Category: purpose in life

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
– 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)

Giving thanks is more than being thankful to God, it is letting others know of his gracious works so they too can come to know him as Father, Redeemer, and Victorious Lord. Then others can join their voices with our own in a chorus of thanksgiving from the hearts those God’s love has redeemed.

Holy God, Almighty King, bless all those who serve you in difficult places today. I especially am thankful for all the missionaries in other cultures sharing the grace of Jesus with people who need to know you as Abba Father. Empower their words, protect their lives and families, and bless their efforts with fruit. Please help me to understand that true thankfulness involves sharing your grace with others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
– Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

We sing when we are happy. We sing when we are heartbroken. Today we sing out of gratitude. God is not only worthy of all of our praise, he is worthy of all of our thankfulness. But the basis of all our songs is Jesus, and the proclamation of the good news that brings life to us through him. As that message, that word of Christ fills our hearts, we are tuned to be thankful children of the Most High.

I am so thankful today, Lord, for all the many blessings you have poured into my life. Your love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness give me hope for the future. Your gift of Jesus gives me life today and promises life tomorrow. The incredible physical blessings, as well as the blessings of family and friends are wonderful. But the greatest of all blessings is the assurance that I will one day see you face to face and share your glory presence forever. In Jesus’ name I thank and praise you. Amen.

I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.
– Psalm 40:8 (NIV)

Depending on what we are facing in everyday life, it is sometimes hard to hear a scripture like this. But we must recognize that the goal of the New Covenant of grace and the gift of the Spirit is that God’s law is written on our hearts and demonstrated in our lives. God is not concerned that it be written on tablets of stone. Jeremiah prophesied of such a day when the focus of God’s people would be their desire to do God’s will — a passion to love the things our Father loves and despise the things he despises. The Word is alive and God’s will is meant to be alive in us.

Abba Father, I do want to do your will. I want to please you, glorify you, and lead others to you. Give me spiritual discernment to know your will and spiritual courage to do it today. I want your character and righteousness to inform my heart when I am tempted by Satan not to live for you. Humble me gently when I am wrong or have lost my way. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Call out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Be glad as you serve the Lord. Come before Him with songs of joy. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His field. Go into His gates giving thanks and into His holy place with praise. Give thanks to Him. Honor His name. For the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. And He is faithful to all people and to all their children-to-come.
– Psalm 100

It can be difficult at times for us to see God’s blessings; the holidays are not always full of good memories. People are forced to deal with tragedies and struggles even on holidays. In difficult times it’s important to remember that “the Lord is God … We are His people and the sheep of his field.” We can be assured of God’s love for us and find comfort in his blessing. In hard times or times of blessing, we are never without thankfulness. We all need an occasional reminder to stop and thank God for his goodness. What better time to remember our blessings than on a holiday that was meant for giving thanks.

Gracious Father in Heaven, thank you for giving us so much. We often complain about things and forget the incredible blessings we enjoy. Forgive our thoughtlessness and help us to share more freely from our depth of resources. May our actions and words be a comfort to someone today who needs a comforting word or an act of kindness. Amen.

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
– Psalm 95:1-2 (NIV)

Joy knows no better explanation than laughter and song. We sing to the Lord because we are joyful! Our music is not inhibited or held back, but exuberant and as full of sound as it is of heart. Thanksgiving brings us into the Father’s presence and it is our joy at being saved that leads us to sing.

Most wonderful and glorious God, thank you so much for saving me from sin, death, law, and futility. Thank you for saving me and giving me the assurance, through your Holy Spirit, that I can come before you with exuberant and overflowing joy. Your love and grace have not only given me hope but have made me your child. Hear my heart and be blessed by my songs of praise. In the name of Jesus I pray and will shout your praise forever and ever. Amen.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
– Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)

I get to choose which sources of information I feed my mind. But this privilege and freedom is also a responsibility. God longs to bless me, but that blessing remains dormant until my heart delights in knowing and doing his will.

Wondrous Creator, just as you fashioned such a beautiful world and put me together in my mother’s womb, I also ask that you create in me a desire to know your truth and an insight in how to live that truth. I know your Holy Spirit is in me to help me in this journey, but I want so much to please you and bless you because of all the ways you have blessed me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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. Looking for something that is missing in your life? Troubled by circumstances that seem to be beyond control? Your answers are in the page of scripture awaiting your discovery.

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.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

God’s promises and God’s Scripture, helps us find our way in a pluralistic world of competing voices and lights our path in time so given to cynicism and despair. What such great grace we have to know God’s will in our own words! Now if we will only walk in the light!

Loving Father, thank you for giving me your truth in Scripture. To know that you love me enough to communicate in language so I can hear and read your message is truly awe inspiring to me. Make my heart hunger for your truth revealed in your Word. I want to grow to be a righteous and gracious child in your family. With all my love I pray to you in the name of my Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.
– 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

Having stood over the open graves of friends, family, and strangers, I know the appearance and feel of death’s finality and our human frailty. But Christ’s death is that great reminder that death is a matter of perspective and faith. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and that Jesus is the first fruits of those of us who believe in him. He is alive, not just in Spirit, but in bodily form. Because Jesus lives, so will we!

Almighty God, thank you for the gifts of your grace, Spirit, forgiveness and life. Most of all, thanks for the gift of your Son, who brought life and immortality to life in me through your salvation. While I have no great desire to die, I know I can look through death to you and your victory in me through Jesus. Please give me the courage to live for you every day until that day you take me home. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
– 1 Peter 2:15-16 (NIV)

What does the world most need to hear from me today? A life tuned to the melody of grace that I claim I believe. Doing good, being like Christ, is Peter’s answer to opposition, cynicism, and even persecution. We are free in Jesus, but being free means that we don’t have to pretentiously prove we are free. Instead, we can live for him who died to conquer death and renounced absolute heavenly freedom so we could find it. We are free to serve others, and most of all to serve God.

Holy Father, my Great Emancipator, you have freed me from sin, law, and death at the cost of your precious Son. I open my heart to you today to say I love you. I and want to thank you for this gift of incredible redemption. Please accept the actions of my life and the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my mind and the emotions of my heart today as my offering of thanks. In the name of Jesus, my Sacrifice and your holy Son, I pray. Amen.