Archive for Devotional with Hymn

Rejoice

2020-02-28 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! (Philippians 3:1, NIV)

Rejoicing is joy that is dancing.
Rejoicing is faith as it sings.

Every time I turn to You, Lord,
joy rises in me.
You call me to joy.
You call me to be deep-down happy in every situation –
not because the situation is pleasing,
but because You are God and
You are always good.

You want me to rejoice in You!
When I do, I can rejoice always and
with all my heart.

Lord, I rejoice in You this morning
in the face of Satan’s temptations to anxiety and discouragement.
I rejoice that Your work is going forward right now,
in spite of all I see.
Praise to You, my God!

I rejoice that You are faithful to me every moment and that
Your Spirit never leaves me,
not for a second.

I rejoice that my whole family and every person I love is
in Your hands.

And Lord, I rejoice in the privilege of knowing You.
To know You is to trust You.
To trust You is to love You.
And to love You is to take pleasure in You and
rejoice in You continually.

Thank You, my Father!
Thank You for all that You are!

Hymn: Joy in Your Presence

All You Are

2020-02-21 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
(Psalm 84:12)

Father, so much of my daily life is still untouched by
the truth of all You are.
You are
perfect wisdom,
perfect power, and
perfect love,
yet too often I think and act as if You are
limited and unreliable.

O my Father, I long to live in full response to all You are.
As I worship,
teach me,
remind me,
shape me,
draw me.
Fill my faith with all Your magnificence.

Father,
You are the center of all reality.
Everything revolves around You.
May it be so in my life.
Help me see everything—
every resource,
every task,
every problem—
only in relationship to You.

Hymn: High and Holy Sovereign God

God of Endless Abundance

2020-02-14 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, NASB)

God of endless abundance,
God of glad, unbounded giving,
You have made me
Your child,
Your heir.
I am rich beyond measure
in You.

Father, help me turn my back on everything
that distracts me from You.
Help me flee from
all anxious grasping,
all foolish desires, and
all self-glory.

Instead, help me wholeheartedly embrace
generosity,
contentment,
humility,
gratitude, and
joyful, self-giving love.

Father, You are the one eternal God.
Help me love You
with all my heart,
with all that I am and
all that I hold.

Father,
You are all-in-all.
I am always
complete and
sufficient in You.

Hymn: God Alone

Today in Your Care

2020-02-07 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Sovereign God,
You dwell in eternity,
unmoved by time.
Your promises,
Your purposes,
Your burning love are
always now,
always sure,
always undiminished.

Today
I am in Your tender care.
Here in You,
nothing is forgotten,
nothing ignored,
nothing overlooked,
nothing left to chance.
Your purpose is never threatened.
You suffer no surprises and
no setbacks.
You are not bound
by the present or the past,
by norms or impossibilities.

Within me is
pain,
sorrow,
weakness, and
uncertainty.
But You have hidden me in Yourself.
I am completely,
eternally,
untouchably safe in You.

The Eternal I AM,
the Source of All,
is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.

Hymn: Be Still, My Child

An Adventure of Faith

2020-01-31 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Psalm 25:10, NIV)

God, You are God.
Your ways are always loving.
Your ways are always wise.
The way You lead me is always the best way.

So, Lord, help me to trust You boldly and gladly.
I will not shrink from tasks to which You have called me.
I will accept them as an adventure of faith,
as a chance to discover more about You,
to experience
Your guiding,
Your power,
Your blessing and providing;
as a chance to glorify You.

Lord, I accept this challenge
as an adventure of faith.

Father, it frightens us
when You send us out with
no support and no resource
but Your promise.
But those experiences bind us to You
and prove that
You are who You say You are and
will do all You say You will do.

Hymn: The Upward Call

Our Single-minded Father

2020-01-24 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Father, this morning You helped my heart to grasp
what my mind had dimly known:

Everything You have allowed me to go through in my life,
everything I am going through even now,
is to build my relationship with You:
all the years of frustration,
all the loneliness,
all the financial struggles,
all the endless waiting,
all those disappointments.

You have isolated me to Yourself.
You have hemmed me in.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me (Psalm 139:5, NASB).
By my circumstances and by Your Spirit within me
You have turned me repeatedly, persistently toward You.
You have made Yourself
my only comfort,
my only hope,
my only unchanging Rock of truth,
my only refuge.

Father, the unfailing faithfulness of Your eternal love swamps
my tiny attention span,
my childish self-centeredness,
my meager, stumbling faith.
I am a child learning to walk.
Like any eager parent, You call me,
lift me,
point me,
hold my hands, and
draw me toward Yourself.

Sometimes we wonder whether faith is entirely a gift of Your sovereign choice,
or whether it is our doing.
But You are like one building a campfire.
You work to create a tiny spark,
then patiently blow it into flame by Your mighty but gentle breath.
I have to respond,
but all the doing is Yours, my loving Father.

Continue to patiently, persistently draw me.
And when I am tempted to despair or complain,
help me to remember and look to You again.
You are my Father, and I am
gladly,
proudly,
humbly Your child.

God’s greatest blessings often come
disguised as difficulties.
These difficulties are opportunities to
trust Him in a new way, and thus to
know Him in a new way.

Hymn: Good Gifts

Rest

2020-01-17 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, NIV)

Father, I’ve turned everywhere else.
I’ve sought relaxation instead of rest.
I’ve substituted comfort for peace.
The shell of security I’ve tried to build
only weighs me down with anxiety.

I hear Your words of love:

In quietness and trust is your strength. (Isaiah 30:15, NIV)

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29, NIV)

O God of fervent love,
passionately jealous for my best good,
I turn to You now.

What if I could truly know You—
not just know about You,
but know You?

What if by simple trust I could realize
Your personal presence with me,
moment by moment?

If in that presence I could know
Your gentleness,
Your power,
Your faithfulness,
Your love?

If trust could become
a personal relationship between us,
not an abstract concept?

What if I could simply know You,
and know You always with me?

Would Your rest then reign in me?
Would it fill my mind, my emotions,
and the desires of my heart?

Would it put me at peace with the past,
at peace with the present,
and eagerly anticipating a glorious future in You?

Would it reconcile me to myself,
to each person in my life, and
to You?

Could I go to bed in it,
get up in it,
work, have fun, and face adversity in it
without getting it wrinkled?

Would I then share Your deep peace—
that wholeness and harmony
You enjoy within Yourself,
that is found in You alone?

Come to me…and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, NIV)

Father, I want to know You.
I want to rest in Your presence.
I come to You now.

Hymn: Lord, How Good to Rest in You

God Keeps His Own

2020-01-10 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Read Psalm 121

The powerful King of Aram had sent a portion of his army to capture Elisha.
By night, they came and surrounded the city
where Elisha and his servant were staying.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:15-17, NIV)

God’s children are precious to Him.
He never leaves our safety to chance.
He guards us with the full power and authority of His sovereignty.
He may ask us to suffer and even die for Him.
But we remain secure in Him.
No one can snatch us out of His hands.

As I wait in the darkness, my God,
You are working out Your purpose.

Hymn: I Find All My Joy in You

God Is Always Working

2020-01-03 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all.
(Psalm 104:24, NIV)

I sail through so many daily activities with
boredom or
indifference.
When tough experiences come, I greet them with
fear or
resentment.

Lord, I assume the meaninglessness of life as
You have allowed it to come to me.
I believe I’ll recognize the significant when I see it,
but much of the time, life seems either
mundane or
unkind.

But then, Lord,
I catch a glimpse of beauty, or
I see deep meaning in some common event
I’ve witnessed a thousand times.
I look back and realize
tremendous value in some trial about which
I complained so bitterly.

Lord, You are always working!
I will keep my faith awake and
my eyes fixed on You.

Despair of yourself as much as you want,
but do not despair of God.
He is always loving,
always powerful,
always wise, and
He will reward you according to your faith in Him.
(paraphrased from Francois Fenelon)

Hymn: God Is Working All Around You

No Fear

2019-12-27 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

When nagged by uncertainties big and small –
no fear.
In the grip of illness –
no fear.
In need –
no fear.
In loss –
no fear.
In change –
no fear.
In all my weakness and boundless ignorance –
no fear.
In the darkness –
no fear.

When opposed by forces far stronger than myself –
no fear.
When assaulted by temptation –
no fear.
When threatened by suffering –
no fear.
In the valley of the shadow of death –
no fear.

For my life is hidden with Christ
in You,
my Father,
my loving Savior,
my mighty Rock,
my sovereign Lord and
my everlasting God.

Nothing in this world,
seen or unseen,
can make us afraid
as we simply trust our Father.

Hymn: Mighty God, I Will Trust in You
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