365 Days of Praise

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 which 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. 

July 12,2021 numerous news outlets reported about a biological male “mother” attempting to breastfeed a newborn birthed by his biological female “boyfriend.”  The biological male holding the baby to his chest commented, “The baby has been able to latch, but I have not been able to produce any milk…” * 

As I watched the news on TV, I had to rewind and watch and listen closely, thinking I had misunderstood. As the news continued, my heart and mind sank in sorrow. Not for the couple. My heart sank for the newborn baby looking/yearning for a nipple to suck that would bring forth God’s intended milk. How cruel is it to taunt an innocent hungry baby with the biological male’s breast that the couple knew had no milk? How cruel to have a hungry baby’s mouth latch to a male nipple already knowing the outcome? “I have not been able to produce any milk…”.  At what point do we as a nation begin caring about innocent babies? At what point do we make our voices loud and clear that we believe in the LORD our MAKER and we stand for males and females being created with distinct genders to God’s honor and glory?

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, ‘I, the LORD, am the MAKER of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone…Isaiah 44:24 

Formed from the womb. Formed male and female. (Genesis 1:27)  By the LORD our MAKER.  My heart breaks. Does yours? Tears and prayers are desperately needed for our nation and for innocent babies.

LORD, our hearts are heavy. We grieve over the blatant denial of You as MAKER of heaven and earth, as the LORD who forms us from the womb. Hear our prayers. Turn hearts back to You. Bring revival to our nation for the sake of  all the innocent babies and children and those who have never heard about You. 

*https://realnewsaggregator.com/news/2021/07/13/biological-male-mother-attempts-to-breastfeed-newborn-birthed-by-his-biological-female-boyfriendvideo/

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 miracuously 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?

If you have Prayers of My Heart, join me in turning to the Meditations, Notes, and Prayers section today. Write words of praise to your Heavenly Father. Do you need prompts? He’s saved us. He forgives our bad behavior and careless words. His Word straightens our wayward thoughts. His Spirit is our downpayment and security of heaven. His grace is new every morning. Do you have family or friends, a roof over your head, clean water, food, a bed to sleep in at night? Write words of thanks to Him now. Practice gratefulness.

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 .  

Would you like to experience some magnificence? Our Heavenly Father would like for you to, also. He never intended our lives to be filled with angst, anxiety, and the consequences of sin. He created Adam and Eve in His image and placed them in the magnificent Garden of Eden. He created them to share life in and with Him, to live by His divine nature and experience His MAGNIFICENT GLORY. But now? We live in a sin-sick world that is experiencing the consequences of sin and of shutting Him out. But as believers, our hope is not lost. Rather, our hope is firm in Christ Jesus. After turning from sin and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, we can daily meditate on God’s Word. We can be emotionally, mentally, and spiritually grounded in God’s magnificent truths.  Second Peter 1:4  tells us that God…

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

Stop. Let that sink in. PARTAKER. Of the. DIVINE NATURE. Friends, corruption is not our eternal destiny, but neither is it to be our daily experience. Rather, Christ’s magnificence is to be our daily moment by moment experience. It can be IF we study and grasp what Peter is telling us. We can escape worldly entrapments of despair, hopelessness, powerlessness and so much more by means of Christ’s divine nature in us operating in accordance with God’s promises. In other words, believers have the joy and privilege of learning God’s Kingdom ways and experiencing them through Christ’s Divine Spirit who is in us. Never let the unbelieving world’s despair, anxiety, and hopelessness infiltrate your soul. Begin each day welcoming your Heavenly Father and Spirit’s presence, praying,

“Heavenly Father, thank You for this day. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Your divine nature. Help me be increasingly sensitive to Your voice. Overflow in and through me. Help me be increasingly sensitive to Your voice.

The Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Bible, all MAGNIFICENT, are ours through the gift of salvation. Immerse your mind with the Father’s ways. Bath your heart in His truths and promises. Walk by His MAGNIFICENT divine nature/Spirit. Learn more with “How to Live by the Divine Nature,” my Bible study on 2 Peter.

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 out Your magnificent, divine promises so others see and believe.

Record your praise to God that He is “Magnificent” in Prayers of My Heart.  Pray for yourself and intercede for your family and others that they live by God’s magnificent nature and promises.

ONLINE SPEAKING:   I’ll be a guest on AWLM’s Instagram Live today, Monday, July 12 at 12:30. The program is a Christian ministry to wives. Please pray Jesus speaks through me to encourage wives in their relationship with Him and their husbands. Instagram is one of our new ministry fields where we provide Scripture, Kidz Time videos, etc. Follow me on Instagram to be a part.

“I need this. I need that.” Sometimes our human nature screams for what we want. We want a heavenly genie to give us what we want. 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 see to providing 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 seen to providing us with abundant life by providing the Holy Spirit as a substitute for our fallen spirit. Have you ever thought about that? 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. The question is if we are walking in faith as Abraham, according to God’s instructions? Are we? If not, begin today. Available resources to assist you:

Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion book with questions for individual study or group discussion.

Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion free teaching session videos on YouTube.

How to Live by the Divine Nature daily devotional Bible Study for individual or group use.

UpLIFT Minute podcast free on Podbean or ITunes. Put your camera up to the following QR Code to open and listen to UpLIFT Minute.

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

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’s team?  If you want to be a part of something bigger than the daily grind of the earth – something heavenly and eternal, then do the following.

1. Pray and ask God to use you.
2. Be open and sensitive when the Spirit prompts you to share Christ with others. Here are verses you can use to visit with someone about Jesus.
3. Share this 365 Days of Praise post each day by forwarding it to friends or family. Or, click the Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram symbols below each devotional and share it with friends. You’ll be sharing the good news with fields of people.
4. 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. 

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. Ponder them with me.

“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? Now you may be thinking that God hasn’t heard our prayers for our nation and hasn’t answered them. But oh, dear friend, we have absolutely no idea the outpouring of evil that might have occurred had God’s hand not been on satan’s neck. God hears our prayers. The Holy Spirit is acting and moving in response to them. If not for our prayers and God answering, I shudder to think how depraved our nation would be. So keep praying! Keep calling on God to raise godly leaders, to protect all who are standing for truth, righteousness, and freedom. What we see on earth is a reflection of the unseen spiritual warfare being played out in the heavenliness so pray like never before. There is power in prayer and your voice counts. In the meantime, it is important to have a grateful heart to God for the daily victories He is accomplishing. Is there any good in your life? Is there a victory in a leader speaking up rather than being silent? Is a family member standing strong under pressure from friends to compromise their beliefs? Are you mindfully thanking God? If not, begin! It’s important that our thanks reach God’s ears. Don’t delay. Order your copy of Prayers of My Heart journal and in the monthly calendar section, jot down 3 ways you see God work each day. Why? Because if you pause over the day with the intention of thanking Him, you’ll bring forward in your mind how God did show up big. It will bring Him pleasure to see you recognize His handiwork. It will alter your mood so that you are a more joyful Christian. 

“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?.”  Deuteronomy 4:7

Heavenly Father, I shudder to think what it would be like if Your holy restraining hand were ever lifted. I shudder to think the extent to which evil would prevail were Your Holy Spirit not restraining it. Yes, You are near, hear our prayers, and are working magnificently. We give You praise and glory. Hallelujah, praise You, Lord. Continue on. Show off big. And, may your saints be cheering You on with their daily, mindful, intentional praise.

Journal Your Praise 

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 place in Him.  We may seldom understand God’s timing but we can always have confidence that He who reigns over the hosts of angels, the air, nations, and demons 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.

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 calling on God. We’re crying out to Him. 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. 

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD OF ALL THE EARTH is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.

Heavenly Father, we praise YOU, LORD OF ALL THE EARTH! Your majesty and power are glorious. You reign in perfect righteousness.  Stir our hearts to speak boldly about You to others.