Author: Ken Crawford

Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:31 (NIV)

Our world has a re-emerging fascination with the occult and the world of demons and witchcraft. It’s easy for us to react in one of two dangerous ways: to downplay the reality of these things or to dabble in them as matters of entertainment or amusement. God wants us to know that these fascinations are dangerous because the evil entities behind them are real and when we involve ourselves in them, they defile us. God alone is God and is to be worshiped without rival by his people.

Holy and magnificent God, thank you for breaking the power and hold of evil powers through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Please deliver those whom I know and love that are entrapped in one way or another with a fascination with false gods and deceiving and destructive spirits. Empower your Church with your Spirit; please cleanse us and make us a holy people, undefiled and ready for your service. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

When we lose our sense of urgency to live for God, we end up wasting our time! God has a plan for us, for our world, and for his church. Without God’s gift of “spiritual arithmetic” (numbering our days aright), we will never gain a heart of wisdom. So how do we get such a gift? Ask for it without doubting (James 1:5-7)! Trusting the Lord for wisdom has a huge effect on us and the way we conduct our lives. Rather than losing heart, God gives us a heart of wisdom!

Holy and Almighty God, King of the Ages, you alone live in complete wisdom, justice, and grace. Please help me to know what time it is in my life and the role you want me to play at this stage of my journey. I want my life to be lived glorifying you. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
– Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

Jeremiah is God’s voice, speaking about the promise of the LORD’s new covenant that he will make with his people. Of course, knowledge of God’s “instructions” started with the prophets and others who spoke for God in Biblical times and starts with the Bible and people who speak for God now. However, knowledge is not nearly enough. We need to be empowered and transformed by the Holy Spirit of the living God who will place God’s instructions on our hearts and make them a part of us. As important as the scriptures are, the Spirit who inspired them is also the one who is essential for us to understand and live the intent of scripture. The Holy Spirit will inform, transform, and conform God’s people to be like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). This promise of a new covenant also runs throughout the New Testament, but the work of the Spirit in this covenant is especially emphasized in John chapters 14-16 as Jesus promises the Comforter or Counselor or Advocate or Helper or Friend (depending on your translation). It is also emphasized powerfully in 2 Corinthians 3, which is probably a spiritual reflection about the fulfillment of God’s promise recorded by Jeremiah. Read 2 Corinthians 3 after reading today’s verses from Jeremiah. Rejoice that we have this promised time of grace and divine presence available to us in the Holy Spirit!

Almighty God, I rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of your Holy Spirit to bring your promise of a new covenant alive in our day. I ask that the Spirit’s power, his force, his grace, be at work in me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

“Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.”
Nehemiah 9:5 (NIV)

What happens to that youthful exuberance and joy at worshiping the Lord? Scripture seems to show us that God doesn’t want us to lose it. Read through the Bible and highlight all the physical acts used to reverence and praise our awesome and eternal God. In a world which regularly uses God’s name in vain, isn’t it time we stood up and praised him in every aspect of our lives? Does your love of God stand out in the world around you?

Heavenly Father, I find it incomprehensible that an eternal and mighty God would choose to listen to my prayers. Yet I know you do hear them and respond to them. Thank you! Please be praised in my worship, whether I offer it in private with other Christians at church, in my daily personal worship, or in my public worship as I live as an example before my coworkers. You alone are God and worthy of all praise; please be praised in my life. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
— Matthew 6:25

Worries are many and they all seem to crowd in around bill time, don’t they. Jesus reminded us that life is more than food or clothes. The real question is whether we can live like life is more than food and clothing. We get deceived so easily, like Esau who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Let’s not sell out what is precious for the allure of what will most likely end in difficulty and entanglements or at the very least doesn’t have eternal value.

Generous Father, banish fear and selfishness from my heart. I know you have already provided the most incredible gift of all time. Please help me pursue you and your will and not the things that choke out your presence in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.
Proverbs 25:13 (NIV)

After the humidity and heat of summer, anything cool and refreshing sounds wonderful.  If you’ve ever worked a harvest and gotten the dust, plant fragments, and sweat up under your shirt, you know how refreshing a cool glass of water is to your parched throat and a shower is for your sticky body. But God says that when we are trustworthy messengers for each other and for him, it is even better refreshment than a cool drink on a hot tiring day. So how have you been doing with the Master’s message lately? Shared his love? Told of his grace? Demonstrated his kindness? Let’s get busy blessing our Lord by refreshing others with his Gospel!

Forgive me, heavenly Father, when I am untrustworthy with your message or ashamed of showing my allegiance to you and your Gospel. Give me wisdom to demonstrate and communicate your love, mercy, grace, and character to those around me. May my words and actions today bring you refreshment and glory! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

[Jesus said,] “All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.'”
— John 16:15 NLT

The source of our truth is God. His Spirit of truth will tell us everything he has received from the Son and make it clear to us. John talks about the Spirit as the anointing that teaches us all things about Jesus and helps us know truth from error (1 John 2:18-21). In this context, Jesus emphasized that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Clearly, God does not just want to convey information, but he is sharing himself in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit so that truth is much more than something we believe; it is something we live out of the very fabric of our relationship to God through the Holy Spirit.

Gracious and holy God, you are both the Almighty and my Abba. Thank you for providing the Holy Spirit to keep us tuned into the truth and aligned with your will, compassion, and holiness. In Jesus’ name, I praise and thank you. Amen.

1. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
   — John 6:68

When Jesus asked his disciples if they would leave him like everyone else had, Peter’s response is powerful and great. He knew where truth originated! He had heard the voice on the Mountain saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; listen to him!” He had seen Jesus’ words change reality and destroy barriers to God’s love and truth. Indeed, he knew that there was no one else who had the words of eternal life! So who are you listening to?

Almighty God, thank you for making Jesus so accessible to me. Jesus helps me see the full extent of your love. Jesus helps me more completely understand your message about wanting to redeem me and make me your own. I want to always come to Jesus for truth, grace, refreshment, and hope. There is no other one that I want to be my Lord except my crucified Savior, Jesus. Today, Father, gently confront me in those areas where I have yet to fully yield to your Son’s lordship in my life. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.
— Jeremiah 31:25

In the overwhelming, hair-raising, and depressing prophecies of Jeremiah, God repeatedly told his people he would destroy them for their obstinate and hardened hearts. Yet in the middle of these powerful and scorching warnings, God also slips in passages that soar with hope and grace. Can you think of anything more reassuring than God’s promise to “refresh the weary and satisfy the faint”? For seventy years, that’s all Israel had — God’s promise. But when the time came, God made good on his word. I believe he will do the same with us today!

Great Shepherd, I am tired and weary. Please refresh my Spirit and my body. Please help me find satisfaction in the abundance you have already so graciously shared with me. To you belongs all glory, honor, strength and power. I joyously submit myself in faith, waiting for the rest and satisfaction you have promised. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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

Where do you go when you are exhausted and in need of rest? No bed, no vacation, no retreat can give us a truly refreshing rest if that rest doesn’t involve coming to Jesus. So what are you waiting for? Come to Jesus and and enjoy the blessings of his presence, his love, his forgiveness, his grace, and his rest!

Almighty God, your Son Jesus is my strength and hope. I look forward to the day when he returns in triumph for me and all of your children. But Father, I want to know him better and to live for him with an undivided heart. I want to find rest in his presence, meaning in his service, and significance in his acceptance. Please bless me as I journey toward a deeper relationship with you and as I gain a more profound knowledge of your Son. In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, I pray. Amen.