September 18, 2013
David was a king and a warrior, he waited on no one, but God alone. What are you waiting on today? Find a quiet place where you can get alone with God and wait on Him to speak to you through His Word.
September 18, 2013
David was a king and a warrior, he waited on no one, but God alone. What are you waiting on today? Find a quiet place where you can get alone with God and wait on Him to speak to you through His Word.
May 19, 2013
After numbering the ways the Lord had blessed him, the psalmist considered how he might respond. What would be appropriate? How do you repay the One who gives us all? The apostle Paul’s response seems best: Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom.12.1). In other words, we render all that we have, all that we are, all that we think, all that we say, all that we sing, all that we own, all that we love… to God!
May 15, 2013
I am a life long student of God’s Word. Both my mother and my grandmother read the Word to me from birth, so that its stories have always been familiar to me. Yet, now as a man in my 5th decade, I still find something new in God’s Word every day. It’s more than an intellectual pursuit. My mother didn’t just read the Word to me, she delighted in the Word. And her obsession became mine. Do you know the joy of studying God’s Word?
May 4, 2013
While this psalm has no inscription, it certainly sounds like that great song writer and musician, David. The psalm opens and closes with him talking to himself, encouraging his own soul to “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” After singing of how all creation blesses the Lord and proclaims His glory, David expresses his desire to join the chorus for his entire life. Also prominent, is David’s hope that God will be pleased with his song, as he performed for an audience of One. Whose applause do you seek?
April 23, 2013
Understanding that our days are numbered can motivate us to live life with a sense of urgent importance. ‘Urgent’ – because putting off till tomorrow means eventually running out of tomorrows. If the Lord has put it on your heart, then do it now! And ‘important’ – because we often fill our days with unimportant things. Prayerfully consider what is most important, then focus on those things every day. This is not a morbid state of mind, being aware of your limited days. This is wisdom, not wasting the time God has given you on planet earth. Don’t waste your life!
April 16, 2013
We tell our children, “Don’t forget to say your prayers.” But praying should be a two-way conversation, not just “saying” but listening. It’s hard to teach our children what we have yet to learn. You can begin today. Start by asking God to speak to you and then join the psalmist in waiting to hear the Lord’s voice. Follow the old prophet Eli’s advice to young Samuel, by saying, “Speak, for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam.3:10).
April 5, 2013
Most have mouthed silent prayers, but how many have ever cried aloud to God? This is not about God’s hearing. Knowing our very thoughts, certainly He hears our whispered prayers as well as our shouted ones. But the prayers that are cried “aloud to God” show an increased intensity on the part of the supplicant to get God’s attention. The one who cries aloud to God no longer cares what others think. They only care that God hears and answers.
March 26, 2013
Every day we awake to a new day never expecting otherwise. Yet, we have no control over the sun’s rising nor setting. We haven’t even any authority over our heart’s beating or lung’s breathing. Even the faithless atheist counts on such things remaining constant, setting his alarm and marking his calendar as if there were some galactic guarantee. But the Psalmist “blessed the Lord,” recognizing that it is God who gives us life and daily sustains us, awakening us to a new day.
March 19, 2013
David knew how to get alone with God and find hope and encouragement from Him. He was careful to silence his own self-talk and listen for the voice of the Lord. When we allow the voice of worry (anxious self-talk) to fill our heads, discouragement abounds. At times like this we can say to ourselves, “Be quiet soul, wait and listen for God to speak.”
March 16, 2013
Singing praises to God puts our hearts and heads in alignment with His. Even when (or especially when) we are weak, recognizing God as our Strength and Fortress in song, strengthens us to face what the day holds. Singing praises to God, we actually climb to the top of His fortress and see life from above.