Love Is Fruit

2018-04-22 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:5, 12, NASB)

How can we love each other as Christ loves us?

Abide in the Vine.
Stay connected to Him.
Stay connected throughout the day,
turning to Him and
talking to Him often.

His presence,
His Spirit,
His perspective will start to permeate our
hearts,
minds, and
lives.

His love will be the fruit of our remaining in Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I Look to You, and You Are Love
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Start with God

2018-04-19 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

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

Do you want to better understand your life?
Do you want to better understand your world?
Yourself?
Start with God.
See Him high and lifted up.
See Him for who He is:
all power,
all wisdom,
all love, justice, and rightness.

All that is flows from Him, the Source.
All that is flows through Him,
the Mover,
the Means,
the Doer,
the Planner,
the Power.
All that is flows to Him, the Goal.

To understand
your purpose,
your design,
your destiny,
start with Him,
for He is the Source and Goal of all you are.
This marvelous God made You in His own image.
He made you to be like Himself.

He is holy,
free from wrong,
free from anything that binds, corrupts, or destroys.
And He longs to make you holy.
He understands your limitations, yet
He intends to make you holy as He is holy,
completely,
freely,
naturally,
by simple faith.

He loves
lavishly,
abundantly,
without any selfishness or reserve.
And He frees you to love the same.

He is eternal,
without beginning or end.
He is unbound by time –
never hurried.
Time is not His master,
but His slave.
And He wants to share His limitless eternity with you.

Do you want to understand
your purpose,
your design,
your destiny?
Do you want to begin to experience
what your life can be
today and every day?
Know and worship God
high and lifted up.
Start with Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: High and Holy Sovereign God
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Good Shepherd

2018-04-17 Hymns No comments

A Hymn based on John 10

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Good Shepherd, speak. My heart is listening.
Your voice is love. You call my name.
Lord Jesus, lead, for I can only follow.
I am a lamb, and You, the Living Way.
Good Shepherd, speak. My heart is listening.
Your love alone can call my name.

O Savior God, You walk before me.
Your way is life. I gladly go.
I cannot see, but I will simply follow.
We walk a path that only You can know.
O Savior God, You walk before me.
Your way is love. I gladly go.

Prune Me

2018-04-15 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 15:1-8; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23

Father,
Creator,
Source of all that is good,
all life and fruitfulness flow
from You
through Jesus Christ.
He is the Vine, and
I am a branch in Him.
All that is
good and
beautiful and
life-giving,
all that is You in me,
flows through my connection with Him.

Prune me, Lord.
Clean away all that fruitlessly drains Your life-giving sap.
Cut off all that hinders the flow of the Spirit between
Christ and
me.
Remove all that clutters my
mind,
heart, and
life
without connecting me closer to Him.
Strip away
all that is not love,
all that is not Christ.

O merciful, all-wise, all-loving Lord,
prune me
that more of You
might flow freely
through me.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Life in the Vine
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Knocking

2018-04-12 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 3:14-22,
Christ’s letter to the church in Laodicea

Jesus,
You come and offer me the boundless wealth of
all You have and
all You are,
yet I cling to my meager resources.

You ask to clothe me in Yourself, and
I angrily resist,
wrapping myself more tightly in my filthy rags.

You freely offer me Your wisdom, but
my ignorance feels so much safer and more familiar.

Despite all this,
You humbly stand at my door,
day after day,
need after need, and
simply knock.
Your only desire is to offer me Yourself:
Your ability for all my weakness,
Your beautiful purity for all my sin,
Your sight for my total blindness,
Your glory for my deep shame.

You have done all You can for me and
will always do all You can,
but my destiny depends on me trusting You enough to
invite You in.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Seeking Me
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Draw My Desires to You, Lord

2018-04-10 Hymns No comments

A Hymn for hungry hearts

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Draw my desires to You, Lord.
Draw every thought to You.
Absorb my heart,
My soul, my strength,
And draw my desires to You.
Lord, draw every thought to You.

Fill all my time with You, Lord.
Fill every hour with You.
Take all I plan
And all that comes,
And fill all my time with You.
Lord, fill every hour with You.

God Loves the Lost

2018-04-08 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Matthew 9:36; 10:5-6; 12:11-12; 15:24; 18:12-14;
Mark 6:34; Luke 15; John 10:1-30; 2 Peter 3:9 

Jesus doesn’t think of sinners as repulsive people to be
avoided
despised, or
condemned.
He thinks of them as
lost sheep,
lost treasure, or
lost children.
They are to be searched for
eagerly,
lovingly,
single-mindedly.
God’s love never gives up!

Sinners arouse, not His condemnation, but
His compassion.
They stir, not His anger,
but His love and mercy

When the lost sheep is brought safely back,
rejoice!
When the treasure is found,
celebrate!
When the wayward child comes back home,
still in the rags of sin,
run to meet him!
Shower him with hugs and joyful tears!
Welcome him with full and glad acceptance!
One of God’s children is alive from the dead!
Let the party begin!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: One Lost Sheep
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Church, Follow Me

2018-04-05 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn One comment

A reflection on Revelation 3:7-13,
Christ’s letter to the church in Philadelphia

My Church,
I do not call you
to human success,
to fulfill grand ambitions, or
to make a great name for yourself.

I call you to a real, living relationship with Me.
Trust Me and
follow Me,
not just with your words,
but with your daily lives, with
every word you speak and
every decision you make.

During my earthly life, I focused on
saying what my Father told me to say and
doing what my Father showed me to do.
Keep your focus the same, and
you will be like Me.
People will see Me in you, and
they will know that you are mine.

As you follow Me,
my Father and I will claim you as Our very own.
We will write Our names on you for everyone to see.
You will belong to Us, and
you will be with Us
completely,
beautifully,
now and forever.

Church,
just follow Me.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Fix Our Eyes on Jesus Christ
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A Celebration of Life

2018-04-03 Hymns No comments

A Hymn for the Easter season

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Death had mocked our deepest longings,
Death, the bitter end for all;
Nothing lasting, nothing higher
Till that Easter call:

Refrain:
He is risen!
Hallelujah!
Now the death that was our future
Is our destiny no more!
He is risen!
Hallelujah!
Now we share the holy majesty
Of Jesus Christ our Lord!

Joy and beauty, love and giving,
Life and light go on and on!
All that bound our fearful hearts to
Sin and death is gone!

Celebrate our endless future!
Celebrate our here and now!
Celebrate our noble purpose –
Love will show us how!

We Are Listening

2018-04-01 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, You have called us here, and
we have come.

You have honored us with Your presence, and
we bow before You.

You are speaking.
The same voice that called the universe out of nothing and
filled it with
life,
love, and
beauty
is now speaking
to us and
in us.

We are quiet, Lord.
We are waiting.
We are listening. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Are Listening, Lord
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