Devotionals

When the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he begins in chapters 1 – 3 to teach believers about our new lives as the children of God: how we are forgiven, adopted into God’s Family, we are redeemed from the slavery of sin, loved by God, strengthened with His power, and we are recipients of the riches of Christ Jesus.

Paul continues in chapter 4 to urges us, as believers, to walk in unity in our new way of life and as the Body of Christ. Paul wants us to be equipped as the Church, or as the Body of Christ, to be able to work together as one in Christ Jesus as we utilize the gifts Christ has given us so we can do His work and build up His Church. “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son (Jesus) that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (v. 11-13)

As we seek for “Unity in the Body” (v.1-16) each of us must no longer live as “Gentiles”. This means that we must completely let our old sinful lives go and live out our new lives of salvation. Within this place we are living as Christ’s Word teaches us to live, and as Christ Himself lived as the walking example for our walking lives. We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide our souls (our minds, wills, and emotions), otherwise, this world and Satan will fill our souls with darkness, harden our hearts against the Trust, and cloud our judgement to operate against the Word. If the world and Satan guide us, we will not have shame and we will live our lives for this world in lust, pleasure, deception, and impurity. Let’s keep our new nature on and allow the Word of Christ to flow in, through, and out of us, just as we were created to be like God, Himself, Who is righteous and holy.

Ephesians 4:17-24 (NLT)
Living as Children of Light

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for being the Head of our Body, Your Church. Help us, Lord, to work together to grow in our faith, as Your Church, so that we can mature in You, and work to grow Your Kingdom. Help each one of us, Your Church, to continue to be guided by Your Word. Holy Spirit, please continue to renew our thoughts and attitudes. We ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday night in our LIFE lessons class we talked about how God has used imagery, symbols, parables, shadows, religious practices, cultural depictions, as well as words in Scripture to teach us about his character and motives. Scripture is God’s self-revelation. A type, symbol, shadow, etc. may be the avenue God uses to send a prophetic foretelling of future events. Our heavenly Father remains excited about his plans for us, so he has dropped hints throughout Scripture to prepare us. I love the hints, but most of the time they lack specific details which I am convinced is on purpose so we do not get ahead of the leadership of the Lord.

Just as Moses was sent to Egypt, by God, to deliver and lead God’s people of faith out of bondage, God sent Jesus from heaven to deliver and lead God’s people of faith out of bondage to sin and death. Moses provides a shadow of the work Christ will finish 500 years in the future. We know Christ is the Deliverer and that no evil can stand before him. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can be delivered from evil every day. However, we need to receive that grace and power by faith through our positive response to his work—obedience.

In our passage today, the Apostle Paul wants us to understand God has given us a lot of details (not just hints) as to how we are supposed to live as believers. Father wants us to create a life-style of worship—living according to the holy covenant by the Lord’s power and strength. If we choose to be holy, it means we must separate from the ways of the world and face the struggle in order to conquer sin. Also, if we choose to be holy, it means we are separated or set apart for God or to be his representatives in this fallen world. Because of sin, our image musts be transformed. To be holy, by the work of the Holy Spirit, is to be made in God’s image once again.

Ephesians 4:17-24 NLT Living as Children of Light
17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the shadows, as well as details you have provided throughout Scripture, so we know how you desire for us to live and reflect your character and attitudes. Christ has made things very clear through his lifestyle and sacrifice. Please help us to live the Truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Anger is quick to present itself as an optional response to most anything these days. Angry people are plentiful. When someone is denied control or is not happy with certain circumstances, the default is to first explode with anger and think later. Although believers have the same opportunities to become angry [because someone around us is going to say or do something thoughtless and selfish] we are going to need to practice the power to forgive, because harboring unrighteous anger gives a leadership opportunity to the devil (Eph 4:26-27).

In our passage today, Moses has ascended Mount Sinai to meet with God, so he leaves Aaron in charge to lead God’s people. While Moses is gone, the people grow so impatient they pressure Aaron to agree to do something he knows is wrong as a leader, but wants to please the people. About that time, Moses comes back down the mountain with the stone tablets of the law etched with the finger of God.

The leadership reactions of both Aaron and Moses reveals their need for more wisdom. Aaron denies responsibility for being a poor leader; instead he blames the people . Moses gets mad at the people and in anger confronts Aaron; but God has to remind Moses he is the one who actually smashed the tablets in anger. Leadership is about using wisdom and learning to discern the difference between a righteous or unrighteous display of anger. BTW, God is angry with all of them (Ex 32:7-11)!

Exodus 32:19-24 NLT 19 When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.

21 Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

22 “Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

Prayer: Lord, all of your children are being groomed to be leaders of the gospel of Truth. So, help us to gain the necessary wisdom to handle our responses righteously; even when we get angry, give us the power to handle it without sin. In Jesus’ name.

I enjoy a big brunch buffet and recently I pulled my chair up to one. No one puts on a breakfast feast the way my sister-in-law does; she thinks of everything and provides a lot of it! However, as amazing as her brunch was last week to my taste buds, Jesus promises to provide a miraculous Messianic feast in the future that will defy description.

Jesus invites the world to his Kingdom feast. Certainly the inauguration of this feast arrived with the beginning of Christ’s ministry, but the final feast at Messiah’s table will be fully enjoyed in his Kingdom. This feast will be for those who have responded to Christ and turned from sinful living—unbelief. Our salvation is a journey and we are transformed as we obey and follow our righteous Lord. The thoughts of feasting on the righteous love, justice, and grace of God makes me more hungry for Jesus, because he feeds me good things and brings satisfaction and restoration to my soul (Mat 5:6).

This world is decaying from the work of human pride and power that exalts sinful dead living—this reflects rebellion against God. When God is not welcomed to rule his world through his Word, love is lean and Satan tempts people to feed on hatred, corruption, and evil. We cannot have our worldly cake and eat at Christ’s table, too! We were created to enjoy God’s presence; he is our righteous Manna.

In our passage today, Isaiah reminds us about the Lord and his Kingdom. Please stir your appetite for Christ, because we are being made in Christ’s image each day. Darkness has no hold on us and our eyes have been opened to the truth. The world may not see, but God’s children see clearly. What do we see? We see the transformation of Christ in us. “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit — makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Cor 3:18).

Isaiah 25:6-9 NLT
6
In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will spread a wonderful feast
    for all the people of the world.
It will be a delicious banquet
    with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.
7 
There he will remove the cloud of gloom,
    the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.
8 
He will swallow up death forever!
    The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery
    against his land and people.
    The Lord has spoken!
9 
In that day the people will proclaim,
“This is our God!
    We trusted in him, and he saved us!
This is the Lord, in whom we trusted.
    Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for calling us to join you at your table each day. We can choose to eat from the righteousness you provide and be satisfied. Stir our hunger and thirst for the things you offer and help us push ourselves back away from what the world is serving up and wants all to eat. We cling to your authority over all things and our hope is in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Recently, John and I did some camping in southwest Georgia. We visited a State Park called Providence Canyon—known as “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon.” I did some hiking around a three-mile-loop; a loop that went around the rim of these beautiful geological formations.

Providence Canyon stands as a monument and lesson to the power of erosion, as well as improper or overused farming practices that destroyed the Coastal Plain—low lying land adjacent to the sea coast. Over time, small gullies grew into impressive 150 foot canyons. These huge stone pillars made me think about the power of visual things to help us remember and learn from the past.

In our passage today, Moses builds an altar and a monument of stone pillars to remind people of the Truth—the day they made a commitment to honor God’s character and conduct their lives in such a way to reflect the Lord’s glory. God did not force the people to make an oath to honor the terms of the covenant; they willingly made the commitment. However, God knew these visible twelve pillars (depicting the oath of the people from the twelve tribes) would help them remember their word and remain loyal and faithful to God.

Rocky and jagged cliffs of some form exist in all the biblical lands. Many times, God’s people hid around the cliffs to find security from their enemies. David was one of them. As I think of the altar and stone pillars at Mount Sinai, I cannot help but remember the oath I made to the Rock of my salvation—Jesus. I promised to follow my Lord’s commands—to allow the Holy Spirit to make me anew in his image. Every day, Jesus is my Rock—the Cornerstone of my remembrance to remain faithful to my word.

Exodus 24:1-8 NLT Israel Accepts the Lord’s Covenant
1 Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu (Aaron’s sons), and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”

4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.

7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the many ways you set things into place and help us remember to operate our lives with your Wisdom. You are the Rock we need to build our new lives upon and we need to remember our oath to honor your character and ways. Father, thank you for the work of Jesus to be our Refuge who brings us salvation and for the Spirit to groom us in divine holiness. Please impart to us the hunger and the power to live for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

During yesterday’s time of worship, as Pastor Mary prayed, I felt a divine connect to today’s passage. I had previously been studying Psalm 37 and spending more time in God’s Word with King David (I know, it’s now 3 Mondays in a row, but this is where the Spirit has me). So, as the Holy Spirit spoke through Pastor Mary, my spirit was on fire when she said, “sin against God is just unbelief”, I knew I needed to go back to the livestream and listen to her prayer again (and again). So, after listening to it a few times, I was led to transcribe it for us. May this devotions, time in God’s Word, and time in communal pray, allow each one of us to individually grow in our faith and mature in the fruit of Christ’s Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23); may it also be a time of growing together as God’s Family, His Church, to shine His light of love into this extremely dark world.

I have a two-part question for you to allow the Spirit to move as you read today’s passage, 1. can you see the places where God has and is calling you; and 2. can you see the difference between the wicked and the godly within those places you are called? I ask this because Israel, in King David’s time was experiencing this, and so was David, and that is most likely what prompted him to write today’s passage.

If we are all being completely honest, there is no place where we have been called that every single person is sinless. In fact, we can see wickedness, or sin, within our families, we see sin within our homes, sin is prevalent within our workplaces, sin festers within our schools, our world just witnessed sin within the opening ceremony of the Olympics, we see sin within governments, we see sin within every business and organization, and unfortunately, sin can be seen within the Church. So, what do you and I do as believers, do we run away from sinners? If so, where do we go? The last I checked, sin is everywhere, you are a sinner, and I am a sinner, and Jesus came so that ALL sinners could turn to Him and choose to be healed. We are called, as the Church, to be a blessing, not to replay evil (sin) with evil (sin) (1 Peter 3:9). Last week, Curtis and I were sharing some time together and I mentioned that I love when Pastor Mary has referred to the Church as a hospital, he later shared it during Bible study, and I hope this Truth resonates within each of us as God’s Family. We are all in need of healing from our Great Physician, Jesus. Remember, He told the first disciple (and this message still applies to us as His disciples, today) that healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. That Jesus came, not for the righteous, but to heal those who are sinners and willing to turn to Him and repent, and that is all of humanity (Luke 5:31-32).

Friends, we cannot worry about the wicked. We must trust that God has it all under control. What we can do is ensure our hearts are His and that we are growing in His Word and in our relationship with Him.

Psalm 37

A psalm of David.

1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.

Prayer: Pastor Mary’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You so much. You are so incredibly good to us, God, You make a way sometimes and we have no idea how You are doing it, but You are do it. But our faith has to be in You, and what You have promised to do through Your Word. You are so faithful. And You are the everlasting God, there is no beginning, no end, You have been, You remain, and You will forever be our God. You are the One true God. We thank You God for making this even opportunity today, to bless us, to help open us up. Lord, may we open ourselves up to this Word today. May we allow You to minister and speak to us, not necessarily through our heads, although You made our minds, so we would understand more about You, but minister to our spirits because we are first and foremost a spirit, who has a personality, a soul (a mind, will, and emotions) and you placed us in these physically bodies and we are on a human journey to learn the divine ways. Thank You, God, for being so patient with us. We pray God that You would not only open us up, Holy Spirit, but that You would be the One Who speaks Truth to our hearts. We pray for the conviction, we do, because in light of living with You, we need to allow that conviction. It is not a negative, it’s a positive, it’s a way You instruct us. You teach us about Yourself. So, help us to be listening, to allow the work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of the Truth. Then, Lord, help us to take it into our soul, and let You cleanse us and work through it. We know, God, that You are the One Who makes things possible. Our righteousness is like filthy rags, but Your righteousness that we are entering into and called upon, well, that is perfect. So, we just thank You for washing us with Your righteousness today. We pray, Lord, not only would we be ready, but that we tell others who do not know about You, how immense and unfathomable You are. We cannot comprehend You, God, even though we try to with these little human minds of ours. We pray, God, that You would help us to receive more of You because we are hungry for You. But, if someone has never tasted of You, we pray that today is their day. Jesus, save us from our selfishness and self-centeredness, save us from resting in our own human understanding, save me God, forgive my sin, and save me, because sin against You is just unbelief. We pray, Father, for belief to rise up even within those who have never said those words. Rise up, Holy Spirit, and help people say, I believe. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.

Here is an interesting fact about me: I don’t like clothes shopping.  For some odd reason, I don’t like shopping around for clothes.  Then I found out about a company that would send clothes to you to try on and would keep what you want to keep and send back what you want to send back.  This company is called Stitch Fix.  It truly is a blessing for sure because you are not forced to purchase anything if you don’t want to buy anything and it is not a subscription service.  That company is successful because people have the same issues.  While I am discussing about physical clothing, we wear spiritual clothing.  We ought to be clothed with the grace and love of God. 

In today’s passage, Paul writes to the church in Colassae about how we ourselves must clothe ourselves with different characteristics: mercy, kindness, humility, patience, gentleness.  He mentions that we must wear love.  Love is something that we, as a society, are lacking every day because of what we see and hear through our television screens and our phones.  Matthew 5:16 says to let our lights shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.  In other words, we need to let others see Jesus through our words and our actions.  I want to challenge you to put on the characteristics that will resemble Christ.  Much like how we put on the armor of God everyday, we need to wear these traits everyday.  

Colossians 3:12-17 (NLT Translation)

“12. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

When I was in college, I was enrolled at both the University of Tampa and the Crossing Bible College.  I did two schools simultaneously for four years to earn my bachelor degree in philosophy and ministry.  During my time at UT, I had taken many different courses on philosophy and religion and ethics and logic.  One of the things that we have discussed in almost every single class was the idea of God’s existence.  Time after time, this topic is brought up because this argument or debate has been carried on for centuries since the time of Aristotle. Majority of the time, I was the only Christian sitting in those classrooms while other were antagonizing at the fact that God does not exist.  In 2014, there was a movie that was released titled “God’s Not Dead.”  To this day, it is still within my all time favorite movies.  Not just because I could relate to it, but because of the message that it presents.  

In today’s passage from Psalm 14, it talks about how there are people who believe that God does not exist.  There are some who acknowledge His existence, however, they do not necessarily have a relationship with Him.  What we need to understand is that God is always active and is always there for us.  I challenge you to take a look around and see God through the small things.  People only think of God through the major things but not necessarily in the small things.  God is active through all things.  

Psalm 14

“1. Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!  2. The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  3. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!  4. Will those who do evil never learn?  They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.  5. Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey him.  6. The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the Lord will protect his people.  7. Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?  When the Lord restores his people, Jacob will shout for joy, and Israel will rejoice.”  

I don’t know about you, but I do not like the idea of being lost.  In other words, I don’t like being in a fog and not knowing what I am going to do next.  For one thing, it is a scary thing and it is something that a lot of people tend to deal with on a regular basis.  When people tend to go on a hiking trip or an excursion, there are some incidents where they become lost and they don’t know where to go or what to do next.  Time has passed and eventually they receive the help from the proper authorities to help from being lost to being found.  

While people can be lost in terms of their physical and human nature, how about people who are lost in the spiritual sense?  What is unfortunate is that people would turn to psychics or anyone else like that to bring them a sense of spirituality to their lives.  Psychics don’t know what is best for you.  Only God knows what is best for you.  He brings us out from being lost to being found.  Much like how the father rejoiced over the unification of him and his son (Luke 15:11-32), God wants us to be found and He rejoices over the fact that we are found and brought into His kingdom and His family (Philippians 3:20).  

In today’s passage from Luke 15:1-7, it speaks about Jesus telling a parable.  A parable is a story with a deeper meaning.  He tells a parable of the lost sheep.  He states that a shepherd has 100 sheep but yet he only had 99 in his flock.  So instead of forgetting about the one and leaving it behind, the shepherd decides to pursue after the one and bring it back to their flock.  When are feeling lost, we can have the assurance that God will always bring us home.  Are there times where we do get distracted and start to slip from God?  Sure there is, however, we cannot continue to slip further away from God.  As James 4:7-8 says, we need to submit to God.  When we submit to God, we must resist the devil.  How can we resist the devil when we are still drawing closer to him?  It is so important that we draw closer and closer to God.  

Challenge 

I challenge you to always draw closer to God.  He will always be there for you and He knows what is best for you.  

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, 

I thank You for always being there for us.  Thank You for always pursuing after us and bringing us into Your family.  We recognize that this world is trying to bring us further away from You.  Help us to submit to You and what You have for us.  Open our eyes to see You and our ears to hear You.  Help us to be obedient to You and Your instructions.  May we all be blessed by what You have for us.  In Jesus name, amen

Luke 15:1-7

“1. Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.  2. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people-even eating with them!  3. So Jesus told them this story: 4. ‘If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?  Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  5. And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.  6. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  7. In the same way, there is Moore joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine other who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!’”  

One of the things that I like to do is to sing.  While I do like some songs off of Broadway or country or even a wide variety of Christian songs, I enjoy it and it is fun.  Not just because I had participated in different plays and production growing up, but I do enjoy it.  Whether I am in the car driving or if I am working on something at home, I just like to sing.  When I sing, it brings a sense of joy and a sense of peace.  On Sunday mornings, I enjoy it when the whole congregation sings collectively and praise the Lord.  

If there is one thing that we tend to not do a whole lot is the concept of worship.  Worship is not just for a Sunday morning nor is it meant for when we meet collectively.  Worship is something that we get to do, not what we have to do.  In today’s passage, Psalm 100, the psalmist reminds us about shouting praises unto the Lord.  The writer acknowledges that we are all His people.  Much like how the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20 that we are citizens of heaven, the psalmist says that are His people.  Not only does the writer acknowledge the idea of praising God, but he states that we need to enter His gates with “thanksgiving” and to “enter His courts with praise.”  He ends the psalm by saying that the Lord is good and that His love will continue forever.  While it is true that we are sinners, we need to realize that God is always going to love us.  While we are not perfect by any means, but we still to let His light shine through us so that they can see Christ.  As stated, worship. Is something that we get to do rather than something that we have to do. 

Challenge

I want to challenge you to take some time to worship God.  Whether it is listening to worship music, reading the Bible, reading these devotionals, or anything else of that nature, take some time and worship the One who makes all things possible.  

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for all the You do. Thank You for always loving us and forgiving us for when we do wrong in Your eyes. Father, we know that this world is contagious with the disease known as sin. Help us to shine Your light in this dark world. Help us to bring those who are spiritually sick into Your loving and miraculous hands. You know the direction for us and we ask that You continue to strengthen us and to help guide us along the path that You have for us. In Jesus name, amen.

Psalm 100

“1. Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!  2. Worship the Lord with gladness.  Come before him, singing with joy.  3. Acknowledge that the Lord is God!  He made us, and we are his.  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and praise his name.  5.  For the Lord is good.  His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”