Good morning church family – I hope you had a good sleep and are giving thanks for the grace and mercy of God for a new day today.  And I hope that you were able to set aside some time yesterday to worship and reflect on what God is saying and doing in your life.  It is so incredible to consider that our God does not have any kind of “six foot rule” and He is not currently implementing any “social distancing” measures from us.  Daily, each of us has the supernatural opportunity, moment by moment, to draw near to God, and not only that, to lead others to draw near to Him as well.  As we are reminded in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you….” (NASB)

Today’s Daily Dose is coming via email instead of video (look for the next video Daily Dose tomorrow).   As I begin, please read what Paul says in Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

There are some very simple and powerful reminders in this short verse alone:

1)    Our God is a God of hope

2)    God will fill us with joy and peace as we put our trust in Him – such a gift

3)    And, not only will God fill us with joy and peace, He will fill us with Himself, with His Holy Spirit, so that His hope will burst forth from our lives to those around us.

Father God, please fill us with your joy, your peace, your hope – and yourself.  And Father, even more than this, please fill us with yourself, your Holy Spirit, so that we can overflow, literally spill over, with your hope to a hurting and fearful world.

Let me ask you to reflect on something today during this Daily Dose.  I want to ask each of us to reflect on what God might be doing in the world, in our community, in our church family, and in our personal lives right now.  The rest of James 4:8, quoted above, goes on to say this – “…Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (NASB).  

Yes, God invites us to draw near, and He says He will draw near to us as well.  But God also wants us to do something else – He wants us to look into our hearts and reflect on the position of our hearts related to Him. 

As we consider the emergence of the coronavirus in the world we live in, and the nation we call home, it has impacted all of our lives.  My guess is that it will continue to impact us in the weeks and even months to come.  And so, along with drawing near to God, what would God want from us in a time like this?

Could this be a time for us to re-align our lives with God?  And not just individually, but corporately as a church, and even as a nation!  If we look back to the Old Testament and the story of God and the people of Israel, we can see a pattern that repeats itself.  It seems that whenever there was a major national issue (of which I would say coronavirus is one), God wanted the nation to repent and turn their hearts back to Him.  Notice how things ended up playing out – it was only when the people responded with repentance that God walked them through their struggle.

Could this be a time where God is calling us to repent and turn our hearts fully back to Him?  I’d like to invite you to consider a Day of Prayer and Fasting next Monday, March 30 (resources would be provided to help guide our experience that day).  This would be a day where we as a church family (and anyone else we want to invite) will turn our hearts back toward God and ask Him not only to forgive us, and create in us a heart that pursues Him fully, but also that God would forgive our nation as a whole.  Could it be that during this moment in our history we can look to the Scriptures and those who walked before us, and learn from how they handled an event like this?  We live with the cross in mind and under the new covenant, and our standing before God is completely reliant on Jesus and His work.  However, the New Testament does not move us away from a call to repentance, both personally and corporately.

And so, as we are called to pray and fast, asking God to intervene in our world, I close with this prayer of David from Psalm 51 (yes, a different context than we are experiencing, but a prayer of repentance nonetheless).

Psalm 51 – “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Saviour, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”