Jesus, I Have My Doubts: Lent Daybook 34

Look: The Great Empty (São Paulo, March 18, 2020), Photographs by New York Times - Source

Listen: Jesus, I Have My Doubts, Jon Foreman - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: Psalm 31; Psalm 35; Jeremiah 24:1-10; Romans 9:19-33; John 9:1-17

Excerpts:

“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. 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.

Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’”

*

“After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ I said, ‘Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.’

Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”

*

“You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

… as it is written, ’Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

*

“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’”

-Psalm 31:21-35:1-3 * Jeremiah 24 * Romans 9:19-24, 33 * John 9:13-17 (ESV)

Pray & Do: The Lord's Prayer - Adapted from this source.

On Mondays during Lent, we'll use the Lord's Prayer as our guide for praying for ourselves and the world. One of the ways to pray the Lord's prayer is by dividing it into six sections and pausing between each section to offer prayer on that theme. This week, as we consider how resolving to stay present to God with our grief helps us express lament to God, notice areas of acceptance that stir in your heart and mind as you pray the Lord’s Prayer. Journal your responses.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name

Thank God for who God is and for God's abundant faithfulness. Contemplate God's many attributes and offer praise for the blessings in your life, community, and the world: ____________________.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Pray for God's rule and reign to become a reality in your life, city, nation, and world. Ask for God to bring miracles and salvation: ____________________.

Give us this day our daily bread

Pray for God's daily provision in your life and for those around the world who the Holy Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us

Engage in a few moments of silence to allow space for the Holy Spirit to bring specific acts of sin to your attention. Confess those sins to the Lord. Also, be still and allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind those that have sinned against you so that you can name them to God, ask for healing and strength to forgive. Forgive those who have wronged you: ____________________.

Lead us not into temptation

Ask for God to guide you in 'paths of righteousness for God's name sake'. Pray that God will give you the discernment and knowledge of God's will in the specific decisions, known and unknown, ahead of you today: ____________________.

Deliver us from evil

Pray for God's protection against any of the strategies of Satan. The Devil wants to kill, steal, and destroy. Ask God to mightily deliver you and others the Holy Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.