May 2, 2024
Depending on what time you're reading this, there may still be saints praying in the Sanctuary on this National Day of Prayer. James tells us that "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16, NASB). God has ordained the ends as well as the means, and prayer is one of the means that He uses to bring to fulfillment His sovereign decree. One of the books I read as I was coming to embrace Reformed theology during college was Doug Kelly's If God Already Knows, Why Pray? It was an encouraging look at the sovereignty of God, the responsibility of believers, and the way those two things go together. Let us be diligent and fervent in prayer for the Lord's work in our country, our church, our families, and in our lives!
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Our youth families have already heard this news, but I want to let all of you know that Ashley Benton has announced that she will be leaving her position as Youth Ministry Coordinator at the end of the summer. Ashley started working with us right after COVID hit, and has been the steady presence through several Youth Directors, a Youth Pastor, and Interim Youth Directors. She's given her heart, time, and energy to ministering to our youth, and will be deeply missed when she steps down to focus on her calling as an artist. Fortunately, she and her husband Jackson will remain here at POPC while Jackson finishes med school, and Lord willing even beyond. Be in prayer for Ashley, the youth staff, and the youth as they enjoy this last summer together with Ashley on staff. And pray for our Youth Director Bobby Epps and the Youth Ministry Team as they search for Ashley's replacement. If you get a chance over the coming weeks to say thank you to Ashley, please do so!
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Have you ever had the experience of reading something in the Bible that you feel like you've never seen before, even though you've read that book of the Bible numerous times before? I just had that experience with the book of Hosea. In Hosea 13:4-6, we read this: "But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me." God is lamenting over the defection of His people, whom He had delivered from Egypt, whom He knew and cared for in the wilderness. It's verse 6 that stood out to me: "but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me."
Here we see a pattern of backsliding and leaving our first love that has repeated itself time and time again in the lives of the Lord's people: God provides for us, we become full, our heart becomes proud, and we forget the Lord. God's goodness sadly becomes the opportunity for our sinful hearts to believe that we don't need the Lord, that we can do just fine without Him. We become satisfied with the gifts and forsake the Giver. We become satisfied with the blessings He has freely and undeservedly granted, and we become prideful in our possessions. Like Israel in the wilderness, we begin to think, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:17), and we forget that it was the Lord who gave us all that we have, even the power to make the wealth we have. So let us always be on guard, lest affluence and comforts like we enjoy in America be an occasion for pridefully forgetting the Lord. Let us remember daily that it is the Lord who gives us our daily bread!