Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Daily Forgiveness

2016-10-09 Devotional with Hymn No comments

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NASB)

Our Father in heaven,…forgive us our debts. (Matthew 6:9, 12, NASB)

Father, You know my heart.
You know that I want to live and breathe as Your child.
I want to be one with You every moment and in every way.
I long to walk in total obedience to Your perfect and loving will.

But You also know how I live day by day.
My responses to You are so sporadic and cool.
I want to live a loving life constantly and completely,
but I shrink back into myself so often and so easily.
As I trust You, You always enable me to live a holy life in Your presence.
You are so faithful!
But how often I fail to trust You as You deserve!
Faith is still a response that is only partially formed in me.

The closer I grow to You, the more I am aware of the
magnitude and constancy of my failures before You.
You deserve so much better than me!

But Your grace is perfect, even though my behavior is not.
Your forgiveness is free for the asking!
Though my shortcomings are a never ending stream,
Your mercies are new every morning.

I count on Your forgiveness, Father,
but help me never take it for granted.
Give me a growing openness with You.
Give me a constant awareness of
who You are and
who I am.
May confession be an ongoing process between us,
a daily healing,
a regular realigning,
a natural part of our unbroken communion.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Daily Confession
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Only for the Lord

2016-10-04 Devotional with Hymn No comments

If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Romans 14:8, NASB)

Though I have never been a pastor, I know God called me to full-time Christian service. He has led, prepared, and commissioned me. He has given me a burning desire to communicate His truth in a way that is fresh and penetrating, yet practical.

As a result, I’ve spent my entire adult life employed by Christian organizations. I consider that a great privilege and joy. But that doesn’t mean all has been sweetness and light. My bosses have been thoroughly human. My jobs have been filled with stress, frustration, and unending setbacks. I have been unappreciated and treated unfairly. Often I have felt my employers were not worthy of the dedication I was giving. Many times I have feared that in the end, my efforts would prove meaningless.

Because of all this, I have reminded myself of the following over and over again throughout my working life:

I do not work for my bosses.
I do not work for the company.
I do not even work for the church.
I work for the Lord.

Do my bosses seem unfair and misguided? I do not work for them. I work for the Lord. Does my pay seem far less than I deserve? I work for the Lord. He provides abundantly for me, and I owe Him everything. Does my work seem trivial and meaningless? The Lord of the universe has called me to do it, and He feels it’s important. My work is a personal “Thank You!” to Him. I trust that He will bless it as a seed and make it fruitful.

During my frustrations I can lift myself and my job to Him. I can release them to Him knowing He has put me here. It is His work, and He is here with me. Such prayer helps me look in a different direction. It turns my heart away from my selfish interests and toward His purpose and glory. Doing the work then becomes a prayer in itself, a way of acting out my trust and love for Him.

No matter what your present job, use it to serve your Lord joyfully. Bring your work to Him, and do it for Him. He is a wonderful employer!

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.
(Colossians 3:23, NASB) 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I’ll Sing of You
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Teach Me to Pray

2016-10-02 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
(Luke 6:12, NIV)

Jesus, You prayed so much when You were here on earth.
At times You ministered to people through the day,
then prayed through the night.

How did You do it, Lord?

For You, was prayer work,
or was it rest?
Did You need to rest from praying,
or was prayer itself a type of rest?

For me, should prayer be labor,
an activity requiring energy and discipline,
an obligation to be endured?
Or should it be rest,
a retreat into You?

If I trusted the Father as You did and
relied on Him completely,
then what would prayer be for me?

Jesus, my Savior,
You are my example.
Teach me to pray.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Teach Us to Pray
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The Lord’s Supper and Passover

2016-09-29 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Read Exodus 12:1-28, 43-51

When Jesus initiated the Lord’s Supper, He and His disciples were celebrating Passover. To understand the Lord’s Supper, we must look briefly at Passover.

Passover memorialized God’s deliverance from the hopeless and bitter bondage of slavery into the glorious freedom of God’s chosen and blessed people.

Read the Exodus 12 account of Passover while keeping the Lord’s Supper in mind. What parallels do you see? Here are a few:

  • Both were remembrances, re-enactments of God’s salvation. God reveals Himself primarily by His actions, and some memories of His actions are too important to be entrusted to words alone. Both Passover and the Lord’s Supper were ways of physically acting out what God had done for His people.
  • The Lord’s Supper, the new Passover, is so sweeping that it makes the first Passover, which is glorious in its own right, into a mere foreshadowing of what God did for us in Christ.
  • The first Passover celebrates the defeat of the greatest power among nations, the oppressor of God’s people. The Lord’s Supper celebrates the defeat of all evil.
  • With Passover, God demonstrated His power through killing Egypt’s firstborn. With the Lord’s Supper, God demonstrated His love by offering His own firstborn.
  • Jesus invested the bread and wine, parts of the Passover meal, with a new meaning. They became symbols of His own body and His own blood. He Himself was the meal God offered.
  • Jesus became the unblemished Passover Lamb on whom God’s people feasted. It was His blood that saved them from death.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Remember Your Lord
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One Body

2016-09-27 Devotional with Hymn No comments

We were all baptized into one body. (1 Corinthians 12:13, NASB) 

Lord Jesus, when I become one with You,
I become one with every other believer.
I come into one Body with them.
When I first answered Your call,
that’s what happened.
When I answer Your call and surrender to Your will now,
that’s what happens.
I become one member of Your Body,
with all its many members.

I get so focused on my individual life.
I forget that in reality
I’m one part of a grand picture,
a panorama that extends
throughout recorded history and
beyond.
I’m one part of Your own family,
of Your precious people.

Jesus, teach me to think that way.
Teach me to pray that way.
Teach me to work that way.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Have Come, God’s Living Temple
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Simple Responses

2016-09-25 Devotional with Hymn No comments

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
(Jeremiah 31:3, NIV)

From our birth to our death
God Almighty showers us with
His love,
His guidance, and
His daily care.

Consistently and constantly,
in big ways and small ways, He says,
“I love you!
You can trust Me!”

As you live day by day,
are you responding to His love?
Your present and future happiness depend on your responses. 

Father, when You bless me,
I will thank You.
With every need,
I will turn to You and trust You.
As You love me,
I will love those around me. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: A Thankful Heart
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Needing the Father

2016-09-22 Devotional with Hymn, One with Our Father No comments

from the book, ONE WITH OUR FATHER 

John 5:19-30

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing. 

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:19-20, 30, NASB)

Father, I want so many things.
I am always hungry and thirsty.

I need so many things.
I feel weak and vulnerable
and am constantly grasping for security.

But no human being was ever weaker than Your Son,
and He wanted only You.
He needed only You.
Your glory,
Your Kingdom,
Your will—
that is all He sought.

He was always sufficient,
always speaking Your Words,
always doing Your works,
always able,
always at peace.

Father, my Father,
help me to be as weak and as strong as He was.
Give me the Spirit of Christ.
Help me to want only You.

Father, Jesus was single-mindedly devoted to You.
You were His joy,
His wisdom,
His source, and
His focus.
Be the same to me, Father.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Father, Father
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Nothing but You, Christ

2016-09-20 Devotional with Hymn No comments

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NIV)

Lord, You are pointing Your finger at
every avenue of ministry You have given me.
Help me not to approach them with attempts at
human eloquence or
persuasion.
Such efforts demonstrate me, not You.
They are nothing but distractions.

For, Jesus, You are
the wisdom and
the power and
the salvation of God.
By Your Spirit, demonstrate yourself through me.
Show yourself.
Draw people to yourself alone, not to me.

When I come as Your servant,
let me come in weakness.
Let me come with nothing but You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Not I, but Christ
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Learn a New Response to Need

2016-09-18 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Whenever we feel a need, we want to eliminate it.
All our focus is on ridding ourselves of the source of our discomfort.

But realize that our neediness is permanent and pervasive.
We can never eliminate it.
Eliminate the need that obsesses you right now, and
another will soon replace it.

Instead, God is teaching us to rest in His sufficiency,
right there in the presence of the need.
We can find peace in Him,
even when the need continues for a time.

What needs are you feeling in your life right now?
God is using them to draw you to Himself.
Look past your normal solutions,
your usual sources of relief that never prove adequate.
Turn to Him.
Bring your concerns to Him, and rest in Him.
He is peace.
He is your sufficiency through every need.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Lord, How Good to Rest in You
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Better Bread

2016-09-15 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Read John 6:26-34

The crowd that Jesus had fed from the loaves and fishes followed Him to other side of the Sea of Galilee. When they caught up with Him, their opening question was, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (John 6:25, NASB). Jesus knew what they really wanted, so He ignored their question and cut straight to the point:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” (John 6:26, NASB)

A “sign” is a miracle intended to verify the truth of a teaching. Jesus intended the feeding of the five thousand to be a sign pointing to Himself as the Bread of Life, the satisfaction for all their deepest hungers. The crowd didn’t see the sign, only the free food. For people who worked hard for daily bread, free food was a powerful motivator. But Jesus continued to press them to understand the real purpose of the sign: 

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” (John 6:27, NASB)

He urged them to look beyond physical bread, shallow and temporary. He tried to redirect them toward Himself as the satisfaction for all their deeper needs. But their hearts were focused on themselves, not on Him, and on their physical desires, not their spiritual needs.

They pointed out that Moses had provided manna in the wilderness and suggested that Jesus should do the same for them. But they were missing the point. Manna had been intended to teach the people to depend on God, not on physical bread:

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna…that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3, NASB)

Their self-centered, materialistic hearts were causing them to overlook God’s greater provision, just as the Jews in the wilderness had done.

What needs are you feeling in your life right now? God is using them to draw you to Himself.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Taste Your Life and Long for More
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