our God. Trust not in our own strength or plans. But call to God and cry out in prayer. And we can rely on God to deliver us eternally an presently if it is for our good and his glory. Because sometimes like Joseph being sold by his brothers to Egypt Gld allows us into seeming darkness for his greater good and eventually for our good.

Lord, help me to trust in you more and more. God you have proven yourself faithful again and again to me and others. Thank you Lord.
Amen

Psalm 58: Are we truly sinful an deserving death?

Do you rulers indeed speak justly?

Do you judge uprightly among men?

No, in your heart you devise injustice,

and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,

when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Then men will say,

“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;

surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
(Psalm 58:1, 2, 10, 11 NIV84)

I have a hard time understanding psalms like this that speak of wrath and justice against the wicked. As I thought about this I think God revealed that in my heart I have a hard time believing how sinful the bible and God says we are. I hold so tightly to the hope of salvation for all that I forget the depth or the darkness and sin that truly and eternally would separate us from God. I am afraid of that judgement for the world. For me I trust in Jesus death and that through his grace I am saved by faith. But what about others? What about my friends and family? I am afraid for them, because not all of them know Jesus or follow him fully.

Yet I can not fear because I am doubting Jesus and the truth that he will not lose a single one who was meant to be saved as Jesus spoke of in john 6:
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:38-40 NIV)

Reading David's desire for Gods wrath and justice against the wicked makes my heart turn. How can he really want that death and blood even on those who are evil? For we are evil except through Jesus. But in many ways I have not experienced the full blown consequences of sin close to home: war, rape, death, hunger, abuse etc. I live in a safe little bubble in Boulder CO and go to a church that is not persecuted. There are challenges here but they are different. My sin affects other and others are affected and harmed by my sin. If I experiencedmore of these sins that obviously hurt and kill others then I know my heart would want justice. It is hard for me to see that all sins are equal and that out of the same evil heart comes these sins that manifest differently and with different consequences.

Lord I ask for your Holy Spirit to convict me of sin and to reveal to me the depths of our sinful nature and how that leads to death and wrath. I also pray that out of that understanding would come a greater appreciation and hope in your Grace through the cross!
Amen

Psalm 50: Gods only desire from us

If I were hungry I would not tell you,

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

Sacrifice thank offerings to God,

fulfill your vows to the Most High,

and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,

and he prepares the way

so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
(Psalm 50:12, 14, 15, 23 NIV84)

God does not need anything from is. Yet he cares about us and desires us to turn and seek him so that he will rescue us so that we will trust and glorify him. For his desire for glory often comes through bringing us joy and deliverance and salvation.
Thank you God for your amazing love to desire us and our good! Lord humble me to turn to you. To seek you and find you so that you might glorify yourself in me.
Amen

Psalm 49: What is truly a blessing?

Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
and people praise you when you prosper— they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish.
(Psalm 49:18-20 NIV)

In our world we praise success and wealth. We consider ourselves blessed when things go well. Yet the true blessing is life eternal. Maybe we are more blessed to suffer here on the earth. Yet even as Christians we often flee from suffering and turn in anger against our God. Yet he gives us life. I am sorry lord that I seek prosperity now more than resting in your promise of life. Lord I am sorry and I want to hope in you and eternal life in you.i want to trust you the provider not your worldly provision.
Amen

Psalm 48 God is our hope And guide

As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever. For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end. (Psalm 48:8, 14 NIV)

There is this promise of a future hope secure with him in heaven. Where the troubles of the world no longer reach us for we are secure in God in his kingdom his city. But for now we walk in the world in troubles and loss but God is our God to the end walking with us to the end until we enter his hi city and dwell with him forever.
Thank you Lord!
Amen

Psalm 47: God is King!

For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne. (Psalm 47:7, 8 NIV)

It is confusing to know that here on the earth now God is present and in control ultimately but the fullness of his kingdom and will is not yet here. For he reigns from heaven now and yet the time is coming when there will be a new heaven and new earth and God will reign on the earth with his people. So now we live in the time between. We know the king and yet we do not fully live in his kingdom.

God show us how to live and glorify you. Help us to trust you even now and in the world where your kingdom is coming. I want to see your kingdom come even here and now in my life and this world! Use me for your work Lord. I sing praise to your name!
Amen

Psalm 46: Be still and Know our lord is God

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. He says, "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:1-3, 7, 10, 11 NIV)

This is such a good reminder to us. That in hard times. In struggles and even when it seems like the world is falling apart we can hold on to this: that our Lord is God, and that he will be exalted. He is victorious and yet he loves us. Our Lord is with us and he is for us. He is our mighty fortress though the world rage in him we will stand until death to live eternally with him. For there is no promise of health or wealth in this world. But we have an eternal imperishable inheritance in heaven!

Lord remind me of your love and your victory. Lord I am sorry I fear and put my hope in this world. Remind me that in you we have life eternal. Set our hopes on you and in heaven!
Amen