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Saturday, November 23 2024
It's Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! Woo Who! There is so much to contemplate with thanksgiving in just that truth! Yes you and I and all who will come to Christ are and will be forgiven! PTL! Spend some time with God and your gratitude list this morning as we begin our time together.
Good Morning Thankful, Abiding in the Living Word, Servants of the Lord! Yes and amen to that! Many of us have been traveling through some very hard times or we know some who are. Yet we are called to be thankful IN all things. Not for but thankful as God carries and walks with us through those dark, stretching faith, valleys. Having and choosing an attitude of thanksgiving shifts our focus from us to God and helps us to choose joy as we trust Him to work all things together for good. It's still hard but we have a better focus and attitude as we turn to God with thanksgiving on our hearts and lips. As we shift our focus up, we are more able to abide in God's Love and with His Living Word. Having Scriptures to lean on, inform our prayers and direct our steps and is critical to a life lived well and with God's peace. We can have confidence that He knows, cares and is with us working all things together for good and not harm. We are reminded of our blessed assurance in Christ as well. And then we can or are better able to choose to get busy serving which also helps shift our focus up as we join God in blessing others. Blessed to be a blessing and blessed back for being one is another step in the process of developing a thankful heart always. Thanksgiving is not just for a day but part of a life lived well in Christ everyday. Today's devotionals flow through this line of thought and thread it together. Prayerfully, thankfully engage God through them as you shift your focus to Him with thanksgiving and praise and as you open and abide in His Word and prepARE YOUR HEARTS TO GO LOVE LIKE JESUS. That's thanks-living. He is with you--always! He loves you even when it doesn't feel like it. So, rejoice and lift some praise today as you still yourself, turn off the noise and chaos and spend some time in the presence of the God who whispers His love to you. Then pray about who He is stirring you to reach out to to encourage, pray and walk with today or serve in some way. He does have great plans for you, even when it may not feel so great. Yes rejoice and receive His shalom this morning! I'm praising for you and prayed for you already. Shalom! Thankful, Abiding in the Living Word, Servants of the Lord!
Sarah Young
Charles Stanley
Upper Room: Repurposing Our Lives
“I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.” - Isaiah 41:9 (NIV)
I enjoy turning recycled junk into art. I take items that are going to be discarded — vintage tools, hardware, old china, tiles, game pieces, aluminum cans, and other everyday objects — and I generate fresh, unique artwork that conveys a positive message. To redeem a once-valuable item that would have been thrown away gives me great satisfaction!
For a while, especially during the height of the pandemic, I felt insignificant, isolated, and purposeless. But then opportunities arose for service projects that I could do at home. I could glorify God and serve others by creatively rejuvenating old ways of serving. Even the little things we do can make an impact when we allow a loving heart and a spirit of service to guide us.
We may feel that we don’t have much to offer because we are broken, flawed, or lack confidence. But we can be recreated to glorify God, and our brokenness can be renewed. “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). Regardless of our age or abilities, when we seek opportunities to do good works, our lives can be repurposed to love and serve God.
Today's Prayer
Lord God, guide us to follow your purpose for our lives each day. Help us to look and listen for ways to serve you. Amen.
The Word for You today
ODB
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Sell my late mother’s house? That decision burdened my heart after my beloved, widowed mother passed away. Sentiment drove my feelings. Still, my sister and I spent two years cleaning and repairing her empty home, resigned to sell it. This was in 2008, and a global recession left us with no buyers. We kept dropping the price but got no offers. Then, while reading my Bible one morning, this passage grabbed my eye: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox” (Proverbs 14:4 esv).
The proverb spoke of farming, but I was intrigued by its message. An unoccupied stall stays neat, but only with the “mess” of inhabitants would it yield a harvest of crops. Or, for us, a crop of value and family legacy. Calling my sister, I asked, “What if we keep Mama’s house? We could rent it.”
The choice surprised us. We had no plans to turn Mom’s home into an investment. But the Bible, as a spiritual guide, also offers practical wisdom. As David prayed, “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow” (Psalm 25:4 nlt).
With our choice, my sister and I have been blessed to rent Mama’s home to many lovely families. We also learned this life-changing truth: Scripture helps guide our decisions. “Your word is a lamp for my feet,” wrote the psalmist, “a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105). May we walk in God’s light.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
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What tough choices are you facing? How can the Scriptures provide answers?
As I make decisions, dear God, please guide me with the light of Scripture.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm. All 176 verses celebrate the words of God and affirm their authority, supremacy, priority, and sufficiency in the lives of those who trust in Him. God is referenced in every verse of this song. Oppressed and persecuted by powerful enemies who scorned and ridiculed the psalmist’s obedience to God’s “statutes” and “decrees” (vv. 22-23, 157), he finds great strength and comfort by meditating on them and obeying them. Not wavering, he vows to remain fully committed to following God’s “righteous laws . . . [and] decrees to the very end” (vv. 106, 112). The psalmist affirms that God’s “word” is his security and safety in a dark and dangerous world; a lamp that leads him to walk in His ways and a light that provides perspective, hope, and guidance on how to respond to the harsh realities of life (vv. 105, 130).
K. T. Sim |
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Harvest
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November 22 - Praying Through God’s Word
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There are several excellent books on my shelf that directly address how to pray through the Bible.
One is Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney, professor of spiritual formation and author of a number of books on the spiritual life. Actually, he has talked about this for years, and Praying the Bible is his most thorough look at encouraging Christ-followers to draw ever closer to God as we meditate upon his Word.
Whitney reminds us that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and guides us in our prayers through the Scriptures. He encourages us to pray verse by verse. Wherever we are in the Bible, we can ask the Spirit’s help to apply it in our lives. Whatever, whoever comes to mind—again, as the indwelling Holy Spirit leads—we key off of the particular verse and use it as fuel for prayer.
While Whitney encourages us to pray through any portion of the Bible this way, he favors turning to the Psalms as Jesus did (see Matthew 27:46), and also as we see in the early church (see Acts 4:24–26). In Simplify Your Spiritual Life, he gave a practical demonstration of what this looks like:
For example, if I were praying through Psalm 27, I would begin by reading verse 1: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation.’ Then I would pray something like, ‘Thank You, Lord, that You are my light. Thank You for giving me the light to see my need for Jesus and Your forgiveness. Please light my way so that I will know which way to go in the big decision that is before me today. And thank You especially that You are my salvation. You saved me; I didn’t save myself. And now I ask You to save my children also, as well as those at work with whom I’ve shared the gospel.’”
When I have nothing else to say, instead of my mind wandering, I have a place to go—the rest of verse 1: “Of whom shall I be afraid?” Then I might pray along these lines: “I thank You that I do not have to fear anyone because You are my Father. But I confess that I have been fearful about____.” I would continue in this way, praying about whatever is prompted verse by verse, until I either complete the psalm or run out of time.
Father, You did not leave us alone here on earth! Not only did You send Your Spirit to be our teacher, but You gave us Your word! “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:5), and when I pray the words You have given, I always know that my prayer is in Your perfect will! Thank You for Your powerful word!
--Adapted from Walking and Talking with God: A Simple Way to Pray Every Day by Dean Ridings. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God for all his mighty works (Ps. 46:8-10), for his power, his majesty, his magnificent splendor over all the earth.
- Thank God for this psalm’s very clear and uplifting picture of God’s grandeur.
- Confess that you sometimes live as if God were small, powerless, and expendable.
- Commit yourself to serving this grand and glorious God with humility and reverence.
- Ask God to reveal something of his splendor in your life this week.
- Pray that “the works of the Lord” might be so evident as to draw unbelievers to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Ask for spiritual blinders to be removed.
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