30 Days of Prayer and Praise–3!

A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 NIV

Day Three

Lord,

Just as David saw You as the Great Shepherd, we look to You as the protector of all Your children. For we are–those who truly Believe–the ones we know You will never mislead, abandon, or forsake. We know–if just one of us is lost–You will never give up on us and will lead us back to You. It is because of You, O God, that we can rest each night, knowing the angels You have assigned us are on duty–and will alert of us any impending danger. It is because of You that we can rise each morning, knowing that You will speak to our hearts, warning us and guiding us along the paths You desire us to take. It is because of You that we have no need to fear what the enemy might do, because You prepare us to recognize the tricks of the enemy. It is because of You that we lack nothing, but have everything we need. It is because of You that we can walk with our heads held high, never ashamed of who we are or who You are and all You’ve done for us. We thank You for anointing our hearts, brimming over with the love You have poured out on us–to love others–unconditionally and filled beyond measure with compassion to fight for the rights of those who are in need and feel the threat of injustice or inequality.

Lord Jesus, it is because of You that we know--when we live our lives in praise of You, goodness and mercy accompany us on our daily journey and we have no need to fear what may happen, for You have ordered our steps and we will obey. We are living in a day when people are doing what’s best in their own eyes, but we intercede on their behalf and pray they will hear and obey and see You in all they do.

It is because of You, we can lift our hands in praise of You and know we are covered, from head to toe with blessings from on High, always in position to hear You and obey. Thank You for lifting every burden from our hearts and strengthening us with the joy You have for us. Thank You for giving us a desire to please You in all we do, for we know–that You will give us the desires of our heart. Thank You for speaking to the hearts of all who love You, guiding them in all they do, ready to do always, the right thing as determined by You and not man.

You are the only One worthy of our praise and we give You the glory that belongs only to You. Hallelujah!

All this we ask and thank You for in the name of Jesus, Amen!

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Your Precious Thoughts!

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalm 139:17,18 NLT)

How can I not know how much I mean to You?

How can I not show You how much You mean to me?

With every breath I take and every move I make,

I know  I am able to do so, because You never stop thinking about me

Or how much You love me!

You never stop showering me with love!

You never stop forgiving me when I mess up!

You never stop speaking to me, even when I disappoint You!

You never give up on me, always bringing me back into the safety of Your arms, if I stray!

How do I know all this? Because I am still here and You are still with me–each morning I wake!

You O Lord, are the reason I can hold my head high,

You O Lord are the reason I can see heaven beyond the sky,

You O Lord are everything I need and could ever desire,

You O Lord, give my life meaning and makes it worth while.

How do I know You love me? You gave Your life that I might live,

And I will live my life so all will know, just how much I love You!

Thank You, O Lord for Your Love, Your Life and my own,

And for being with me every step of this journey on earth,

Until You return to take me to be with You, forever–Amen!

Why Praise Him?

“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:21)

Why wouldn’t we praise Him for all He has done?

When people think they have accomplished things on their own and that He had nothing to do with it, I guess they wouldn’t see a need to praise Him. But I know–without a shadow of a doubt that all that I accomplish is because of His goodness towards me and that He watches over my children and my grandchildren in response to my prayers.

O what an awesome God we serve!

What a way-maker He is!

What a healer He is!

What a provider He is!

If I had ten thousand tongues, I couldn’t praise Him enough. Even in the midst of chaos and challenges, when I cannot see the way, He guides me and keeps me from stumbling too far from His grace. O what love He has for those who love and obey Him.

I would not change my life for any reason–no matter what happens, I know my redeemer lives and that He has only the best plans for my life and it is up to me to receive all of His many blessings and to share the Good news with others.

I’m praising Him for His love, mercy and grace!

I’m praising Him for good health and long-life!

I’m praising Him for speaking to the hearts of those who are reading or will read my books!

I’m praising Him for the insight He gives to pursue creativity in my writing!

I’m praising Him for being merciful to all who will receive His mercy!

I’m praising Him for restoration–love, peace, and tranquility in the land!

I’m praising Him because He’s God and He’s God alone!

I’m praising Him because He woke me up this morning, limbs working and mind intact, stayed on Him!

I’m praising Him because if He didn’t do another thing for me, He’s still an awesome God!

Hallelujah!

Our God Forever!

“For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death.” (Psalm 48:14 NKJV)

The “unseen God” that holds all power in His hands.

The “invisible” God who created all that was ever created,

Before man was–God was and is–The same.

No matter what theory, or philosophy is thought,

One fact remains true, The skies are still above

And the Seas below, higher than the clouds

The Sun, Moon, and Stars yet shining

Mountains still standing–majestic and tall,

And Man, yet flawed, but remains

As a testament to a Living God,

Not made by stones or hands, free

To be in all places at the same time,

Watching over all His children

Guiding us in life, until death,

Here on earth, and welcoming us Home

To be with Him for all eternity.

This is our God, though invisible to the naked eye of man,

His works–created–for all to see, He is

Alive and well in the hearts of all who believe and obey,

The Spirit who quickens our spirits to live

And praise Him forevermore!

Search Me, O Lord!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139: 23,24 NLT)

How many people are willing to submit to microscopic inspection by anyone? Probably not too many. The greater issue is that God knows all and sees all and when He tells us what He sees–are we willing to listen and adjust?

In our society, many people are more concerned about what people think of them and as a result–they adjust–their opinions, what they say and what they do–to win the favor of people! They do not consider–God and His thoughts towards them; nor do they hear Him when He speaks and they certainly do not make adjustments to please Him because after all–He’s God–He’s not that important to them. That’s the impression we get from the actions of “some people.” What our attitude should be towards God is to please Him, not people, because people are too fickle and unstable. And then–people–do not have a heaven or hell for us–therefore, people should be the least of our concerns.

And this is why we hear the psalmist say, “Search me, O God…and point out anything in me that offends you.” If we want to get living right for God–we have to be willing for Him to point out areas in our lives that need work and then we must be willing to hear and adjust. It is the hearing and adjusting that many simply do not want to do because any adjustment on their part would mean not giving into fleshly desire.

Who is God that we should listen to Him?

Every individual needs to answer this question for themselves. As for me and my house–we will serve Him, and listen and adjust to please Him–since He is the only wise God, Creator of all that was ever created, the One who loves me in spite of me, and has a place prepared for me–for all eternity–to be with Him–where peace and love abide. So, cut away O Lord, everything in me that is not of You and offends You, that I might live my life, pleasing You!

Dare–to ask God to search you, point out areas that need work and then listen and adjust. Move pride aside and submit to His inspection in order to please Him and watch how He works things out in your life.

Heaven Sent!

“He shall send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah

God shall send forth His mercy and His truth” (Psalm 57:3 NKJV).

Before He put in an appearance,

On earth in the flesh,

A Promise was made to those of old,

Received and believed and committed to life,

That He would send from Heaven

The Pathway to salvation,

From the influence of the evil one,

Wrapped in Truth in Mercy,

Motivated by His Love for all mankind,

Determined to reconcile our broken relationship,

Pursuing us, yet giving us-a choice!

For you and me, He was Heaven sent.

And now nothing can ever dissuade us

From turning to Him–receiving His Love,

Grateful for His Grace and Mercy

And The Truth Of His Word!

 

 

Standing In Right Relationship!

“The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble” (Psalm 37:38 NIV).

Many who come to know,

God in His infinite wisdom,

And learn how to show,

Others, they stand for what He says,

Rather than flicker back and forth,

Never knowing how to be a stable light,

Diminishing the dark, always ready to fight

The good fight of faith, head held high

When walking and voice strong when talking

About the goodness and mercy of The Lord.

Winning the battle without use of sword,

Made by hands, but by love and the Word

Of God which remains for all time,

No matter what man does or doesn’t do,

God’s Word will stand, His name remains

On the lips of all who know and love

Him and others, right or wrong. We are

Made strong in Him when we are weak in our

Own strength and we can defeat the enemy

With love and obedience to Him who created

All things and without Him nothing was

Or will be established in the earth, For it is

Through Him, we obtain our worth, winning

Souls, keeping them from the fiery hell that

Satan has planned for mankind since he dwells

In the hearts of all who choose to disobey,

And rebel against the All-knowing Savior,

Who came to save those who were lost, but

Now has given each of us a job to do,

And we must be about Our Father’s business,

Making sure sinners know without Him they

Have no hope, but with Him all things are possible

When we stand in right relationship with God!

Standing Up For All God Says–Doing Things His Way,

Loving all–Him first, each and every day, My Commitment

To Him and all of His children so we can enjoy eternity together!

Praise The Name of Jesus!

“Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:13) .

Who is the “them” referenced in this statement? The them is everything and everyone mentioned in the previous verses–the stars, the heavens, the elements, the oceans, the earth, everything in the earth, on the earth, and everyone–young and old alike. In other words--all of God’s creation should praise Him.

The birds sing their praises, the squirrels and I’m sure other animals praise Him; I just haven’t had an opportunity to observe them all. The most amazing thing about animals is the fact that they do exactly what they were intended to do. The stars shine in the night, the sun provides warmth and light, the moon does what does, the clouds do their thing, the rain, snow, ice, all do what they were meant to do. Everything and every animal knows their role. What happened to us–the human beings–the higher order of intelligence–why can’t we do what we’re supposed to do?

Perhaps, for some–their intelligence deludes them into believing they are wiser than God. Perhaps, this is the reason they refute all belief in God. Perhaps.  Perhaps, human beings are not the higher order of intelligence; we just think we are.

But then there are some–who attempt to do just what we’re supposed to do–love God and love others. We don’t always do things right or perfectly, but our hearts are sincere and our desire is open before God. It is our openness to God that makes a difference between those who believe Him and those who don’t. We who believe don’t make excuses to not serve Him, we simply do it to the best of our ability. Those who do not believe use their unbelief to ignore Him and when we praise Him, they simply do not understand.

We were created to praise Him–to give Him all glory for it truly belongs to Him and Him alone. When we praise man and self more than God, we have created other gods. When we give credence to things rather than God, we have created other gods. Nothing made by the hands of man deserves our praise. For we cannot create anything we need in order to make anything–He has already created all that is created for our benefit, not our praise.

Lord Jesus, we give You all the praise for You are the only One worthy of it. We will praise You from the mountain tops to the valleys and raise our voices in praise of You until the stars and heavens rejoice with us in our praise to You. We will cause a movement in the oceans so strong with our praise that every deep thing in it will praise with us. No one like You, Lord! No one who could ever do the things that You do for those You love! No one can love us the way You do! No can provide for us the way You do! No one can heal us like You do! You are everything we need and You are more than enough!

Action Gets It Done!

“Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:3-6 NASB)

I am who I am–an English teacher. When I look at certain passages of scripture, I always look for the subject-verb agreement. While teaching the parts of speech, I’ve often discovered that verb use is the most difficult one to teach. For some reason, even though people use verbs all the time, many fail to master the use. Verbs are words that describe action or state of being. Some are active and some are passive. In the above-noted scriptures, I see a great deal of action–on our parts and on God’s.

Any time a sentence begins with a verb, the implied subject is “you,” the reader. We see in this passage–trust, do, dwell, cultivate, delight, and commit–things for us to do. Then, after we do what we are asked to do, we see what He will do. If we “trust” Him and do good, live in the land and cultivate (practicing) faithfulness, delight (finding ways to please) in Him; He will give us the desires (those things we want, above our needs). If we commit our ways (allow Him to determine our plans and direction), to the Lord, trusting His way is better, He will get the job done. And when He is finished doing for us–He will allow others to see our good works and know who we serve.

Awesome–just awesome is our God.

However, the reason many do not know how awesome He is is because they have yet to do their part. When people say there is no God, they are certainly not going to do what He has asked them to do. If they won’t do, He won’t do and since they cannot see Him doing for them, or they discover they cannot manipulate God into getting what they want, they choose to ignore His existence. Then, there are some who think that with the acknowledgment of His existence (without living for Him), their lives should be perfect without any struggles at all.

Those of us who know God, intimately, know that with His love and His guidance, there are often storms and struggles, but because of Him, we can make it through victoriously, never defeated in spirit when we rely upon Him. We understand we must do in order to see Him do.

Awesome–just awesome is our God.

He is love and He loves us (in spite of our imperfections) enough to give us chance after chance to get living right for Him. We do and He does–all things well, for our benefit.

He Will Teach Us!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8 NASB).

Through His Word, God reminds us that He will provide us with instruction–instruction that is sound and rational–to live right and receive all He has for us.

He reminds us that He will teach us the direction we should take–in all areas of our lives at all times. The instruction He provides us will equip us to succeed upon the path He has established.

He watches over us in our journey of life and stands ready to offer us wise counsel when He sees us getting off track. He wants us to succeed. He has established plans for us to succeed because that is His desire. It is up to us to hear Him when we go astray so we can get back on track quickly. How do we hear God speaking to us? When we have a relationship with Him and communicate on a regular basis, we will know when He speaks to our hearts about anything. Once we receive the message He speaks to our hearts, we then–using the mind of Christ, begin to make sense of what we have heard and put it into action.  Our hearts must first receive, so our minds will believe all that He says.

When we let God be God, our lives will be so much better. God never changes, man’s instructions, teachings and counsel are often contradictory to God’s Word and change constantly indicating there is no stability in the mind of man who does not trust in the Lord!