Archive for Devotional with Hymn

The Immensity of God

2014-09-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
(Psalm 8:1, 3-4, NIV)

Have you ever had the experience that the psalmist describes above? Have you been out under the clear night sky and looked up at the stars and the vastness of the heavens? Have you marveled that the Creator of all this has any interest in you? Here are some facts that may stimulate your imagination.

Light travels so fast that a beam of light can circle the earth more than 7 times in a second. The moon is a quarter of a million miles away, and its light reaches the earth in less than a second and a half. The sun is approximately 93 million miles away, and its light arrives in approximately 8 minutes.

Our own galaxy or group of stars is called the Milky Way. How long do you think it would take light to travel just across our own galaxy? 100,000 years! Light travels around the earth 7 times in a second and 93 million miles from the sun in only 8 minutes. But our galaxy is so vast that even light takes 100,000 years to cross it.

Galaxies are vast beyond our imagination. But ours is only one galaxy. How many galaxies do you think there are in the universe? Estimates vary, but in 1999, data from the Hubble space telescope led scientists to estimate that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. Some estimates run much higher. Try to imagine that: 93 million miles in 8 minutes; 100,000 years to cross our galaxy; 125 billion galaxies.

We are so very small. Reality dwarfs us. It dwarfs the human race. It dwarfs the entire earth.

But here’s something else to consider: this vast universe is only the smallest taste of the Living God. He overflows the physical universe. Job 26 talks about God’s mighty works in creation, then in v.14 says that in all these we see only the fringes of His robe. We hear only a faint whisper of Him.

What’s more, the gap between God and us is far greater than the size of the universe. The real gap between God and us is in the essence of who we are.

  • He is all-powerful and all-wise, unbounded by matter and time. We are weak and blind, living momentary lives, consumed with the here and now.
  • He is holy and pure. Without Him, we are corrupt and sinful.
  • He is unlimited love. We are proud, small-minded, and selfish, wrapped up in our own comfort and narrow interests.

But now for the most amazing truth: God’s love has bridged this gap between us. This immense chasm of time, space, and character has been closed by God’s all-encompassing love. All the immensity of God, all the eternity of God, all His glory and power and holiness have been embodied in a human being: Jesus Christ. We are united with this immense God in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10).

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Fullness of God’s Glory
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Hard Changes

2014-09-16 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Confrontation:
The Big Showdown.
I know I am right!
So much seems at stake.
The opponent is tough,
but my cause is “just”.
Everything within me strains forward,
strengthened by fear.

Yet the object feels more and more immovable,
so large that I can’t even see around it.
Righteous indignation fuels my frustration and anger, and
confusion sets in.

Then I remember that You, Lord, are here with me,
and I turn to You for solace and direction.
In Your presence, I begin to see the situation in a new light.

Lord, if the change should be in me,
if the real obstacle is my ignorance, and
the only things at stake are
my ego and
the comfort of the status quo,
soften my heart;
pull down my pride.
I open my clenched fists and
spread my arms to You,
bowing in Your presence.

In Your mercy, grant me
a trust that is willing to turn loose,
a humility that is gracious and joyful,
a Spirit that ever longs to give and heal.

But the lingering unknowns?
The hurts and unresolved fears?
I release them to you, my Savior, resting in
a wisdom that is always selfless and patient, and
a justice that overflows with mercy.
I know You care for me –
for me, Lord,
and that is more than enough.
I love You, my God!

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8, NASB)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Glorify Your Name
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Eternal Life is Knowing God

2014-09-14 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 17:1-5

Facing torture and His own death,
facing the climax of His entire ministry,
what was pressing on Jesus’ heart?
He longed for the world to see Father & Son
in the full light of reality,
in all their greatness,
their beauty,
their magnificence, and
their love.

Why?
When we know and respond to God
for all He is,
the world is put right again.
When God is thus glorified in our hearts and in our lives,
then our relationship with Him is put right, and
He is All-in-all in us.

Picture your heart and life seeing and responding to God for all He is.
Picture your family and loved ones seeing and responding to God for all He is.
Picture the Church and our world seeing God for all He is and
responding in joyful faith.

That is why Jesus taught us to pray every day:

Our Father in heaven,
may Your name be glorified and exalted,
may Your Kingdom come,
may Your will be done
on earth, just as it is in heaven.
(Matthew 6:9-10, paraphrase)

 Listen and sing:
Hymn: Your Kingdom, Your Power
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Work While It Is Day

2014-09-11 Devotional with Hymn One comment

[Jesus said,] “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4, NASB)

While we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10, NASB)

On Friday morning, December 13, 2013, here in Kansas City we had one of those times when a thin layer of ice coats everything. I hadn’t been out yet, so I wasn’t aware of it. But my wife went out to a real estate appointment that morning. When her car slid backwards all the way down the driveway, she called me to go out and apply ice melt.

I thought I was being careful. But I got to one particular point of the driveway where there is a slight ridge and the angle of the drive steepens just a bit. While facing down the driveway, my feet slipped, and I feel straight backwards, hitting head first on the concrete. I felt my hands flash numb momentarily. Then when I gathered my thoughts, I felt the back of my head and came away with a handful of blood.

I came inside to our daughter, a missionary to Ecuador who was visiting for the holidays. She called our son, a doctor who lives nearby and who happened to be home that day. He came over, checked me out, told me what symptoms to look for, and left my daughter to keep an eye on me. At first I only had a headache, but it wasn’t long before I got very nauseated and weak, tell-tale signs of concussion. I was completely laid up for a week, and it was a number of weeks before I felt normal.

Within just a few days, the Lord seemed to tell me that this was just a dress rehearsal. This time I would recover, but someday I wouldn’t. I was left with a greater desire to work while it is day.

The first thing that came to mind regarded our hymns website, LNWhymns.com. I had gone already through all my devotional writing and had assembled a list of companion devotional pieces for most of the hymns on the site. A meaningful context is the most important tool for effectively introducing a new hymn, and these devotional readings were designed to provide that. I had considered loading those companion devotionals onto the site as another free feature, but I had decided against it. Surely those devotional pairings would come in handy somewhere along the way, perhaps in a publication for sale.

But with “work while it is day” ringing in my mind, I knew now was the time to act. Within weeks, those “lead-in devotional readings” were available free on LNWhymns.com. (You’ll find them at the end of the printed music pdfs for those hymns that have them, which is most of them.)

What “someday” ministry opportunity has the Lord pressed on your heart? Don’t put it off! When you hear that still small voice prompting you to do some small deed of service, respond. The Lord calls, but usually He whispers. Listen and obey. The night is coming when no one can work. Such opportunities are precious, and they don’t last forever.

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

2014-09-09 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…
This is smaller than all other seeds,
but when it is full grown,
it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree.”
(Matthew 13:31-32, NASB)

God, You are growing me to You.

Sometimes I want to leap to You.
Sometimes I want You to lift me up to You.

But You just keep growing me –
through all the pain,
the joy,
the mysteries, and
the discoveries that growing brings.

You are God Most High,
perfect and complete.
You cannot grow.

But You are growing us all to You.

O God, my God,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth (Psalm 8:1, NASB).

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Bless This Seed
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In Christ

2014-09-07 Devotional with Hymn No comments

To me, to live is Christ. (Philippians 1:21, NIV)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3, NIV)

Salvation is not so much what Christ does as what He is. All the blessings that come to us through Christ – love, peace, joy, and more – are His own personal characteristics. They do not come to us as a “something”, wrapped up and handed to us. They come as He comes to us and unites His Spirit with ours. They come in Him.

There is a living union with Christ that can best be described as being in Him. It is a union that began in the heart of our Father before the foundation of the world.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.
He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world
to be holy and blameless before Him.
In Him we have redemption through his blood.
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance.
In him you…were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.
(Ephesians 1:3, 4, 7, 11, 13 NRSV)

In Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him. (Colossians 2:9-10, NRSV)

Like all the blessings of salvation, living in Christ comes to us by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Our union with Him is a living, ongoing relationship of trust. We are one with Him as we trust Him. It’s that simple. 

Brother or sister in Christ, share with me this one deep longing and constant goal: to live every moment in Christ, trusting Him, now and forever. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I’m in You
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Hold on to Love

2014-08-31 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Peter came to Jesus and asked Him this: 

“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22, NASB)

Paul spoke to the same need when he said:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. (Ephesians 4:31 – 5:2, NIV)

Those we love sometimes hurt or disappoint us.
The cause may be
a misunderstanding or
human weakness or
plain old selfishness.
Even the highest human love sometimes falls short.

When that happens,
we can let bitterness and anger sweep in and
widen the separation.
We can put at risk the love we’ve held so dear.
Or we can hold on to that love with both hands.
We can continue to reach out and
seek to understand.
Even in our own hurt, we can do what love is designed to do:
focus on the other person rather than ourselves.

When we forgive this way,
we not only let the other person experience the beauty of God’s love,
we experience it ourselves.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Joy of Forgiveness
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God’s Life within Us

2014-08-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God’s life within us is like
being born all over again.
This new life is not flesh and blood
but God’s own Spirit.

God’s life within us is like
light in the darkness.
It brings truth, understanding,
warmth, and goodness.

God’s life within us is like
a wedding.
A new union begins,
full of love, joy, and promise.

God’s life within us is like
a spring of living water,
bringing refreshment and complete satisfaction
forever and ever.

We reach for so much that we cannot attain,
things temporary and unworthy of our wanting.
But what is best, what is deep, lasting, and satisfying is
God, His presence, and His blessing.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Breath of Life
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Speaking and Listening

2014-08-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, I need Your Spirit living in me constantly.
We need Your Spirit in each of us, and among us.
But we hear Your warning:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. (Ephesians 4:30, NIV)
Do not cause Him sorrow or pain.
Do not destroy the joy He has planted in you.

And:
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire (1 Thessalonians 5:19, NIV).
Do not hinder His working among you.
Do not ignore His wisdom or frustrate His love.

Lord, how do I grieve You?
What do I do that causes You pain?
Ephesians says:

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body…Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. (4:25, 29-31, NIV) 

I grieve You by what I say to my fellow believers.
I wound You with words spoken against
my brothers and sisters,
words that are careless, angry, hasty, and self-serving.
When I hurt any member of Your Body, You feel the pain.

And how do I quench Your Spirit?
What do I do that hinders Your work?
In 1 Thessalonians Paul tells us:

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil (5:19-22, NIV).

When I fail to listen when other believers speak,
When I turn them off without hearing them,
I may be ignoring You.
For Your words don’t usually come to us
through a booming voice from heaven,
And prophecies are not just predictions of the future
thundered by strange men dressed in camel’s hair.
But through ordinary human lips Your Spirit speaks
Your guidance, warning, comfort, and love.

Your precious wisdom is delivered by
Your children.

Savior, help me cherish Your presence
in each of my brothers and sister.
As I speak to them,
may I always do so with the love I owe You.
As they speak to me,
let me listen from my heart and hear
Your voice,
my loving Lord.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit
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God, I Need You

2014-08-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help.
(Psalm 28:2, NIV)

My God, I cry out to You from my smallness and darkness.
Help me, Lord.
Forgive my self-centeredness.
Take me to You.
Absorb my life into Yours.

I want You.
I feel the need in my heart and try to verbalize it
but don’t know how.

Come and take me, Creator Lord.
Come in and make me entirely love, eternal Savior.
Purify me in love,
not to please me,
but to please You wholly and entirely.

Swallow my smallness in Your greatness,
in Your length and depth and height.

Swallow my concerns in utter praise to You.
Swallow anxiety in thanksgiving.
Swallow wanting in giving.

Take me entirely into You, my Lord Jesus.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Hungry for God
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

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