Archive for Devotional with Hymn

See Him Now

2013-04-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and
the exact representation of His being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
After he had provided purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in heaven.
(Hebrews 1:3, NIV)

See Him now,
the Jewish peasant,
the Victim,
the One rejected, ridiculed, brutalized, and
executed as a blasphemer and traitor.

See Him now
in all the glory that is His from all eternity.
See Him risen to the right hand of the Father.
He is seated, His task complete.
He has wiped away all our sins,
completely and forever.
He has poured out
the Holy Spirit of God Himself
on every person who will receive Him.

This is the Christ who is with us now,
our Companion,
our Shepherd,
our Wisdom,
our adequacy for every situation.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: See Almighty God
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Perfect Peace

2013-04-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” (John 14:27, NIV)

Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1, NIV)

Imagine the complete absence of conflict
throughout our entire race,
throughout all creation,
between God and each of us.
Imagine perfect harmony,
complete well-being,
no fear,
no suffering,
no darkness,
no death ever again.

Imagine the life and love of God in all their richness
flowing unhindered every moment
forever.
This is the peace that Christ brings.

“If we throw aside our selfish anxiety,
then God’s will is enough.
We can rest in it and
be at peace as it unfolds.
Even behind the injustice of human beings
we will see nothing but the
wisdom,
justice, and
unfailing goodness of our God.”
(paraphrased from Francois Fenelon)

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Perfect Peace
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Accept One Another

2013-04-14 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Accept one another…just as Christ accepted you.
(Romans 15:7, NIV)

I was at a Christian music conference.
With the variety of performers, approaches, and styles that were there,
I found myself growing critical.

God checked me.
He pointed out that He himself had shown His grace and mercy
to each of them,
just as to me.
He reminded me that each of them needed His continuing
grace, mercy, and guidance
just as much as I did.

Lord, those who have trusted You
come in every personality and level of maturity.
Help me to see each of them as
one who has received Your grace and
who needs Your grace.
I turn away from the sin of judging my dear brothers and sisters.
Help me to love and accept them
just as You, Jesus, have loved and accepted them.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Love One Another
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Little Things for God

2013-03-31 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Whatever you do,
whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(Colossians 3:17, NIV)

We search and trouble ourselves to learn how to love God.
Yet it is so simple.
It is not necessary to do great things for God.
We can do little things for Him.

Do you have small, menial tasks to do?
Are they sometimes unpleasant?
Do them for love of God, as a personal service to Him.
As you work, look to God.
Talk to Him.
Ask for His help.
Then when you complete the task, thank God for the grace to work.

Don’t tire of doing little things out of love for Him.
The littleness of the work does not lessen the value of the offering,
for God regards not the greatness of the work,
but the love that prompts it.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: I’ll Sing of You
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See the Future

2013-03-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“Father, glorify your name!…Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:28a, 31-32, NIV)

The world was about to see Jesus’ enemies
arrest,
try,
condemn,
humiliate,
execute, and
bury Him.

But looking at the same events, what did Jesus see?
He saw all the powers of evil
judged,
condemned, and
driven out of our world forever.
He saw Himself high and lifted up, and
our entire race streaming to Him.

Do we see what Jesus saw?
Not yet,
but the battle has already been fought and won.
God’s love has already secured for us a bright and glorious future.
We are enjoying its first fruits even now!

Imagine Jesus Christ the first of a whole new race of human beings,
a race completely free from the curse of sin, death, and the fall,
holy and glorious as He is,
children of our Father in the fullest sense.

 Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Alive in You
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The Meaning of the Resurrection

2013-03-17 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. (Job 19:25-27, NIV)

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22, NIV)

Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19, NIV)

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 54-55, 57, NIV)

If we simply trust Christ, death is no longer our destination. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and we are following where He is leading: into new life, with new bodies, in the very presence of the Father, permeated with the eternal glory of a holy God.

This new life has already begun. The fellowship you now enjoy with the Living Christ will go on unbroken forever. You are in His presence, and You will walk with Him throughout eternity. We are right now growing into “all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). He has already begun doing within us “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (3:20).

For the believer, the truth is beautiful. Reality is wonderful beyond description. Praise Him! Rejoice in His goodness and His love! Every day is Easter for the child of God.

Death, with all its threats and intimidation,
cannot restrain the life of God—
not in Christ, and not in us.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Christ Is Alive! We Live in Him!
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The Triumphal Entry

2013-03-10 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Rejoice greatly…Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.
(Zechariah 9:9, NIV; see also Luke 19:28-40)

If you knew exactly where, when, and how you would die, how would you approach that place and time? Notice what Jesus did.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus had refused to openly proclaim himself Messiah. He had commanded those He healed to say nothing.

But now, the place and time of His death had come. He was entering Jerusalem to be handed over to His enemies, thoroughly humiliated, and killed as a criminal. Before the week is out, He will be dead. How does He enter? He comes as a conquering hero, as a mighty deliverer, in plain fulfillment of the messianic prophecy. His followers were now hailing Him as King and shouting His praises. Instead of silencing them, Jesus said that if the people were silent, the very rocks would cry out in praise.

To Jesus, His suffering and death were the crowning point of His mission to earth. He was about to be “lifted up” so that He could “draw all men” to himself (John 12:32). He was facing death as a conqueror.

Read John 17:1-5. Nearing His most difficult hour, what was Jesus’ prayer for himself? “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (v. 1).

Jesus knew that His greatest trial was also His greatest chance to glorify the Father. Facing horrendous pain, the Father’s glory was Jesus’ prayer and concern. In His suffering and death, He would shine the light most clearly on God’s love.

That is often true of us as well. Our hour of trial is our special chance to glorify God. That’s when others will see the full reality of God and His powerful love.

Father, during difficult times my prayer is this: no matter what happens, glorify Yourself.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Who Is He?
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The Anointing

2013-03-03 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 12:1-8

Nard was a favorite perfume of the time, extremely expensive. It was imported from India in sealed alabaster containers that were opened only on very special occasions.

Imagine taking your most precious possession–worth a year’s salary–and pouring it out in a moment of time. The treasure is expendable and irrecoverable. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Imagine the overwhelming love and gratitude that would motivate you to do this.

Think what this woman’s act must have meant to Jesus. He was about to die in excruciating pain and public humiliation, condemned by a jeering crowd. A close friend would betray Him. All His followers would abandon Him.

But now, in the face of all this, one woman poured herself out to Him in a single act of lavish, unselfish love. How moved and refreshed He must have been!

The critics were insensitive to what had happened. They didn’t see love, though they masked their response in concern for the poor. They saw only materialism.

Money and material goods are not at the center of life. They are not at the center of the church. Love is at the very heart of God. God is love. He calls us to be love as well.

Jesus, You have done more for me than I can ever express or repay. Help me to be more lavish and less calculating, less selfish in my love for You.

Listen…and sing if you want:
I Love You, Jesus, Savior, Lord
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Letter from a Concerned Father

2013-02-24 Devotional with Hymn, Evangelistic No comments

My Dear Child,

Since before you were born, I’ve loved you.

You were my delight, my pride and joy. I would sit and watch you and smile and laugh. I looked forward to being with you. I enjoyed you so much. I just could not do enough for you.

I cared for you day and night. You were always on my mind and on my heart. When you were sick, I felt your pain and nursed you back to health. When you fell, I would lift you in my arms and hug you and gently kiss you.

But the more I loved you, the more you resisted my love. The more I cared for you, the more you resented me. The more I did for you, the less you trusted me.

I taught you to walk, and you chose to walk away from me. I shaped your young mind. I carefully fed it and nurtured it. But you became proud, and in your youthful ignorance you found me foolish and old-fashioned.

You took everything I gave you and turned it against me.

But still I loved you and did all I could to help you. I saw trouble coming. I tried to warn you–sometimes gently, sometimes in desperation, as shouting to one standing in front of an oncoming truck: “Look out! Get out of the way!” But you took my warnings as intrusions, as selfish attempts to “run your life.”

The trouble came–the incredible hurt, the destruction, the shattered relationships. Believe me, being right brought me no joy. I suffered it all with you.

I still see trouble coming. But I can’t help you…not unless you let me…not unless you help yourself.

A parent’s grief for a lost child has no comfort, no consolation, except one. It’s hope–hope that the child will somehow just come back.

Come back, child.

Please, come back.

Love forever,
God, Your Father

(based on Hosea 11:1-11)

Listen…and sing if you want:
A Father’s Love
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Have Mercy

2013-02-17 Devotional with Hymn No comments

A Prayer for Lent

I lift up my eyes to you,
to you whose throne is in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, O Lord,
have mercy on us. (Psalm 123:1-3a, NIV)

Father God, our lives are plagued by trouble.
We are showered with the violence and arrogance all around us.
We are humbled by the selfishness and complacency of our own hearts.
Have mercy on us.

Our wives, our husbands, our children are in need.
Our communities are row after row of houses
filled with broken families and hurting people.
Many are desperate, plummeting through despair.
Our work places are dark,
crying out for the light of Your guidance and hope and love.

Father, we lift our eyes to You
and wait.
Our hope is You alone.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Have Mercy
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