365 Days of Praise
A Tip for Everyday Living
Do you like tips on money management, tips on gardening, tips on home organizing, or on some other topic. We do well to pay attention to proven tips. They help us do things smarter and in a more meaningful way. Hebrews 3:1 gives us a spiritual tip.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
What kind of a tip is that? The word consider in this verse means to “fix your thoughts.” In other words, as partakers of a heavenly calling, we’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we wake in the morning. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we get bad news. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we face a difficult decision. We’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus… all the time. Why? When we look at Jesus and consider Him, we are more likely to act like partakers of a heavenly calling than if we look at our situation from an earthly perspective and feel overwhelmed, panic, worry, or perhaps even gloat or feel prideful. If you’re not convinced this is a good tip, I encourage you to try it. You’ll discover that considering Jesus, fixing your thoughts on Him, ushers into your life increased hope, assurance, and purpose.
Jesus, Apostle and High Priest of our confession, help us remember that our confession of You as Lord and Savior makes us partakers of a heavenly calling. Help us walk out our calling well by considering (fixing our thoughts on) You.
This Makes Me Smile
It makes me smile to think about where and when Christ spoke the words in Luke 4:18,
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
When did Jesus say these words? He had just returned from being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He was led by the Spirit in the power of the Spirit.” (Luke 4:14) What was His first Spirit-anointed task following His victory over Satan’s temptations? He went home…to Nazareth. I love that. And get this –
…as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
This is a good place for us to pause and ask ourselves, “Is it our custom to gather with believers to read and hear the Scriptures? Are we raising our children with the custom of gathering with believers to hear the Word of God? If it was what God’s ANOINTED Lord Jesus did, it’s what I want to do. I’d have hated to have missed Jesus speaking in the synagogue that day. I’d hate to miss Him speaking today as I gather with others to worship Him and hear the reading/teaching of His Word.
Jesus, we praise You, ANOINTED Lord and Savior. Thank You for Your words and Your example of the Spirit-led life.
Prayers of My Heart character trait of Jesus to record in your journal and praise Him for: Anointed. Prayer to pray: Anoint me with Your Spirit to do Your will.
Do We Have Enough Holy Reverence
“Hey, Buddy.” We’re often quite chummy with people, even if while social distancing or on the phone. Some parents even call their children, “buddy.” We love to quote Matthew 11:19 that Jesus was a “friend of sinners.” But let’s not forget that the “friend of sinners” is gloriously exalted and seated at the right hand of God. Prayerfully visualize Daniel 7:9-10.
I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.
And were presented before Him.”
The Son of Man may be our friend and God our Abba Father, but based on Scripture, a casual “buddy” reverence isn’t how I visualize our relationship with God. Our Lord is the all powerful, holy, Ancient of Days. Are we daily worshipping Him? Are we sharing Him with others? Are we ready for His return?
ANCIENT of DAYS, glorious One, forgive us when we don’t show You holy reverence. Help us live more for You and less for ourselves. Use us to witness to others about Your saving grace.
Prayers of My Heart character trait to record: Ancient of Days.
When Waves of Hopelessness Pound Your Heart
You need hope. I need hope. Our loved ones need hope. Where do we find it? Do we practice “self-talk” and tell ourselves we are “happy and fine” when we aren’t? Or do we kneel, look up in praise, and cry out to the One who has gone before us to heaven and intercedes for us? Hebrews 6:19 describes our relationship with Jesus in this way,
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered…”
Our hope in Jesus is an anchor for our soul. Personalize that truth. My hope in Jesus is an anchor for my soul. Think about that. It’s amazing! We don’t have to emotionally drift into an ocean of despair. Yes, waves of hopelessness may at times pound our hearts and seem like they will overwhelm us. But when you feel that way, sweet friend, place your hope in your loving Savior. You are not going to drift beyond His sight or hold. He’s got you. Our hope in Christ is an anchor for our soul.
Jesus, sweet Savior, thank You for being the anchor of my soul. Thank You that I will never drift from your grasp.
Let’s Be Amazed
Throughout the Bible, the word “amazed” is used to describe people’s reactions to God. Mark 1:22 records that people “were amazed at His (Jesus) teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” The New Testament word “amazed” means astonished, thrown into wonderment. Jesus’ teachings astonished people. Matthew 12:23 records that when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute so that he could see and talk, “All the crowds were amazed and were saying, ‘This man cannot be the Son of David, can He?'” When Jesus rose from the dead, they were “thrown into wonderment.” Oh, that we be amazed, astonished, and thrown into wonderment at our Lord. Keep your eyes open, friend, for how Jesus is working in your life and in the lives of others. You may find that you’re amazed.
Lord Jesus, we praise You, our AMAZING Lord.
*Amazing” is 1 of 365 ways God is described. Learn the other ways He is described by signing up to get this daily devotional. HERE.
It’s Not Too Late
Do you wish you could do something positive to help? Help what? Anything! Help mend a relationship. Help tone down 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? When 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. Our heart has to be in the right place – one of worship. We have to want Him more than we want our “own time” or sin or habits or laziness. 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 so close to God that we know His voice and experience His prompts, it’s not too late to get close to Him, to learn His voice and be used by Him. Christ called Paul in the midst of his trip to arrest Jews who had started following Christ. The Lord 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 before Me.” 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 for God’s purposes. Will we seek Him? Will we ask Him to hold sway over our hearts? Will we learn His voice and obey His prompts? Make the move today toward a closer, more intimate walk 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 2022.
Take Comfort Knowing Jesus Is Alive in Heaven & Sees You
Have you ever been startled to see someone you didn’t expect? There have been a number of times that my husband has startled me and I assure you, I jumped. Considering how we may have been startled by someone we didn’t expect, can you imagine how startling it was for the disciple John to unexpectedly see the ascended Lord Jesus in heaven? John was on the island of Patmos when he was suddenly taken into Christ’s presence. What was his response? He fell at Jesus’s feet like a dead man. Revelation 1:18 records what Jesus said to John,
I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,…”
John had seen Christ crucified and buried. He had seen the resurrected Christ. He had seen Jesus ascend in the clouds into heaven. But to Jesus alive in heaven and to hear Jesus explaining that He is alive forevermore had to be more startling than we can imagine. If your today looks unbearable and you dread tomorrow, don’t. A day of glorious eternal LIFE awaits you in the presence of Jesus. In the meantime and while we are still on earth, find comfort knowing that Jesus is alive in heaven. Find comfort knowing that He knew where John was and He knows where you are. Find comfort knowing that Jesus is mindful of you, just like He was John. Believe.
LORD JESUS CHRIST, we praise You, who died for us, are alive forevermore, and are mindful of where we are.
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 others be perfect. Now, think about something with me. What if that’s how Jesus related to 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 of reconciliation? I hope and pray that each of us can in at the least the tiniest of ways have a deep appreciation that God treats us differently than some people treat one another. In fact, not only does our Lord not hold our sins over our heads, 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. Their self-righteous arms were wound for throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin free to use his rock 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 asking Jesus to help us walk in His steps. When we have mis-steps, which we will, what a blessing that we have the full assurance 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. Help us walk according to it.
Your character trait of God to record in Prayers of My Heart and for which to praise Him: Advocate.
Why FOR Never Works
Do you get frustrated when you “blow it” in regard to your Christian walk? I do. Almost every day, I’m mindful of something I should have done or could have done that would have brought honor to Christ. The reminder in 2 Corinthians 3:5 helps me in those times. 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 our ability to do that to which God calls us comes from God in us. Instead of trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, 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 is in us and He is adequate.
*This is one of God’s 365 attributes for which we can praise and trust Him. Second Corinthians 3:5 is a good verse to memorize. If you have Prayers of My Heart, record it in the “Meditations, Notes, and Prayers” section. Then record your prayer for Christ to fill you with His Spirit.
Anticipation: Do You Have It
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One day while writing, I wondered in anticipation what words the Lord would give to me next. How ready are you for God to work in your life? What are you doing that shows your readiness and your anticipation? Knowing that God sees us and responds to our drawing near to Him should encourage us to live anticipatory lives. We anticipate Christmas. We anticipate Easter. Why not anticipate God? I believe the disciples lived anticipatory lives. They had seen Jesus do miracles so why should He not continue them? If you want to live a more anticipatory life where you see God working, begin recording the daily praise from my email devotional, “365 Days of Praise” in Prayers of My Heart. Ask God to make His character more real to you. Watch for how He’s working in your life. Go through your day in anticipation of what God is going to do.