I want to pause today. We’re more than halfway through our 365 days of praising God. Thank you for joining me on this journey to better know our Heavenly Father and Jesus. The reason it thrills me to admire a different facet of God each day is that He wants us to know Him. The Bible is God’s love letter in which He reveals Himself. Think of it this way. Online dating has become quite popular. People share online about themselves, their favorite books, sports, music, movies, places to visit, and restaurants. They share their religious and political views. In the Bible, God puts Himself out there and says, “I want you to know Me.” He provides a progressive revelation of Himself from Genesis to Revelation. Today, we’re meditating on how the Bible describes God as marvelous. What’s marvelous about our Lord?

• His works are marvelous. Revelation 15:3 says, “And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!’”

Think. In what way do you recognize God marvelously working in your life or in the life of someone close to you? Praise Him for it.

• His lovingkindness is marvelous.  The psalmist writes, “Blessed be the LORD, for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.” Psalm 31:21.  In this verse, marvelous means “wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action.”

Think. In what way can you personally testify to the fact that God’s lovingkindness is “wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action”?

• His salvation is marvelous.  In Matthew 21:42, Jesus asks, “‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES?'”  Jesus said God’s plan for saving sinners is marvelous, which means “worthy of pious admiration, admirable, excellent, passing human comprehension, causing amazement joined with terror, extraordinary, striking, surprising.”

Think of God’s marvelous plan for saving you and praise Him.

• His light is Marvelous.  First Peter 2:9, a favorite verse of mine because it defines the believer’s purpose states, “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  We are to tell others of the excellencies of Christ and share the good news that they can live in His excellent, extraordinary, striking, surprising light.

Think. In what way are you fulfilling your divine purpose?

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are MARVELOUS in Your work, love, kindness, salvation, and light. We celebrate, worship, and thank You!

Friends, our Lord’s works, lovingkindness, salvation, and light is marvelous – extraordinary and amazing.  Spend time praising Him. Write out one of the above verses in the “Meditation, Notes, and Prayers” section of your Prayers of My Heart. Turn to the verse and meditate on it when you are moping rather than marvelous minded. Let His marvelous light do its transforming work.

In Christian circles, we often speak of the joy of the Lord, and rightly so. Jesus tells us to pray in His name to our Heavenly Father so that our joy will be made full.  We share Christ’s joy when we use the gifts He’s given us. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That doesn’t mean, however, that every day will be free of sorrow or we’ll be on a joy ride to heaven. Far from it.

I remember when Philippians 3:7-10 became my life verses. I prayed, “Lord, I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection!” I was changed after that prayer. The Holy Spirit filled me and I read the Bible with new eyes. I had an intimacy with and passion for Christ that I’d not before experienced. But I’ll tell you a little secret. I stopped my prayer before the end of verse 10. I did my own edit of applying the Bible to my life. Philippians 3:10 says, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” I did not pray “and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” I saw the end of the verse. I read it. But I didn’t pray it. I had no desire to know Christ’s sufferings. Years later, after the Lord let me know Him more fully by studying His divine attributes and experiencing His power in ways beyond my power, it was time for me to experience the “fellowship of His sufferings.” It hurt. It was not fun. I cried. I journaled Scriptures. And, my intimacy deepened with the Lord in a way it could not have had I not gone through that time and other times since then.

Isaiah 53:3 states about Jesus, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…” If you are going through a time of sorrow or grief, that doesn’t mean something is necessarily wrong with or in you. Of course, if it’s due to sin that is another subject that the Bible addresses and has guidance concerning. But if you are staying the course with Jesus and are suffering in some way, this is when you can get up close to Him, curl up in His arms, read the Bible with fresh eyes, and discover that He’ll see you through the suffering.

Jesus, MAN OF SORROWS, thank You for being here for us when we are going through hard, sorrowful times. Deepen our fellowship with You. 

Have you ordered a copy of Debbie’s newly published book, From My Heart, Poems of Faith? Within the pages, Debbie beautifully records her thoughts and prayers through the following sections: “Prayers to the Father,” “Poems of Faith,” and “Poems to Encourage.” As you read through each poem, you’ll find words of hope, comfort, and encouragement that deeply resonate with your heart. Get a copy HERE.

Debbie filmed her three-session Jude Bible study this past week. The new study starts on July 10th and will better equip believers to recognize false teaching, share their faith in love, and stand for the truth of Christ. For more information and to register, click HERE.

Are you a sourpuss? You know, grumpy, negative, never satisfied? If so, take your thoughts captive to Christ. Pay attention to what you’re thinking. Why? Our thoughts make us who we are. An example: After God opened a way for the Israelites to miraculously cross the Red Sea on dry land to escape the Egyptian army, Moses could have said, “Boy, that was close! I don’t know why God let that happen! He about got us killed.” Yes, Moses could have complained. Instead, he chose to sing praises to God. Listen to his words: 

Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy,” Exodus 15:6. Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? Exodus 15:11

So, yes, we can look at our day and circumstances and complain. Or, we can choose as Moses did to see the deliverances God has brought us through and how He’s empowered us when we’ve been weak. If we’re a sourpuss and tend to focus on the negative, we’re not doing ourselves or anyone a favor, including God. As a matter of fact, we’re being a bad showcase of our Majestic Lord. Isn’t it time we change? If you want to take your thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), do it now. Go to God’s throne room and examine your thoughts in the light of His glory. Remember, Moses isn’t the only one who has a God who is majestic in power and holiness. We do, too. Isn’t it time we align our thinking to Philippians 4:8? 

You, O LORD, are MAJESTIC in holiness and power! We sing Your praises for all the things You’ve done, are doing, and will do. Help us showcase You by examining our thoughts and being people of praise. 

Knowing the Word and being able to discern God’s voice are essential for taking our thoughts captive to Christ. To learn how to discern the voice of God, listen to Debbie’s teaching on the subject HERE. 

Would you like to experience magnificence? If you said yes, you are in alignment with God’s will for you. He never intended our lives to be filled with anxiety and the consequences of sin. Rather, He created Adam and Eve in His image and placed them in the Garden of Eden to share life with Him and experience His magnificent glory. But now? We live in a sin-sick world. However, as believers, our hope is not lost. Rather, our hope is firm in Christ Jesus. We can once again experience God’s magnificence as 2 Peter 1:4 tells us.

God “has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

God has granted to you His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become a partaker of the divine nature. Are you experiencing Christ through the divine nature He has given you?

Rather than allowing the world’s despair, anxiety, and hopelessness infiltrate your soul, begin each day welcoming your Heavenly Father and Spirit’s presence, praying, “Heavenly Father, fill me with Your Holy divine nature and Spirit. Help me walk in Your magnifience divine promises.”

The Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Bible are all magnificent. Immerse your mind in the Father’s ways. Walk by His magnificent divine nature/Spirit.

Lord, You are MAGNIFICENT and Your promises are MAGNIFICENT. Thank You for salvation by which we become partakers of the divine nature. Help us walk by Your magnificent promises so others see and believe in You. 

Learn more about becoming a partaker of Christ’s divine nature through Debbie’s 2 Peter Bible study, Living by the Divine Nature Instead of Our Fallen Nature. The study includes free accompanying videos and podcasts, which can be found HERE.

“I need this. I need that.” Sometimes our human nature screams for what we want. We want a heavenly genie to grant our desires. We may be frustrated because God isn’t dropping from heaven what we envision to be a perfect life. 

What do we do when Jehovah Jireh, “The LORD will Provide,” doesn’t appear to provide exactly as we want? First, it’s important that we understand the context of Genesis 22:13 when God’s name, “The LORD Will Provide,” is introduced. The scene was when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a test of his obedience. Abraham walked in faith, assuring Isaac that God would provide a sacrifice. The Hebrew name “Jehovah Jireh” means “the LORD will see to it.” In other words, Abraham believed that God would provide a substitute sacrifice in place of Isaac. It foreshadowed God seeing to our salvation by providing Jesus as a sacrifice for us. 

But it’s important to realize that God has seen to even more. He has provided us with abundant life by giving the Holy Spirit as a substitute for our fallen spirit. God has seen to our daily questions about how to do life by providing Biblical instruction as a substitute to cultural trends on marriage, sex, money, parenting, envy, anger, and more. Yes, God has seen to our eternal and daily needs by providing Jesus, the Bible, and Holy Spirit. The question isn’t if there is a heavenly God who hears and answers our prayers. Rather, it is whether we are walking in faith according to God’s instructions, as Abraham did. If not, begin today. 

Heavenly Father, we praise You, Jehovah Jireh, the LORD WHO PROVIDES. Help us not foolishly ignore the Spirit’s presence and Biblical truth but rather walk by both. 

Want to learn more about God’s provision? Read this related blog post. 

Does the word “work” scare you in relation to serving the Lord? For instance, when a minister announces the need for more workers for Vacation Bible School or for volunteers to go on a mission trip, do you sink in your pew and hope your eyes don’t meet his? Do you shrink back from the idea of talking about Christ openly with friends and co-workers? If so, perhaps it’s because we haven’t yet gotten our minds around the incredible privilege and invitation Jesus invites us to. 

In Matthew 9:37-38 when Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into His harvest,” He wasn’t calling us to busy work. Rather, Jesus looked at the fields of people who were stressed and discouraged and had compassion for them. He invites us to share the good news that His Heavenly Father loves them, that sins can be forgiven, and we can live by Christ’s divine nature rather than by our flawed human nature. We have the hope of heaven and eternal life. What greater, more meaningful “work” could we be employed doing than joining Jesus’ team? 

If you want to be a part of something bigger than the daily grind of the earth – something heavenly and eternal, then pray and ask God to use you. Be open and sensitive when the Spirit prompts you to share Christ with others. Keep your heart open to ways God wants to use you. 

LORD OF THE HARVEST, thank You for coming to earth and telling us the way to eternal salvation. Use us to share the good news with others so they can have a relationship with you like we do. 

Want to learn more about living by Christ’s divine nature? Get Debbie’s Bible study on 2 Peter, Living by the Divine Nature Instead of Our Fallen Nature, HERE. You can also access the free accompanying videos and podcasts HERE.

Following the Israelites exodus from Egypt, Moses recounted their conquests and urged the people to obey God’s Law. In his discourse, he spoke the poignant words in Deuteronomy 4:7. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?”

Have you ever thought about his words in relation to our nation? The LORD our God is our God and whenever we call on Him, He’s near?

You may think that God has not heard our prayers for our nation. But, we have no idea the amount of evil that might have occurred had God not been answering our prayers.

Therefore, keep praying. Keep calling on God to raise godly leaders and to protect all who are standing for truth. What we see on earth is a reflection of the unseen spiritual warfare being played out in the heavenliness; so pray like never before, assured there is power in your prayers. And, remember to have a grateful heart for daily victories. Is there any good in your life? Is a family member standing strong for their beliefs rather than compromising them? Are you mindfully thanking God? If not, begin. It is important that our thanks reach God’s ears.

LORD OUR GOD, we shudder to think what our nation and world would be like if You removed Your restraining hand. Thank You for being near and hearing our prayers. We give You praise and glory. 

The Lord is always present and wants us to talk to Him through prayer. Learn to pray more purposefully through Debbie’s book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.

Could you use a shot of hope that God sees and hears you? If so, consider James 5:4 where God is referred to as Lord of Sabaoth. 

“Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.”

In this passage, Sabaoth means host or hosts, especially in relation to warfare or service. It’s a reference to Jehovah Sabaoth’s reign over the host of angels, the air, nations, and demons. Praise God, He is in charge of all of that. But now take it down to a worker in a field. To think that the Lord of Sabaoth heard the cries of workers who were unfairly treated by their bosses is amazing. Are you being unjustly treated? Does it seem like no one notices what you are doing or hears your pleas for help? Rest assured that the Lord of Sabaoth notices you and hears you. Your hope is well placed in Him. We may seldom understand God’s timing, but we can always have confidence the the God who reigns over the host of angels, the air, demons, and nations, He hears our prayers.

LORD OF SABAOTH, we worship You and are humbled that You see us and hear our prayers. We place our hope in You knowing You will answer in Your perfect timing according to Your will. 

Do you commute to work and want to listen to some encouraging teachings by Debbie while you drive? Let her podcasts on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify help you set your mind on Christ before you start your day!

Who do you call on when you’re anxious or scared and it seems there is no one who can help you? Who do you call on when you’re powerless to change a situation? Those times have a way of humbling us. Whereas we may have been too busy to pray, we suddenly find we’re continually praying. We’re crying out to God. Such was the case with King Hezekiah when Sennacherib, King of Assyria, threatened to overtake Jerusalem. Hezekiah prayed and prayed hard. Listen to his prayer: 

“O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. … Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.” Isaiah 37:16-17, 20 

You can hear the plea in Hezekiah’s heart. He didn’t want to be defeated. He didn’t want Jerusalem to be overtaken by an enemy. But there is more to his prayer. There is a higher reason to pray for God to deliver you, a loved one, or our nation – so people will know that the Lord is God of all the kingdoms of the earth. When we pray, do we pray only for ourselves? Or, are we praying so God is glorified in and through us and our struggle or situation? 

LORD OF HOSTS who is enthroned above the cherubim, we worship You and recognize You as God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. Your will be done in our hearts and lives so You are glorified. 

Using the Prayers of My Heart prayer journal is a great way to organize and record your prayers for yourself and others. You can also use it to look back at answered prayers and give God the glory. Purchase your journal HERE.