SCRIPTURE
The heavens declare the glory of God.
The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth
their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4
OBSERVATION
Scientists estimate that there are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Think about that! Here, we read that the skies proclaim the work of God's hands. Isn't that amazing. God's creation constantly reminds us of his glory, might, beauty, power and presence. We are surrounded by it always. All we have to do is look up and see the sun or moon or stars and we are reminded (or at least should be) of God's magnificence.
APPLICATION
I frequently forget how incredible God's creation actually is. It's so easy to take for granted the amazing facts of the world we live in. I take for granted the world around me, when in actuality, it is a constant demonstration of God's might, beauty and ultimately, his love. I need to view the world around me with new eyes.
PRAYER
Father, help me to see the world I live in with new eyes. Help me to be in awe of you. Have mercy on me. Stir my soul.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Pause
SCRIPTURE
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord.
Exodus 35:2
OBSERVATION
The Sabbath. A day of rest. God places great value on this concept. In Exodus alone, the Sabbath is mentioned 16 times. In the midst of building the tabernacle, God's people were supposed to take a day to rest. In the midst of plowing and harvest seasons, God's people were to take a day of rest. What's amazing to me is that this idea of the Sabbath is even placed in the 10 Commandments. The idea of Sabbath rest is a key to connecting with God.
The concept of rest here isn't simply laying on the couch watching football. Many times, that is what my "rest" looks like. Rather, it is supposed to be a "holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord." Sabbath seems to be a concept where we take our hands off our frantic lives and acknowledge that God is in control. Additionally, Sabbath rest tells us that our identity is not wrapped up in our activities, availability or actions, but rather it is found in being children of the Living God.
APPLICATION
Let go! Turn off the phone. Put away the laptop. Shut off the TV. Stop managing the busyness of life. Stop working! Just for one day. One day out of seven. 14% of my week. Stop. Pause. Rest. Acknowledge that we are not in control, God is. Acknowledge that our worth is not wrapped up in our activities, but in the saving grace of a loving heavenly Father.
PRAYER
Father, forgive me for ignoring the Sabbath. Forgive me for allowing my life to become too full to follow your command to rest in You. Help me to let go of all that I feel like I need to manage and control on a day to day basis.
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord.
Exodus 35:2
OBSERVATION
The Sabbath. A day of rest. God places great value on this concept. In Exodus alone, the Sabbath is mentioned 16 times. In the midst of building the tabernacle, God's people were supposed to take a day to rest. In the midst of plowing and harvest seasons, God's people were to take a day of rest. What's amazing to me is that this idea of the Sabbath is even placed in the 10 Commandments. The idea of Sabbath rest is a key to connecting with God.
The concept of rest here isn't simply laying on the couch watching football. Many times, that is what my "rest" looks like. Rather, it is supposed to be a "holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord." Sabbath seems to be a concept where we take our hands off our frantic lives and acknowledge that God is in control. Additionally, Sabbath rest tells us that our identity is not wrapped up in our activities, availability or actions, but rather it is found in being children of the Living God.
APPLICATION
Let go! Turn off the phone. Put away the laptop. Shut off the TV. Stop managing the busyness of life. Stop working! Just for one day. One day out of seven. 14% of my week. Stop. Pause. Rest. Acknowledge that we are not in control, God is. Acknowledge that our worth is not wrapped up in our activities, but in the saving grace of a loving heavenly Father.
PRAYER
Father, forgive me for ignoring the Sabbath. Forgive me for allowing my life to become too full to follow your command to rest in You. Help me to let go of all that I feel like I need to manage and control on a day to day basis.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Promised Land: Little by Little
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 23:29-30
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
OBSERVATION
The Lord told the Israelites that He was going to give them the Promised Land as their inheritance, BUT that He was not going to give it to them all at once. Instead, they were going to have to conquer the Promised Land little by little. He gave them a practical reason for this — if He were to give them the Land all at once, they would not be able to handle it.
If God had given the Israelites the land all at once, their numbers would not have been sufficient to populate the land and much of it would have gone unmanaged and unmaintained because their population was not large enough to be able to inhabit the cities and govern the territory. As a result, the cities would have deteriorated and the land left unproductive.
APPLICATION
If the Israelites are a spiritual example of our own walk of faith, then we can draw a direct correlation between their physical Promised Land and our spiritual Promised Land. In our own life, there is territory that God desires us to take and govern. This territory is vast and beautiful but God gives us only as much as we can handle at any one time. As we walk in victory in our lives, then He gives us more and more territory.
Every victory results in a little more maturity and increases our ability to rule the territory that God gives us. If God were to give us all He desires to give us all at once, we would be unable to handle it! Instead of instantly becoming super-Christians, we would instead by destroyed as our immaturity attempted to handle our newly found power and authority.
So instead, He gives us territory that is enough to challenge us — challenge our faith, our gifts, our knowledge — and stretch us. As we learn the things He wants us to learn and walk in victory in the areas He is calling us into, then He gives us a new challenge. Little by little we "inhabit the land" He has given us as an inheritance — a territory we already have as a birthright but which we are not ready to possess in actuality.
So today, the key for me is to walk in victory in the areas He is calling me to. My concern is not the territory of tomorrow, but the faithfulness required today. While I must always fan the flame of desire to possess my entire Promised Land, I must not forget that the process is more about victory in the current battle then it is about the entire war.
I must live in this tension. I cannot become complacent and assume that today's victories will carry me through tomorrow. The Israelites made this mistake far too many times and ended up leaving pockets of their Promised Land unconquered as they made peace agreements with the enemy because it was convenient or easy. At the same time, I cannot become overly aggressive and try to take territory that I am not ready for.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to see the challenges that are important for me to fight today. Continue to stretch me, continue to challenge me, continue to move me onward. But help me to consolidate the territory you have given me up to this point. Let me never become complacent and make the assumption that yesterday's victories need never be revisited, lest I give back territory to the Enemy because of a lack of vigilance. Amen.
Exodus 23:29-30
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
OBSERVATION
The Lord told the Israelites that He was going to give them the Promised Land as their inheritance, BUT that He was not going to give it to them all at once. Instead, they were going to have to conquer the Promised Land little by little. He gave them a practical reason for this — if He were to give them the Land all at once, they would not be able to handle it.
If God had given the Israelites the land all at once, their numbers would not have been sufficient to populate the land and much of it would have gone unmanaged and unmaintained because their population was not large enough to be able to inhabit the cities and govern the territory. As a result, the cities would have deteriorated and the land left unproductive.
APPLICATION
If the Israelites are a spiritual example of our own walk of faith, then we can draw a direct correlation between their physical Promised Land and our spiritual Promised Land. In our own life, there is territory that God desires us to take and govern. This territory is vast and beautiful but God gives us only as much as we can handle at any one time. As we walk in victory in our lives, then He gives us more and more territory.
Every victory results in a little more maturity and increases our ability to rule the territory that God gives us. If God were to give us all He desires to give us all at once, we would be unable to handle it! Instead of instantly becoming super-Christians, we would instead by destroyed as our immaturity attempted to handle our newly found power and authority.
So instead, He gives us territory that is enough to challenge us — challenge our faith, our gifts, our knowledge — and stretch us. As we learn the things He wants us to learn and walk in victory in the areas He is calling us into, then He gives us a new challenge. Little by little we "inhabit the land" He has given us as an inheritance — a territory we already have as a birthright but which we are not ready to possess in actuality.
So today, the key for me is to walk in victory in the areas He is calling me to. My concern is not the territory of tomorrow, but the faithfulness required today. While I must always fan the flame of desire to possess my entire Promised Land, I must not forget that the process is more about victory in the current battle then it is about the entire war.
I must live in this tension. I cannot become complacent and assume that today's victories will carry me through tomorrow. The Israelites made this mistake far too many times and ended up leaving pockets of their Promised Land unconquered as they made peace agreements with the enemy because it was convenient or easy. At the same time, I cannot become overly aggressive and try to take territory that I am not ready for.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to see the challenges that are important for me to fight today. Continue to stretch me, continue to challenge me, continue to move me onward. But help me to consolidate the territory you have given me up to this point. Let me never become complacent and make the assumption that yesterday's victories need never be revisited, lest I give back territory to the Enemy because of a lack of vigilance. Amen.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Prayer of Power
SCRIPTURE
Acts 4:29-31
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
OBSERVATION
When the church in the book of Acts got together, they prayed. And when they prayed, the Holy Spirit showed up!
APPLICATION
Pray together with the church and ask the Lord for power. He will respond with the Holy Spirit's empowerment!
PRAYER
Lord, this morning, I ask that you would teach us how to pray bold prayers together with the Body of Christ. We need your power, we need your courage and we need your wisdom to walk in the midst of a godless generation. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we might speak Your Word boldly! Amen.
Acts 4:29-31
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
OBSERVATION
When the church in the book of Acts got together, they prayed. And when they prayed, the Holy Spirit showed up!
APPLICATION
Pray together with the church and ask the Lord for power. He will respond with the Holy Spirit's empowerment!
PRAYER
Lord, this morning, I ask that you would teach us how to pray bold prayers together with the Body of Christ. We need your power, we need your courage and we need your wisdom to walk in the midst of a godless generation. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we might speak Your Word boldly! Amen.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Something is Between Us
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 20:18-19
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
OBSERVATION
God was willing to have more of an open relationship with the Israelites, but they were too afraid of His awesome power and thus they begged Moses to be their go between. Years earlier, Moses himself, did not truly believe that God could deal with his shortcomings and begged for a go between, Aaron.
APPLICATION
How often do we seek to put something between us and God? He desires to have a one-on-one relationship, but we are always looking for ways to put distance between us. Sometimes it is because we feel unworthy, sometimes it is because we are afraid, but always it is because we don't trust Him fully.
PRAYER
Forgive me Lord for putting the responsibility for my faith on others' shoulders. Instead of withdrawing, I commit to pressing in. instead of looking to a man to hear God's voice for me, I want to hear your voice. You've put Your very Spirit inside of me and have broken down every wall of separation, now help me to live like it! Amen.
Exodus 20:18-19
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
OBSERVATION
God was willing to have more of an open relationship with the Israelites, but they were too afraid of His awesome power and thus they begged Moses to be their go between. Years earlier, Moses himself, did not truly believe that God could deal with his shortcomings and begged for a go between, Aaron.
APPLICATION
How often do we seek to put something between us and God? He desires to have a one-on-one relationship, but we are always looking for ways to put distance between us. Sometimes it is because we feel unworthy, sometimes it is because we are afraid, but always it is because we don't trust Him fully.
PRAYER
Forgive me Lord for putting the responsibility for my faith on others' shoulders. Instead of withdrawing, I commit to pressing in. instead of looking to a man to hear God's voice for me, I want to hear your voice. You've put Your very Spirit inside of me and have broken down every wall of separation, now help me to live like it! Amen.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Enough for Today
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
OBSERVATION
The Father loves to provide for His people, and He always does. But what He chose to give the Israelites was a portion sufficient for their daily needs. Everyday they were reminded that their provision was from the Lord. Everyday, they were dependent on His supply. When they tried to store the manna He provided, it did them no good. The provision was for today.
APPLICATION
God will always provide enough for today. I want to hoard. I want to store up for tomorrow. I want to have a security blanket. He gives me enough for today. If I am truly dependent on Him, then I need not worry about tomorrow, for it will take care of itself (just like Jesus said).
PRAYER
Lord, help me to trust in You everyday. Not in bank accounts, not in pantries full of food, not in false security. Help me to rely on you continually and completely. Amen.
Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
OBSERVATION
The Father loves to provide for His people, and He always does. But what He chose to give the Israelites was a portion sufficient for their daily needs. Everyday they were reminded that their provision was from the Lord. Everyday, they were dependent on His supply. When they tried to store the manna He provided, it did them no good. The provision was for today.
APPLICATION
God will always provide enough for today. I want to hoard. I want to store up for tomorrow. I want to have a security blanket. He gives me enough for today. If I am truly dependent on Him, then I need not worry about tomorrow, for it will take care of itself (just like Jesus said).
PRAYER
Lord, help me to trust in You everyday. Not in bank accounts, not in pantries full of food, not in false security. Help me to rely on you continually and completely. Amen.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Exodus 2:24-25
"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."
I absolutley love that God calls himself in to rememberance about His covenant. I mean, here is GOD, He hears the cries of help coming from His kids, no matter that they probably had gotten themselves in to this mess. He just starts remembering His promises and He looks at His kids and He, GOD is "concerned". Being a parent, I understand a small amount of this hearing and remembering and being concerned and as an earthly parent these things move me every time! How much more God!!!
That I can be sure as one of His kids that he'll hear my cries for help, He'll remember his promises even if I can't and He will be concerned, He actually cares.
Father, I thank you for the rest that comes in just knowing You care, that in the middle of a storm, there is great peace in knowing you. I'm thankful that you are a God who never abandons.
"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."
I absolutley love that God calls himself in to rememberance about His covenant. I mean, here is GOD, He hears the cries of help coming from His kids, no matter that they probably had gotten themselves in to this mess. He just starts remembering His promises and He looks at His kids and He, GOD is "concerned". Being a parent, I understand a small amount of this hearing and remembering and being concerned and as an earthly parent these things move me every time! How much more God!!!
That I can be sure as one of His kids that he'll hear my cries for help, He'll remember his promises even if I can't and He will be concerned, He actually cares.
Father, I thank you for the rest that comes in just knowing You care, that in the middle of a storm, there is great peace in knowing you. I'm thankful that you are a God who never abandons.
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