Beyond Ourselves
Exalted
The news that singer-songwriter Taylor Swift surpassed Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most weeks atop the Billboard 200 Chart exalted her to new heights in 2023. Her exalted position is not guaranteed. Only the Lord God’s is, as He tells us in Psalm 46:10. “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
“The Lord is exalted in the earth and also above the heaven and earth,” Psalm 148:13.
The Lord is exalted above other gods. “For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods,” Psalm 97:9
What about Jesus? Acts 5:31 tells us, “He is the One whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
Although the Lord is highly exalted, Psalm 138:6 encourages us that “though the Lord is exalted, yet He regards the lowly.”
How amazing our exalted Lord is! What should be our response? Nehemiah 9:5 tells us. “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise!”
Our Lord is highly exalted above all yet regards the lowly. Will you humbly exalt and bless His glorious name; praising Him for regarding you?
EXALTED Lord, we praise You, bless Your glorious name, and thank You for regarding us.
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Where Can I Go From God’s Spirit?
Have you ever wondered if there was some place you could go that would be away from God? Perhaps you felt shame over something you did and wanted to hide. Or, you may have just wondered if it was a possibility to get away from God. Perhaps you feared your actions had driven God away.
I learned the answer to those questions when I was in high school while doing my daily Bible reading. I came to Psalm 139:7-10 which assures us that there is no where we can go from God’s presence. The words were so beautiful, I picked up my guitar and wrote music to accompany the words. Meditate on them as you read Psalm 139:7-10.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
The psalmist words are beautiful, but they are more than that. They are true.
Jesus affirmed His continual presence with us in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Which of the verses in Psalm 139:7-10 touch your heart? What does it mean to you that God is everywhere and His hand will lead you?
Lord, we praise You that You are EVERYWHERE. Thank You that we are never apart from Your presence. We love You.
The Lord is always present and wants us to talk to Him through prayer. Learn to pray more purposefully through Debbie’s book, “Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.”
Comfort in Dire Moments
During the peak of the 2021 Covid pandemic, someone shared with me the following regarding the dire conditions many faced.
“Make no mistake. When loved ones are removed from your home by ambulance because the virus has hit them hard, you are not going to be able to sit by their hospital bed and hold their hand. You are not going to be able to pop in at 7:00 pm during visiting hours. They are going to have no one other than exhausted and brave hospital staff to see them through days or weeks. During that time, they will be completely alone. Imagine that person is someone you love dearly. Because it is a reality for many.”
Disconcerting? Absolutely. Dire? Yes! What is our hope in dire times? Is there any hope? Yes, we who have placed our faith in Jesus have the assurance that in even the direst of times, our Eternal Father is with us. (Isaiah 9:6)
Bible scholar and commentator Charles Ryrie explains that Eternal Father means “Messiah is eternally a Father to His people, guarding, supplying, and caring for their needs.” 1 There could be no greater comfort in dire situations.
Do you have a relationship with the Eternal Father through Jesus Christ? If so, with whom might you share Him?
ETERNAL FATHER, in the best of times and in the direst of times, thank You for being with us. Embolden us to share the assurance we have in You with others.
1 Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008).
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Are You Worried About Things Ending?
Do you ever worry about the end? Our day comes to an end. Our weekend comes to an end. A job ends. Time with loved ones ends.
But there is One who has no beginning or end: God. He is everlasting as Moses points out in Psalm 90:2. “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
Abraham believed in the everlasting God and called on Him. Genesis 21:33
Jeremiah 10:10 refers to God as Everlasting King. “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the Everlasting King.”
Psalm 145:13 assures us His kingdom is everlasting.
Habakuk 3:6 points out that in addition to God’s kingdom being everlasting, His ways are everlasting.
The prophet Isaiah personalizes the Everlasting God by calling Him “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6.
And Psalm 103:17 tells us God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.
Isaiah 26:4 tells us God is the Everlasting Rock and Jesus affirms we are to build our lives on Him, Matthew 7:24-27.
Deuteronomy 33:27 says we can rest in God’s Everlasting Arms.
If you ever feel a sense of loss or that everything dear to you is ending, remember that God is not going anywhere. He will be with you forever and be the same Everlasting Father that He has always been.
Lord, You are the EVERLASTING God and Father in whose Everlasting Arms we can rest and in whose Everlasting Love and Kingdom we can live. We rejoice in You.
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When Whims Aren’t Good
Can you imagine if God ruled by whim, by ever-changing emotions and laws? What if on a whim, God decided to not forgive you? What if on a whim, God changed His mind about who was allowed in heaven?
I think you might agree with me that we’re thankful that is not who God is. Rather, throughout the Bible we are assured that God rules with equity, with evenness, and uprightness, as Psalm 9:1-8 points out.
“I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before You. For You have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, You have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. The Lord reigns forever; He has established his throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.”
Heavenly Father, thank You that we don’t have to worry that You rule by whim. Rather, we are assured that You rule with EQUITY. We trust in You.
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I Can’t or I Can
“I can’t do it!” Have you ever felt that way?
Maybe you feel that way about your job, marriage, eating healthy, or fulfilling a ministry responsibility.
Maybe you know what you need to do, but don’t have the energy or stamina so you say, “I can’t.”
If you feel that way, you’re not alone. I wish I had a penny for every time I’ve felt inadequate or incapable.
When we feel that way, it helps to remember the wonderful truth in Hebrews 13:20-21. God is able. He can equip us. “Now the God of peace, … equip you in every good thing to do His will…”
Yes, when faced with seemingly impossible responsibilities, we may feel that we can’t fulfill them. In those times, we must remember Who is in us and that God can and will equip us to do His will.
We can say as the apostle Paul did, “…not that I am adequate in myself, but my adequacy comes from God,” 2 Corinthians 3:5.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You EQUIP us to do Your will. Help us be mindful of Your presence and yielded to Your Spirit.
Discover the joy of praying more purposefully and living passionately for Christ as He equips you to do His will. Get a copy of Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion HERE. The book can be used as a personal study or a 10-week group study.
Where is God?
Has a child ever asked you where God is? If so and you were at a loss for words, consider pointing them to Psalm 113:4-5.
“The LORD is high above the nations; His glory is above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who is enthroned on high…”
Yes, God’s throne is in heaven, high above the nations and His glory is above the heavens as Psalm 113 tells us.
How can His glory be above the heavens? Doesn’t He dwell in heaven? Yes, but remember that there are three heavens.
The first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere and the sky that we see. The second heaven is outer space, where the stars and planets are. The third heaven, where the LORD is enthroned, is beyond our vision. The apostle Paul referred to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3; saying he was caught up to the third heaven where he heard inexpressible words in Paradise and had “surpassing greatness of the revelations.”
God is enthroned on high, yet because He is omnipresent, He is gloriously present everywhere.
Lord, You are gloriously ENTHRONED ON HIGH, yet present with us. We can’t wait to worship You in Paradise.
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When All Else Falls Away, Count On This Enduring
Do you ever feel like things are changing so quickly, you can barely keep up? In the midst of change, it’s a blessing to know there are some things we can count on staying the same.
Consider the following that you can count on enduring forever.
“The lovingkindness of God endures all day long,” Psalm 52:1.
“Splendid and majestic is His work, and His righteousness endures forever,” Psalm 111:3.
“His praise endures forever,” Psalm 111:10.
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations,” Psalm 145:13.
“His love endures forever,” 1 Chronicles 16:34.
“His Word endures forever,” 1 Peter 1:25.
Perhaps King Nebuchadnezzar summed up God’s enduring nature and reign best when he said, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation,” Daniel 4:34.
If you’re looking around and wondering what the future holds, you can rest in the assurance that God’s love, Word, praise, righteousness, and kingdom endure forever.
Heavenly Father, we praise and thank You for Your ENDURING love, praise, righteousness, Word, and kingdom.
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If You’re Down
Are you down or discouraged? Do you feel the heaviness of oppression? Do you feel betrayed? If so, the apostle Paul can relate. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 he recounts what he experienced while serving Christ.
“In far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”
After reading Paul’s experiences you may wonder how Paul continued day after day. We find his answer in Romans 15:5.
“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement…”
There we have it. Paul knew Jesus as One who gives perseverance and encouragement. We can, too, by going to Jesus in prayer, opening our Bibles, and hearing from Him.
Lord Jesus, You are a God of ENCOURAGEMENT. Help us keep our eyes on You and our ears open to Your encouragement so we persevere in a way that glorifies You as Paul did.
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If You’re Looking for Supreme
When we go to the first way God is identified in Genesis 1:1, we find these words. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word for God is Elohim.
Scholar Charles Ryrie explains that Elohim is “a generic term for deity as well as a proper name for the true god. Its basic meaning is ‘strong one, mighty leader, supreme Deity.’ The form of the word is plural, indicating plentitude of power and majesty and allowing for the New Testament revelation of the triunity of the Godhead.” 1
What are we first told about God, Elohim, the supreme Deity of eternity?
Genesis 1:1-4, 27 – He created the heavens and the earth. He created man in His own image; male and female.
Genesis 2:8-9 – Elohim planted a garden and caused every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food to grow.
Genesis 2:16-17 Elohim commanded Adam, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day you eat of it you will die.”
Genesis 3:21 God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve to cloth their nakedness after they sinned and were ashamed.
Elohim, God is the supreme ruler. In His holiness and mercy He has made a provision for our salvation through Jesus Christ.
GOD, ELOHIM, we bow in worship and praise of You, for how You have revealed Your majesty to us, for how You’ve reached down and saved us, for how You will raise us up to be in Your presence one day. It is with utmost reverence we worship You.
1 Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008), 2057.
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