Category: Bible

Our Good Shepherd

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Read Through the Bible in Two Years: Psalm 8; Proverbs 1:20-33; John 10

"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" - Psalm 8:1a and Psalm 8:9 ESV

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8:3-4 ESV

Yesterday we read John 9:35, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Jesus is the Son of Man and Son of God. Fully God and fully man. How awesome are His works – to create the heavens for man to see – and also to create man to see them!

"So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.... The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." - John 10:7, 10 ESV

This reminds me of when I was a child and our house was broken into. A thief took a baseball bat from our front porch and smashed the panel of glass in our front door so he could enter. Thieves come to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we may have abundant life. Jesus is Himself the door for the sheep. If we want to meet the Father, we must come through Jesus, the only door. We can’t break our way in. There is no secret back entrance. Jesus is the only way. No man comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." - John 10:11-15 ESV

Jesus isn’t just any ol’ shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus isn’t just a hired hand who is getting paid to watch the sheep like “Little Boy Blue” or “The Boy who Cried Wolf.” Jesus is the good shepherd who willingly laid down His life for His sheep.

One of the most compelling reasons I have to believe that the Bible is true is that Jesus’s disciples were willing to be martyred for their faith. If they had known they were preaching a lie, would they have been willing to die for their faith? I don’t think so.

Jesus, too, was willing to die for His testimony that He was the Son of God, and Jesus was willing to die for us, His lost sheep who needed a good shepherd to rescue them.

Jesus is such a good shepherd. He doesn’t drive His sheep; He leads His sheep. He goes out front and says, “Follow me.”

Are we good shepherds of our children and those we are shepherding? Do we go first and say, “Follow me?” Or do we stand in the rear (or sit on the couch) yelling and pointing, “Do this! Do that! Don’t go that way! You’re doing it wrong! Don’t you hear me?”

"Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." - John 10:25-27 ESV

Jesus both spoke compelling truths and did compelling signs in the presence of thousands of witnesses, so that His sheep would believe that He truly was the Son of God and Savior of the World. Yet, many did not believe? Why? Because they were not among Jesus’s sheep. They couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying. They couldn’t believe what Jesus was doing. They weren’t His sheep.

It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

So, just like you don’t expect a chicken or a hamster to understand you, don’t be surprised when some people don’t understand God’s Word – or you. If someone is still in the darkness, they truly can’t see what you’re talking about. Like those Jewish men who heard Jesus’s words, “I and the Father are one,” and rather than worshipping Him they accused Him of blasphemy, saying “you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:30, 33). It’s like Proverbs 1, which I also read today, wisdom cries aloud in the streets and markets, yet the people do not hear. Instead they close their ears and scoff, ignoring wisdom’s counsel and reproof.

Instead of being angry with these simple scoffers and fools, let’s humbly pray for them, remembering that we once we blind, too. Just like you shouldn’t be angry with a chicken or a hamster when it doesn’t do what you tell it to, don’t be angry when a friend can’t understand what you’re talking about. Instead, let’s always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks, correcting our opponents with gentleness and respect. (See 2 Timothy 2:24-26 and 1 Peter 3:14-17)

Will you pray with me?

Lord God,

Thank You for opening my eyes and calling me into Your flock. Help me to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in me and to do it with gentleness and respect. Help me to be patient and kind to those who are still in the darkness. Give me a humble and grateful heart.

Help me to hear Your voice crying above the noise of the world saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” Give me eyes to see the door and the straight and narrow path to it.

Thank You for sending the Good Shepherd, the Perfect Shepherd, to lay down His life for me. Help me to be willing to lay down my life for my friends – and for my enemies. Give me the wisdom I need to discern the enemy’s voice and let me not be deceived by the devil’s lies and schemes.

Help me to remember that Jesus who is my Good Shepherd who says again and again, “Follow me.” Jesus came to earth, taking on flesh, being the Son of God and Son of Man, that we could know You and follow You because we know Him and follow Him.

In the Name of Our Good Shepherd I pray. Amen.

One thing I know: I once was blind but now I see

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: John 9

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." - John 9:3 ESV

God has a plan and purpose in pain. Sometimes that plan is for discipline and chastisement, but sometimes God has other purposes. We have to be careful not to be so self-absorbed that we think our lives are only about us. Rather, we must recognize that as God’s children our lives are on display for the world to see. What trial are you facing right now? How can the works of God be displayed in that trial?

[Jesus] said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." - John 9:7a

Parents want their children to obey promptly, cheerfully, and completely. Likewise, we should obey our Heavenly Father promptly, cheerfully, and completely.

This blind man must by faith obey Jesus and go wash in order to be healed. What if he waited to wash? What if he grumbled the whole way he was walking to the pool? What if he went to a different pool? How often do we refuse to obey at all – or we don’t obey promptly, cheerfully, and completely – and we miss out on a blessing?

"His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." ... He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."" - John 9:20-21, 25 ESV

Did you notice how many times “know” and “don’t know” were used in verses 20 – 31? There are so many things that we don’t know, right? But there was something this healed man KNEW — he was blind but now he sees. Do you feel that way?

Near the end of this chapter, in verse 35, when Jesus found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” and he answered, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” can you feel his joy in having his question answered, “You have SEEN Him and it is He who is speaking to you”?

Can you answer with this man who was once blind but now sees, “Lord, I believe” and worship Him?

Let’s praise, thank, and worship Him together.

Heavenly Father,

You are the God who creates people who are born with sight and people who are born blind. You have purpose in both. Thank You for the gift of earthly sight that allows us to see the beauty of creation that we are drawn to seek You. And thank You for the gift of spiritual sight that we can see You at work in our lives and in the lives of others around us.

We pray that You will give us spiritual wisdom to obey You promptly, cheerfully, and completely. Please forgive us for all those times we have stubbornly refused to follow You, and all those times we have followed You grudgingly and half-heartedly, those times we’ve waited for a better time, or waited to hear You a second or third or fourth or hundredth time. Help us to be obedient children so that Your works and Your character will be powerfully on display in our lives.

We pray that we will recognize that we were once blind, so that we can be grateful for the GIFT of sight that we have received. Keep us humble and protect us from that pride which so easily creeps into our hearts. Thank You for Your lovingkindness and grace.

In the Almighty Name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Our Righteous Judge

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 7; Proverbs 1:19; John 8

It was interesting today to read Psalm 7. Along with John 8. Psalm 7:8 says” The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, oh Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.” Then verse 11a says, “God is a righteous judge.”

I was thinking about how unrighteous I am. Like my favorite Bible verse, Romans 5:8, says, “God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And like 1 Peter 3: 18a says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.”

God is righteous and I am unrighteous and in need of his forgiveness. Yet, as a Christian, I should not just continue in sin because Christ will forgive me. Rather, as Psalm 7 encourages me, I am called to live a life of righteousness and integrity.

So when I got to John eight and read the story of the adulterous woman, I was encouraged in this truth again. On Jesus says in John 8:11b, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on send no more.”

God is completely full of grace and mercy, but god is also holy and righteous. As His children and followers, we must not just “continue in sin that his grace may abound.” (More on this when we get to Romans 6.)

I found it particularly interesting that John 8:7, 9, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her…” “and they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.”

The older I get, the more I recognize my own sin. As a young believer I thought I was so mature. God had changed me so much and brought me out of darkness and into light, but I still had so much to learn. Now I know the word well, and I know all the more what a terrible sinner I am. So many of my obvious, external sins are gone (by God’s grace!) but those inward sins of pride and malice and covetousness lurk beneath the surface.

And then to jump to the end of John 8, verses 58-59a, “Jesus said to him, ‘ truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him…”

Whoa. Clearly these men thought that Jesus had committed blasphemy, calling himself God, when he said that he was the eternal one who had existed before Abraham. I hope you’ll remember this when we read the stories of Abraham and Moses in Genesis and Exodus. Remember what we read in John 1, Jesus was with God in the beginning and all things were made through Him. He is God in the flesh. The Pharisees knew it and so should we.

Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father, You are God alone. You are the truth. Every word of God proves true. You are a shield to those who take refuge in You.

Hide us in the shelter of your wings. Help us to “go and sin no more.” Help us to hear You and follow You.

We pray that we would come into the light that our works would be exposed, and we would be laid bare before you – that we would repent, turning away from our sins and turning to Jesus, the eternal god in human flesh.

Help us to recognize our own sin and our own need for a savior. Help us to be among those who do not throw stones at our fellow sinners, but instead point them to the One who came that we would have life to the full.

Satan is indeed a liar. He came to steal and kill and destroy. He is the prince of this world, the king of darkness. Help us to rescue those who are held in his snare.

We pray that the eyes of many would be opened so that they would see You, the author and creator of our faith.

It is in the matchless name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Speaking the Truth with Love

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 6; Proverbs 1:17-18; John 7

Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. - John 7:2 ESV

The Feast of Booths was a festival celebrated each fall to memorialize when the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and preserved them for their years in the desert. If you want to learn more about the significance of the Feast of Booths, I suggest this article. The more you understand the Old Testament, the more you’ll understand the New. Not only is it incredibly interesting, but it grows your faith as you better understand the fulfillment of Yeshua, Jesus, the One who Saves, in the foreshadowing and prophecies of the Old Testament.

For not even his brothers believed in him. - John 7:5 ESV

How painful it must have been for Jesus’s own brothers to not believe in Him. It makes me so grateful that my sister, too, came to faith in Christ just a few years after I did. I thank God for saving my sister and opening her eyes. How different my life would be today if she were still an opponent of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. - John 7:7 ESV

We should expect the world to hate us. We should be prepared for the battle that we are in. We need to put on the full armor of God, remembering that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the evil forces of darkness. (Ephesians 6)

In light of this kingdom battle, we need to speak the truth, and we need to believe that the truth is good. We must not be false witnesses, saying “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 8:11). We must not be people pleasers, giving lip-service and eye-service to people who want their itching ears to be scratched. (See Ephesians 6:6, 2 Timothy 4:3) We must not pretend that God won’t judge sin, because this is in fact unloving and untrue.

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. - John 7:18 ESV

Sometimes it’s easier to speak for yourself, to say what you think, what seems right to you, rather than to speak God’s words. But the truth is that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)

Let’s pray together,

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for giving us brothers and sisters in our faith, in our own cities and our own nation, as well as around the world. We pray for those brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and attacked for their faith. Help them to stand firm. Help them to shine brightly and to forgive their enemies.

We pray that we would be people of the truth, believing the truth, obeying the truth, speaking the truth. Make us truth-treasurers and truth-preservers. Protect us from loving our own comfort so much that we would lie and deceive and wander from the truth in how we live or what we speak. Father, help us to speak for Your glory and not ours. Give us strength to hold fast to the truth and to speak the truth with authority and love.

We pray that we would come to You when we are thirsty, rather than forsaking You and digging our own cisterns. We want Your rivers of living water to pour out of us, that You would be glorified in us.

In the Good and Glorious Name of Jesus,

Amen

Of Doing and Believing

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Read through the Bible in Two Years: Psalm 5; Proverbs 1:11-16; John 6:1-71

I have always been one who wanted to achieve, to work hard and succeed. When I got to high school, I quit taking the classes that I enjoyed like choir and art and woodworking, and chose instead to take classes I could get an A in, classes that would look good on my resume like A.P. Biology, A.P. Chemistry, and A.P. Calculus 1 and 2.

So, the words of John 6:28 resonated loud with me.

Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" - John 6:28 ESV

Jesus had just told them not to work for food that perishes, but instead to work for the food that endures to eternal life. So, this is a logical question, right? I can just hear them saying, “Ok, got it, Jesus. So, what should we do?”

And here is His answer:

"Believe in Him whom He has sent."

In fact Jesus said, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent,” (John 6:29) which seems to mean that even believing in Jesus is a work of God, not of self-will (look back at John 1:12-13 for more on this) … which Jesus states even more explicitly in verse 44 later in John 6, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

In pondering this idea, I was reminded of Ephesians 2:1-10

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. " - Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV

Dead men can’t make themselves alive, and sinners will never turn to God by their own will. We need God to pour out His grace on us and draw us to believe and cause us to be born again to eternal life.

Which brings me to the next thing that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life…. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” (John 6:48, 51)

The bread of LIFE. So much better than manna which spoiled day after day. The LIVING bread. Eternal life-giving bread. So much better than that manna which sustained the Israelites for their 40 years in the wilderness, but could never give them eternal life.

Jesus is the eternal one, the Alpha and Omega, who was and is and is to come, the living One – so He is the only one who can give eternity to us as children of God. So, we must come to Him and eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, abiding in Him by faith, that we, too, might have eternal life.

We will talk about this more when we get to Romans and Galatians, but what a gift it is to begin our new year remembering the bread of eternal life, Jesus.

Let’s pray together –

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to live among sinful dead men, to give up His own life, that we could receive eternal life by faith in Him. Help us to receive Him with humility and to offer this gift to others. Help us to remember that we are just beggers telling others where they, too, can find bread. Make us like the Samaritan woman who was eager to share this good news with others. Make us like Abraham who believed God and came to You by faith. Thank You for giving us our daily bread. Thank you for reminding us and forcing us to come to You day after day, not eating old, stale, molded bread, but new fresh, life-giving daily bread of Your Word which helps strengthen us to do those works which You have prepared in advance for us to do.

In the lifegiving Name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Searching for Signs

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 4; Proverbs 1:10; John 6:1-26

"When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" ... Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves."
John 6:14, 26 ESV

Earlier in the book of John we read that Philip told Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45) and Jesus himself said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46)

Additionally, Jesus had done many miraculous signs – turning water into wine, healing the sick and lame, feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread – proving again that He was the Messiah and Emmanuel, God with us. Yet, the people were still drawn to follow Him not because He was the way, the truth, and the life, but because of the wonderful gifts that He gave.

It reminds me of the other passages I read today – Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” and Proverbs 1:10, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” Am I chasing having a full belly and lots of friends, and leaving Jesus in the trail of dust behind me?

Let’s pray together.

Lord Jesus,

I want to come to You because You are the Messiah, the Savior, the true and living God. You are the Creator and Sustainer of life. You have caused all things to exist by Your will. It is Your breath of life that fills my lungs. You are on Your throne, whether I believe You or follow You … or not.

Help me to turn away from sin and turn towards You. Forgive me for all those times that I’ve let sinners entice me. Forgive me for all those times I’ve gone my own way.

Help me to share this good news with others. Help me to WANT everyone to know the joy and peace and freedom that I’ve found in You.

Amen.


Can I Get a Witness?

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 3; Proverbs 1:8-9; John 4:46-5:47

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." 
John 5:39-40 ESV

When the official’s son was healed, the official himself believed, and so did his whole household. How I pray that my whole household will be saved!

Before healing the lame man, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” What a silly question, and yet how often would we rather return to our vomit and our pigpen. We say we want to be healed, we say we want to forsake our sin, but do we? Father, help us to want to want to follow You!

Jesus wanted these Jewish people to be saved, and He wants us to be saved, too. These Jews searched the scriptures because they wanted to find eternal life in them, yet it was those very scriptures who testified to Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Savior. How many people are sitting in our churches year after year, yet missing the Messiah?

So much testified to the deity of Christ – John the Baptizer who came before Christ to make the way straight for Him, Jesus’s miracles, the Father’s own voice from heaven (Mark 1:11), the scriptures – and yet people still refused to believe and be saved. How much like people today. These people were seeking glory from one another, rather than seeking glory from God. Again, how much like people today.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father,

What an honor to call You Father. You have created each of us by Your will. You are worthy to receive all glory and honor and power (Revelation 4:11). I am not Your equal. No one is. I am not God and I never will be God. Rather, I have been created in Your likeness and for Your purposes, that You might be glorified in me and through me. Help me to be humble. Help me to search the scriptures faithfully and rightly, with a pure heart and a pure mind.

I want to know You more, that I would love You more and be more like You.

Make me a faithful witness like the Samaritan woman at the well that we read about yesterday, bearing testimony to others of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Help me to be Your faithful servant, doing Your will and Your work.

I pray that my whole household would believe. I pray for each of my children and their spouses and children. I pray for my parents and my sister and her family. I pray that they would see You in me and that they would search the scriptures faithfully for themselves.

Like some people believed after hearing the Samaritan woman’s testimony, but many more believed after hearing Jesus for themselves, I pray that many would listen to Jesus with their own ears and be saved.

In the powerful name of Messiah Jesus I pray,

Amen.

Believing From a Testimony … Believing From the Word

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 2; Proverbs 1:1-7; John 3:22-4:45

"Many Samaritans from that town believed in him (Jesus) because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."" 
- John 4:39-42 ESV

Heavenly Father,

Make me a faithful disciple, making faithful disciples. Help me to share my testimony and point others to Your testimony, the Word of God which is able to make one wise for salvation.

Lord, make me truly wise. I don’t want to merely read Your Word to grow in knowledge about You like someone researching the life and times of C.S. Lewis or Albert Einstein. I want to know You – personally, deeply, mightily. I want to sit at Your feet and drink deeply of Your lifegiving Word. I want to worship what I know, who I know.

I need insight and understanding and instruction. I need my mind renewed. Here I come.

I want Your springs of living water to flow in me and through me. Help me to decrease, and You to increase, in my life. I want to be about my Father’s business. Make me a true worshiper, worshiping you in spirit and truth and helping other to know You, too.

Help me to be one who welcomes in the outcast, who notices the forgotten and neglected, who has to go through Samaria because there’s someone there that You want me to meet. I pray that my eyes will be open to the people in front of me, and that my ears will be open to Your voice prompting me, “This is the way, walk in it. This is the one, talk to her. These are the words, say them.”

Lord, I’m asking You to encourage my Chinese sisters. Help them to know that you see them and hear them and know them. Help them to dig into Your Word and find pearls of great worth, gold of great price, and diamonds of great value. We want You to be our greatest joy.

Father, help me to help others to sit at Your feet day after day and be transformed by the reading of Your Word. May my food be to do Your will. Send me to accomplish Your Work to the glory of Your Name.

Amen.

My Father’s House

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Reading the Bible in 2 years: John 2:13-3:21

"And he told those who sold the pigeons, 'Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.'"
John 2:16 ESV

In reading through the book of John, pay attention to how many times Jesus talks about God as His Father. In today’s reading, Jesus was angry when He saw His Father’s house being treated as a house of trade. Do I have this same kind of zeal for my father’s honor and name?

It reminded me of the time in Luke 2:49 where Jesus told his parents “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

And how about John 14:2 where Jesus is telling his disciples about heaven, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

Jesus is uniquely the only begotten Son of God – conceived by the Holy Spirit in a virgin’s womb. Fully God and fully man. He was in the beginning with His Father God without beginning or end.

But what an honor it is to be able to call Almighty God our Father as Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9) Let’s pray together with this kind of reverence and humility as well as intimacy and courage.

Heavenly Father,

What a joy and honor it is to call you father. I haven’t earned it. I don’t deserve it. It is not by my will nor is it by my blood or the blood of my earthly parents. But it is by Your will and through the cleansing blood of Jesus, that I have been adopted into Your family. You have brought me into Your house. Truly, Your banner over me is love.

You brought me into your house, though I was Your enemy. I was broken, unworthy, and lame like Mephibosheth (2 Samuel).

You have brought me into your kingdom, the kingdom of God, out of the kingdom of the evil one.

You have caused me to be born again as Your daughter by Your Holy Spirit.

And now, as Your child, I love the light. I once was lost, running away from You with my back to You. I was an enemy of God, loving darkness and hating light.

But You have changed me and made me a child of light. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

I pray that I would have zeal for Your name and Your kingdom like Jesus did. Help me to love what You love and hate what You hate. Make me pure and holy, that Your light may shine brightly out of me.

In the pure and matchless name of Jesus I pray. Amen

Of Delighting and Prospering

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"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." 
Psalm 1:1-3 ESV

Last night I saw a picture that my sister posted of a huge flock of birds migrating over her frozen hay fields. When one area of the country is too cold or too dry, birds can fly to another place.

But not so with trees. Trees have roots. Trees are planted. They can’t move. They can’t migrate. They have to “bloom (or wither) where they’re planted.”

So what should you do when you find yourself planted somewhere you don’t want to be? How can you prosper when you are in a cold, dry land?

Psalm 1 has the answer. When you find yourself parched, put out some roots and push them deep into the Word of God, meditating on it day and night, day after day. Don’t think the answer is to move to the pasture where you think the grass is greener. Rather, abide in the vine and hold fast to God’s Word. He is the one who causes you to bear fruit. You can trust Him.

I hope you’ll join me this year in meditating on God’s Word day by day for the next 730 days.

Happy New Year 🎇