Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
– John 17:17 (NIV)
God’s promises, God’s Scripture, and God’s clearest message of all, his Son, are truth. But only the last of these is truth, grace, deliverer, friend, Lord, Savior, brother, Redeemer…
Father God, give me a holy passion to know your truth and live it in both word and deed. Make my life a reflection of your Word, who both proclaimed and lived your truth. In the name of Jesus, your ultimate Word, I pray. Amen.
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
– Psalm 25:14-15 (NIV)
Where does true deliverance come from? Only from God. Deliverance is found in God through deep reverential respect for his holiness and might, through living in covenant relationship with him, and through maintaining our focus on him. Any other roads to deliverance are false and ultimately prove themselves to be a snare. Like the tight rope walker whose eyes are not on the ground or the surroundings, but on the rope in front of him where he will walk, so too our eyes must be on the Lord. Only by looking to him will he lead us to safety.
Precious Father, you have done so much to save me. You who are so holy and righteous, have reached down to take my hand when I was a sinner and in rebellion to your love. Teach me your ways. Correct the wrongs in my life. Guide me into the ways of your truth. I want to not only be saved from my sin, but from days of uselessness and frustration. Make me a vessel that can be used to honor you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
– Psalm 19:14
God does so much for us. He is the Strength and Promise that undergirds our lives. He is the One who has saved us from sin and death. Our worship comes from our gratitude for what he has done, recognition of who he is, and anticipation of what he is going to do. But worship can never be compartmentalized to just fit into church places or quiet times. Worship involves every aspect of life. That is why it is so important for us to tune the words of our mouths and the motives of our hearts to God’s will and work. Then private worship, whether alone in quiet or in a group with Christians, becomes the tuning time for our hearts and lives so that our public worship, our lives lived out in the world, will play the song of God to a world who has not yet heard his tune.
Holy and Almighty God, I want this day to be a day of worship and honor to you. May my life praise you: not just in thought, not just in words, but also in action. In the name Jesus I pray. Amen.
How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
2 Samuel 7:22 (NIV)
“I am Yahweh, who saved you out of Egypt. You must never have any other god, but me!” The Lord God Almighty at the beginning of the Ten Commandments reminded us of this central, seminal, and consummate truth. What else is there to say?
Holy, Righteous, and Only Living God, I hold you in the highest place in my heart. Forgive me when I do not hold you in the highest place in my life. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to give up all the little things that distract my allegiance to you and interfere with you being the Supreme and Sovereign God in my day to day life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
– Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Don’t be molded by the world. Wow, isn’t that a tough one to obey. It’s a reminder that what we think is one of the places of greatest spiritual warfare. Sloppy thinking is more than sloppy, it’s dangerous because we are fed messages constantly that distort God’s truth and holy values. But rather than being incensed by the world acting like the world, let’s be transformed by renewing our minds and doing what Paul said he did — take every thought, every word, captive for Christ. We often think a tithe is giving ten percent of our money, but an even more vital tithe is giving ten percent of our totally undivided thought time to the things of God!
O Lord, please guard my soul from pride, my heart from callousness, and my mind from too much focus on unimportant things and not enough on your things. Teach me in my heart what it means to be about my Father’s business, especially in the world of my thoughts! In the name of Jesus, my greatest example of one who knew and lived your will, I pray. Amen.
Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
– Proverbs 19:20-21 (NIV)
“Man proposes, heaven disposes.” Most of us rush to give advice and make grandiose plans. The wise man reminds us that wisdom comes from submitting to instruction for a significant period of time and then, only at the end of long listening does it come. If you are like me, you would do much better to let your plans ripen a bit more in the light of the Lord before you launch into them. I am comforted that James, the wisdom writer of the New Testament, reminds us that God will give that wisdom if we seek it and not doubt. But while we pray for wisdom, let’s pray also for patience to listen to the Lord’s truth in Scripture so we may recognize wisdom when it comes. Patience comes by trial and testing… expect to grow when you pray like this!
Almighty God, teach me your ways and help me discern your paths for my life. I have so many plans and schemes, but I know if they are not from you, they will not stand. Lead me to your wisdom and I will not only seek to know it, but also seek to live it by the power supplied by your Holy Spirit. Make me into your holy image of what you desire from my life and ministry. Invade my very existence with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
– Deuteronomy 13:4 (NIV)
So many people want us to follow their lead and obey their voice. Only God alone has proved himself faithful and loving through the ages. In his might he is to be revered. But rather than seeing reverence as a “church thing,” we are reminded by Moses it is a “life thing.” We are to obey and keep his commandments, we are to serve him and depend upon him in our daily lives. Rather than silence in the assembly, reverence is action to his glory!
Holy and Righteous Father, help me take my worship outside the church building into my day to day life as I try to live what I sing, practice what I say, and pursue what I pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort…
– Philippians 3:3 NLT
Our identity as God’s children is defined by the presence of the Holy Spirit as we worship, not by our race or by a physical mark on our body. Those who have the Spirit are the children of God (John 3:3-7). We rely on the work of Christ and don’t rely on our human attempts at significance. Christ poured the Spirit on us when we were saved by grace (Titus 3:3-7). The Holy Spirit is the mark of our identity (Rom. 8:9). The Work of the Spirit makes us a part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). The gift of the Holy Spirit is our gateway to authentic worship (John 4:22-23). The presence of the Holy Spirit makes us the dwelling place of God, a holy temple in which God lives through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The presence of the Holy Spirit defines our lives in Christ and is crucial to our identity and worship! Rather than our lives and worship being tied down by all sorts of detailed rules about worship like we find in the Torah and other hard and fast rules of human order, we are set free by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Father in heaven, please forgive me when I try to define my significance in any other source other than your gracious love for me, your Son’s sacrifice for my sins, and the work of the Holy Spirit in my day-to-day life. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
– Psalm 63:1 (NIV)
Addiction has been defined as “God-hunger directed to the wrong source of soul satisfaction.” Psalm 63 reminds us this is true. Deep in us is a desire to seek after God because he is not far from us and longs to be known by us (see Acts 17). But often when our soul craving need for God is greatest, he is the last place we turn for satisfaction. Let’s earnestly seek after him and slake our soul thirstiness in him.
Holy Father, fill my heart with longing for you and my head with understanding that it is your presence I crave. I confess that I have often sought relief for my hunger in things that do not satisfy. I pledge today to recognize all other sources of satisfaction to be temporary and false. I promise to pursue you and your will through your word and your Spirit till I rest in your presence and grace. In the powerful name of Jesus my Lord, I pray. Amen.
This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.
– Revelation 1:4-5 NLT
Bible students have wondered and sometimes debated whether the “sevenfold Spirit” means the Holy Spirit or the seven spirits before the throne. That is, since the number seven in the Bible represents perfection, the designation could refer to the perfect Spirit that the churches need, or it could refer to the spirits of the angels of the seven churches. Personally, I believe that John is including the nature of God that is sometimes referred to as the Trinity. God is always and perfectly present with us (is, was, is to come, Revelation 1:8). The Holy Spirit is the full perfection of God who is with us, in us, and for us (sevenfold Spirit or seven spirits). Jesus is the Messiah, is our Lord and ruler as well as the perfect sacrifice for us. The Holy Spirit is God fully present for us personally and in the churches. Think of it: God is still with us and among us and for us, empowering us through the perfect presence of the Holy Spirit!
God Almighty, you are present with us and for us. You are our Eternal Father, Sacrificial Son, and All-Present Spirit. Forgive me for not seeking your presence. Forgive me for not turning to you in your nearness. Remind me when I feel alone. Convict me when we, your people, doubt your nearness and power. Thank you for being ever near. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Ken Crawford 