Day 324: "If You Will Seek Him, He Will Let You Find Him;"

Day 324: "If You Will Seek Him, He Will Let You Find Him;"

Read: 1 Chronicles 28:1 - 11, Luke 9:20 - 25

I read these words from the Hebrew canon again and again and again. All the while my heart and my spirit just sink into a time of sadness and admittedly, of shame as well. I relive those days as a child when I tried to play the old game of hide and seek with my older sisters. I always tried so hard to make it easier for them because well "they were girls after all." I had always tried to be obvious, that is, I would make a noise, or hide behind a thin tree trunk in plain sight. It was fun for a while. But then as we grew older the game dried up. I would hide but then they would not seek. They told me they just got bored "of the hunt." It remember greatly how much it saddened me.

King David has a critically significant message for his Son, Solomon and for us today. Verse 9 teaches all: “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you will seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever." What an eye opening verse this is! What a succession of admonishments! "Know the God of your father," "Serve Him with your whole heart," "Serve Him with a willing mind." "If you will seek Him..." "If you forsake Him..." Right now, I just cannot comprehend the sheer scope of this verse.

David was one the person who had truly discovered God’s total involvement in his life over the many years. Scripture also reveals to us his many imperfections and flaws, his myriad mistakes, his times of deep sorrow and depression, times when he was being disciplined for his sins -- yet the scriptures also show his genuineness when it came to serving God. God was with this person and involved in his life in all kinds of circumstances because of his diligence in searching for God in all the areas of his life! I read this verse and feel like I have to start my Christian life all over again. It is like I have to start again only this time, use this verse as my most basic standard of living!

You could say that David intentionally chose to go on a “daily God hunt” and in today’s scripture he desperately wanted his son Solomon to also experience God in his life equally and fully. Why? Read well and learn deeply the words of verse 10: "Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be courageous and act.” Solomon was very soon to be faced with an extraordinary task and deeply needed God’s fullest possible involvement in every detail of his life. God’s Involvement in Your Life! In Jesus' holy name, intentionally going on a "daily God hunt?" "Be courageous and act!” "Know God!" "Serve Him with your whole heart, willing mind!" "If you will seek Him!"

Let Us Pray: I encourage you today, through prayer and meditation, to take yourself through the Gospel passage from Luke 9:20 - 25. In Jesus' name go on a "God hunt," a journey of discovery exploring where God needs to be more fully involved in your life. Examine yourselves. Hold your Christian selves up to the standard from verse 9.
Are you listening for Jesus as He asks His disciples “But who do you say that I am?”?

Pray to God the Father to reveal to your heart and spirit the deepest depths of these words of His Son Jesus: "And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" Seek the Holy Spirit as your One and Only true guide!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMGDBYluW98

After All (HOLY) Lyrics - David Crowder

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Day 323: "I Myself Intended To Build A House Of Rest... "

Day 323: "I Myself Intended To Build A House Of Rest... "

Read: 1 Chronicles 28:1 - 10

Today I am asking the question, “What drives your life?” I think this question is worth significantly more than just a small devotion of your time during your obviously busy day. “What drives your life?” "What are you passionate about?" "What is it, are those things which give you the greatest purpose in life?" Our hearts hunger for order in the chaos of this life. We long for connectedness and community with other people. We thirst to know the God who made us. We strain to hear God speak so that we can all discover "What drives my life," so that we can discover the purpose of our years on earth, so that we can discover the will of God for our lives. Welcome to the journey!

It is a life journey that begins when we discover that God is God and we are not. We begin to recognize God's sovereignty over the chaos we have created for ourselves. I am in the midst of renewing such a journey for myself, just me and my God alone in one of the many anonymous caves David hid himself in. There is something about life
in a cave that compels one to seek a newer, fresher understanding of God, the world around us and our relationship with others. So much of our life reveals our desire to find order in the midst of chaos. Every time we look around our home trying to figure how we can clean, straighten, organize, remodel, do we look into our spiritual home?

“What drives your spiritual life?” I think this question is worth deeply thinking about. What does the Bible have to say regarding wrong drivers? I want to look at 1 wrong driver that often gets into the driver seat of my life. And I just want to qualify this one wrong driver - in a sense this thing that I want to give you. It is okay in your life, it is just a really bad driver of your life when you hand over the keys. Power! We are driven by power. We are driven by the need to be in full control of our lives, exercising power over ourselves. We want to be the captains of our own faith, the sovereign ruler over our own lives. We are the ones who are in fullest command of our life's ship of state.

"I myself intended to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as a footstool for our God, and I prepared materials for the building." My plan, my way, my determination of need for what God needs to be at peace and in the presence of His people. I make the exclusive determination of what is to transpire because I feel I have done enough, nay, way more than enough, to deserve this honor in my life. Me, myself have done this. I can only say to David, and I must confess to myself, that if I am behind the wheel of this car, trying with every last breath to turn this engine over, I should not feel too hurt if it never starts or kills the battery. What is driving my life?

Let Us Pray: Lord God, who is the driver behind the wheel of my life? Who is the one trying the hardest to turn the engine over to renew this life's journey? Pray tell, Am I fighting you tooth and nail for sole possession of the only keys that drive my life? Who is it, me or you who holds the exclusive title over my life? Why do I struggle so hard to surrender to the absolute sovereignty you have over my life? Why do I strive so hard against myself? Why do I struggle so mightily, so very hard to stay in control of me? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me though the chief of all sinners I am condemned to be. Holy Spirit, what shall I do with this burden of power?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU

Carrie Underwood - Jesus, Take The Wheel

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Music video by Carrie Underwood performing Jesus, Take The Wheel. (C) 2005 19 Recordings

Day 322: He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Day 322: He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Read: Matthew 16:13 - 20

He looked at His disciples and in a moment of reflection said: "Who do men say that I am?" The disciples begin sharing with Jesus what they have heard from the people who have been following Jesus: Some say that You are Elijah; others say John the Baptist, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. It’s always been this way, Jesus as seen by the masses is seen in so many different ways. You can speak of Jesus as prophet, holy man, teacher, or spiritual leader, and few will object including us who regularly read and diligently study their Bibles. Speak of Him as Son of God, divine, of the same nature as the Father, and people will line up to loudly express their disapproval.

Jesus then turns the tables on his disciples, turns his back to who the world says he is, stares straight into their eyes and pointedly asks the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” This is where the rubber meets the road folks! From the Amplified Bible this verse reads "But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?" He is asking each of these disciples on an individual basis "But who am I to YOU?" This is not a collective question meant for any prolonged small group discussion! He is looking at Peter, James, John and the rest to examine their own individual hearts. To go off alone to their own corners of the wilderness. Examine their hearts, ask, "But, who really is this Jesus to me?"

This is the question I have for those of you who have been drawn to this page. "But, who really is Jesus to you?" Do not ask your wife or your husband. Do not ask your children, your co-workers, best friends or worst enemies. Do not ask your Pastor or Rabbi as the case may be. Ask only yourself! This is solely between you and Jesus Christ
(Matthew 6:6 - 13). Look in a mirror and ask "But, who really is Jesus to you?" How long do you believe it would take for you to return the blank stare you just received? Feeling convicted by that blank stare? Cannot keep your head up long enough to stare back for you already know the answer? "But, I don't know who this Jesus really is to me!"

Yeah, truth be told right now, I am not sure I could keep holding my head up long enough either. Right now, I am not sure that I could nearly be as confident as Peter was when he was the very first to confess, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." I feel more like part of the remaining disciples who were not confident enough to say
one word fearing I would surely say the wrong thing the wrong way and Jesus would then sharply rebuke my weak response. It is something for me to really cry about. Just who really is this Jesus to me apart from the real world? I feel as though Jesus is staring back at me right now. His eyes do not leave mine. He is quietly awaiting my answer.

Let Us Pray: Psalm 15 (Amplified). Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me though the chief of sinners I am condemned to be. Hear my plea!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp_waW8NIo0

I Belong to You Jesus Culture Live NY lyrics

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Creekside Ministries Fishers, Indiana

Day 321: "The LORD, He Is God; The LORD, He Is God."

Day 321: "The LORD, He Is God; The LORD, He Is God."

Read: 1 Kings 18:20 - 39, Psalm 46

There are sure things in life that you can always count on. The sun and the moon and the stars will always be in the sky but never in the same place and at the same time. The sun will rise during the day and the stars and the moon by night. We know from Genesis that God spoke into the void, into the chaos, into the darkness and from it we
we have order, we have the story of creation. We have our story, We have His story! I have often pondered if creation had a voice how it would have voiced its wonder at all that was going on around it. What Word may creation have put out there now that it was no longer hindered by the silence of the void? Perhaps; "The LORD, He is God!"

Perhaps creation would have been so ecstatic that it would have repeated itself just to be sure that it could finally hear its voice at last. The creation story is surely one of the many stories from Scripture that God uses to get your attention in no uncertain terms. You can most certainly expect God to attract your attention. I cannot tell you exactly how He will do it, but I definitely do know that He will do it! He will attract your attention! God is all about relationship. God created us in His image for the expressed purpose of being in, sharing in a relationship with that which He created. However, God has this issue with us. It is called sin. It's called inattention. It's called distraction.

Many of us face spiritual issues called inattention, distraction. Inattention. We are not paying attention to what God is telling us. We are asleep, drifting, blundering through life. But God is at work attracting our attention. Now He may do it gently or He may do it vigorously. He may speak in that still, small voice that Elijah heard. Or he may knock you out of your seat like He did to Saul on the road to Damascus. He may tap you on the shoulder and whisper into your heart. Or He may use a lightning strike to shake you down to your boots as He did before these priests of Baal and those who were assembled curious to know which god (Baal) God (The LORD), was showing up.

God is about the business of getting our attention. Sometimes it is quiet. Something we are ready for and we just receive His word when it comes. But much of the time, God has to swing the steel pipe. God uses the crisis moments of our lives to get our attention. God will surely use a defining moment, a filled-up moment, to challenge us to make a choice. God will, when He must, use a lightning strike to grab hold of us. I suspect you have had moments like that. Moments in which all of a sudden something flashed a warning signal on your radar screen, and you realized that God was getting your attention, trying to provoke any kind of response from you, maybe through a well
timed conversation. Will you respond? Can you respond? "The LORD, He is God; The LORD, He is God?"

Let Us Pray: "The LORD, He Is God; The LORD, He Is God." Psalm 46

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDcNfk1fDyo

He is Yahweh

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This song from Vineyard Music in Canada (which I believe was in 2001) is an awesome worship song. Some of it is sung in Zulu and a bit in Lingala. Vineyard M...

Day 320: "Awake, My Glory! Arise And I Will Awaken The Dawn."

Day 320: "Awake, My Glory! Arise And I Will Awaken The Dawn."

Read: Psalm 57

It's very easy to appreciate God's greatness during the good times. It is easy to praise God for His greatness when you are prosperous, when you have enough money to buy the things you want. It is easy to appreciate God's greatness when your health is good, when there seems to be no limit to the things you can do. It is easy to praise God for all of his greatness when all your relationships are running smoothly, when there is no conflict between you and your family and your co-workers and your friends. How easy it is to praise God for His greatness during the good times. But do you always recognize God's greatness? Are you able to recognize God's greatness in life's uncertainties?

Can you yet praise God during financial difficulties? Can you yet praise God even when your health is failing? Do you recognize God's greatness in both the good and the bad times? Psalm 57 is David's ecstatic response to a life-threatening situation. In this psalm God wants to show us how he expects us to respond to him when we face difficult times. From Verse 8, "Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." I have attended concert halls, public and national parks and in several churches. But David wrote this symphony from deep within a cave eluding King Saul. Appreciate the challenge of transforming gloom, despair, excessive misery into a song for the ages!

He had God's protection. Verse 1, "Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by. This means that David is in the Holy of Holies, safely protected by the presence of God. Our protection does not come from circumstances, it comes from the presence of the Lord. David knew that God would perform all things for him. Verse 2, "I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me." As he was staying in the cave, David could not do very much about his situation. God did! God intervened! "Awake my glory! Arise! Awake, oh my soul! I will awaken the dawn!"

David had a joyful tongue because he had a fixed heart. Listen to Verse 7 "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praises!" I do not know what kind of or how deep your cave may be right now. Perhaps you are not even the author of your circumstances. What I can do is to assure you of two truly awesome truths: You have God's protection and He is working for you. Do your circumstances have you under siege? Do you find yourself in a 'cave environment'? Be encouraged that God will always protect you and intervene for you. Be concerned about raising your own awareness of God's glory! Take time to arise, awaken your glory, your harp, lyre. Awaken the dawn!

Let Us Pray: Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth. Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage that we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, knowing ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwtne69jb8A
Agnus Dei Michael W Smith ballet
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Agnus Dei - Michael W. Smith Available on iTunes Paradosi Christian Ballet Company performing Agnus Dei at Christ Center in Cashmere, WA May 4th, 2008. www.p...

Agnus Dei Michael W Smith ballet

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Agnus Dei - Michael W. Smith Available on iTunes Paradosi Christian Ballet Company performing Agnus Dei at Christ Center in Cashmere, WA May

Day 319: "So That I May Walk Upright Before God"

Day 319: "So That I May Walk Upright Before God"

Read: Psalm 56:10 - 13

There is something that I have steadily noticed as I have been delving into the world of the Psalms. It is that they contain a pattern for us to follow as we ourselves try to do exactly like David did, and that is to live out our day to day lives in the best way we can trying to meet the mundane and not so mundane challenges that life seems to be
always placing before us. Granted too that our own mundane or not so mundane life is never going to come close to that of being a King or someone anointed to be King, but never the less, it is our day to day lives that we must try to continue to live in every day. To do that we try hard to establish a certain pattern or routine which fits our life best.

Many of David's Psalms contain a pattern to them. After pondering this for a while, I guess the best way to sum up Davids purpose behind the way he writes is verse 13. "For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living." What a wonderful goal David has put
out there before us to gently, deliberately steadily re-focus us, to inspire us, toward a closer, a far more intimate relationship with God than we would have if we spent too much time focusing on ourselves as is our usual set pattern to living life, "So that I may walk before God in the light of the living." So that we live keeping our head up!

First, he praises God for His Word. David did not have as much of the Bible as we do. In fact, he was in the process of actively writing it for us! But he had the Word of God, and he depended on it rather than on his feelings or his ever changing challenging extremes of life's circumstances. When we love the Word of God as much as we love God, coming to a time when we depend on it daily, ultimately we too will praise God to the highest heaven like David did. David praises God for His trustworthiness. Where did this faith come from? Again from the Word of God, Psalm 25:10 "All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies." Amen

David is saying, "I am so grateful for the Covenant Word of God because it taught me to trust the promises of God." And where there is faith, there is his best testimony. David praises God for all the help He has given him. God delivered his soul from death countless times, so many I so wonder just what the true number really is. God's past deliverance's was his assurance and ours of God's future pattern of care and concern. Is David's pattern evident in your life? Are you able to praise God in the midst of the extremes of your life? Are you able to praise Him even before He answers your plea? Praise Him for His Word? His trustworthiness? That you may walk upright before and with God?

Let Us Pray: Today, pay heed to the Word of God revealed to David from Psalm 25.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgMV3_Md8MU
GLORIOUS RUINS - HILLSONG LIVE (Lyric Video)
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GLORIOUS RUINS - HILLSONG LIVE (Lyric Video) LIVE VERSION: http://youtu.be/WOFdo_6peWE

GLORIOUS RUINS - HILLSONG LIVE (Lyric Video)

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GLORIOUS RUINS - HILLSONG LIVE (Lyric Video) LIVE VERSION: http://youtu.be/WOFdo_6peWE

Day 318: "Put My Tears In Your Bottle."

Day 318: "Put My Tears In Your Bottle."

Read: Psalm 56:1 - 9, John 11:35, 2 Corinthians 1:3 - 11

How much do you really trust God with who you really are? How prepared are you to trust God with what is really going on inside of you? I do not mean just simply surface preparation like you are taking sandpaper to a rough course of wood to smooth the surface, take just a wee bit of the rough stuff from the edges so you do not get one of those slivers stuck in your finger. Nope! Sorry about that. This time it is completely about your fully letting go, fully surrendering to the reality that what is going on inside of you is dug deeper into your soul than a simple sliver you get out with a small pin. You may choose to keep it on the surface for safety, but God keeps a record of the deep stuff!

Did you know that while you are trying hard not to keep a record of everything that is going on in your life, God is keeping one strikingly accurate account of your existence. God is keeping a journal composed of bottles and books. Prayerfully look at the words of verse 8: "You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?" God watches our traveling. God watches every step of our wanderings and notices every instance of our weeping. God is intimately acquainted with every single tear drop we have ever cried. His eyes are firmly planted on ours! God is bottling up our tears! Tears move the very heart of God! Jesus wept for us all!

God sees where we wander. He is intimately acquainted with the paths we have trod. Some paths have been walked upon in bare feet over sharp rocky soil. But that can be for our good, for as what my Grandmother used to tell me when I cried as a little boy with a deep cut in the sole of my foot, "The bumps are what you climb on." God sees our wanderings, marks well our paths in His record. God sees when we weep. He sees and records every tear and files them away for future reference. Among the Semitic peoples, mourners often catch their tears in a little bottle as a symbol of their sorrow. Then they essentially have a funeral for those tears, placing them in a casket.

How intimate an occasion is that funeral for the mourner? Yes, my beloved friends, God is intimately acquainted with all of our tears that He has collected each of them in His own bottle. Now, how intimately acquainted are we with the tears that Jesus wept for us? It was not all the torture that he had been through that broke his heart. It was rejection that broke the heart of Jesus! It should move us to tears when people can reject our wonderful Savior. The tears of forgiveness. When is the last time you wept over the forgiveness of your sin? The tears of gratitude. When is the last time you sat at the feet of Jesus, looked deeply into His eyes and wept with Him for saving your soul, being so good to you? How many bottles of God's tears have you collected?

Let Us Pray: Lord, from the very deepest depths of my heart, I pray to you the words of Psalm 56:10 - 13 (NASB). Lord, it is so difficult to cry. Lord, it is so difficult to fully surrender the deepest depths of my heart to your loving care. Lord, as I wander over the crags and through the rocky paths, as the soles of my feet are repeatedly cut open, and I eventually find myself able to cry as You always intended, Lord, if my tears find even the smallest bit of favor with You, then let me see You cry for me. Please let me see and hold and cherish the bottle of my tears that You have been keeping just for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13 For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHb2ctFWtfo

"Bones" W,Lyrics, By: Hillsong United

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"Bones" W,Lyrics, By: Hillsong United