March 24, 2019
GREAT COMMISSION PRAYERS This psalm is a prayer that all the nations would one day know the Lord and his salvation. Centuries before Jesus gave the Great Commission to his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19), the psalmist prayed for such a day to come. It’s a good reminder
March 22, 2019
HOW MANY OF YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN? When we confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that he died for sins, was buried and raised from the dead, we are saved. In that very moment, we have been saved from sin’s penalty (justification), we are being saved from sin’s power (sanctification), and we
March 5, 2019
MEDITATING ON GOD’S LOVE Biblical meditation is not an emptying of the mind as the Eastern religions teach. Rather, it is a focusing of the mind on God and His Word. Here, the Psalmist focused the thoughts of his mind on God’s character, namely, His “unfailing love.” We are called to meditate on God’s
February 27, 2019
HOW TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN THE LORD David learned to address his own soul in his prayers to God. Knowing that he was feeling “cast down” and “disquieted,” he encouraged himself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6), urging his soul to “hope in God.” We can learn from David’s prayer life. Sometimes we don’t even
February 14, 2019
A VALENTINE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED Not everyone will receive a Valentine today. Some have a heart still hurting from a broken relationship. Other hearts have slowly broken from a lifetime of loneliness. Yet, everyone who comes to the Lord with a contrite and humble spirit, admitting their broken hearts, will experience His presence and salvation.
February 6, 2019
HAVE YOU PUT ON THE NEW CLOTHES OF JOY? When we receive God’s comfort, He not only wipes away our tears, He strengthens our weak knees and sagging spirits, so that our “mourning is turned into dancing.” This comfort flows to us in such abundance as to produce an overflow, a surplus that is meant
February 3, 2019
THE LORD WHO SPEAKS TO OUR HEARTS It is the Spirit of the Lord that pursues us. He whispers to our hearts to “come and talk” with Him. He is the one who first seeks us, so that now our hearts seek Him in return. Those who don’t know the Lord may seek His hand,
January 29, 2019
THE BLESSING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS What is this righteousness? It is to have a “right relationship with God.” Yet this right relationship cannot be earned nor acquired by human effort. It is a blessing from God that must be received by faith. For Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God to all those who believe (Rom.
January 14, 2019
THE LORD SEES AND HEARS AND RISES UP TO RESCUE We tend to turn our eyes away from the helpless, fearing they may ask us for help. We cover our ears to the groans of the poor, hoping they will knock on someone else’s door. Yet, the Lord sees and hears them. He does not
January 2, 2019
PRAYING AND PREACHING THE WORD
The Spirit inspired David to write these verses concerning the futility of the world’s kingdoms conspiring against the Lord and against His “anointed one” (מָשִׁיחַ, mashiyach), which is the Messiah, the Christ. Centuries later, the Spirit inspired the early Christians to pray these verses back to God after Peter and John had been jailed and warned by the Sanhedrin to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. In their prayer, they identified Pilate and Herod along with the Gentiles and Jewish leaders as conspiring against the Lord’s anointed one, Jesus, just as the Spirit had revealed to David (Acts 4:23-31). When they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and they went out and preached the Word boldly.
PRAYER: Lord, help us not only to read and hear Your Word, but also to pray it and preach it. And not just in dry understanding, but empowered by the Spirit, so that we and those around us are shaken by Your presence. And let us not be afraid when the world’s kings and nations conspire and prepare for battle, knowing that their plans are futile, but Yours are perfect and eternal. Now, send us out again with Your Word and Spirit, in the name of Your Anointed One, Jesus, we pray. Amen.