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2017-06-23 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Worshiping in the Darkness

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me. (Psalm 23:4, NASB)

Father, sometimes all I can do is
worship You in the darkness.
Sometimes, whether from
sickness,
sorrow, or
moods I can’t control or understand,
I can’t sense Your presence.
I can’t feel Your love.
I can’t see You working.
I can’t span the distance between us.

You offer no explanations.
You seem silent,
unconcerned,
gone.

But God, I know You are my Father.
I know You are always good.
I know You are always here, even when I can’t
see You or
feel You.

So even when the darkness engulfs me,
I will remember who You are, and
I will worship You,
praise You, and
trust You. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Is Great, and God Is Good
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Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

2017-06-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Rejoice in the Lord always…Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4, 6-7, NIV)

When I feel stressed, I tend to be impatient and
unkind to those around me.

Lord, help me make friends with
interruptions,
unfinished tasks,
unpleasant surprises,
delays,
demands,
uncertainties, and
feelings of inadequacy.
They are going to come.

How do You want me to react to them, Lord?

1. Rejoice in who You are.

2. Commit my need to You.

3. Give thanks for what You are already doing to meet that need.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Good Gifts
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Live His Love

2017-06-19 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:44-48, NIV)

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV)

Our Father has freed us to be
as loving and generous as He is.
He has promised to provide everything we need
to care and to give as He does.
Will we trust Him for it?
Will we dare to live like Jesus? 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Live in Love
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2017-06-16 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Ordinary Time

Father, thank You for ordinary time, when You
quietly,
patiently,
daily
order our lives by
the example and
the words of Jesus.

Thank You for the privilege of spending these days with
Your holy and perfectly-pleasing Son.
Like His first disciples, we
walk with Him,
talk with Him,
watch Him, and
listen to Him.
We work with Him and
relax with Him.
We feast on His words and
drink in the pattern of His life.

And as we follow Him,
His Spirit within us turns
His teaching and
His example
into faith and love in our own lives.

Father, thank You for these
ordinary, beautiful days
spent with Jesus. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Come and Follow Me
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The Source of All Wisdom

2017-06-14 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD
Read Proverbs 9

We say that God is omniscient. That means He knows everything. But it means more than God having all knowledge, with perfect perception and intelligence. As the Creator, all that is flows from Him. He has a complete, organic understanding of all reality, for it is from Him. He not only has perfect knowledge. He has complete and all-encompassing wisdom.

Thus if we want wisdom, if we want to understand reality and live in harmony with it, we need to know God. He is the source of all reality. He is the source of all wisdom.

Knowing Him and living in harmony with Him is the essence of wisdom. Or as the OT repeatedly affirms,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10, NASB. See also Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 15:33)

The wonderful truth is this: God is not only willing to show Himself and share His wisdom. He is passionately eager to share Himself and His wisdom with us. This practical promise says it simply and clearly:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5, NASB)

Understand this: His wisdom involves more than factual knowledge. During difficult times in our lives, sometimes we impatiently wonder what lesson God is trying to teach us. But often the “lesson” is simply an opportunity to know Him better. He is allowing us to experience His love and faithfulness in a personal way. Wisdom is knowing Him.

God pours out His wisdom constantly and lavishly through many different avenues: through creation, through His written word, through the life of Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit, through other believers, and through special revelation—that is, through personal encounters between God and individual believers.

God is generous with His wisdom! But the question is, are you listening? And once you hear Him, how are you responding?

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God Is Speaking
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Prayer Response to Romans 6

2017-06-12 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, I present all I am,
not to sin,
but to You,
as instruments to glorify You:
my heart, to desire only You,
my mind, to ponder You and Your truth,
my mouth, to speak Your words and Your praise,
my feet, to follow wherever You lead,
my hands, to freely share Your love.

God of all truth and goodness,
all life and love and salvation,
I am Your servant.
By Your grace and through my obedient response,
separate me entirely to Yourself.
Make me holy and
wholly Yours in
all I am and
all I do.

The end of sin is death,
so I leave it in the past.
My present and future are in You and
in Your boundless, unending life.
Praise to You, my Father!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Romans 6
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2017-06-09 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Trinity Sunday

O Lord our God,
You share Yourself with us
so completely,
so graciously,
so beautifully.

You are our Father Creator.
Existence itself is Yours alone, and
You joyfully share it with us.
You lavish on us
Your life,
Your love,
Your wisdom,
Your glory.

You are Jesus, our divine yet human Brother.
You tenderly, sacrificially became
one with us in every way.
By sharing
our weakness,
our suffering, and
our death,
You reunited us with God our Father.
Thank You, Lord!
Thank You!

You are God the Spirit.
You breathe
into us and
among us
the life of the Father and
the life of the Son.

O boundless, mysterious, merciful, all-encompassing God!
You envelop us in Yourself
every moment in
every way.
In You we
live and
move and
have our being.
Today, Lord, help us
worship You for all You are! 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Trinity Hymn
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Drawing Near to God

2017-06-07 Devotional with Hymn No comments

James 4 

Father, You have breathed into me
Your own Spirit,
Your own life and breath.
You jealously long for that Spirit
to return to You,
to seek You,
to love You and
desire oneness with You (James 4:5).
O Father, that is what I want!

You have promised that as
I draw near to You,
You will draw near to me (James 4:8).
Draw near, Lord!
Draw near!

Father, I want to exchange
all my desires for
Your desires.
I humble myself before You and ask for
the holiness,
the faith,
the love of Jesus Christ.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Heaven Here and Now
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The Word: in Weakness and in Power

2017-06-05 Devotional with Hymn No comments

In the beginning, into the silence of nothingness came the Word of God.
The Sovereign of the universe expressed His will,
and it became reality.
The Word of God spoke,
and creation came to be,
and all the morning stars sang for joy.
His powerful Word continues to resound,
sustaining all that is.

Into the darkness of our sin came the Word of God.
God spoke His loving will,
not as an almighty conqueror,
but as a helpless infant.
He didn’t shout;
He whispered.
He didn’t command;
He invited.
The Word of God spoke, not in power,
but in weakness.

And when His Word speaks to us,
He still speaks in weakness, not in power.
He doesn’t demand in harsh tones.
He speaks gently, inviting, drawing us to Himself.

But at a time He alone has chosen,
the Word of God will again speak with absolute power.
The Sovereign of all reality will express His will,
and all that is will respond.
Creation will again be an Eden of
holiness and beauty,
truth and love,
completely one with its Maker.
To those who have listened to His inviting Word,
this will mean sharing the fullness of His life forever.
To those who have ignored His Word,
this will mean eternal exclusion, separation from Him, and death.

He is still speaking in a gentle whisper,
calling, inviting, drawing.
Hear the Word.
Receive the Word.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Hear the Word
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from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-06-02 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

Prepare for Pentecost

Father, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit,
the Spirit of Your holy and beloved Son,
Jesus Christ.
What a magnificent Gift!
He is enriching my life in ways beyond my
counting or
comprehending.
He is breathing Christ into
my mind,
my desires, and
my daily actions.

But Father, You have taught me that my relationship with You
is a dynamic one.
Your Spirit is not a one-time Gift.
He is Your living, breathing presence.
Like any relationship,
ours is a living stream:
it flows continually, or
it becomes stagnant and
begins to dry up.
I want Your Spirit in me to be
a well of water springing up to eternal life. (John 4:14, NASB).

Father, thank You for the Gift of Pentecost.
May everyone I encounter be
refreshed and
nourished by
Your Spirit flowing through me.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Breath of Life
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