365 Days of Praise
I Get to Go Home
In the month of December, we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus. He is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. Fast forward 33 years. Can you imagine His anticipation when, after pouring His teachings into people, and completing His mission to conquer death and sin, it was finally time for Him to get to go home – to return to His glory and heaven? He must have been giddy…about to explode in joyous anticipation. Hebrews 7:26 zeros in on the great divide between Jesus and us. “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens…” High. Priest. Holy. Innocent. Undefiled. Birthed into a mess of sinners. What must His child’s holy heart have felt? What teenage temptations did Satan pile on Him? What spiritual battles did He fight alone, with no one in whom He could confide? We will never know the extent Christ suffered for us even before His scourging death. Then, He awoke from the grave. Alive. But still here. Until finally, Acts 1:9. It was time to go home! Can you imagine what the disciples experienced when Jesus was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received Him out of their sight? I can’t imagine it. I’ve tried. Put yourself in the scene. There you are. Jesus is telling you that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be His witness. Mind-boggling. The Holy Spirit who was upon the “greats” like Moses and Elijah, is going to come upon you! Before you can get your mind around that, Jesus starts ascending, lifted up before your eyes. You’re in shock. His feet are literally off the ground. Your head is titled back. You look up and watch until you can no longer see Jesus who is gone…exalted above the heavens…home.
Heavenly Father, we can’t get our minds around Your majesty, throne, and what heaven is like. But, we’re so glad Jesus is with You, exalted above the heavens. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all You have done for us – incredible!
© Debbie Taylor Williams. Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to forward or share this material provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee for it. Any exception to the above must be approved by Debbie Taylor Williams. Please include on any web posting or printed distribution: © Debbie Taylor Williams, www.debbietaylorwilliams.com. Thank you.
Be Like Jesus by Doing This
I wish I could be like Jesus. Have you ever had that thought? You wish you could heal your loved one. You wish you could speak and calm storms – literally and figuratively. There are many ways we cannot be like Jesus, but there is one way we can be like Him. We can be prayerful. Yes, Jesus prayed and we can pray often and fervently, privately and publicly, thanking our Father for our food, and praying over upcoming challenges and hard things to do. We can be like Jesus and teach others to pray as He taught the disciples in Matthew 6:9-13. If you wish you were more like Jesus, why not begin by being more prayerful? “Pray, then, in this way….” Matthew 6:9a.
Heavenly Father, thank You that although there are many ways we may not be like Jesus, you allow us to be like Him by being able to come to You in prayer. Thank You that we can pray. Quicken us to be more prayerful.
Take Courage
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the OVERCOMER. We praise You for the peace You give us that is out of this world.
Your “Appointment” Pop Quiz
True or False: God is interested in our lives, relationships, families. True or False: God assigns individuals to particular tasks? True or False: God has set times in history. If you said true to all three you are absolutely correct. Do you have Scriptures to back up your answers? If not, meditate on the following in terms of your life. Let the reality of God’s hand in individual lives, relationships, times, places encourage you.
“So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the APPOINTED time of which God had spoken to him,” Genesis 21:2.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have APPOINTED you a prophet to the nations,” Jeremiah 1:5.
“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.” Ezekiel 3:17
“And the LORD APPOINTED a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights,” Jonah 1:17.
“So the LORD God APPOINTED a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant,” Jonah 4:6.
“He (Jesus) APPOINTED twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,” Mark 3:14.
“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the APPOINTED time will come,” Mark 13:33.
“And inasmuch as it is APPOINTED for men to die once and after this comes judgment,” Hebrews 9:27.
Yes, God appoints times, people, places, events, and more. What has He appointed you to do?
LORD GOD, You APPOINT people, places, times, and events. How exciting! I want to be a part! Appoint me.
When Public Opinion Doesn’t Matter
We have to make a decision. We either believe what Jesus says about Himself or we don’t. In other words, we call Him a liar or we call Him God. Although we might want to be agreeable with people who insist there are many ways to heaven, that’s not what the Bible says. This is one time when public opinion doesn’t matter. No other prophet besides Jesus claimed to be the God. No other prophet was killed and rose from the dead as Jesus did; witnessed by hundreds. First Timothy 2:5 explains, “There is ONE GOD, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” If you don’t know Him, get to know Him. The account of His life and His teachings are recorded in the Bible. A good place to begin is the book of John. Pray before you begin reading, open your mind, heart, and spirit to receive Him.
Lord Jesus Christ, thank YOU for being the One God and one way to salvation. Open the hearts and minds of those who side with public opinion that there are many ways to heaven. Show them that You alone are the One God in whom there is deliverance from sin and deliverance to heaven.
When You’re Down and Out
When you think about Jesus, what do you envision? A body hanging on a cross? I hope not. Although we begin our relationship with Jesus by acknowledging His death on the cross on our behalf, there’s more to our relationship with Him. We also need to see Him resurrected, ascended, sitting at the right hand of the Father. And, by the way, we need to see Him anointed with the oil of gladness. “What?” you may ask. Hebrews 1:8-9 explains. “But of the SON He says, …Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.’” What does it mean that Jesus is anointed with the oil of gladness? It means joy is poured out all over Him. He’s rendered the devil and death powerless. He’s freed we who were held captive in sin. (Hebrews 2:14-15) Jesus accomplished what He intended to do – save us. He is full of joy. If you’re ever dragging through your day, discouraged or down, look toward heaven and remember that Christ, who is anointed with the oil of gladness, has you safe and secure in His hand. You will one day share in the glad salvation He has prepared for you. In the meantime, ask Him to fill you with gladness. Share His gladness with others who are down and out.
Lord Jesus, anointed with the oil of gladness, pour your anointing in and through us so others see and believe in You.
When You Wish You’d Handled Something Differently
Have you ever wished you’d gone in a different direction than the one you took? Have you reflected on words you said and thought, “I wish I’d said that differently.” If so, Psalm 32:8 is an encouraging reminder that we can handle things better in future days. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go…” Psalm 32:8 assures us. Yes, in addition to the Lord being our Savior and friend, He comes to us and says He’s willing to instruct us in the best way to go. That’s amazing, don’t you agree? We might wish for the top stock broker to advise us financially but not have access to him/her. We might wish for the most successful business person to be available to us, but not have a chance of getting an audience with them. But, here the LORD GOD is saying He’ll teach us. He’ll instruct us. Again, it’s amazing! He who has infinite understanding and an eternity of knowledge says He will show us the way to go forward. Why not pray now about a situation or relationship where you could use the Lord’s instruction to move you forward successfully?
Lord, You are infinite in understanding. Please instruct us today and quicken our ears to be quick to listen and obey. Thank you for the incredibly valuable gift of having access to You.
About Jesus
The Lord God Almighty named His Son Jesus. Why? Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.” In other words, we need look no further for how to be saved from our carnal nature and hell. The answer to how we can be saved is Jesus. Only through the forgiveness of our sins by His death on the cross are we saved.
Acts 2:22-24 clearly states that our hope is in Jesus of Nazareth. “Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, …this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
If you want to live in the realm of what is impossible for you and possible only by Jesus, turn to Jesus, repent of sin, and call on Him as Lord.
JESUS, Savior, we praise You with hallelujahs for saving our souls from hell and saving us for heaven and eternity with You.
Check Your “Ask/Worship” Ratio
Lord, Most High God, forgive us for asking but not worshipping You with thanksgiving. Holy Spirit, prompt us to be grateful, thankful believers who worship more than we ask.
Praise God, Non Jews are “In,” Too!
Have you ever appreciated a Biblical truth but gained a deeper appreciation while reading the Bible? That happened to me while teaching Acts 10, the chapter where the Lord gave Peter a vision and told him to go to Cornelius’s house, a non-Jew, and share the message of salvation with his household. Peter, who once thought that God was the God of the Jews only, was illumined and led by the Spirit to say, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” (Acts 10:34-35) Paul reinforced this miraculous good news in Romans 3:29, stating, “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?” If the God of the Jews had not extended the gift of salvation through Jesus to we who are not Jewish by birth, we would have been excluded from heaven for eternity. We would have suffered loss eternally. The good news is, the God of the Jews opened His arms and the pathway for non-Jews to be saved. Could I hear a hallelujah?
God of the Jews, we praise You for extending the glorious gift of salvation to we who are not Jews. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!