Archive for Devotional with Hymn

from Prepare Yourself for Worship

My Heart Is Yours

Father, You are all that is good,
all that is holy,
all that is lasting,
all that is life.
As I turn to You now,
draw all my desires to Yourself alone.

Burn away every other desire,
every other yearning,
every other hope,
every other ambition.
Burn them away with the light of
Your beauty,
Your unbounded goodness, and
Your complete sufficiency.

Forgive my foolish wandering.
My heart is Yours alone.
All I want is You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: An Undivided Heart
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See as God Sees

from the book, ONE WITH OUR FATHER 

John 13:1-3

In difficult times,
our concerns, our pain, and our loss
seem so real and permanent.
But this entire physical world is passing away,
including these bodies.
What seems so solid and lasting is only temporary.

What will last is
God,
His life in us, and
our service to those He loves.
In the long run, material things are only important as
they impact His purposes.
Money and possessions either lure us away from God or
draw us closer to Him.
They either serve Him or
deny Him.

Look to God,
consider His purposes, and
begin to see the events in your life as He sees them.

Through life’s painful experiences rejoice that

His purpose is advancing and coming to completion.
We are not suffering permanent loss but are being drawn closer to God.
He has not forgotten us. In fact, He is showing His love for us in a richer, deeper way. 

Father, when difficulties come,
help me to cling to You and to Your will
the way Jesus did. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Are in Christ Jesus
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Use Me Today

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
(Romans 12:1, NIV)

Lord, it’s the start of a new day.
I want this day to count for You.

I want it to be a good day with You.
I want to know You better.
I want to draw closer to You.
I want to please You.
I want to be used by You to help others,
to love them for You,
to draw them to You.

Lord,
use me today.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Through Me
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

My Mind Is Yours

Father,
Creator,
Redeemer,
You have called me here before You,
face to face.
As I come,
draw my thoughts to You alone.
You are God.
You are wisdom.
You are right and
good and
all-in-all.

As I come, Lord,
my mind is Yours.
Fill it with Your light,
Your truth,
Yourself.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: My Mind Is Yours
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Come to the Source

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV) 

The demands of love can seem overwhelming and beyond our ability.

But when God calls us to love, He is not pushing us into the impossible. He is calling us to himself. He is urging us to look away from ourselves and our own needs and resources, and to look to Him.

The more we look to our Father, the more we trust Him and love Him. As we trust Him, we are free to be generous with others. As we love Him, we grow to love those He loves.

Is loving difficult? Spend more time with your loving Father. As you live in His presence, you’ll become more and more like Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Hungry for God
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

Prepare for Epiphany

Father, we who walked in darkness
have seen a Great Light.
The Sun of Righteousness has risen over us.
The Light of all the nations has dawned.

Your glory has appeared, and
we have seen it.
It is the glory of Your only Son,
who has come from Your own intimate presence.
His glory shines brightly with
Your grace and
Your truth.

Jesus is the Light of the World.
As we come to worship this Epiphany,
we come to the Light.
We walk in the Light.
We lift the Light so that all can see Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Light of Every Nation
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Light

John 1:4-9

God floods our world with His life.
His life brings Light into darkness.
It brings wisdom and love into our fear.
It brings understanding into our ignorance.
It is truth, and it drives out all that is false.
The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness is overpowered.

Jesus is this Light…
pure, uncreated Light
shining from our Father.
As we receive the Light,
He melts the darkness from our hearts and lives.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: You Are the Light
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

Prepare for Worship

Worship is like every other activity: we reap what we sow. Our relationship with God is like every other relationship: we get out of it what we put into it.

Worship is so much more real and meaningful when I come prepared to worship Him as He deserves to be worshiped: with my thoughts and desires turned to Him.

You shall love the Lord Your God
with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and
with all your mind.
This is the great and foremost commandment.
(Matthew 22:37-38, NASB)

So much of my life I’ve come to Sunday worship distracted. I’ve gone through the motions, but my heart and mind were far away. As I asked God for His forgiveness and help, He prompted me to begin preparing myself for Sunday worship. On Saturday night or Sunday morning I’ve begun to consciously turn my mind and heart to Him.

During this journey, the prayers He has given me I will share with you through a new Saturday edition of my blog. (For 2017, my blog posts will come out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.) Each of these Saturday posts will appear under the heading, “Prepare Yourself for Worship”. Each prayer will conclude with a hymn.

Father, You want me to know You better,
and You say that I can know You better
through a more wholehearted participation in public worship.
I want what You want:
I want to know You better.
I want a closer, more constant relationship with You.
Teach me, Father.
I am listening.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Prepare Us
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Silent Witnesses

Too often we look at the helplessness of infancy and of old age and feel that such lives are useless. We seem to think that if they can’t DO anything, what is the use of them living.

But we forget that God glorifies Himself most magnificently, not through our strength, not through our sufficiency, but through our weakness.

“My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 2:9, NIV)

Look at the way sovereign God chose to feed the five thousand, or slay a giant, or demolish the impregnable walls of Jericho. He chose to use weakness because it proved that He Himself was acting, not some human agent.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7, NASB)

Look at the example of Jesus. While He was still a helpless infant, only doing what infants do, God used Him powerfully. His arrival proved God’s faithfulness to His promises. His humble circumstances said more about God’s tenderness and mercy than words could ever express. News of His birth drew worshipers from a country and a religion far away.

God can powerfully use helpless infants.

When Jesus was in His final moments, able only to gasp and groan, God painted a picture of love that none of us can ever forget.

Even when we can no longer do God’s work, God can work through us.

I am not proposing a simplistic solution to the complex issues of life and death. But when He allows those in the grip of death to linger a bit, don’t doubt His wisdom or goodness. Even when we can no longer speak a testimony, our silent witness can eloquently glorify the God who is always faithful and who never leaves us alone.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Is Working All Around You
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His Indescribable Gift

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’  I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34, NIV)

All the gifts of God,
all the freedom of His forgiveness,
all His unfailing love,
all the life-giving renewal of His mighty breath,
all the beauty of His character,
all the joyful, glorious, abundant future
that His heart could ever imagine
have come to you in Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: See the Lamb of God
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