Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Emmaus Road

2014-04-20 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Now that same day two…were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 

“Jesus of Nazareth…was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:13-17, 19-21, NIV)

Like these two disciples,
we are often distressed at God’s actions.
We don’t understand what He is doing…
or what He is not doing.

Why?
Because we don’t understand which problem He is addressing.
We think the problem is our circumstances
or “the Romans”
or some other person.
The problem God is addressing is
us.
The problem is our failure to seek and trust
only Him.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: I Walk the Dark Emmaus Road
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Fill My Thoughts

2014-04-15 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Search me, O God, and
know my heart;
test me and
know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)

Lord God, You honor me by being with me always.
I am unworthy of You,
but You love me.
You want to be with me.
You want us to be one in heart.

You are love, and You want me to be loving.
You are pure, and You want me to be pure in heart.
You are gentle and kind, and You want me to be as You are.

Patient, gentle, loving Jesus,
give me Your Spirit.
Give me Your mind.
Give me Your heart.

Lord, fill my thoughts
with what pleases You.

 Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Always in You
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Jesus, My Power and Wisdom

2014-04-13 Devotional with Hymn No comments

To those whom God has called…(we preach) Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:24-31, NIV)

Jesus, today
You are my power.
I rest in Your doing.
I move every moment
in Your enabling.

Jesus,
You are my wisdom.
I pray for Your mind.
I listen.

Jesus,
You are my holiness.
I rejoice in You in me.
I quiet my planning
and relax in Your Spirit.

Jesus, today
my work will be to trust You.
Glorify yourself through me today.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Lord Jesus, Living Presence
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Fill Me with Love

2014-04-08 Devotional, Devotional with Hymn No comments

Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your mind and
with all your strength.…
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these.
(Mark 12:30-31, NIV)

God, You are love.
And more than anything else,
You want to fill my life with love.
You want me to love You and
love those around me—
not just in word but in action,
with all I have and all I am.

You want to root out the selfishness that
twists, distorts, and destroys my life.
You want to fill me with Your love and
the peace it brings—
peace with others and
peace with You.

Jesus, today fill every thought
and every action with love.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Be Love in Me
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Certainty

2014-04-06 Devotional, Devotional with Hymn No comments

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end
he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
(Job 19:25-27, NIV)

We have a hope
that flows deeper than grief.
We have a joy
that no sorrow can take away.
We have a confidence
that no darkness can shake.
We have a life
that no death can ever destroy.

“Do not be afraid.
I am the First and the Last.
I am the Living One;
I was dead, and
behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
(Revelation 1:17-18, NIV)

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: I Know That My Redeemer Lives
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Prayer in Gethsemane

2014-03-30 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” 

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:36-46, NIV) 

As Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, we sensed His burden. Now it seems to be almost crushing Him. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (v.38). Physically, He is facing extended torture and an excruciating death. Emotionally, He is already under tremendous pressure, and soon complete isolation and humiliation will be added. Spiritually, He is about to experience a sense of separation from the Father Who has been His constant companion and strength.

It is Jesus’ final hour or hours before his arrest. How does He spend them? He prays. His life has been filled with prayer. He has seemed in almost constant communication with His Father. He came to Gethsemane to pray so regularly that Judas knew where to find Him, even though he had left during the meal.

What can we learn about Jesus from His prayer in Gethsemane?

  • When burdened or pressured, pray. Jesus didn’t resort to recreation or diversion or bodily rest. He prayed.
  • He was honest with God about His feelings. “Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (v.39).
  • It’s OK to struggle, IF we keep our eyes on the Father and continue to trust Him and stay committed to Him.
  • You may have heard people say that we’re supposed to give our concerns to God in prayer, then leave them there; don’t ever go back to them. But here Jesus kept coming back, repeating the same prayer. Some burdens are so heavy that we can’t just pray about them once and forget them. They keep pressing on our minds and emotions. Jesus’ example teaches us to keep bringing our concerns to God whenever they come to mind. That’s not doubt. It’s faith. Jesus didn’t have anything new to communicate, but He kept bringing His burden to His Father.
  • “Your will be done” in v.42 is the exact same Greek phrase used in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10. Jesus modeled and lived out the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just words. It is an attitude toward God, a relationship with Him, a lifestyle. If you want to understand its meaning for life, look at the example of Jesus.
  • “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (v.41). When Jesus’ hour of great trial came, He was ready. The disciples, who had spent the time sleeping, crumbled. They scattered in fear. Watch and pray.
  • When every fiber of Jesus’ being was screaming to run the other way, He submitted because He remained focused on the Father and continued to trust Him, step by step. We can too.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: A Garden in the Night
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Wind, Breath, and Spirit

2014-03-23 Devotional with Hymn No comments

In the Bible’s original languages,
“wind,” “breath,” and “spirit” are all the same word.
God’s Spirit is the wind of His power and
the breath of His love.
God’s Spirit is His life in motion.

The Spirit that brooded over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2),
the Breath that brought to life the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-10), and
the rushing, mighty Wind on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4)
are the same mysterious, creative, all-powerful Spirit of God.

Jesus came to immerse us in this Spirit.
This Spirit works around us,
through us,
in us, and
among us
as we trust in Christ.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Ezekiel’s Vision
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The Light of Truth

2014-03-16 Devotional with Hymn No comments

You were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light
(for the fruit of light consists in all
goodness, righteousness and truth)
and find out what pleases the Lord.
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.
(Ephesians 5:8-11a, NIV)

Jesus, You came to us as the Truth.
You came to live the Truth,
to speak the Truth, and
to be the Truth.

Jesus, be the Truth in me.
Shine through
every attitude,
every action, and
every word.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: God Is Light
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The Way He Speaks

2014-03-09 Devotional with Hymn One comment

One of the things that intrigues me about Jesus is the way He talked to people, especially individuals, one on one. He talked with lawyers and criminals, religious leaders and prostitutes, fishermen, tax collectors, soldiers, and children.  He spoke with women, even when it was against the social conventions of His day.

He always spoke to these people with personal respect–respect for the independence and dignity of the individual.

He never pushed or steam-rolled anybody. He spoke with understanding, consideration, and patience. He took time. He provided reason. And He always spoke face-to-face, not looking over their shoulders or talking over their heads. He didn’t “hammer” or “preach at” individuals. He was never harsh or condemning…at least not with the humble.

He was not repulsed by the unrespectable people of His day. He was attracted to them, genuinely drawn to them…not to a class of people, but to individual persons. He had an almost organic attraction to them.

He loved them just where they were, as they were, but He cared too much to abandon them there. He drew them on, drew them in, toward the simple truth and toward a life-giving trust in himself.

That’s what He did for me. I remember when I first trusted Him–not just mentally believed in Him, but genuinely, personally trusted Him from my heart. I was not drawn in so much by what He was saying to me. What gripped me was His reality–the reality of His person. I knew He was there in front of me. I felt He was looking right into my eyes, into my heart. And though He was holy God and I was a very unholy sinner, the look was love–nothing but love.

That’s what got me. I trusted Him. I bowed to Him and confessed my sin, and life has not been the same since.

I’m not talking about religion. I’m not talking about church, or beliefs, or cultural preference, or emotional experiences. I’m talking about Jesus Christ. I’m talking about knowing Him on a personal basis and trusting Him as God.

Don’t take my word for it. You can know Him yourself. If you want to know Him, or know Him better, He will reveal Himself to You. He will come to You personally, one-on-one.

When He comes, when He speaks to you, listen. Whatever He says, His voice is always only love.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: When Jesus Speaks
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When Messiah Came

2014-03-02 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“God so loved the world
that He gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.”
(John 3:16-17, NIV)

When Messiah came,
we expected the defeat of our enemies.
We expected them to be
crushed, condemned, and consumed in a fiery judgment.

When Messiah came,
He taught us that the enemy is our own evil hearts.
Instead of judging us, He justified us.
Instead of consuming us, He cleansed us.
Instead of condemning us, He forgave us completely.
Instead of crushing us, He was crushed.

When Messiah came,
we expected a show of power.
Instead He showed us the power of love.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Here Is Love
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