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Praise to the Lord, My REAR GUARD
“… the Lord will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your REAR GUARD.”
Do you feel like every time you take a positive step forward, something else happens that you didn’t want or expect? Do you sometimes feel like you need eyes in the back of your head? Until we get to heaven we won’t know all the ways that God has and is protecting us. Not only does He go before us, God also describes Himself as a REAR GUARD to those who are moving forward in His will according to His commands. Keep moving forward, dear one. The Lord will go before you and be your REAR GUARD. All praise to Him!
Lord God, thank You for going before us and for being our REAR GUARD. All praise to You!
*Record God’s names and titles in Prayers of My Heart prayer journal so you’ll have a keepsake of all 365.
Praise to Christ, Who RANSOMed Us
“…Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a RANSOM for all,”
Did you see the movie, Ransom? Mel Gibson played the dad whose son was kidnapped. The evil kidnappers demanded that Gibson pay a certain price, a ransom, to get his son back. That’s what Jesus did for us. We were captives in the domain of sin’s darkness. (Colossians 1:13) But Jesus gave HIMSELF as a RANSOM to gain our freedom; to restore us to the Father. Amazing love! how can it be that thou, my God, should die for me?*
Lord Jesus, we praise You, our RANSOM, our LORD.
* from the hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain.” Watch and listen HERE.
Praise to the Lord, Who RAISES THE DEAD
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
A dear saint and friend, Emmy Lou Andrews, was a faithful member of our Hill Country Ministries prayer team before she went to be with the Lord. She always encouraged me that God was in control. The ultimate place we see His control is over our death and eternal life. Although we are pronounced DEAD on earth, His voice will call us to life. We will experience what Lazarus did – physical death, but then hearing Jesus’s voice. We will live!
Lord, we praise You, Savior who RAISES the DEAD!
Praise to the Radiance of God’s Glory
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,…”
This has always been one of my favorite ways Jesus is described: the radiance of God’s glory!
The word “radiance” is only used 5 times in 5 verses in 3 books of the Bible. In each of those, it refers to God. The writers have a glimpse of God and reach for words to describe His brilliance and the light illuminating from Him. He is light, so He’s described as brightness. Commentator Vines defines God’s “radiance” as “shining forth, of a light coming from a luminous body.”
Bless yourself and read Ezekiel’s attempt to describe God: Ezekiel 1:27, 28. Habakkuk 3:4, 11 are the other two places where God’s radiance are mentioned. Then, we read what the writer to the Hebrews said; that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. Christ reflects God. He glows with Him. He can’t help it. He is God. He’s His Father’s Son…masked in a human body; just waiting to get out at His resurrection and ascension. But Jesus stayed in His earthen body until He accomplished what He and His Father wanted Him to do. He redeemed us. And one sweet, glorious day, we’ll join Ezekiel and every other person who has had a glimpse of God’s radiance. We’ll fall on our faces as they did; overwhelmed by what our eyes sees. That day is coming because Jesus is returning through the clouds soon and very soon.
Heavenly Father, our hearts are overwhelmed as we read the accounts of those who have had glimpses of You. We can’t imagine what it will be like to see Your glory. We praise You now and forever.
Praise JESUS, who is QUIET in His LOVE
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
Today we live in what is referred to as a “fallen” world.
- We have fallen away from God.
- We have fallen from living by His commandments.
- We have a “fallen” nature that, if left alone, falls further and further into sin.
But, God is with us.
- He is the ultimate victorious warrior.
- He is joyous over us when we turn to Him for salvation, and we will see that joy one day when we are in His presence.
He is QUIET IN HIS LOVE.
No, we don’t hear trumpets and cymbals announcing God’s love. Rather, we know it in our hearts. We sense God’s presence and love.
Wherever you are right now, our Lord is with you. He is QUIET IN HIS LOVE for you … assuredly loving you.
Lord, we praise You for Your continued QUIET, LOVE for us.
Praise to the Lord, Our PURIFIER
“When He had made PURIFICATION of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
Have you ever longed to be pure….pure as the fresh fallen snow? What would that be like? What would it feel like to be untainted? One who is not pure cannot make another pure. But One who is pure can purify us.
What a great and glorious work our Savior has done. HE has PURIFIED us of sin for eternity. Now, we can daily submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father for daily purification. We can confess our sins. We can learn God’s ways and increasingly walk in them through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, who made PURIFICATION OF OUR SINS we love, adore, and praise You! Purify us as You are pure.
Praise to Jesus, who is PURE
“Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him (Jesus) purifies himself, just as He is PURE.”
How do you feel about drinking dirty water? Not keen on the idea? How do you feel about following an impure savior? That doesn’t sound appealing either. In fact, we wouldn’t do it. We would run in the opposite direction if we discovered that the one we called Savior was deceitfully wicked. But the One on whom we fix our hope is PURE. He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of us purifying ourselves as He is PURE.
Lord Jesus Christ, we praise You, PURE spotless Savior!
Praise to Our PROVIDER
“…does He who PROVIDES you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
“I need help.” We’ve all been there. We’ve felt inadequate to do what we need to do. We’ve felt incapable of being who we need to be. God wants us to know that we don’t have to feel that way in regard to our relationship with Him or what He calls us to do. He makes it clear that He’s given us His Spirit. We’re not short on provisions. Instead of saying we can’t live the Christian life, we can look to God. Instead of saying we can’t accomplish what He’s entrusted to us to do, we can ask Him to fill us with His all providing Spirit. That’s something for which to praise Him!
Lord, You are the PROVIDER, who provides us with Your Spirit. We praise You!
Praise to Our PROTECTOR
“But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and PROTECT you from the evil one.”
Does the amount of evil in our day ever cause you to fear for yourself or a loved ones? Recently, after speaking at a church, a young mom approached me and confided that she feared for her child. Part of her fear was because she had been molested as a child. Part stemmed because of the immoral culture in which we live. What hope do we have in the day in which we live? Prayer, obedience to God’s commands, and eternal salvation.
PRAYER: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray to be delivered from evil. We ask our Heavenly Father to PROTECT us and others; to deliver us from evil.
OBEDIENCE. The Bible is our safeguard. It instructs in the way in which we should walk. It PROTECTS us by telling us what is evil so we don’t fall for Satan’s schemes.
ETERNAL SALVATION. We can’t escape all evil in this life. But, Jesus has provided for our eternal protection and salvation from evil by opening the path to heaven. The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and PROTECT all who call on Him.
Lord, You PROTECT us from the evil one’s daily snares and from an eternity of evil. Help us walk wisely, strengthen, and protect us from evil.
Praise to our PROSPEROUS Lord
Behold, My servant will PROSPER,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Are you familiar with “prosperity theology”? It’s defined as “a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one’s material wealth. If humans have faith in God, he will deliver security and prosperity.” *
However, Jesus didn’t teach or live that. He preached the gospel. He taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy… But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven,…” Mt 6:19-20. Jesus taught that we are to build our lives on Him. He is to be the foundation of our life, so we don’t collapse when floods destroy our homes. Lk 6:46-49
What does the Bible mean, then, when it says Jesus prospers? The Hebrew word in this verse means “success.” Although during Jesus’s life it appeared that He was doing anything but prospering, He was successfully accomplishing God’s will by securing our salvation.
As family, friends, and our world suffer devastating floods and earthquakes, it’s a somber time for us to consider what we’re building our lives on and for. Is it the here and now that can easily be destroyed? Or, are we instead, storing treasures in heaven that last eternally?
Lord Jesus, Prosperous One, thank You for successfully securing our salvation with You for eternity. Help those in harm’s way to find strength and security in You.