Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Communion Face-to-face

2015-08-09 Devotional with Hymn No comments

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:14-15, 19-20, NIV)

Jesus, as one of Your disciples,
I see You standing before me.
In these Your final moments with us,
You act out what You are about to do for us.

You break the bread.
“This is My body, broken for you.
Take and eat.
As you do, remember Me.”

You take the cup.
“This is My blood, poured out for you.
Drink it,
and as you do, remember Me.”

I take the bread and the cup from Your own hand, and
I look into Your face.
You are the Bread of Life,
broken for us,
given to us.
Your life is the wine,
poured out for us,
spilled for us.

I feed on You, Lord,
and I live.
I take this,
eat,
remember You, and
give thanks.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Lord, from Your Hand
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A Clear Choice

2015-08-07 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 30:15-20

God always takes the initiative to bless us, but the final choice is always ours. We have to choose to receive His blessings.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Deuteronomy 11:26, NASB)

But what sense does that make? Wouldn’t everyone choose God’s blessing rather than His cursing? No, for we make that choice by the attitudes and actions we choose:

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God…
and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God.”
(Deuteronomy 11:26-28, NASB)

To dramatize the choice, God selected a valley with a mountain on each side — Mt. Gerizim on the south side and Mt. Ebal on the north side. He appointed six tribes of Israel to stand on Mt. Gerizim, representing God’s blessings, and six to stand on Mt. Ebal, representing God’s curses. As they stood there, the specific blessings of obeying God were read, followed by the specific curses of disobeying Him. The people were given a clear choice. (See Deuteronomy 27 & 28; also Joshua 8:30-35.)

Centuries later, Jesus presented the same clear choice. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27), he told the story of two different men, each of which built a house. The wise man built on rock, the foolish man built on sand. The wise man weathered life’s storms, while the foolish man met with complete disaster. Both had heard God’s word and knew it. The difference was that the wise man chose to act on what he knew, while the foolish man did not.

God is eager to bless, eager to give, eager to be close to us. But we decide our relationship with Him by the choices we make. In our daily lives, we either choose Him or choose to ignore Him. We choose life or death, blessing or cursing. One day those choices will be forever.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Free to Chose
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Living God

2015-08-04 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me,
is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
(John 10:27-30, NIV)

We hear so many voices, both
from the outside and
from inside.

But Jesus, when you speak,
we recognize Your voice.
We recognize
the Father’s love,
the Father’s power,
the Father’s wisdom, and
the Father’s tender care for us.

Jesus, we trust You and
gladly follow You. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Jesus, Living God!
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Let Love Fill My Moments

2015-08-02 Devotional with Hymn, Prayer No comments

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water. 

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
(Psalm 63:1, 3-8, NIV)

Lord, help me spend my thought time
more wisely.
Let’s keep an open conversation
between You and me,
talking and listening,
no matter what else is going on.
As we face each other, Lord,
let Your love fill
all my spare thoughts and moments.

Make my life a constant gift of love
from You
to Your children. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Lord, May Our Thoughts Begin with You
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Living a Relationship

2015-07-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

I want to know Christ. (Philippians 3:10, NIV)

Being a Christian is not living a set of rules.
It is living a relationship.

It’s like a marriage.
What God wants most from us is to
love the Lord your God with all your heart . . .
soul . . .
mind and . . .
strength (Mark 12:30).

I’ve learned that when my wife wants something –
when she’s irritable or withdrawn –
what she usually wants is me.
She wants to share with me.
She wants us to truly be together for a while.

Jesus is the same.
When He wants something from me,
He wants me.
Not some great work of service –
me.
He wants me to turn to Him.
He wants to live that moment,
every moment,
in relationship with me.

He wants us to walk together
day-by-day,
step-by-step.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: It’s So Good to Be with You
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The Peace of Jesus

2015-07-26 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 14:27-31

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27, NASB)

As Jesus faces all the trouble,
all the suffering,
all the death this world can bring,
He gives us His peace.
His peace is unshaken and unshakable.
It is not just an absence of all conflict.
It is wholeness,
harmony,
completeness,
rightness, and
well-being.
It is an unencumbered relationship with God our Father.

We talk a lot about peace,
but do you truly want it constantly in your heart and life?
The scriptures consistently point us to Jesus Christ:

Christ came to bring us peace. (Luke 2:14)

In the midst of our hardships,
we can enjoy His peace. (John 16:33)

Christ has made us right with God,
giving us peace with Him. (Romans 5:1)

The Kingdom of God is not temporary, physical pleasure,
but righteousness, joy, and
peace in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

As we bring our concerns to Christ,
He wraps us in His peace. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Love, joy, and peace are the fruit of
the Spirit of Christ within us. (Galatians 5:22)

Christ gives us His peace, and
it is unlike any other.
It is not vague, temporary, or shallow.
It is not a serene setting or a passing mood.
It is a full, rich, unchanging well-being in God that
will not fade in and out with changing circumstances.
It will not change, because God does not change.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Pass the Peace of Christ
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The Lord Bless You

2015-07-23 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Numbers 6:22-27

One of the most familiar blessings in the Bible is also one of the earliest. After God had delivered His people from slavery in Egypt, He spent 40 years leading them through the desert wilderness, testing them, teaching them, and forming them into His own people. During those years He gave this blessing to Moses and asked him to give it his brother, Aaron, and to Aaron’s sons, God’s priests in Israel. God told them to speak this blessing to the people of Israel:

The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26, NASB)

God delights to bless His people, and He wants us to know that He delights to bless us. But more than that, He wants to put His blessing in our mouths. He gives us chances to speak the Lord’s blessing over the lives of others, and to be blessed by God through the words of others. God wraps His people in the giving and receiving of His blessings.

But here, what specific blessings does God ask to be spoken by and to His people?

  • God is keeping us. He is always watching over His people. Read Psalm 121, which is a beautiful picture of God keeping constant watch over those He loves.
  • The Lord not only turns His face toward us, but He causes His face to shine on us. His face is the light of His love, and it beams on all of us and each of us. We are the focus of His joyful concern and personal care.
  • God is gracious toward us. He works to give us His very best, even though we don’t deserve it.
  • The Lord blesses us with His peace – not only with relief from conflict, but with harmony, fruitfulness, and complete well-being in Him.

Look particularly at v.27. This blessing, and all the blessings of God that we speak to each other, are not empty, pious wishes. They are God’s blessings. God has decreed the well-being of His people. We are simply His instruments, His spokespersons, speaking His blessings into the lives of others.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Blesses His People
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Live with the End in View

2015-07-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26, NASB)

Moses had a choice. He could identify with his birth family, who were Hebrew slaves, or with his adoptive family, the royal house of Pharaoh, one of the most powerful families on earth. Identifying with Pharaoh would have meant privilege, respect, comfort, and wealth. Identifying with a slave race meant sharing their bitter oppression in all its forms.

Moses walked away from the royal family and instead embraced the difficulties, danger, and disgrace of being the leader of the Hebrew slaves. Why? Because he chose what was right and best in the long-term over short-term comfort. The reproach of Christ (Hebrews 11:26) held more appeal and satisfaction for him than all the pleasures and treasures of an Egyptian palace.

In Hebrews 13, the writer describes how Jesus chose to take our reproach, our curse upon Himself. He suffered outside the camp (v.11) as the disgraced and discarded corpse of a sin sacrifice. In v.13, the writer urges us:

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. (NASB)

That’s what Moses chose to do: willingly bear the suffering and reproach of Christ. Christ had accepted the reproach that rebellious sinners had heaped on God His Father (see Romans 15:13). We are urged to share that reproach, that reviling, ill-treatment, and disgrace.

When Moses made that choice, according to Hebrews 11:26, he was looking to the reward. Does that mean that actually, he was simply seeking what was best for himself in the long-run? In the gospels, Jesus often emphasizes our heavenly reward as the reason we should choose God over sin. Is our reason for obeying God to simply gain the best outcome for ourselves? Is Jesus endorsing shallow and selfish motives for doing the right thing?

No, Hebrews 11 gives a different perspective. It repeatedly praises those who make the right long-term decisions, in spite of short-term suffering. Such decisions prove their faith in God. Their actions demonstrate their conviction that God is who He says He is and will do all He says He will do. This is the faith that pleases God (vv.1-5).

That’s the faith that Moses lived.

Father, in Your loving plans for Your children,
suffering is always a means to a good end.
It is only a transition,
never a destination.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Captives of Eternal Love
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When We Fail

2015-07-19 Devotional with Hymn No comments

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NIV)

What should you do when you find you have forgotten God for a while? Don’t beat yourself up. Simply turn to Him again, admit your failure, and continue joyfully walking with Him. Your sadness is a sign of your love and desire for Him.

What should you do when you realize you’ve sinned? Don’t be discouraged. Admit it. “That is just like me! I cannot do anything right without God.” Confess your sin and confidently petition His grace, focusing not on your sin, but on His merits.

Then return to your normal work, and never let your mind go back. Put yourself completely in God’s hands for life and death, for time and eternity.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Father, I’ve Failed You
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I Am from You

2015-07-12 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God, in a way, our relationship is private and personal,
one that You and I share alone.
It’s an organic relationship,
as fundamental as my substance,
as my existence.
I am from You.

I turn back to You now as demands leave me
uncertain and
seeking support.
I am from You.

I don’t just have my source in You.
I’m not a child now seeking independence.
I am a part of You once ripped away,
now seeking reunion.
You are life, and I am alive.
You are reality, and I exist.
You are air, and I am a breath.

Father, I am from You.
Make us one again, I pray.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Imagine Your Creator’s Breath
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