Standing Before God 17th Day in Lent (Monday) Read: Romans 5:1-11 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Romans 5:1-2a (NIV) ‘Grace is the basis for our standing before God’. What does it mean to ‘stand before a King’? I enjoy reading the historical fiction books by Philippa Gregory. It is obvious in these books that there was a hierarchy in society in the Middle Ages. There was the upper class consisting of the kings/monarchs, nobles, knights, and clergy. Then the middle class tended to be the merchants, doctors, and those with important jobs; and then there was the lower class – the peasants and serfs who performed all the menial tasks and jobs. Firstly, to see the king you had to get through all the secretaries and make an appointment – only if you had an important issue. If it wasn’t important or considered necessary or beneficial to the kingship, there would be no way to stand in the king’s presence. Through the saving action of God in His Son Jesus Christ, God has allowed us to come directly into His presence and talk to Him freely. Back in the Old Testament times, the common people had to talk to God through the priests and offer sacrifices to make themselves worthy. Now we are reconciled with God. Reconciliation is talked about quite freely in society and between cultures and nations, but the essence of reconciliation is to bring people together with differences or conflicts and help them understand each other. Being reconciled with God means that He has come to us directly and made us clean through the act of Jesus on the cross. He opened Himself up for us to understand more of the nature of God. So, we can stand in His presence – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don’t have to ask for an audience from a priest or secretary. Through the grace of God, we can stand in His presence and ask Him for whatever is on our minds. We can understand and accept the grace and love that He offers us every day. Jesus’ act of suffering allowed us to stand before God. Prayer: Dear Lord God, thank you for your reconciling love and act of grace toward me. Being able to stand in your presence is humbling, helps me always to be appreciative. Amen. 2
Grace, not death
by Pauline Simonsen
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Salvation comes from the Lord (Jonah 2:9b).
Read Jonah 2:1–10
Like the Old Testament people, I have a wary respect for the sea – for its relentless waves, vast expanses and profound depths. I’ve swum in the sea, travelled in boats over it, gazed at it from the beach – but the sea remains a powerful, untameable vastness that would swallow me in an instant.
So when Jonah says to his fellow sailors battling a fierce storm, ‘throw me overboard’, I feel the terror. So do the others. They try everything: chucking cargo overboard, praying to their gods, rowing – but nothing helps. Finally, asking Jonah’s God for mercy, they throw Jonah into raging waves. The sea grows calm, and the sailors are stricken with greater fear of this Hebrew God who is more powerful than the sea. They worship Yahweh.
What did Jonah experience as he went over the rails into the violent sea? Fear of mighty waters runs throughout the Old Testament. Jonah feared the Lord more. He knew his rebellion against God’s command to preach to Nineveh caused the storm. He submits to what he believes is his punishment: certain drowning. Jonah lives by the law.
But he doesn’t drown. God sends the great fish to swallow him up. More terror – he will surely die in the belly of this fish!
But he doesn’t die. In the swirling darkness of this strange would-be grave, he remembers Yahweh. He reaches out in faith to the God he spurned and remembers with thanksgiving that ‘salvation comes from the Lord’.
It surely does. Jonah is vomited onto the beach, alive.
However, this narrative (and Jesus took it seriously – see Matthew 12:39–41) reveals the nature of Yahweh. This God who calls Jonah to preach against Nineveh also sends storms, great fish and vines that reveal God’s heart of mercy. God desires to save people – Jonah, the sailors and Nineveh – and goes to extreme lengths to do so.
Jonah is famously displeased with God’s mercy (Jonah 4:1,2) and would rather die than watch God’s compassionate grace on Nineveh. The very same grace that Jonah pleaded for in the belly of the fish!
Thank God, his divine love and mercy are not frugally portioned out, only for those I think deserve it. God’s grace is lavish and undiscriminating – extending to whoever calls out to him and pursuing those who don’t.
Have mercy on my hard-heartedness, Father. Thank you for your endless grace to me, secured in Jesus Christ. Give me the same heart of grace and compassion for all those I meet today. Amen.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband Roger and their two cats. There, she leads Emmaus Bible College and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.
Our God saves!
by Pauline Simonsen
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… all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10b).
Read Isaiah 52:7–10
Israel languishes in captivity in Babylon …
Suddenly a voice cries out, the voice of the Lord. ‘Wake up, my people and my holy city! Shake off the dust, put on your finest clothes – because your salvation has come! Too long have my people been oppressed, and my name slandered. But now, my people will know my name – I AM!’
The God who delivered his people from Egypt will deliver them from Babylon; the great ‘I AM’, Yahweh, returns with his people to his holy city Jerusalem, and the watchmen on the ruined walls shout for joy. The Lord has comforted his people, lifting his mighty right arm of power to redeem them from slavery. All nations will see that the God of Israel saves!
What glorious news for Israel in captivity!
But Isaiah’s beautiful message of hope rings in our ears even more gloriously, because we have seen Yahweh’s greatest act of salvation: our Lord Jesus defeating sin, death and the devil on the cross and rising to everlasting life. All nations of the earth see how the God of Israel saves: through his Son, now enthroned as king of all creation.
And one day the king will return in glory to his domain, earth, bringing final justice and shalom in the fullness of his kingdom.
What an astonishing, beautiful message of salvation and hope in these days of war and struggle and the apparent triumph of evil. Our God reigns! Our God of mercy and steadfast love lifts his powerful, holy arm to save his people – lifting Peter from the waters of Galilee, lifting you and me from our sinful struggles. This is the good news we carry and bring to other struggling sinners: receive the grace of this God who saves; rest and rejoice in it.
Those are our beautiful feet Isaiah describes!
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’
Lord God, our Saviour and King, remind us daily how you have saved us – that in our baptism we were joined to Christ our redeemer, and we belong to you. Spirit of God, renew in us each day the joy of our salvation, and make us willing messengers of hope to those who need this glorious news! Amen.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband Roger and their two cats. There, she leads Emmaus Bible College and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.
Heaven meets earth
by Pauline Simonsen
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Truly you are the Son of God! (Matthew 14:33b)
Read Matthew 14:22–33
Jesus is mourning the death of his relative John the Baptist, executed by Herod. Jesus has tried to withdraw from the crowds to grieve, but they pursue him, and in his compassion, he tends to them. He feeds 5,000 men (plus women and children!), and when all are satisfied, he dismisses them. Once more he withdraws, sending his disciples off in the boat across the lake, while he goes up into the hills to be alone with his Father.
What happens next reveals Jesus in a different realm than us mortals. After communing with his Father and receiving divine comfort, refreshment and energy, he decides to rejoin his disciples. Being far out on the lake, battling a savage headwind and buffeting waves, doesn’t appear to be an issue for Jesus. He walks out to catch them up, striding powerfully through the waves as though walking along a dusty road in Galilee. This Jesus is also the Son of God, Creator Lord of this natural realm.
This is how the disciples encounter him – a pale figure in the darkness striding past them on the water. A phantom?! This extraordinary figure, untroubled by wind, waves and darkness, greets their terror with the words, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
For a moment, Peter glimpses the divine realm, his Master’s home, and he wants to experience it. When Jesus invites him, Peter climbs out of the boat and walks towards his Creator Lord. What an experience! In Jesus’ presence, the divine and mortal realms meet; heaven intersects with earth, and humans walk on water.
It only lasts a moment. Like the pull of gravity, Peter’s mortal nature reasserts itself. He sees the waves and feels the wind buffeting him, and he is once more merely human, now sinking into the Sea of Galilee, crying out to his Lord for salvation.
Immediately, Jesus reaches out his hand to catch Peter, to save him and bring him into the boat of safety. ‘You of little faith,’ he says to Peter, ‘why did you doubt?’
Why do we doubt our Lord Jesus when he brings the limitless power of his divine home to our cramped, mortal lives, when his hand alone saves and restores us to the safety of the boat with our fellow travellers?
Lord Jesus, forgive my doubts and fears, and stir my faith to see your true identity as my Saviour Lord and my God. Remind me that one day, your home will be mine as well. Amen.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband Roger and their two cats. There, she leads Emmaus Bible College and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.