Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
Psalms 7:9-10
I couldn’t say I’m rattled but there sure is more on my mind today than usual. Not enough to throw me off completely and to render me reckless, but needless to say, I have to unload. I have to write.
Going straight to the Word via the OliveTree app on the laptop. This is not my usual routine of sitting down and reading the printed-out Gideon Bible and writing down any verses that come into mind.
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end. I’ve been sharing about my concerns about the upcoming Presidential Elections here in my country. My worries are based in part on my experience during our last elections last 2016, where a certain candidate was clearly leading, only to be overtaken by mere thousands in the span of a couple of hours. I’ve also observed how Trump had such a vast lead, only for some sort of ‘magic’ to happen leading to his loss. Obviously I’m aware of more details concerning the former incident, but one thing I observed that was in common in both occasions that there was serious doubt cast over (1) the validity of the win, and (2) the subsequent competence of the ‘winner’.
I know I said in an earlier post that I ought to remember as early as now that God is greater than anything and everything that we may put too much focus and thought into, but I would rather recognize this truth in victory, rather than trying to draw it out in defeat. That’s why I’m saying, in these crucial hours leading to election day, indeed, Lord, let the evil of the wicked come to an end. I hate the fact that there are powerful people, far more powerful than we could imagine, trying to have their way with our own freedoms.
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end. I say this for myself, for the effects of the mindsets that I have allowed to latch on to me earlier in my life, leaving me distorted, distracted, and demotivated today. This addiction to comfort, and this addiction to instant gratification. This short-sightedness that demands satisfaction and spurns any sort of discipline that would compound and have me moving in leaps and bounds, given enough patience. Father, I want this to end.
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end. I say this for those within my influence, for the families I minister, including but not limited to my brothers and their own families, my Mom, and Manang Irene here in my own household. Let anything and everything that tries to tear them down come to an end, immediately – Oh, I’m in that state of mind, which would have me go beyond my own defaults; No, for some reason, today I’m asking for divine intervention. Let the evil of the wicked come to an end.
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end. By the power of the Holy Spirit, let us overflow with the literal Gospel of Christ and His finished work in all aspects of our beings, that we would appreciate it for ourselves, and that we would celebrate with others. And, in our celebration, again – let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and let faith arise. Indeed, let faith arise in our hearts and in our minds, and let it overflow naturally in our words and actions, to ourselves and with others.
Let us give thanks to God. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through all He has done, we have been made righteous. And because we have been made righteous, we are not only held together, but we are also established, as the Psalm mentions. We are set on a solid Rock to stand, with a Hope that serves as an anchor to our souls. We will not be moved, nor will we be shaken – we will only see the recompense of the wicked. We will see the evil of the wicked come to an end.
Again, let us give thanks to God, because not only does He establish us, but He saves us. He saves us from the deadly pestilence. He does not allow us to be struck by the arrow that flies by noon. We see a good deal of what it means to be saved through Psalm 91. And not only does He save us, but because we are constantly with Him, we know that we are well-shielded, protected by Him, from thoughts that would sabotage us from the inside, and from words that would drag us down to the outside.
Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
Psalms 7:14-16
Shall we pray for the death of our enemies? God forbid! As we just read, they already have enough trouble as it is. They dig their own pits in which they fall. In wickedness they are full of mischief and lies, and it is this same mischief that makes them suffer consequences. And it’s not enough that their bodies are subject to said consequences that they bring upon themselves, but look – even upon their own skulls, their own minds, the violence ‘descends’ – to me, this means that they are fused into this downward spiral of sin, leading to their eventual death.
Oh, I’m not one for following examples, but may we all have the same overwhelming grace, overflowing in us, the same way grace flowed out of Christ even as He was nailed to the cross. It was by grace, and by the joy set before Him that He not only endured, but prayed for those who hurt and persecuted Him – ‘Forgive them, for they do not know what they do’.
In our proclaiming that the evil of the wicked come to an end, we project grace, by way of asking for forgiveness ourselves – for the times we went down the levels of the wicked, out of impulse, or in our moments of vulnerability. We project grace, by way of proclaiming forgiveness – even to those who hurt us, and with nothing but the worst for us.
And we not only pray for forgiveness, but deliverance – behold, may we all recognize that now – not tomorrow, but today, here and now – now is the day of salvation: For the wicked, and for us to recall our own Savior, and to celebrate.
Oh, praise God from whom all blessings flow – It’s only by Him and through Him that I overflow with these thoughts, and these emotions. I am thankful, because He knows all that’s in my mind, He reads between the lines, He wades through the murky waters and finds what is of value… And through all of this, He responds in His infinite wisdom, for each and every one of us. This is our God, with whom we have been reconciled by the finished work of Christ.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
Psalms 107:1-3
Allow me a moment of vulnerability.
Father, I thank You. Thank You so much for Your goodness, Your goodness which is present and is overflowing upon each and every one of us. As You are infinite, I have cause to believe that Your goodness is infinite, always increasing, always bursting forth to minister to each and every one of us, no matter what we’ve done, no matter what we’re doing. Father, Your goodness rains down upon us and floods our being, saturating us, no matter what we do, or no matter what is being done to us.
To say that You are good is one thing, Father, but for us to stretch it out and to go deeper into Your goodness… oh, what a privilege, what a way to bring us back into line! For even in times when we are confused, when we lack the motivation, when we suffer from an absence of inspiration and innovation – Father, in these times we can certainly keep coming back to Your throne of grace, understanding that You are good.
And how do we know You are good? Why can we say You are good? Well, we know this because of Christ, and because of all that He has done for us. Because of what Your Son has lovingly done for all of us, we can count on your goodness, even when we perceive that everything around us and everything concerning us is impacted by the screaming winds and mighty waves of this fallen reality. We give You thanks, Father, for You are good!
You are good, Father, and Your love endures forever – what a great Truth to digest, what delicious Bread to keep feeding on! We give You thanks, Father, for Your love that endures, far beyond sin and death, beyond the far-reaching consequences of our sin, or the sins of others. We give You thanks for Your love that endures beyond all our greatest triumphs, and all the pleasures of this world. It’s Your love that matters above and beyond everything else we see in this world, and it’s not for us to say that we disdain all that our senses take in – no, as a matter of fact, because of Your love, our eyes are opened even more to behold Your glory seen in all of creation!
And what a revelation that is, to see glory with greater ease… for when we see said glory more, we certainly celebrate more, and therefore more and more people would come to the knowledge of Your saving grace!
Father, You’ve certainly invested so much in us, and what else can we say, but thank You?
Father, for all who have made it this far, I just pray that you minister to them. And in Your ministering to them, Father, may they go deeper into the knowledge and realization of Your absolute goodness exercised towards each and every one of us. May they see Your goodness through hearing the Gospel, the Good News of who Christ is and all that Christ has done – from His birth to His death, from His resurrection to ascension.
Father, I pray that as You minister to my brothers and sisters, that You remind them of Your extraordinary love, Your love that endures more than anything and everything that they themselves are enduring. Remind them of Your longsuffering, Your lovingkindness that prevails, allowing them to see all they have endured in the light of Your Truth.
And as they – and as WE take in the Truth; as we take in more and more of the Grace and Truth that comes through Jesus Christ, Father, let faith arise – Let faith explode!
I thank You for this time, Father. Thank You, for loving me. Thank You, for Your goodness towards me, and towards all of us. Thank You.
Because of Christ and His finished work, you, friend, are blessed.
Christ endured all He did on the cross to ensure that You would not only be reconciled, but kept in His everlasting arms, now and forever.
This same God who embraces you looks at you, not with disgust or indifference, but His face literally shines upon you, assuring you that He will always be gracious to you.
Furthermore, He not only looks at you but lifts His countenance upon you, assuring you of your right-standing with Him…
Be at peace.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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