Archive for Devotional with Hymn

We Need You

2015-06-14 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 14:10 

Our Father exalted,
holy,
complete in wisdom, power, and love,
forever good,
forever true,
we need You!

I need You.
My dear spouse needs You.
Each of our precious children needs You.
Our pastor needs You.
Each friend,
each unique member of my family needs You.
Everyone I know,
everyone I encounter,
every individual in this sea of humanity
needs You.

O Father, we need Your light in our darkness.
We need Your truth,
Your rightness,
Your glory shining through
our struggling and inconsistent lives.
Lord God, we need Your holiness.
We need Your peace.
We need the patient, selfless love that only You can give.

But Father, more than anything else, we need You.
Help us need You as Christ needed You.
He depended on You constantly and
trusted You with all His heart.
He was completely Yours,
so You were completely His.

Father, in Jesus Christ You are ours as well.
You are ours
as we are Yours.
You are ours as we
trust You,
follow You, and
simply, deeply need You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Need You, Holy God
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As I Begin to Pray

2015-06-09 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father,
as I walk through this false and foolish world,
reshape my false and foolish thoughts
by Your reality,
by the beautiful truth of all You are.

Help me see You and know You in Your transcendence.
Purify my desires by the holy breath of Your Spirit.
Keep me joyful in the unending flow of Your pure goodness.
Give me peace in the assurance of Your never-failing love.
Flood my being with the light of Your unspeakable greatness.

Give me a heart and mind that
are conscious of Your presence and
are fully responsive to You, my Father.

Make me like Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God My Father
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Eternal God

2015-06-07 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Eternal God, You overflow all the vast universe and
all human thought and imagination.
Though You are consistent,
You consistently stretch every comfortable understanding of You.

But what you require of us is amazingly, stunningly simple:
Trust Me.

As we trust You, we live in the comforting truth of
Your greatness and
our smallness.

As we trust You, we fear You
and fear nothing else.
As we trust You, all the world is a lush forest,
dense with Your life and mysterious beauty.

As we trust You, our horizons are as vast as You are.
We share Your character,
Your power,
Your goodness, and
Your unlimited future.

As we trust You, we are unmoved by threats and
unconcerned about unknowns.
Fruitless worry disappears into peace when we see only You.

Sovereign God, You dwell in eternity,
unmoved by time.
Your promises,
Your purposes,
Your burning love
are always now, always sure, always undiminished.
You speak, and it is so.
Why do we hesitate to trust You?
Why are we ever afraid?

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Our God Is a God of Might
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Speak, Lord

2015-06-02 Devotional with Hymn, Prayer No comments

1 Samuel 3:1-10

Father, You speak to us when we are
too young,
too ignorant, and
too self-absorbed to know Your voice.
You come and
stand and
speak.

You speak our name.
You, the Almighty, the Transcendent, the Timeless One, speak to us
individually,
personally,
one on One.
You come to call us to Yourself,
(Why do you CARE?) and
to invite us to a personal relationship with You.
You call us into Your service
that we might play a part in Your greater work.

Thank You for the privilege
of hearing Your voice,
of knowing You personally,
of serving Your gracious purpose for all humankind.
Thank You, Father!
Speak, for Your servant is listening!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Here I Am
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Resting in You

2015-05-31 Devotional with Hymn, Prayer No comments

Father, You are wisdom.
Your working is deeper,
higher, and
more far-reaching than I can imagine.

You are absolute power.
You do what pleases You.
No one challenges Your mighty arm.
Nothing stops Your purpose.

Father, You are love.
Nothing exhausts Your gentle compassion.
Nothing strains Your joyful self-giving.

So when You whisper, I will listen.
When You lead, I will follow wherever You go.
When Your will brings me
delay or
sorrow or
sacrifice,
I will love You and
trust You and
rest in the rightness of all You do.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Good Gifts
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The Holy Spirit: Power to Be

2015-05-28 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ephesians 3:14-21

What part does God’s Holy Spirit play in our lives? What part can He play as we learn to rely on Him more? Realize this: the Spirit is the constant presence of the Almighty, all-wise, all-loving God in the innermost part of our being.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you? (1 Corinthians 6:19, NIV) 

God’s Holy Spirit brings us the power to be all our holy, loving Father wants us to be. He doesn’t paint a thin layer of holiness over our evil hearts. He transforms us from the inside out, from our very core, freeing us from our slavery to sin.

Now that you have been set free from sin…the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22, NIV)

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2, NASB)

Through the Spirit, Christ’s own character grows within us daily, naturally.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)

The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of the truth.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21, NIV)

“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
“He will guide you into all truth.” (John 14:26; 16:13, NIV)

As we trust Him, the Holy Spirit wraps us in God’s perfect peace.

The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6, NIV)

Through His Spirit, God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, NIV). He has given us the Jesus’ own Spirit, always within us.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy God
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Welcome in His Holy Presence

2015-05-26 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-25; 12:18-24

Before Jesus Christ, God’s holiness was often met with fear…with shame…with vain attempts to make themselves worthy. For some who unworthily came too near God, His holiness brought death.

In Jesus Christ, we draw near to our holy God

  • at His special invitation
  • with a clean conscience
  • completely blameless
  • with confidence and full assurance
  • in the glad and loving company of other children of God
  • with great joy
  • assured that He is always ready to give us whatever we need

The book of Hebrews paints a beautiful picture of all the wonderful realities that are now ours in Jesus Christ. My favorite is Hebrews 2:11: 

Both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren (NASB).

Jesus Christ is holy, transcendent, and utterly sinless and pure. Without Him, we are the opposite. But as we trust Him, He gladly puts His arms around us and calls us His brothers and sisters. By simple faith, we become children of the same Father and are welcomed as members of the family.

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

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Our Destiny Is Jesus Christ
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The Blind Man of Jericho

2015-05-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 

He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:35-43, NIV)

What if you were the blind man, doomed to spend every day begging as life went on around you? Then suddenly you learn that your only hope for healing is passing nearby, right now, at this very moment. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Jesus…have mercy on me!” (v.38)

It was a cry of weakness and need, of complete helplessness. “Jesus, I’m desperate! Please notice me! Help me! Lord, care about me!”

Have you ever noticed what happens when someone speaks too loudly or has an emotional outburst that seems inappropriate? It disrupts decorum, and the whole atmosphere becomes tense. Everyone is suddenly uncomfortable…and annoyed.

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet. (v.39)

But he was desperate, so he yelled even louder and more insistently:

Son of David, have mercy on me! (v.39) 

This cry arose from the depths of his heart, all the way up through his being. Propriety, reputation, and embarrassment didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered. He was in the presence of One who could give him his sight. “Jesus, HELP ME!”

We can approach God like that man. All of us have felt some measure of what the blind man felt before God: crushing need, helplessness, desperation. When you feel that way, cry out to God. He is not offended by honesty, no matter how brutal. Read the Gospels. Read the Psalms. He honors faith.

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” (v.42)

No poverty should make us too ashamed to come to God. Whether the need is moral or emotional, large or small, you are welcome in His presence. You are an invited guest. And He will look you straight in the eye, straight in the heart, and work in your life. He may not act according to your plan or on your timetable, but trust Him through your pain. His wisdom and love will prove themselves perfect.

He received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (v.43)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: From These Depths, O Lord
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The Christ of Ordinary Time

2015-05-19 Devotional with Hymn No comments

from A Christ-centered Year

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 3:18, NASB)

During Ordinary Time, Jesus helps us order our lives by His teaching and example.
He gives us His Spirit as a down-payment
while we eagerly await His promised Advent.

Ordinary time is like the days Jesus spent with His disciples.
Together they walked long, dusty roads.
They talked,
taught,
healed, and
suffered together.
Our ordinary time is much the same.
It is time spent being discipled by Christ, our personal companion.

We learn by watching Him, by drinking in His example.
We learn from His Words, by hearing Him teach.
We learn by doing, by serving as He served and
obeying the Father as He obeyed.

We find that as Jesus proclaims His Kingdom within us,
He is like the teacher He described in Matthew 13:52:

Every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old. (NASB)

Jesus sheds new light on timeless treasures from
the law, the psalms, and the prophets.
He also gives us new wine in new wineskins.

During Ordinary Time, Jesus helps us order our lives by His teaching and example.
He gives us His Spirit as a down-payment
while we eagerly await His promised Advent.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: See All That Human Can Be
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Worship God in Spirit

2015-05-17 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:24, NIV)

To worship God in spirit and in truth means to give Him the worship that is His due.

God is a spirit. Therefore He must be worshiped in spirit, by a humble and genuine worship in the depths of our souls, where He alone can see it.

As we worship Him more and more often, this worship becomes a natural response to His continual presence with us. God becomes one with our souls and our souls one with Him. What began as our sporadic response of love gradually blends into a unison of love with Him. We begin to taste the beautiful, unbroken union Christ enjoys with the Father.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Breath of His Love
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