365 Days of Praise
It’s Not Too Late
Do you wish you could do something positive to help? Help what? Anything! Help mend a relationship. Help tone done the anger among people. Help people turn their eyes to the Lord. All of those are big Christian actions and all of them are needed. How might you do them? Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. How, where does He prompt? In our hearts. In our minds. But best as I can tell, we have to have alone time with Him to develop our relationship, to learn His voice, to know His ways. I think our heart has to be in the right place. We have to want Him. Or, as He says, “If you seek me..” (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; Acts 17:24-28) If we haven’t been too close to God in the past, is it too late to get close to Him, to learn His voice and be used by Him. Again, as far as I can tell from studying the Bible, no, it’s not too late. He called Paul even in the midst of his trip to round up Jews who had started following Christ. He spoke to Abraham when he was 99 years old. Genesis 17:1-2 says, “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God ALMIGHTY; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.’” Ninety-nine and God ALMIGHTY says, I’m the “most powerful God who holds sway over all things. Walk blameless.” It’s never too late to open our ears, minds, and hearts to God ALMIGHTY. It’s never too late to say, “Hold sway over my heart.” It’s never too late to be used by God for His purposes. Will we seek Him? Will we ask Him to hold sway over our hearts? Will we learn His voice and obey His prompts? How about we all say, “Yes,” and open our Bibles and study the above passages. Make the move today toward a closer relationship, more intimacy with God.
ALMIGHTY God, forgive us for busying ourselves with things of the world that are meaningless in view of eternity and people’s souls. Forgive us for closing our hearts rather than opening them to Your powerful sway. We ask now, “Hold sway over my heart so I walk blamelessly before You.”
*Excerpt from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion- a timely read for 2021.
Are You Sort of Scared
Is the news freaking you out? I’m not a worrier and I’m not easily alarmed. But when I heard that the National Guard was sending 20,000 troops to Washington D.C. to defend the Capitol due to threats of violence, I felt a strange sense of fear rising in me. Fear for our nation. Fear that people might do something that would cause the loss of life. I immediately began praying. A sense of urgency swelled in me that each of us must do our part to encourage calmness in the midst or rising emotions. We must do our part to bathe relationships in prayer. We must take the high road that follows Christ’s example of praying for our enemies rather than drawing a sword. We must believe that God’s got this. So, no, I’m not going to live in fear. I’m going to take my cues from a great Biblical example – Daniel. We find his story in Daniel 2. King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and demanded that it be interpreted or he would kill all the wise men. Daniel’s name was on the list of those to be executed. However when Daniel learned of the situation, he didn’t go into hiding. Rather, he gathered his friends and prayed. Daniel 2:18 states they requested, “compassion from the God of heavens” concerning the interpretation of the King’s dream. That night, God revealed the interpretation to Daniel. In Daniel 2:20, he praises Him. “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.” He continues in verse 23, “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You.” Do you believe God is powerful and that He can give you wisdom and power to know what to do in these troubling days? He can.
Heavenly Father, thank You for making Yourself available to us. Thank You that Your eyes are on Washington D.C. Thank You that in the midst of evil days, You are holy and exalted and always there for us. We look to You for wisdom and power. Guide our thoughts and steps so we are instruments of peace.
Finger Pointing, Rock Slinging Reversal
Peace between people. Is it a dream? Is it a far fetched wish? Is it an impossibility? It seems to be. Why? Because although we aren’t perfect, we expect – and in some cases – demand that others be perfect. Cross the line of what I expect of you or you expect of me and we’re a lost cause. Now, think about something with me. What if…that’s how Jesus treated us? What if the Father, Son, and Spirit demanded our perfection 24/7? What if…when we didn’t live up to their expectations, we were out the door, banned forever, with no path for reconciliation? I hope and pray that each of us can in at the least the tiniest of ways have an appreciation that God treats us differently than many of us treat one another. In fact, not only does our Lord not hold our sins over our head, it’s important to Him that we live free of condemnation. Remember when the Jews were itching to stone a woman caught in adultery? They had the rocks in their hands. They had their self-righteous arms ready to throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin free to pellet her, the self-righteous slunk away. What did the Lord of Lords then do? If you said, pellet her with rocks because she was guilty and deserving of punishment, you’re right and you’re wrong. You’re correct in saying she was deserving of death according to the Law. You are incorrect, however about Jesus’s response. He told her He didn’t condemn her and for her to go and sin no more. Jesus wants the same for us. He is our Advocate, as 1 John 2:1 explains, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an ADVOCATE with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” There it is. The Bible is our guide on how not to sin and hopefully, we’re reading it and praying for God’s help to walk according to it. But if and when we do sin, we have the full assurance that Jesus is our Advocate just as He was for the adulterous woman. Only when we arrive in heaven will we fully appreciate the magnitude of Jesus winning our court case by taking our guilt on Himself.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Advocate. Help us be mindful of Your Word and walk according to it so we “may not sin.”
Why FOR Never Works
Do you get frustrated when you “blow it” in regard to your Christian walk? I certainly do. Almost every day, I’m mindful of something I should have done, could have done that would have brought honor to Christ. The reminder in 2 Corinthians 3:5 helps me in those times of frustration. It says, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.’” The word “adequacy” in this verse means sufficiency, ability, or competency. Here we find a key to our desire to live “for” Christ. We can’t live “for” Him in our own strength. Rather, we need to let Christ live His life IN and through us. His adequacy is the key. Our ability to be and do that to which God calls us is from God. We can pray, ”Fill me with YOUR Spirit so I walk by Your ADEQUACY.” That is our hope-filled prayer.
Thank You, LORD, that Christ Jesus is in us and He is our adequacy.
*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.
If Power Plays Are Getting You Down
Recently, there seems to be an increase in power plays among people. It has been disturbing regardless of what person, political party, or company you support. I suppose that’s why I find such joy meditating on Jesus. He is the only one who is pure and He is the ultimate one to whom we can look. And, it never hurts to remember that He is above all. Yes, Ephesians 1:20-21 clearly states that Jesus is seated at God’s “right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.’” Think on that. Meditate on it. Jesus is above every rule and authority and power and dominion. ABOVE all. Above ALL. Do we get it? Christ is ABOVE ALL. And, this is especially good news. He is our friend. He urges us to tell Him our needs. He offers to help when we call on Him. What a wonderful Savior!
Lord Jesus, You who are far ABOVE ALL rule and authority and power and dominions, we love and worship You. Thank You for the reminder.
If You’re Worried About Dying
I thought I had killed a bee, but I only stunned it. Before I could blink, the bee was moving. There’s a difference between stunning something and abolishing it. When you think about death, does it worry you? Here’s the deal, and it’s great news! Second Timothy 1:10 assures us that we don’t have to worry about death. Why? The verse explains that when Christ died on the cross, He didn’t stun death, but that death continues to be a reality for us. Rather, it says, “ …our Savior Christ Jesus, abolished death and brought life and immortality to light…” In other words, when our body ceases to live, our spirit continues to live. Those who have placed their faith in Christ and whose human spirit is indwelt by Christ’s Holy Spirit will live eternally in His glorious light. That’s something to celebrate, not fear.
Lord Jesus Savior, we praise You for abolishing death! Thank You for eternal life in You.
If you Need a Yet (Not Yeti. A Yet)
Have you ever given yourself a good hard look and thought, “I can’t do it.” Maybe you did some soul searching after hearing a sermon on forgiveness. But after contemplating if you could forgive a person, you realized, “I can’t.” Or maybe you’ve had surgery or been hospitalized and were told to get up and walk down the hall. Laying in bed, you considered how weak you felt. The idea of swinging your legs over the bed seemed impossible and to touch your feet to the hospital floor and take steps insurmountable. Maybe you’ve been nauseated and hanging your head over the toilet. You haven’t slept. You’re weak. You contemplate the twins’ cries to be lifted from the crib and you don’t think you physically have the strength to take care of them all day. The above situations are ones you’ve perhaps experienced, and somewhere deep down inside you ended up realizing that hard as it was, you were able to do the hard work before you. But there was another person who contemplated his situation and unlike the ones we ended up being able to do, he truly wasn’t able. Yet God was telling him a result that was expected. We find the situation being recounted in Romans 4:17-21. God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations and that he would father children with his wife, Sarah. But listen to his odds for fathering a child. “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;” Stop right there. Can’t you just see it. Abraham is looking at his body. He’s staring at it. Contemplating it. “Ain’t gonna happen,” he must be thinking. But even if a miracle happened with his body, he turns and looks at his wrinkled wife and contemplates that she wasn’t able to get pregnant in her fertile years. Not gonna happen. “Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Amazing! Whoop it up with me will you, please? We all need more “yet”s in our life. (Not Yetis) Are you with me? Go back and read the progression. Looking at self and others = Dead. Nope. Not gonna happen. Looking at self and others + God’s promises = growing strong in faith and giving glory to God. Friend, do you need a “yet”? A “yet with respect to God” factored into your life, into your situation, into your marriage, into your health, into your child, into your work, into what is happening in our nation? I need a yet. And I’m planning on factoring it in as I contemplate the “nope, not gonna happens” in my life. I hope you will, too.
“and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was ABLE also to perform.'” Romans 4:21
This is Reassuring in Unsettling Times
NOTE: This post was written and scheduled prior to the events of January 6.
In your lifetime, how many people have you seen take positions of leadership and then be unseated? It happens. People and countries are left shaken … swinging between being hopeful of a new administration or fearful of the one that’s taken office. But our Lord wants us to know that He’s on the throne and He’s not going anywhere. First, there’s no person or spirit or power that can touch Him. Second, if they could, they couldn’t over-power our Lord. If we want someone in our lives on whom we can depend, then we need to look no further than the Lord who abides forever. Psalm 9:7 assures us, “…the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.’”
Heavenly Father, we praise You that You have established Your throne and no power, person, or principality can unseat You. We love and praise You.
When Fear Overtakes You
Have you ever seen the look in a child’s eyes when they were startled or afraid because they couldn’t see where their parent was? On the other hand, have you seen a child who is afraid look for and find their father and run to him? Have you heard a child cry for their parent? If so, consider Romans 8:15 that says believers have “received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘ABBA FATHER.” Abba Father can be translated Daddy. So what does Romans 8:15 imply? It tells us that our relationship with God is tender and close. God has chosen to come close to us. He has chosen to embrace us. He has chosen to get into human skin so we can see and smell Him. We can watch and learn from Him. We can run to Him as children ran to Jesus and He embraced and blessed them. He protected and defended them. Our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ deeply care for us. In a world that sometimes seems to have gone mad, it’s reassuring to know that we have a Heavenly Father. And although we may be startled or afraid at times due to the events in our life, nation, or world, we can look to our Father, assured that He’s watching out for and over us.
Heavenly Father, ABBA FATHER, thank You for adopting us into Your family. When we fear, turn our eyes to You. Help us walk confidently through our day assured that You’ve got us.
A Time for Zeal
When we and our nation sin, are we mindful that God sees us? The Bible clearly says that God sees us and that there are consequences to sin. Joel 2:11 says, “The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome. And who can endure it?” Joel 2:12-14a continues, “Yet, even now, declares the LORD, ‘Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning. And rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him…” What is God’s response when we repent? Joel 2:18 says, “Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and will have pity on His people.” God is ZEALOUS for us. Why? He wants us to take hold of the joy, beauty, and glory of the abundant life He gives us in Christ Jesus. What better time than now for our nation to repent? What better time than now for us to be zealous for Christ and live purposefully for Him? Return God’s zeal by praying more purposefully and living more passionately for Christ. Watch Starting Strong for a refresher.
Lord, thank You for being ZEALOUS for us. Kindle in us a zeal for You that produces in us a zeal for holiness and a zeal for our brothers and sisters, a zeal for our neighbors, and a zeal for our nation.