Tag: Daniel Westfall

Ep.266: Scourging, Training, and Discipline.

Ep.266: Hebrews 12: Scourging, Training, and Discipline.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 12 says:
The Lord trains those he loves
    and chastens all his children (v. 6). 
Our human fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best,
    but God trains us for our good,
    so that we may share in his holiness.
Training is painful, not pleasant.
    But it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace (vv. 10-11).
Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
    Make level paths for your feet,
     so that what is lame may not be disabled, but healed (v 12).      

When I was young and full of fear, I tried my hardest to be a good Christian. My efforts had an unintended result: instead of getting better, I got worse. I discovered that my sin problem ran so deep in mind and body and soul that I could not eradicate it. The harder I tried, the more I failed, and the more discouraged I got. 

And then I encountered Hebrews 12 in my King James Bible: 
  Whom the Lord loves, he chastens,
      and scourges every son he receives (v. 6). 

Comforting thought, that. God loves me so much he’s getting his whip ready to scourge me? Maybe that would help with the sin problem. 

Or maybe not. 

Then I found author Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He wrote a chapter on Hebrews 12, giving it the title, “In God’s Gymnasium” (Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure. London: Pickering and Inglis, 1965). His point: God did not want to scourge me, but train me. Perhaps I was right about the depth of my problems. But the solution was not pain and punishment, it was an exercise program. As exercise can strengthen and heal feeble arms and weak knees, so God’s training of my inner life can bring restoration and healing.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, it makes a difference whether we think of you as actively punishing us to correct our sins, or if we see you as our personal trainer in the gym, promoting exercise and a healthy diet. 

Forgive us where we have wrongly felt you judge harshly and punish vigorously.  Teach us to embrace your training program that will grow our capacity to hear and obey your  word, correcting our confused thinking, and helping us run the race you have set before us.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.265: Psalm 129: The Anti-Harvest.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 129 says:  

 They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
    but they have not gained the victory over me.
  Ploughmen have ploughed my back
      and made their furrows long.
  but the Lord is righteous;
      he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked (vv. 2-4). 

This psalm returns to a frequent theme: oppression and persecution. The poet uses a striking agricultural image: his enemies have ploughed a furrow in his back. Despite this cruel and inhuman treatment, God has seen and rescued him. 

The second part of the psalm invites God to punish the wicked ploughmen. It says:
  May all who hate Zion
    be turned back in shame.
  May they be like grass on the roof,
    which withers before it can grow;
  a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
    nor one who gathers fill his arms (vv. 5-7). 

Using grass to thatch a roof or sod to waterproof it doesn’t produce a harvest. The grass dries up and withers. The hopeful reaper finds the opposite of harvest–no grain to rub in his hands, no stalks to gather into sheaves.That’s how the poet wants God to deal with his enemies: uproot them from their native soil, place them where there is no opportunity for growth, no hope of harvest, no joy and blessing from arms full of produce. 

Let’s pray. 

Ou father, with the poet we pray:
  They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
      but they have not gained the victory over me (v. 2). 

We invite you to sustain us in our long battle against things that oppress us.
– When we sink into depression, draw us into joy
– When we react in anger, teach us peace
– When we isolate ourselves, restore us to community
– When we are lazy, help us to show initiative
– When we are critical, teach us to be helpful

May the grass of our old life dry up and wither, producing no harvest. May the new life you give us find rich soil and grow. We do not curse our enemies as the poet does, but we pray that you will prevent harvests of evil, and bless a harvest of good.

We ask you to break every curse against us. Where family or teachers or preachers have thought ill of us and highlighted our failures, grant us justice. Define our present and future by your promises, our growth by the good rain you send on us. May our lives yield a harvest of righteousness. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.268: Psalm 128: Straight and Narrow.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 128 says:  

   Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
      who walk in obedience to him.
  You will eat the fruit of your labor;
      blessings and prosperity will be yours.
  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine. . .
  Your children like olive shoots
        round your table 

Two comments on this passage. 

First, the good life God gives to those who fear him is not wealth nor success nor power. The poet describes the good life as a life of sufficiency, not excess, as a domestic life enjoying the fruits of one’s labor, as a life at peace with one’s spouse and children. It’s a stretch to suggest that today, God’s blessing and prosperity should include a big car, a big house, a big bank account, and a vacation cottage. 

My second comment is about the fear of the Lord. What does it mean to fear God?

Recently, I hiked to Sarrail Ridge in the Rockies. On a 6-kilometer trek, we gained one kilometer of elevation. Standing on the Sarrail Ridge, looking down a steep, rock-strewn cliff to the lake a kilometer below, I got that queasy feeling of vertigo, and stepped back from the edge. Then we sat on a rock overlooking the cliff, munching potato chips and sandwiches, enjoying the view.  

The hike reminds me of my walk with God, mostly trudging uphill, avoiding roots and rocks, stepping over fallen trees, trying not to slip on shale and gravel. Occasionally the path winds past a serene mountain lake or through a rippling stream. Gravity is present on the journey, ready to pull me to the ground if I stumble, quick to dump me over a cliff if I give way to vertigo. On the journey, I am careful, but not fearful. 

God is always with me, just 10155like gravity, but my response to him is not fear of his power and punishments. God is present in the air I breathe and the world I live in. He gives me freedom to act, he encourages me as I take each step in life, in relationships, in work, or rest. If I run afoul of his laws of spiritual gravity, if I consistently ignore or wander from his path, I will experience consequences. But God’s attitude to me is father and friend and guide, encourage. He gives me his Spirit, he leads me through his high country, he picks me up when I stumble. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, creator, as you built the universe with a strong force of gravity, so you created human life for true morality. Help us to walk in love you and our neighbors. May the gravity of that task not weigh us down and crush us, but may it show us the way to go. May we experience it, as Frances Havergal wrote:
  The narrow track upon the mountain side,
  With ever-widening view, and freshening air,
  And honeyed heather. . . 
        from Frances Ridley Havergal, “The Two Paths,” Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
        Accessed 27 August 2021. https://ccel.org/ccel/havergal/keptuse.h5.html  

We fear displeasing you, father, we fear to incur your anger. But we trust that you are for us, not against us. Walk with us through this life, correct us where we are wrong, encourage us to do right. We are not fearful children, but trusting. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.263: How to Perfect Faith.

Ep.263: Hebrews 12: How to Make Faith Perfect.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 12 says:
  Therefore, since we have a great cloud of witnesses
    let us lay aside everything that hinders
              and the sin which entangles, and
     let us run with patience
              the race that is set before us
  fixing our eyes on Jesus
              the author and perfecter of faith.
    (Hebrews 12:1-2a)

Our cloud of witnesses is the heroes of faith highlighted in Hebrews 11. We could imagine them peering down from heaven, cheering us on in our race of faith. More likely, the author means that their lives witnessed to the faith we have taken up. We keep the faith by emulating their encouraging stories. 

How to do this? The author’s advice: think like a long-distance runner. Strip down to the essentials–running shoes, shorts, shirt. Pace yourself for the long haul. Lay aside everything that hinders and sins which entangle.

So, why don’t we disentangle ourselves and run freely, successfully, in the faith? I look to several reasons in my experience.

I go in fits and starts rather than running a long, patient race. If I begin a new program of devotions on Monday, by Friday I’m either sleeping in or surfing world news instead of reading scripture or praying. 

If I decide to use my time more wisely and efficiently, I soon become confused about what to do next. Before I know it, the afternoon is squandered playing computer Scrabble. 

I think of the people I could phone or meet. But first, maybe, a nap. 

Perhaps I should try harder, beat myself up, or look for new strategies to get stuff done. 

The author of Hebrews suggests a better approach. He says, simply: Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.

Easier said than done. How can I look to Jesus? Hebrews 11 says Moses persevered because he saw him who was invisible (v. 27). 

I don’t have Moses’ skill of seeing the invisible. But here is one way I look to Jesus. I’ve always been plagued with memories of wrongs I committed, people I’ve failed, opportunities squandered, time lost, lack of progress in things material and spiritual. Those memories come unbidden, unwelcome, triggering self-condemnation. Recently, when I think of those things I pray,
    Jesus, I leave my past at your cross,
      trusting you
            to forgive all my sin,
            to heal all my disease,
            to fix all that is broken. 

That’s it. My simple discipline of turning, or repenting, or fixing my eyes on Jesus. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we live by seeing the invisible, by inhabiting metaphors of salvation. We eat your body and drink your blood, and work in your invisible kingdom. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to believe, and courage to live the life of faith. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.262: Psalm 127: Unless the Lord Builds the House.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 127 begins: 

   Unless the Lord builds the house,
      the builders labor in vain.
  Unless the Lord guards the city,
      the guards keep watch in vain.
    In vain you rise early
      and go late to rest,
      eating the bread of anxious toil;
      for he gives his beloved sleep (vv. 1-2). 

The poet has quickly disposed of the myths of the self-made man, the lone ranger, and the workaholic. Success is not the result of human effort alone; success comes when God and people work cooperatively. 

The Taliban recently returned to power in Afghanistan, quickly filling the vacuum left by departing Americans. The United States spent twenty years and billions of dollars building and supplying the Afghan government, Afghan infrastructure, the Afghan army, the house of Afghanistan. But it all imploded in one week in August. As the poet says, unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord guards the city, the army and the politicians labor in vain. 

The second half of the psalm talks about family:
  Children are a heritage from the Lord . . .
  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
      are sons of one’s youth.
  Blessed is the man
      whose quiver is full of them. 
  He will not be put to shame
      when he contends with his enemies in the gate. 

In an ancient, patriarchal, agricultural society, it was good to have sons to work the fields, protect the family, and defend the city from enemies at the gates. The poet gives God credit for building the family: children are indeed a heritage from the Lord.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, how often we append a prayer to our plans, asking you to bless them. But the poet sees a more cooperative process, in which we build the house when you are building, or we guard the city you are guarding, or we leave our work undone when you invite us to rest. Give us, we pray, that inner sense of how to cooperate in the work you are doing.  

How different was the poet’s life from ours. We are less patriarchal, less agricultural, more technological. No walled cities. No enemies gathering at city gates. Instead, the threats to our religion and way of life are corrupt ideologies, lying conspiracy theories, and violent fundamentalist movements in Islam and Christianity. The lure of hedonism calls our sons and daughters away from the godly heritage we have tried to give them. Our children are a heritage from you, our city and country a gift from you. Guard our heritage as we try to preserve what is good and resist what is evil. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube