The People of the Living God

2018-06-07 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 7:9-17,
the vision of the heavenly multitude

We are the people of the Living God.

Embattled,
rejected, and
sharing the suffering of our crucified Lord,
we are the people of the Living God.

Human but holy,
flawed but forgiven,
immature but growing daily in Christ,
we are the people of the Living God.

Chosen,
adopted,
redeemed,
sanctified, and
sealed as His very own,
we are the people of the Living God.

We are His Body,
His temple,
His treasured possession,
His precious children.

And soon, we will be His
holy,
glorious,
stunningly beautiful Bride,
aglow with the perfection of our Beloved.

We are the people of the Living God.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Chosen in Jesus
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Come, My Friends!

2018-06-05 Hymns No comments

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Come to Me! Don’t be a stranger!
Come, My friends from near and far!
I’m at home in lowly mangers.
Come and rest your weary hearts.
You can come just as you are!

All you troubled, tired, and broken,
Come and find the rest you seek!
I can feel your hurts unspoken.
I will heal and set you free.
I am gentle. Come to Me!

Come to Me! The door is open.
Learn of Me, and lose your fear.
Come and live where love is spoken!
Peace will grow from year to year.
Come, My friends, for life is here!

Satisfied in You

2018-06-03 Devotional with Hymn No comments

My thoughts gravitate to
familiar concerns.
I start thumbing through the list.
But, Lord,
I will be satisfied in You.
My concerns are legitimate,
but I will be satisfied in You.
When days appear good
or appear contrary,
when I seem successful
or lacking,
You will be my happiness,
my peace,
my rightness.

Life is not some great achievement
plus You
or some wonderful gift
from You.
Life is You, my Lord,
and You are wonderful.
You are happiness.
You are the fullness of all that is beautiful.
You are heaven
then and now.

Lord, in this moment
and forever,
I will be satisfied in You. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: A Life of Thanksgiving
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I Am Yours

2018-05-31 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 7:1-8,
the sealing of the 144,000

In sickness and
in struggle, Father,
I am Yours.
Through ordinary days and
when all the world is crumbling around me,
I am Yours.
In pain and
in grief,
when completely enveloped in darkness,
I am Yours.
When I am weak,
helpless,
sorrowful,
confused,
inconsistent,
ignorant, and
deeply, incurably needy,
I am Yours.

You have sealed me as Your very own.
No enemy can threaten me.
No authority can accuse me.
No judge can condemn me.
No power can separate me from the embrace of Your eternal love.

Father, now and forever,
I am Yours.

Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.
(Isaiah 49:15-16, NASB)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Be Still, My Child
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Today’s Focus

2018-05-29 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1b-3, NASB)

Today, fix your eyes on Jesus.

His beautiful life is your example
of faith in the Father,
of deep, unshakable joy,
of generous, self-giving love.

His death is your deliverance
from the strangle-hold of sin and
from slavery to your own weakness.

His resurrected life is
your strength for today and
your destiny for all eternity.

Today, fix your eyes on Jesus.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Fix Our Eyes on Jesus Christ
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Parenting

2018-05-27 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Without God’s help, the demands of parenting could overwhelm us. At times being a parent requires more wisdom and patience than we have to give. But remember:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3, NIV)

As a parent, be confident in God’s gifts to you.

God offers us His wisdom. Here’s a promise that every parent should write on their bathroom mirror and engrave on their heart:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5, NIV)

God gives us His Spirit. We have the presence, the love, the inner strength, the unshakable peace of God Himself. Just trust Him.

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

God is the Father of each and every one of us. He is your Father, and He is the Father of your children. The wisdom, the love, the strength, and the ultimate responsibility are all His. You are only His steward for awhile.

Realize that of all His names and titles, God cherishes “Father” the most. “Father” is what He wants us to call Him. And in His love for you, He has graciously given you a part in His most treasured role: parenting new human lives, lives that will last forever. Parent your children in His love, His strength, and His wisdom. Parent them in simple, daily confidence in God, not yourself.

He is always, always with you — just remember to depend on Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: A Father’s Prayer
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Hiding in You or from You?

2018-05-24 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 6:9-17,
the opening of the fifth and sixth seals

Almighty, holy God, am I
hiding in You or
hiding from You?

When I am pursued and pressured by evil,
when doing what is right seems
less desirable than compromise,
less pleasant than “just this once,”
do I hide
in You or
from You?
Do I immediately turn toward You and
cling to You more tightly,
or do I let myself be drawn away toward some other “good”?
When temptation comes, do I move
toward You or
away from You?

Or to ask it another way:

When the Day of the Lord comes to all the earth,
when Your reality is suddenly obvious to everyone
and I realize that my eternal destiny is now fixed,
will I be
hiding in You or
hiding from You?

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Free to Choose
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Trinity Hymn

2018-05-22 Hymns No comments

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God Almighty, Great Creator,
Lord and Father, King and Friend,
Ever full, yet ever giving,
Pure, but quick to condescend!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Love that none can comprehend!

Fullness of the Father’s glory,
Human Son, Immanuel,
Word of God, His mercy spoken,
Crushing sin and death and hell!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God is here, and all is well!

God is with us—breathe His Spirit!
Know your heaven here begun,
Bathed in life and love and power,
Fruit of all that Christ has done.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Earth and heaven breathe as one.

God the Father, Son, and Spirit!
All around and all within,
He has wrapped us in His Being.
All is life & peace in Him.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Morning dawns, let life begin!

Captive

2018-05-20 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, I am held captive by You.
I am Your humble prisoner.

You are the Source of all being.
You are Creator and
Sovereign.
You are all beauty and
splendor,
all truth,
holiness,
goodness, and
love.

You are all, magnificent Father,
and I am Your prisoner.
I am held captive
by Your greatness,
by the flood of Your tender mercies,
by the amazing possibility of
knowing You and
sharing in You
fully and forever.

O Father, how can I do anything else but
love You and
serve You in
wonder and
worship?

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Simply God
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Judgment Has Already Begun

2018-05-17 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 6:1-8,
John’s vision of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse

Father, when we turn away from You,
we turn toward ourselves.
We separate ourselves from the only Source of
all that is good.

We turn away from love, and
we are self-centered,
controlling others for our own benefit.
We turn away from Your peace, and
strife grows in us and among us.
We turn away from Your abundance, and
our need and want increase.
We turn away from Your life, and
death is all that is left.

Part of Your judgment on our sin
comes with the sin itself.
The curse of sin immediately begins to infect
all we are and
all we do.
If we don’t turn away from our sin and back to You,
Your judgments will one day be complete and final.

Father, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse,
conquest,
war,
famine, and
death,
are riding among us right now.
They are not only riding through all of human history,
but through each of
our cultures,
our communities,
our families,
our individual lives.

Father of love,
Father of peace,
Father of all goodness,
Father of life,
we turn to You now.
Grow us toward Yourself
as flowers grow toward the sun.
We need You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Prayer for Purity
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