Author: Ken Crawford

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
– 1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT

Why does God get the glory when we do what Peter commands in this passage? Because we do those things by God’s powerful presence, the Holy Spirit living in us. We speak and we serve by the inspiration and power of the Spirit. The gifts that we are given come from the Holy Spirit — that’s what the term “spiritual gifts” means. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on us when we came to him (Titus 3:3-7), and the Spirit gives each of us gifts to use in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) and to help others (Luke 10:25-37; Galatians 6:10). The glory belongs to God — Father, Son, and Spirit — because God is the source and the strength of all of the good that we do.

Almighty God, Father and my Savior, the Son of God, and the indwelling Spirit — bring yourself glory as I seek to use the gifts you have given me to bless others. All glory be to you forever and ever. Amen.

[Jesus said] “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
John 5:30 (NIV)

“So who you trying to please, anyway?” There are only two we must please: First, our Father in heaven, because all praise and honor is due to him, and Second, ourselves, because we want to know that we’ve done the best we could do and been the best we could be. But I guess I’ve learned over the years that I can’t begin to do the second of those very well without seeking the first one. Don’t you hope that someday you reach the place where you can join Jesus in saying with absolute assurance: “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me!” The closer we approach that reality, the more we realize that we can’t do anything of eternal significance on our own. Only when we live to honor God do we find the significance and have the impact that our lives were made to have.

Almighty and Righteous Father, I know that without you I can do nothing that is of lasting significance. I have tried my own way and failed. I have sought my own good and seen my success short-lived. I want to live now, today and the rest of my life to please you. As I do this, I am confident that you will provide what I need and that you will empower me to do what you would have me do. In Jesus’ name I thank you. Amen.

Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:32 (NIV)

In an age where respect is little known and even less practiced, showing honor for those who are older is often overlooked. Yet in this place, by the LORD’s own word, showing respect for the elderly ranks right up there with reverencing God. But then we shouldn’t be surprised, since God made honoring parents the very first commandment (in the Ten Commandments — Exodus 20) directed at our relationship with others — the first four commandments were directed at our relationship with him!

Holy and Eternal God, thank you for my parents in the flesh and in the faith. Please give those who have been my spiritual mentors a special blessing. Without their guidance, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. Help me as I grow older to not only mature, but to also gain the character that will be needed by those whom you have placed before me to influence. May we, young and old alike, restore dignity and respect to our relationships before you in our generation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:32 (NIV)

In an age where respect is little known and even less practiced, showing honor for those who are older is often overlooked. Yet in this place, by the LORD’s own word, showing respect for the elderly ranks right up there with reverencing God. But then we shouldn’t be surprised, since God made honoring parents the very first commandment (in the Ten Commandments — Exodus 20) directed at our relationship with others — the first four commandments were directed at our relationship with him!

Holy and Eternal God, thank you for my parents in the flesh and in the faith. Please give those who have been my spiritual mentors a special blessing. Without their guidance, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. Help me as I grow older to not only mature, but to also gain the character that will be needed by those whom you have placed before me to influence. May we, young and old alike, restore dignity and respect to our relationships before you in our generation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
– Psalm 121:1-2

In a world of startling beauty and a universe of dazzling diversity, our hearts are to be drawn back to the One who made it and now sustains it. He knows us and will help us if we will but believe what he has tried so many ways to say: “I love you as my child and I deeply care what happens to you and those you love.”

Almighty Creator, Majestic Architect and Eternal Engineer, it absolutely bewilders and delights me to know that you care for me. With all the things of such vast importance, I find your desire to know and love me humbling and assuring. Today I will worship, work, and witness, aware of your presence and care. Thank you, dear Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
– Romans 8:16-18 NLT

The new way of God in the Spirit means not only that we are God’s children, but that we are also joint heirs with Jesus of all of heaven’s glory. Yes, while we are earthly children, there will be hardship — suffering, persecution, brokenness, and trials. But the Holy Spirit is God’s presence within us to remind us of our coming presence with him in glory! The current problems we face, the present burdens we bear, the ongoing suffering we endure are not worth comparing to this glory that will be revealed and shared with us!

LORD God, please pour out your Spirit with the power to help me persevere in the difficult times and keep alive my confidence in the glory you will share with me as your beloved child. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
–  Psalm 143:10

We want the Spirit to be at work in us to make us like Jesus. For this to happen, we must open our hearts to the will of God. There are no greater words God wants to hear than “teach me to do your will.” That is what it means for him to be God, to have control over our lives and our wills. This is a key part of loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As we open ourselves to the Father in this way, the Holy Spirit puts us on God’s level ground!

Almighty God, I want you to truly be God in my life. I renounce any attempt on my part to try to manipulate or use your grace and kindness for my benefit. I submit my will to yours. But Holy Father, I confess that I struggle at times with my own selfish and evil desires that lead me astray. Please forgive me when my heart is cold and my ears are deaf to your will. Please, take control of my life today and may the Spirit lead me on your level ground. Through Jesus my Lord, and in his name, I ask you to assert your will as God in my life. Amen.

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
– 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NIV

God’s words in Scripture remind us of both his holiness and his holy standards for us. “The letter” — that is, legalism — kills. It leaves us afraid because of the deadly results of our sin. It leaves us full of shame when we rebel against the will of our Father in heaven. However, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are brought to a new covenant between God and his people. Filled with the Holy Spirit, each of us is transformed and empowered to be a new person, literally a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are redeemed, saved by grace, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to find life and to live to honor and display the character and compassion of our Father (Romans 8:1-4). We are freed from fear and shame because the Spirit is the guarantee not just of our forgiveness but also of our cleansing (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and our salvation (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14).

Almighty God, our confidence is in Christ, who died for our sins and who was raised for our righteousness and now has filled us and empowered us with the Holy Spirit. May our words, our thoughts, our hearts, and our lives show Jesus as we seek to share him with others. It is in his name, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Our relationship with God is built on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and our acceptance of that sacrifice through obedient faith. That faith trusts that God not only exists, but that he also personally cares about us and our desire to know him. He eagerly longs to bless those who seek him. What we find when we seek him, however, is that all other blessings pale in comparison to knowing, and being known by the eternal, immortal, and only true God!

Holy God, I do seek to know you better. Please make your presence known more powerfully in my life and in the life of your Church. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.