365 Days of Praise
Dark Spots, Tunnels, and Light Switches
Are you in a dark spot? Maybe not literally, but it feels like it. You’re down. You don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps it’s the sin that surrounds you that oppresses your spirit. Maybe you’ve lost your vision for future projects or the vision for the family for which you long. Perhaps the thought of growing older and entering the sunset years seems bleak. Whatever you’re going through, remember this important fact: God is a lamp who illumines darkness. Yes. God is light. You know that. I know that. But we sometimes forget. So today, right now resolve to carry the Light of Christ with you into every thought and situation. How? Well, my friend, you’ve already begun. You’ve opened your heart to the psalmist’s words in 2 Samuel 22:29, “You ILLUMINE MY DARKNESS.” So say the words loud and strong to Jesus. Yes, right now. Say them with me, “Jesus, You illumine my darkness.” Now think on ways He does illumine your darkness. Grab a pen and write whatever comes to your mind. I’ll start us out, then you add to it.
Jesus, You illumine my darkness with the truth. When I read the Bible, you encourage my heart.
(Your turn.) ______________________________________________________________________
Dark spots and times in our lives aren’t the end of the tunnel. Rather, dark spots and times are signals to turn on the light just like when we walk in a dark room. We don’t bemoan the dark room. We don’t stand in one place in the dark room and say, “I can’t see how to move forward.” Instead, we put our hand on the light switch. So we put our hand on the Bible. We turn on the light switch. We turn the pages of the Bible. Dark spots=invitations to invite Jesus in.
Jesus, You illumine the darkness. You illumine my darkness. Darkness cannot exist when You are present. So fill us. Prompt us to quickly turn to You and Your Word any time darkness begins to move into our heart or mind . We love You, sweet Savior.
Something to Smile About
Lord, HUSBAND, Maker, Lord of hosts, Redeemer, Holy One of Israel, God of all the earth, we love You and thank You for Your abundant love and commitment to us. You give us a reason to smile.
An Offer to Come Closer Than 6 Feet
How’s your heart? Oh, I’m not talking about the physical condition of your heart, although that is important. Rather, I’m referring to your spiritual heart. Why? Because Jesus made us a great offer in Matthew 11:29. He tells us to mosey up close to Him – sincerely close. Close enough to be yoked together. In other words, closer than 6 feet. Close enough to smell the sweat on each other. Close enough to talk in a normal tone of voice. Close enough to be in step with each other. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” What benefit would there be for us if we walked in step with Jesus? a) We’d learn a lot from Him. b) We’d move in the right direction and with a gentle, humble heart. I wonder if we should give it a try. I know I’d like to be a lot more like Jesus. Would you? Would others like for us to be more like Jesus and have His humble heart? I think so!
Sweet, humble Jesus, I love You. Thank You for modeling Your humility when You died on the cross for my sins. Thank You for inviting me to come closer than 6 feet, to come right up to you and to learn from You. I’m in!
Are You Clinging?
Do you ever feel shaky, like you might fall? Do you ever feel like you’re not sure how you can make it through the next day, week, or year? If so, consider memorizing Psalm 18:2 where our Lord is described in this unique way.
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the HORN OF MY SALVATION, my stronghold.”
Perhaps you’re familiar with the Lord being described as our rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, and stronghold. But what does it mean that the Lord is our “HORN OF SALVATION?” Scholar Herbert Lockyer explains:
“the figure of the Horn is taken from those animals whose strength is in their horns. Because the horn was once the instrument of the oxen’s strength, it became the symbol of power. And our God and Savior came as a horn or mighty instrument of salvation.
In addition, when horns were fixed to an altar they became projections to which sacrifices were bound and to which those who needed protection could cling.”
Yes, as you think about all the ways the Bible describes God, remember to add Jesus as your HORN OF SALVATION. Cling to Him.
HORN OF SALVATION, we praise You, our strength, and salvation. Thank You that we can cling to You.
Indescribable
Have you ever been called a “gift” because of who you are and what you give to others? Second Corinthians 9:15 describes Jesus in this way. “Thanks be to God for His INDESCRIBABLE GIFT.” What is the indescribable gift? Jesus Christ laying down His life so we could be heirs of heaven!!! However, there is so much more to the INDESCRIBABLE GIFT. There’s the grace, righteousness, and fruits of the Holy Spirit we receive in salvation! Who is the recipient of God’s INDESCRIBABLE GIFT? Everyone who repents and confesses Jesus as Lord. YOU!
And, along with God’s indescribable gift of Himself and all that entails, we have the gift of our mothers. So to all the mothers out there, a great big Happy Mother’s Day from my heart to yours!
Thank You, Heavenly Father and Jesus, God’s INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!
Better than Bootstraps
Do you feel hopeless? Perhaps the last bit of hope to which you’ve clung just went out the window. Your future may appear bleak. Dark clouds may seem to hover over you no matter where you go or how hard you try. But the good news is, if you’re a Christian, you have every reason to ditch any thought of hopelessness. You have the GOD OF HOPE! Whoo Hoo! He is not only with you. He’s IN you. Romans 15:13 “Now may the GOD OF HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
It’s not a question of if you have hope. You do. The question is, are you allowing the GOD OF HOPE to fill you with His joy and peace?
News Flash: You can experience hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s a matter of not trying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps to believing God is on the throne, He sees you, and loves you. He has your best interest at heart. In faith, pray, “GOD OF HOPE, fill me with joy and peace through the Holy Spirit.”
GOD OF HOPE, thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit so we can abound in hope by His power. We love and adore You!
Overwhelm Us
Have you ever been overwhelmed with new information yet tried to process it all as best as you could? No doubt, that’s how Christ’s friends felt. They had heard Jesus’s sermon on the mount. That was pretty upside down. Meek inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers. Not warriors??? Deny yourself? Take up your cross? Certainly they must have had private chats among themselves after Jesus downloaded kingdom principles for their “best life.” However, one of the more overwhelming teaching to process must have been about the Holy Spirit. That He, the Holy Spirit, would come to them and help them. Imagine their questions! Their frame of reference for the HOLY SPIRIT was God anointing a select few Old Testament people to accomplish divine work on earth. Names like Elijah and Elisha most certainly came to their minds. But them? Common fishermen? Tax collectors? Dazed and confused might have described the disciples as they listened to Jesus tell them God the Father would send the Holy Spirit to them. That the HOLY SPIRIT would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all Jesus said to them. That the HOLY SPIRIT would empower them to live in a way that bore witness to Christ. (Acts 1:8) HOLY. SPIRIT. Isn’t that what God knows we need? A Holy Spirit? So God did just that – sent His Holy Spirit – the Who, not “it” to live in us. Are we treating His heavenly presence in us as a welcomed, Holy guest? Are we giving Him reign over our lives? Are we yielding to His prompts? Are we asking Him to overwhelm us so we glorify our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ?
“But the Helper, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26
Heavenly Father, thank You for the incredible blessing of the Holy Spirit. We ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us, to overwhelm us so Christ is preeminent in our lives.
In Favor of the Saints
Do you ever wonder what the future holds? If so, the book of Daniel answers your question. There will be a war and God’s saints will be overpowered UNTIL the One who is more powerful than any other, the Highest One, steps in. I wonder if you feel as I do – overwhelmed with gratefulness to be on God’s side, to be designated as His saint?
“I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21-22
Heavenly Father, to be referred to as “Your saint” and to know that You, the Ancient of Days, are going to judge in favor of us is overwhelming. Thank You, merciful Ancient of Days.
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Unclean Lips and Lives
I don’t think there’s any way we can get our minds around what the holiness of the LORD is like. I don’t think we have the slightest idea of the magnitude of heaven’s glory. Isaiah attempted to describe heaven.
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, ….
And one called out to another and said ‘HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled…”Isaiah 6:1-4a.
What was Isaiah’s response?
“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips – And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts,” Isaiah 6:5.
Isaiah’s response to seeing the LORD was a profound awareness that he was unclean. Were it not for JESUS bearing our sins on the cross, it would not be possible for us to live in the HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD’S presence, which is why we praise HIM today and every day.
We praise You, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY Lord!
I Need Jesus
I need Jesus and Jesus just like He is. Why? Well, first of all, I need someone who can stand before holy God on my behalf and represent me. Only Jesus can do that. On a daily basis I need Jesus to forgive me, cleanse me, and stand me up – strengthened to walk out my day by His Spirit. I need Jesus to guide and prompt me when I start to veer off course. I need His love and encouragement. I NEED JESUS. Hebrews 4:15 tells us,
“We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Can I hear a hallelujah, friend? Can you imagine with me what it would be like to be accountable to a heavenly being – a high priest who didn’t sympathize with us and our weaknesses? Yikes! But our sweet and mighty Savior does. Oh, praise Him! We can say, “I messed up! I sinned! I failed.” And He doesn’t condemn us and make us feel worse. Yes, we should grabble with our sin and think about how, when, where, why we fell for a temptation or were deceived. With every mis-step, we have a God-step opportunity. With bowed head and heart, we can confess our sin to our sympathetic High Priest, accept His mercy, hear His voice, “Go and sin no more.” We can walk more wisely into our day. Jesus loves you and doesn’t want you wallowing in your sin. If you’ve been avoiding your High Priest because you feel so bad about your sin, go to Him! He loves you and is waiting, child of God.
NOTE to Moms: (Or anyone who has a mom or knows a mom.) Hey Mom, we can sometimes (or often) feel like a failure. God knows how many times we fail and cry out to Him for forgiveness, strength, “overs,” wisdom, protection for our children, and that they will come to know Him as Savior and Lord. If you can relate, I encourage you to get my book, “The Plan A Mom in a Plan B World.” (Different book from The Plan A WOMAN in a Plan B World) I had mom friends of all ages/stages share personal stories that will encourage you and provide practical/spiritual tips. The discussion questions at the end of each chapter make it a great resource for mom groups, also. $7.49 Mother’s Day special.
We praise You, Lord Jesus, HIGH, and LIFTED UP, greatly exalted. We can’t wait to see You face to face!
PS: If you aren’t getting my monthly Kidz Time devotional activity for your kids to watch, get it here and spread the word. It’s free. It’s fun! Subscribe & it’ll be delivered to your inbox monthly. A great Saturday morning or rest time activity.