Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Be His Praise

A reflection on Revelation 4,
John’s vision of the throne room of God.

Look at John’s vision of the throne room of God and
see who you were created to be.

See the twenty-four elders.
They are honored ones,
respected leaders,
perhaps priests.
They are royal,
each wearing a crown of gold.
They are holy,
dressed in white.
They worship God Almighty with
word and
posture and
action.
They joyfully return to Him
all the honor and glory He has shared with them.
They know that all their crowns truly, only belong to Him.
The twenty-four elders are what God’s people were redeemed to be.

See the four living creatures.
They surround the throne of the Sovereign Lord of all.
Each is wisely and lovingly fashioned by his Creator.
Each is unique
yet one with all He has made.
Each is full of eyes in front and behind and is
fully aware of all reality,
fully attentive to their God.
Each has six wings and
is ready to move immediately at His command.
Each ceaselessly responds to God in all His
holiness,
power, and
eternity.
The four living creatures are what we were created to be.

Like the elders,
like the living creatures,
we exalt God most clearly and beautifully,
not just by what we say,
but by what we do and
who we are.

The infinite Spirit God, unlimited by a physical body,
incarnates Himself in partial ways
in each of His creatures.
He shares Himself and His qualities
through us
so that the whole universe might glimpse just how
great and
holy and
gracious He is.

Child of God,
be His praise!
Be His glory!
In Jesus Christ, be the incarnation of
His life,
His love, and
His holy beauty.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God of All People
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

A Unique Opportunity

Marvelous Creator,
Designer of each snowflake,
You have given me this day as a
unique opportunity.

Today I can know You better.
Today I can walk step-by-step in Your Spirit.
Today I can live Your marvelous love
in fresh, new ways.
Today I can
please You and
praise You and
love You.

Keep me open
to all this day can offer.
Keep me open
to all You want me to
see and
savor and
share.

Father, today
keep me open to You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Today in Your Presence
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Love Is Fruit

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:5, 12, NASB)

How can we love each other as Christ loves us?

Abide in the Vine.
Stay connected to Him.
Stay connected throughout the day,
turning to Him and
talking to Him often.

His presence,
His Spirit,
His perspective will start to permeate our
hearts,
minds, and
lives.

His love will be the fruit of our remaining in Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I Look to You, and You Are Love
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Start with God

A reflection on Revelation 4,
John’s vision of the throne room of God.

Do you want to better understand your life?
Do you want to better understand your world?
Yourself?
Start with God.
See Him high and lifted up.
See Him for who He is:
all power,
all wisdom,
all love, justice, and rightness.

All that is flows from Him, the Source.
All that is flows through Him,
the Mover,
the Means,
the Doer,
the Planner,
the Power.
All that is flows to Him, the Goal.

To understand
your purpose,
your design,
your destiny,
start with Him,
for He is the Source and Goal of all you are.
This marvelous God made You in His own image.
He made you to be like Himself.

He is holy,
free from wrong,
free from anything that binds, corrupts, or destroys.
And He longs to make you holy.
He understands your limitations, yet
He intends to make you holy as He is holy,
completely,
freely,
naturally,
by simple faith.

He loves
lavishly,
abundantly,
without any selfishness or reserve.
And He frees you to love the same.

He is eternal,
without beginning or end.
He is unbound by time –
never hurried.
Time is not His master,
but His slave.
And He wants to share His limitless eternity with you.

Do you want to understand
your purpose,
your design,
your destiny?
Do you want to begin to experience
what your life can be
today and every day?
Know and worship God
high and lifted up.
Start with Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: High and Holy Sovereign God
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Prune Me

John 15:1-8; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23

Father,
Creator,
Source of all that is good,
all life and fruitfulness flow
from You
through Jesus Christ.
He is the Vine, and
I am a branch in Him.
All that is
good and
beautiful and
life-giving,
all that is You in me,
flows through my connection with Him.

Prune me, Lord.
Clean away all that fruitlessly drains Your life-giving sap.
Cut off all that hinders the flow of the Spirit between
Christ and
me.
Remove all that clutters my
mind,
heart, and
life
without connecting me closer to Him.
Strip away
all that is not love,
all that is not Christ.

O merciful, all-wise, all-loving Lord,
prune me
that more of You
might flow freely
through me.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Life in the Vine
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Knocking

A prayer response to Revelation 3:14-22,
Christ’s letter to the church in Laodicea

Jesus,
You come and offer me the boundless wealth of
all You have and
all You are,
yet I cling to my meager resources.

You ask to clothe me in Yourself, and
I angrily resist,
wrapping myself more tightly in my filthy rags.

You freely offer me Your wisdom, but
my ignorance feels so much safer and more familiar.

Despite all this,
You humbly stand at my door,
day after day,
need after need, and
simply knock.
Your only desire is to offer me Yourself:
Your ability for all my weakness,
Your beautiful purity for all my sin,
Your sight for my total blindness,
Your glory for my deep shame.

You have done all You can for me and
will always do all You can,
but my destiny depends on me trusting You enough to
invite You in.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Seeking Me
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

God Loves the Lost

Matthew 9:36; 10:5-6; 12:11-12; 15:24; 18:12-14;
Mark 6:34; Luke 15; John 10:1-30; 2 Peter 3:9 

Jesus doesn’t think of sinners as repulsive people to be
avoided
despised, or
condemned.
He thinks of them as
lost sheep,
lost treasure, or
lost children.
They are to be searched for
eagerly,
lovingly,
single-mindedly.
God’s love never gives up!

Sinners arouse, not His condemnation, but
His compassion.
They stir, not His anger,
but His love and mercy

When the lost sheep is brought safely back,
rejoice!
When the treasure is found,
celebrate!
When the wayward child comes back home,
still in the rags of sin,
run to meet him!
Shower him with hugs and joyful tears!
Welcome him with full and glad acceptance!
One of God’s children is alive from the dead!
Let the party begin!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: One Lost Sheep
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Church, Follow Me

A reflection on Revelation 3:7-13,
Christ’s letter to the church in Philadelphia

My Church,
I do not call you
to human success,
to fulfill grand ambitions, or
to make a great name for yourself.

I call you to a real, living relationship with Me.
Trust Me and
follow Me,
not just with your words,
but with your daily lives, with
every word you speak and
every decision you make.

During my earthly life, I focused on
saying what my Father told me to say and
doing what my Father showed me to do.
Keep your focus the same, and
you will be like Me.
People will see Me in you, and
they will know that you are mine.

As you follow Me,
my Father and I will claim you as Our very own.
We will write Our names on you for everyone to see.
You will belong to Us, and
you will be with Us
completely,
beautifully,
now and forever.

Church,
just follow Me.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Fix Our Eyes on Jesus Christ
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

We Are Listening

Father, You have called us here, and
we have come.

You have honored us with Your presence, and
we bow before You.

You are speaking.
The same voice that called the universe out of nothing and
filled it with
life,
love, and
beauty
is now speaking
to us and
in us.

We are quiet, Lord.
We are waiting.
We are listening. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Are Listening, Lord
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The One Thing

A reflection on Revelation 3:1-6,
Christ’s letter to the church in Sardis.

As you respond to the various pressures around you
in all their variety,
as you decide how to spend
your time,
your energy,
your words,
your money,
your passion, and
your trust,
as your daily actions establish
what is truly important to you,
not what you claim to be important,
realize that in the end,
only one thing will matter.
Only one thing will decide
Your character,
Your identity,
Your influence,
Your peace,
Your eternity.
Only one thing will decide
who you have been here and
who you will be forever.

In the end, all that will matter is
Your relationship with me,
Your Creator,
Your Designer,
Your Father,
Your Savior,
Your only Source of life, love, rightness, and joy.

Consider what you want from this life.
Consider who you want to be, and
choose wisely.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Alone
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics