Ezekiel’s Vision

2018-05-15 Hymns No comments

A Hymn based on Ezekiel 37:1-10

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Breath of God, unbounded Spirit,
Sovereign power and mystery,
Holy fire, now recreating,
Cleansing, shaping what will be.
O Wind of God, great Breath of God,
Your life fills eternity!

Death consumes the world around us.
Bones now mock what might have been.
Hope is gone, and all is barren.
Can our people live again?
O Wind of God, great Breath of God,
Your power none can comprehend!

Breath of God, unbounded Spirit-
Hear the wind of heaven blow!
See them rise, a mighty army!
Watch His promise overflow!
The Lord is life! The Lord is God!
And soon all the earth will know!

What a Priceless Treasure!

2018-05-13 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, without You, my physical life is
brief and
riddled with trouble and sorrow.
But You are peace.
You are forever.

Without You, I cannot be who I ought to be or
do what I ought to do.
But You are good and
right and
gloriously perfect in
all You are and
all You do.

Without You, I live in the darkness.
But You are the Light.

Without You, I am
false in my thinking,
false in my speaking,
false in my doing.
But You are Truth,
beautiful and
complete.

In You, Father,
as I trust in You,
I live in the Truth,
I walk in the Light, and
I am fully pleasing to You.
I am pure and lovely in You.

Father, what a priceless treasure is our
living relationship!
Daily,
moment by moment,
keep me in You!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Treasure
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One Day

2018-05-10 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 5:8-14,
all creation worshiping the Lamb.

One day
all evil,
all deception,
all distraction will be gone
completely and
forever.
All will be light.
All will be truth.
We will see all reality like the morning sun,
pure and unclouded.

We will see Jesus Christ for all He is, the
transcendent,
unseeable,
unimaginable God in all His
beauty and
perfection.
And as we see Him,
we will become like Him.
Through all the universe,
seen and unseen,
all that is not of Him will be
burned away forever.

When that happens, all creation will be swept up
into one mighty response to its Creator,
full heart and
full voice.
Praise will roll like a tidal wave
through all reality.
We, all of us, will lift Him up for
all that He is and
all He has done.

But even then, our response to Him will be
small and
inadequate.
Through an endless eternity, His magnificence will draw us up into
lives of ever-increasing
thanksgiving,
worship, and
love.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Enthronement Hymn
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Living Christ

2018-05-08 Hymns No comments

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Lord, throughout my busy life
Our deeper life goes on;
Rising through this daily noise
Your rich immortal song.
Life in You,
Now in You!
Sing in me, O Living Christ!

Anytime I turn to You,
I breathe Your perfect peace.
More and more I find You there
As faith and prayer increase.
More in You,
All in You!
Flow in me, O Living Christ!

Seeing You, my Lord, my King,
With joy I take Your cross.
All I hold I leave behind.
My gains I count as loss.
Rich in You,
Loved in You,
One with You, O Living Christ!

Breath of God

2018-05-06 Devotional with Hymn No comments

In both the Old Testament (Hebrew) and the New Testament (Greek), the word we translate as “spirit” also means “breath”. Every living being shares God’s breath in a physical sense. He is the source of all life. All life flows from Him. We breathe His breath. If He withholds it, we die (Psalm 104:29-30).

Our spiritual life is the same: we breathe His breath. His Spirit joins with our spirit as we allow Him…as we trust Him. We don’t become more Christ-like, more holy, more consistent, more adequate for life’s challenges by trying harder. Such personal efforts are useless and frustrating (Romans 7:7-25). God longs to share His own life, His own holiness, His own sufficiency with us. He longs to breathe His Spirit, His breath through us. We just have to trust Him, step by step, need by need.

Life in Christ, and Christ living within us, is beautiful and natural. Joy doesn’t need to be just a temporary emotion. It can flow from our relationship with Him. It can be as unchanging as He is. Life need not end with this physical body. If our life is His life, that life will go on forever.

Oneness with Jesus Christ is the great blessing of heaven. There it will be constant and complete. What a wonderful reality it will be! That oneness is also the greatest good of life here and now. Make it your greatest goal and deepest desire.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Breath of Life
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The Lamb of God

2018-05-03 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 5:1-7,
John’s vision of the Lamb of God

The stage is set.
The glowing introduction has built to a climax.
We eagerly await the next moment,
when we will finally meet the One so long promised:
the Mighty Conqueror,
the Root of David,
the King of all Kings,
the Lion of Judah.
At last we are about to see the One who is worthy
to bring to living reality all the
magnificent plans and
magnificent promises of our sovereign, loving God.
All the sprawling creation is about to meet
the One through Whom it was created,
its hope,
its Redeemer.

But behold the Man!
The Lion is a Sacrificial Lamb.
The Mighty Conqueror is One slaughtered,
still bearing His wounds.
The King of all Kings is a Servant.
The Lord of all Lords is a homeless peasant, without
power,
status, or
any attractiveness whatsoever.

Yet this One has overcome
all evil
everywhere,
for all time.
This one has conquered
through self-sacrifice, not self-fulfillment,
through complete dependence, not complete self-sufficiency,
through weakness, not strength.

And this One stands with His arms outstretched,
calling to each of us and all of us:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and
take up his cross and
follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24, NASB)

This is our all-conquering hero.
This is our Leader,
This is the One against whom
all rightness,
all success
all victory is measured:
He is Christ crucified.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Christ Crucified
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Beyond All Barriers

2018-05-01 Hymns No comments

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High and holy unseen God,
So pure and far above,
We were lost and dead in sin,
But nothing blocks Your love.
Every barrier fell before
Compassion’s burning flame.
Every wall was broken down.
When mercy called, You came.

Now Your mercy calls to us
To share what we received,
Out beyond these unseen walls
To prove what we believe.
See, the barriers all are gone!
We’ll live the love we know.
Fear and comfort will not rule.
Love calls, and we will go.

None can be too far away,
And none too near at hand.
All can know Your loving touch,
Can feel and understand.
May the living, loving Christ
Become the God they know.
Lead us, Father, everywhere
Your loving heart would go.

See Jesus Christ

2018-04-29 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31, NASB)

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.

He is our Brother,
the Lord of all things
in this world and the next,
all things seen and unseen,
in heaven and earth.
We are secure and eternally, extravagantly blessed in Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Jesus, Living God!
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Be His Praise

2018-04-26 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 4,
John’s vision of the throne room of God.

Look at John’s vision of the throne room of God and
see who you were created to be.

See the twenty-four elders.
They are honored ones,
respected leaders,
perhaps priests.
They are royal,
each wearing a crown of gold.
They are holy,
dressed in white.
They worship God Almighty with
word and
posture and
action.
They joyfully return to Him
all the honor and glory He has shared with them.
They know that all their crowns truly, only belong to Him.
The twenty-four elders are what God’s people were redeemed to be.

See the four living creatures.
They surround the throne of the Sovereign Lord of all.
Each is wisely and lovingly fashioned by his Creator.
Each is unique
yet one with all He has made.
Each is full of eyes in front and behind and is
fully aware of all reality,
fully attentive to their God.
Each has six wings and
is ready to move immediately at His command.
Each ceaselessly responds to God in all His
holiness,
power, and
eternity.
The four living creatures are what we were created to be.

Like the elders,
like the living creatures,
we exalt God most clearly and beautifully,
not just by what we say,
but by what we do and
who we are.

The infinite Spirit God, unlimited by a physical body,
incarnates Himself in partial ways
in each of His creatures.
He shares Himself and His qualities
through us
so that the whole universe might glimpse just how
great and
holy and
gracious He is.

Child of God,
be His praise!
Be His glory!
In Jesus Christ, be the incarnation of
His life,
His love, and
His holy beauty.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God of All People
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A Unique Opportunity

2018-04-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Marvelous Creator,
Designer of each snowflake,
You have given me this day as a
unique opportunity.

Today I can know You better.
Today I can walk step-by-step in Your Spirit.
Today I can live Your marvelous love
in fresh, new ways.
Today I can
please You and
praise You and
love You.

Keep me open
to all this day can offer.
Keep me open
to all You want me to
see and
savor and
share.

Father, today
keep me open to You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Today in Your Presence
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