365 Days of Praise

In 1953 Baskin Robbins wowed ice cream lovers by offering customers a choice of 31 flavors.  That’s a great offer for ice cream, but unfortunately, our world has adopted a “31” viewpoint concerning salvation. In other words, we’ve decided we can be reconciled to God through the plan of our choice, be it self-improvement, doing good things, or a world religion of our choosing. But not so warns God throughout Scripture such as in 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one God, and ONE MEDIATOR also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” If we think we can make a Baskin Robbin choice of how we’re reconciled to God, we’re wrong. God has chosen how we can be reconciled to Him, and it is through His Son.  Christ Jesus is the ONE MEDIATOR who can reconcile us to God for eternity. 

Christ Jesus, We praise You, our MEDIATOR, for making peace between Your Father and our Father.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 19:11-22 portraying Himself as a nobleman who went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for Himself and then return. Before He departed, the nobleman gave talents to His servants so they could carry on His business while He was away. Two of the servants took seriously what He entrusted them to do. When the nobleman returned, he honored them and entrusted more to them. But he called the servant who didn’t do anything with the talent he had given him, “worthless.” (Luke 19:11-22) Let’s break this down. Jesus is the nobleman. At salvation, He entrusts a spiritual gift to every believer so we can do His work on earth while He is in heaven. We are either faithfully doing the good works He’s prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10) or we’re unfaithful to His calling. What has He called you to do today?

Jesus Christ, heaven’s nobleman, stir our hearts to serve You well.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the MERCY You show us every day. Fill us with Your Spirit of mercy toward others.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is MERCIFUL,”  Luke 6:36.

We like our freedom, right? We may have heard someone tout, “No one is going to tell me what to do!” Maybe we’ve said that. But, here’s some news that may shock you. God has the right to tell us what to do because He owns us. That’s right. He is our MASTER as Colossians 4:1 explains: “Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a MASTER in heaven,”  Yes, we have a MASTER. Does that please you or cause your hair to bristle?  What is the implication of us having a master? The word, “master” in Colossians 4:1 means “owner; one who has control of the person.” Maybe we’ve never thought about God “owning” us, but, it isn’t a one time teaching in the Bible. First Corinthians 6:10 explains we’ve been “bought with a price.” Romans 6:16 says we are slaves to sin or righteousness. Who do you prefer to be your master: satan or Jesus?  I bet you’re waving your hand for Jesus.

Let’s think further. If Jesus is our Master, then what should be our posture before Him? I wonder if sometimes we’re too flippant. I wonder if we’ll “about die” (if it were possible) when we’re in heaven and see Jesus in His glory? I wonder if we’ll wish we had bowed before Him every morning and asked how we might serve Him. We have a MASTER in heaven. He’s a glorious, giving, gracious Master. Let’s serve Him well today with a smile on our faces.

Heavenly Master, we worship and adore You and cannot wait to continue our worship of You in heaven. Remind us throughout our days to serve You well.

                                                             

“Why?” That was the question millennials asked me at a conference where I was speaking. Why this… Why that… “I guess that’s why we’re called the Y Generation,” a 29-year-old explained. “We want to know why.”

Millennials, the “Y Generation,” are those born during the 1980s and early 1990s. They’re the children of baby boomers. Those in Generation Y aren’t prone to accept pat answers. In other words, just because a preacher, teacher, or parent says something, that doesn’t necessarily make it true.  So how do we answer their question, “Why believe in and follow Jesus?”  For this reason: Jesus demonstrated that He was more than man. People witnessed His resurrection from the dead three days after He had been crucified by skilled executioners. Jesus was who He proclaimed to be – the way, truth, and life. Peter, a witness of His life, death, burial, and ascension into heaven spells it out, “there is no other name under heaven that has been given by which we must be saved,” Acts 4:12. That’s why. There is no other name by which we are saved. Confidently, boldly, gladly speak the truth out loud to the Y Generation and everyone else.

Jesus, name above all names, we praise You, Lord and Savior. You are the answer, and we love You. 

Jesus told His disciples He was going to die and ascend to His Father in heaven; but that He would not leave them as orphans. (John 14:16-18) Jesus explained that He would send a Helper to them and the Helper would not only be with them, but He would also be IN them. You can’t get more NEAR to someone than to be IN them. And, that is God’s gift to believers.  Christ’s Holy Spirit is IN you. NEAR. Not far away. NEAR. Not inaccessible. Still not convinced? Listen to what Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is NEAR to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Call on God in sincerity and truth. He’s NEAR.

LORD, You are NEAR, not far removed. Thank You that we can call on You in sincerity and truth. 

• His WORKS are MARVELOUS. Revelation 15:3 states, And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and MARVELOUS are Your WORKS, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!’”  Think. In what way do you see God marvelously working in your life or in the life of someone close to you? Praise Him for it.
• His LOVINGKINDNESS is MARVELOUS.   The psalmist writes, “Blessed be the LORD, for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.” Psalm 31:21.  In this verse, marvelous means “wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action.” Think. In what way can you personally testify to the fact that God’s lovingkindness is “wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action”?
• His SALVATION is MARVELOUS.  In Matthew 21:42, Jesus asks, “‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS in our eyes?”  Jesus said God’s plan for saving you and me is marvelous, which means “worthy of pious admiration, admirable, excellent, passing human comprehension, causing amazement joined with terror, extraordinary, striking, surprising.” Praise Him now.
• His LIGHT is MARVELOUS.  First Peter 2:9, a favorite verse of mine because it defines believers and our purpose states, “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His MARVELOUS LIGHT.”  We are to tell others of the excellencies of Christ and that they can live in His excellent, extraordinary, striking, surprising light. What a privilege!

Are you in awe of your Marvelous Lord? Spend time praising Him for the above ways in which He is marvelously displayed. Write out one of the verses in Prayers of My Heart journal and focus on that verse when you are down or discouraged.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are marvelous in Your work, love, kindness, salvation, and light. We celebrate and worship You!

                                                             

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 life is free of sorrow or that 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 and passion for Christ that I’d not before experienced. But I need to let you in on 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 continues, “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 want the part about suffering with Christ. Years later, after the Lord let me know Him more fully by studying His divine attributes and experiencing His power in new 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 others 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 you/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 your Bible with opened eyes, and discover that He’ll see you through it.

Jesus, MAN OF SORROWS, thank You for being here for us when we are going through hard, sorrowful times. Help us fellowship well with You.