365 Days of Praise
Bite, Chew, Graze
Are you hungry? Is there a gnawing in you? Do you feel that something is missing? That no matter what you do, purchase, or where you go, you still want more? Do you fill the emptiness, but it quickly returns? If so, maybe it’s your spirit that is hungry. If so, the solution isn’t more food, clothes, or money. The solution is found by filling our spirit with the Holy Spirit of Jesus who John 6:48 describes as the BREAD of LIFE. Jesus is to the soul, what a whopping delicious meal is to our body. Begin your day with bite-size Bible verses. Chew on them throughout the day. At night, graze on the promises of Christ. Go to sleep with your spirit fully satisfied in Christ.
Lord Jesus, we praise You, BREAD OF LIFE! Thank You for satisfying the yearning of our spirit as we meditate on You.
What’s Flowing Through Us
Have you ever had something grow in your flowerbed and you didn’t know if it was a flower or a weed? That’s happened to me. The same can happen when people read books or listen to people who make flowery claims and promises. Words can sound good, but if the teachings are not based on Truth, the words come up short and mislead people. In Jeremiah 23:5, Jesus is described as a righteous Branch, the real deal rather than flowery show. “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, when I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.’” Jesus is the wise, just, righteous branch of the Lord. Believers are grafted into Him. Are we daily bowing to His kingship? Are we allowing His life to flow through us as syrup flows through a maple tree? Is His sweet life in us bringing joy to others; wooing them to be grafted into Christ?
Heavenly Father, thank You for grafting us into the righteous branch of Jesus Christ. Stir our hearts to be more intentional about Christ’s Spirit flowing through us so others are blessed and drawn to salvation in Him.
Wilted or Watered?
Have you ever walked through an unwatered garden? The plants are wilted. There’s little fruit, if any. What a difference when you walk through a well-watered garden; one loved by the owner. Flowers and fruit abound. The garden has a beautiful fragrance. The gardener has withheld nothing and has committed everything to care His plants. In Jeremiah 31:12 God is described as bountiful and His people like a well-watered garden. “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—and their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again.” If you are languishing today and are physically, emotionally, or spiritually wilted, I understand. Life can at times drain us. Go to the Lord. Open your Bible. Be refreshed and filled by His Spirit. He loves you! Come! Drink.
Heavenly Father, we praise and thank You, BOUNTIFUL Lord, that though life is draining, we don’t have to languish. Rather, in You are the well springs of life. Thank You for Your ever replenishing supply of love, joy, peace, and strength.
Hitch Your Wagon to the Right Star
Are you familiar with the saying, “Hitch your wagon to a star”? It’s an idiom that means “to commit to an aspirational goal or course of action that will lead to fulfillment.”* But many today are hitching to the opposite. Instead of hitching to what Romans 1:25 describes as God who is BLESSED FOREVER, they’re hitching to the world. The Bible warns us that there are serious repercussions when people don’t honor God, give Him thanks, and they exchange the truth of God for a lie. God eventually gives those people over. Over to what? Romans 1:18-25 tells us – over to impurity, over to dishonor, over to degrading passions, and over to depraved minds. What are we hitching our lives to? The ways of the world or to God?
Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus, who are BLESSED FOREVER, help us examine the courses of action to which we are hitched and rightly hitch to You.
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*Wiktionary
Yes, There Is Someone We Can Trust
We hear the news – one person gives their side of a story. Then another person gives theirs. We’re told one thing, and then find out it was a lie. Is there anyone to whom we can look and fully trust? Yes! Our Lord. “BLAMELESS” is the word that describes Him and in Hebrew means “whole, entire, sound, complete, wholesome, unimpaired, having integrity, entirely in accord with truth and fact.” That, friend, describes our LORD. Psalm 18:30 says, “As for God, His way is BLAMELESS;…” He is the One to whom we look and in whom we celebrate in praise. He and His Word are what we follow, not the changing culture. Today, let the light of the Blameless Lord shine forth through you.
Lord, we celebrate YOU, the BLAMELESS One!
If You’re Alone, Broken, Sick
Are you alone? Are you emotionally scattered? Are you broken or sick? Ezekiel 34:16 tells us that God is in the business of tending to the lost, the scattered, the broken, and the sick. Listen to his words, “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick.” Yes, there are times in our lives when distance, disease, and death leave us feeling like we can’t take one more step, that we can’t get through the day or night. But our Father wants us to know that He sees us, He cares, and He is with us. Turn to Him. Rest in His arms. Put your head on His chest. Listen to the heartbeat of His love for you. He didn’t create the world scattered, lost, and sick, but rather as beautiful, peaceful, and perfect. All that our heart longs for, we will one day experience in His presence.
(Keep a gratitude journal of the ways God is working in your life and helping you and others. It will please Him to see that You recognize His presence. It will encourage your heart.)
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for being with us and BINDING UP the many ways we are BROKEN. Thank You for helping us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
What Love is This
Jesus, at age 12, described the Jerusalem temple as the house of His Heavenly Father and in doing so laid claim to intimacy with God. At Jesus’s baptism, our Heavenly Father laid claim to intimacy with Jesus when He said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Matthew 3:17. “Beloved Son” is a term that means esteemed, dear, favorite Son. Yes, we are the sons and daughters of God. Yet, when we ponder the magnitude of the sacrifice of our Heavenly Father giving up His favorite Son for our sins (John 3:16) and Jesus leaving His Heavenly Father to come to earth to die for our sins, we can’t help but have profound gratitude and wonder at their love for us.
Heavenly Father and Beloved Son, we praise You for Your magnamious love, grace, and sacrifice so we can live with You in eternal glory. Thank You. We love You.
In Need of Something BEAUTIFUL?
Do you have enemies? Are you fearful? Is there trouble anywhere? David, the psalmist, can relate. But he kept his eye on the ball. That is, he kept his eye on God’s past and present faithfulness. He knew God to be the beauty in the ashes, righteousness that overcomes evil. David chose – like we can (and are) to gaze and meditate on God’s beauty and His eternal temple to which we’re headed. In the midst of the agony and defeat, discouragement and doubt, we can say, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4
BEAUTIFUL LORD, we praise You. Thank You for being the beauty in our day and the One on whom we can gaze.
This is one of God’s 365 attributes for which we can look up, praise, and trust Him. To learn about His other attributes and ways you can know God and praise Him, join us HERE.
A High and Precious Calling
Would you agree there’s a lot of darkness in the world and that people senselessly hurt one another? Here’s good news. Believers have a different calling than to hurt one another. First Peter 2:21-24 is God’s shout out for us to walk according to a high and precious calling. “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, [Calling 1: Follow Christ’s Steps] who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; [Calling 2: Speak the Truth]; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, [Calling 3: Take the High Road in Relationships], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; [Calling 4: Keep Entrusting Ourself to God]; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; [Calling 5: Live Righteously]; for by His wounds you were healed. [Calling 6: Walk in Christ’s Healing] Yes, there’s a lot of hurt in the world, but Christians are called to a high and precious calling. How are we doing?
Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus and that He bore our sins so that we might live righteously. Help us honor Him by living according to Your high and precious calling.
Fix. Our. Eyes. On. Jesus.
Have you ever struggled in your faith because you wondered how God could let His Son die for us? Have you ever wondered how Jesus could lay there and let the Romans pound nails into His hands? Hebrews 12:2 explains that it was their plan to save us. Now we have a role in relation to their great sacrifice. “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.;” Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. He sacrificed His life for us. Now, He tells us to fix our eyes on Him as we go through life’s ups and downs, struggles, and pain. Fix. Our. Eyes. On. Jesus. He did His part. Will we do our part and go through today looking to Him as our example and strength?
Lord Jesus, AUTHOR and PERFECTOR of our faith, we adore You. Help us fix our eyes on You and look to You for our strength.