Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Devotion

“Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.  For He has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.”  (Psalm 54:6-7)

 

Lord, You call for me to willingly sacrifice to You, but I often begrudgingly make sacrifices.  My eye often does look with satisfaction when my enemies get what I think they deserve.  But all of this merely points to the fact that my heart is far from You and not like Yours.  You have the ability to create in me a clean heart, So Lord I ask that You would do so, so that I may have a heart that is pleasing to You.

 

Lord, I can use this Psalm to justify the wickedness in my heart, but that is not why you put it here.  Help me, I pray, to simply come to the place where I am willing to put the whole of me on the altar of Your presence and be one who sacrifices all for You.  Deliver me from the trouble of my heart and guide me according to Your goodness to see in You alone the hope of glory that You offer in grace.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come that I may have life and have it abundantly.  Guide me by Your grace to make sacrifices that are pleasing to the Father.  Kindle in me the Spirit of Your love that I would not seek things for vain glory, but look to You as the example of One who sacrificed Himself for the sake of us all.  Lead me Lord Jesus, for I cannot, nor should not ever take the lead.  Amen.




Tuesday, October 31, 2017 Devotion

“For strangers have risen against me and violent men have sought my life; they have not set God before them.  Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.  He will recompense the evil to my foes; destroy them in Your faithfulness.”  (Psalm 54:3-5)

 

Lord, You are the One who is everlasting.  There is none besides You.  Yet, there are those in this world who lift up false gods and command me to look at them.  Help me to see clearly Lord that I would look to You alone.  Justice is in Your hands O Lord.  You know all that needs to be done.  Bring me to the place where I trust in your justice and live simply by the words You have decreed.

 

Lord God, You have made plain from the beginning the truth that You are God.  You are the Savior.  You are the One who sustains all things.  You will deal with all that needs to be dealt with.  Compose my heart to be satisfied with Your goodness.  Lead me to trust in Your justice.  Take away from me those things which will hinder me simply trusting You in all things and for all things.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come and declared that You are the judge of the living and the dead.  Guide me to trust You in and through all things, knowing that You alone must be the author and finisher of my faith.  Lead me this day in the goodness of whom You are, knowing that You will lead me through all things that will come.  Guide me to trust that Your grace is more than sufficient for me.  Amen




Monday, October 30, 2017 Devotion

“Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power.  Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.”  (Psalm 54:1-2)

 

Your name O Lord, what is it?  Have you not sent Yeshua, which means, literally, Your Salvation?  You are the Savior.  There is no other.  You have come as one of us to lead the way for all who will listen.  You are the One who, from the beginning, has called to as many as would hear, to hear the call of Your voice, heed Your voice and listen to the call You give.  Let my mouth be full of Your praise.

 

Lord, You know us better than any of us know ourselves.  You created us.  You know who we are.  Lead me away from what I think up to the place where I see where You have revealed reality.  Guide me in Your ways O Lord that I would be vindicated by Your power and majesty.  Let my mouth be filled with words of Your goodness and praise You all the day long.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come to show the way.  Through You, who is the way, truth and life, You have pointed to the Father who offers to all who believe and eternal relationship.  Guide me in the eternal way, established from the beginning, that I would walk with You, as You lead, to where You are taking me.  Help me now and always to hold fast to the prayer of my heart, which is to walk in the way of truth.  Amen.




Sunday, October 29, 2017 Devotion

“There they were in great fear where no fear had been; for God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; you put them to shame, because God had rejected them. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!  When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.” (Psalm 53:5-6)

 

Salvation does come from the One who is the salvation of God.  He Himself has come that all who hope in the promise of the Lord would know His love and mercy.  Come then, you who wonder, come all who ponder and know the goodness of the Lord.  In the midst of adversity He comes offering mercy and grace to those who turn to Him.  Fear is displaced by the assurance He gives to those who come to Him.

Lord, You say the wisdom begins with fear.  Yet it does not remain there.  This is the beginning place.  Lead me O Lord by Your wisdom to come to the place where I see that You are the One who has been calling me to You from the beginning.  Lead me into seeing the light shining in the darkness.  You have restore us, even though we are not yet restored.  You have saved us even though it is not yet.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and to release the captives from their bondage.  Guide me in the wisdom You offer that I would come into the eternal presence of the Father and know the goodness that has always been present.  Help me through all the difficulties that arise, that I may live in the grace You have given me from the cross.  Amen.




Saturday, October 28, 2017 Devotion

“Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.  Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge, who eat up My people as though they ate bread and have not called upon God?”  (Psalm 53:3-4)

 

The corruption in this world has affected everyone.  There are none who are exempt.  The wicked of the world follow after their hearts which are corrupt to pursue what is right in their minds.  Be guided not by the ways of this world, but by the truth of the God who created the world.  Seek not for yourself, but the greater things from the One who made all things.  Do not be consumed, but resume the path to which you have been called by the One who knows all things.

 

Lord, this world is crazy.  In the guise of something new, the same things happen over and over.  Each generation desires what it wants, not knowing what it really wants.  Let alone what it needs.  Help me, I pray to see through the cloud of confusion the truth that You alone are God and that there is no other.  Help me through Your Holy Spirit to come into the eternal truth of Your presence and purpose.

 

Lord Jesus, You are the One who has come that as many as turn to You would not be consumed, but through You restored to liberty and life.  Lead me now and always to walk in the ways I should go and not depart from them.  Help me see more clearly each day that I might walk on the narrow path You have set before me.  Through Your grace, enable me to be one who overcomes the adversity of this age.  Amen.




Friday, October 27, 2017 Devotion

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”  They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good.  God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God.”  (Psalm 53:1-2)

 

The fool looks into himself and does not ask from whence all that is came.  Looking only to the self, is absorbed in self and cannot think of the other.  God who created all things knows His own being and offers Himself to all, but the fools, if they think of God at all, only think in terms of what they can gain apart from God’s order of things.  Seek first the Lord, then all that is needed will be added.

 

Lord, I am often persuaded by the fools of this world to see things from their perspective.  Guide me in the way of truth that I would not seek what I want to be true, but You who is truth itself.  Lead me away from foolish thinking to realize that You, the Creator of all things, know the hearts of every man and hold all things in Your hand.  Guide me according to Your wisdom to come into truth.

 

Truth Incarnate, Jesus who has come that all who turn to You might know the way of life, guide me to live truthfully in this world, fleeing from the fools of the world who will not acknowledge You.  Help me through the obstacles that will come knowing that there is purpose in all things and by grace what is purposed will grow in me Your likeness.  Lead me this day through all that will come to be with You and in You always.  Amen.




Thursday, October 26, 2017 Devotion

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.  I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, and I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  (Psalm 52:8-9)

 

We are as the young tree, filled with potential, but not yet producing fruit.  In spite of where we, or not are, come anyway to the house of the Lord and taste and see that what He gives is goodness and this shall be forever.  Come into the presence of the Lord and know that He will fulfill all that He has promised.  Come as one of His godly ones and walk in His ways.

 

Lord, what do I know compared to the wisdom You hold on the edge of your pinky?  I am but a young shoot tender and vulnerable in a world filled with avarice and wickedness.  Guide me O Lord in Your ways that I would walk according to Your Word and live into the life to which You call me.  Help me O Lord through the salvation You offer by grace to walk into the kingdom You offer.

 

Lord Jesus, without You and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, I could go nowhere, for my mind is clouded and my abilities are limited, yet You still offer the path of grace.  Lift me up O Lord to walk in Your ways knowing that only through You and by Your power can I ascend to stand in the Father’s presence.  Help me now and always to prepare for Your Kingdom and walk in the ways You have established from the beginning.  Amen.




Wednesday, October 25, 2017 Devotion

“The righteous will see and fear, and will laugh at him, saying, “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and was strong in his evil desire.”  (Psalm 52:6-7)

 

The day will come when the difference between those who trusted in themselves and those who trusted in the Lord will be apparent.  The self apart from the Lord will be separated as they are now from the +source of life.  Riches and worldly wealth are fleeting and do not really belong to the one who says, “This is mine.”  The one who abides in the Lord abides forever, because the Lord is forever.

 

I do not see clearly and Your ways often seem hard to fathom, yet I know You are there and this is Your creation.  Clear my sight O Lord to walk with You on cloudy as well as clear days.  Help me see in You the hope that is forever and to not walk in the ways of fools who trust in things they did not make and will not last to be their satisfaction.  Guide me O Lord in Your ways.

 

Lord Jesus, You came into the world humble and living in simple circumstances.  Help me shed dependency on the things of this world to see that only You and the Kingdom You have established are forever.  Lead me today and every day in the way I should go and then help me get there by looking to You, the author and finisher of my faith, to lead the way.  Amen.




Tuesday, October 24, 2017 Devotion

“You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right.  You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living.”  (Psalm 52:3-5)

 

The wicked tongue shall not survive.  Why do you cling to that which is already condemned?  Come then into the rest of the Lord and give up the vain ways of this world.  DO not cling to that which is destructive, but come into the hope of glory that comes through grace.  Live into the life into which You have been called through grace by faith.  Let your wicked heart be uprooted and replaced with a heart like Christ’s.

 

Lord, You know all the complexities of the heart and the ways in which it plays games with me.  Blot out my iniquities and take away those things which hinder me from living life as You have designed it to be lived.  Guide me O Lord into Your grace that I may begin again the journey to which grace calls me.  Help me through all obstacles to live, speak and have my being in You.

 

Lord Jesus, You have come to forever shatter the wicked and their ways from ruling in life.  Though there remains this season in which the wicked endure, let me not be counted among them.  Instead, guide me by Your grace to come into the life to which You have called me by Your provision to seek the goodness You offer.  Help me now and always to cling to You, the finisher of my faith.  Amen.




Monday, October 23, 2017 Devotion

“Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?  The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.  Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.”  (Psalm 52:1-2)

 

Wickedness has always been around and in the midst of our comfort we do not see the evil plotted by those who are bent upon destruction.  From the heart and out of the mouth comes deceit, malice, envy and bitterness.  The call of the Lord is to have a new and clean heart that abandons the heart of this age for the eternal goodness of the Lord.  Be not wicked, but come into the righteousness of the Lord.

 

At many levels, there is within me that which can and does behave like those who practice wickedness.  You, O Lord have called me into a new life that no longer rebels against the goodness You have established, but desires to come into the truth that in You alone is hope.  Come Holy Spirit and renew in me a right spirit that I would hold fast to You and the goodness You give.

 

Lord Jesus, in the face of the rebellious age, You have given the means of forever escaping the self-destructive ways of this world.  Guide me O Lord that I would live in Your grace and live into a life that seeks righteousness.  Help me now and always to hold fast to the truth You have revealed that I might become like You and do the Father’s will on earth as it shall be done in heaven.  Amen.