Day 46: God says: I AM MORE Than This World!

Day 46: God says: I AM MORE Than This World!

Read: Romans 8

I am what I am. We are what we are. I will be what I will be. You are that you are. If all that is true of the worldly 'we ourselves and us' then this morning as I ponder all of that, I wonder -- Is that all there will ever be of me, of you, of all of us? We are faced with many battles in our walk of faith in life. We can face many doubts in life. The ways of this world that we currently try to live in will put a great many doubts in our minds about how things can really be truly different and better for us and will not hesitate to use other people to do the same. When all around us seems to want to live with an attitude of "and what can we do about it?" Where is 'much more' found?

It seems to me, perhaps to you the reader as well that the wiles and ways of this world are governed by deeply malevolent malicious forces driven to drive the deepest possible wedge between the "I am What I am" of the here and now and the "Much more that I can be" resident citizen of God's Kingdom. Can you feel the malevolence? Can you sense the willful and malicious intent to keep us separated from the "more" that God knows He can make us if we were to just believe in Him and His Son Jesus? The world desires us to live as orphans. ABBA, Father God desires we freely come to the knowledge that we are all His children adopted into His heavenly household.

The forces of this world that seek to separate us from God cannot be very mature or secure in its ways if the best that it can do is to remain impossibly selfish and self centered. If you love something with an everlasting selfless love, then you cannot wait to watch it grow and mature and move on and become more that the original. The world tries to convince me that I am what I am. God says: I AM MORE - A child of God! The world tries to convince me that I am destined to live in the death of sin. God says: I AM MORE - I am Forgiven through the blood of His Son Jesus. God says: I AM Redeemed. I AM forever Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Let Us Pray: Life-giving God, we gather in Your presence to offer You thanksgiving and praise for all that You have done for us. It is only through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we have more life because we have been set free— free from the power of sin that leads to death, free to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit, free to love You and our neighbors with all our heart and soul and strength, free to worship you more in the beauty of your holiness. Unto You alone, ABBA God, Father of our Alpha and our Omega Jesus Christ, Father of us all belongs all praise and honor and glory and blessing, now and to the end of time. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo56nxe3MlE

You Won't Relent - Jesus Culture - Worship Video w/lyrics

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John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you

Day 45: From The Very Beginning There Has Been A Promise.

Day 45: From The Very Beginning There Has Been A Promise.

Read: Genesis 2:4 - 3:15

What is more discouraging, you failing to keep a promise with someone or someone else not keeping a promise with you? Have you ever arrived at the airport and the person that promised you that they would be there was not? How did that make you feel? Has someone ever promised you that they would stand up for you in a meeting, but when that time came they did not? When someone keeps throwing promise after promise out there there is a certain expectation that somewhere along the way one of them will be actually realized and fulfilled. God has made promises, too. The Bible tells us that He is faithful will keep His promises, He does not lie, He does not change.

The Bible also promises us that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). What other promise can you possibly claim for yourself that is better than that? There were many promises made by God before this one. Let’s begin in the Garden of Eden, with God’s promises to Adam and Eve. God’s very first promise to man was that he would take care of all the needs of man. He told man in Genesis 2:16: “and the LORD God commanded the man, "you are free to eat from any tree in the garden…” What other promise might we need? God placed before us the fullest possible abundance of his work of creation.

He gave us all authority over the land, sea, and animals, and free reign to eat all that he had planted in the garden. But this promise was put forward with an important additional promise attached in Genesis 2:17 “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Satan now entered the picture. He took God’s word and twisted it and lied to the woman. He questioned her devotion to God and founded his persuasion in her need to make herself better more desirable, better off in life for gaining wisdom, (Genesis. 3:6). Eve and Adam made the wrong decision, But, there is A PROMISE OF DELIVERANCE!

I can guess that God was kinda sorta heart broken after the disobedience of Adam and Eve. However, God was certainly very well prepared for this eventuality. God pronounced sentence upon man. A simple, yet wonderful promise providing us with a ray of hope for mankind. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen. 3:15) It is evident here in this promise that sin would ultimately be overcome by one of Adam’s descendants. Sin would be put to death. It is the promise of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Every promise of God from this point forward points us to Jesus Christ.

Let Us Pray: ABBA Father, throughout our lifetimes we have rolled our eyes into the back of our heads at the sounds of promises being made and then too quickly, too easily broken. ABBA, we have become too cynical, we have become far too skeptical of the ways of mankind - an horrifically out of tune chorus of "Promises Promises." We find it way too hard to accept or believe the promises of a new and better way. Yet, from the very beginning of all things all your promises have yet to be proved wrong, misleading or the least bit deceptive. Thank be to God that from the very beginning through to very end, from Alpha to Omega all Your promises were fulfilled through the coming of Your Son Jesus Christ who came not to condemn, but to save.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3i-_VWxOAc

Third Day and Brandon Heath - Creed

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Third Day and Brandon Heath recorded Rich Mullins' "Creed" at The Soundhouse in Redding, CA, during the Revelation Tour.

Day 44: Can God Be Known? Count The Stars!

Day 44: Can God Be Known? Count The Stars!

Read: Psalm 19

When I was a child, the mysteries of this world fascinated me. I was a very big Star Trek fan in those long ago years and whenever I could I would separate myself from whatever my parents said was more important to do and sneak away to the TV in the basement at the appointed hour sit down and watch Star Trek with the volume as low as I thought I could get away with and still enjoy. Winging and zinging through the the billions of stars at warp speed to strange looking planets with even stranger sounding names. Then as I would go on summer vacation with my parents to our country place I would go outside at night straining my neck to try to see all the stars that were on full display above.

Knowing how things worked in the universe was not really much of a priority to me as a kid. I just wanted to know how many stars I thought I could count before I began losing track and had to start over again. I did not really have much of a concept of a 'God who created the heavens with the moon and the stars' therein. A supreme being was my earthly Dad who tried very hard to make me eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning without too much success because I didn't like the way he made them. This is the 'supreme being' I came to know. Now, this morning, many years later we are going to try plumbing the depths of a much deeper mystery – can God be known?

This 'questions of all questions' has echoed down the halls of time sparking much heated debate among scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Many of us have pondered and meditated over this question in the middle of some noisy grid lock on some highway or the other trying to rush to get to work or within the quietness of our souls as we look up a star filled night out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There are many of us who try crying out into the endless expanse of space and have asked the one burning question most on their minds, “God, are You really there? Can I know you?” And if God can be really truly be known how would that affect our lives?

Psalm 19 has long been known as one of the richest, noblest examples of Hebrew poetry in existence. This psalm was written by David while he was in the wilderness running from King Saul. It was written originally to be sung as a praise song. The Hebrew is graphic, dynamics and stunning and plumbs the endless depths of David’s deep abiding love for God and His creation. David answers the question, “Can God be known?” with a resounding YES! 'The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.' Can God truly be known? Yes! Start counting stars and let me know when you are done!

Let Us Pray: As we ponder the richness and the depths of the heavens above and the vast beauty of the earth upon which we live and try to plumb the depths of our own imagination to give appropriate expression to the all of You that we survey before us; Let the inadequate words of my mouth and the finite limits of meditation from within my heart Be wholly acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my true rock and my Redeemer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKwA9ejGCws

The Glory of God - Psalm 19 (music: Shawn McDonald)

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A showcase of images featuring nature, celestial bodies, and galaxies. Excerpts from Psalm 19 are

Day 43: Sing When All Around You Seems Silent.

Day 43: Sing When All Around You Seems Silent.

Read: Psalm 40

From the very beginning when in the great wisdom of God, all things were brought into being, all things were created and formed and shaped through the song that only creation itself could hear. All things, including we, ourselves and us. We were uniquely created by God in the image of God. We were created to sing praises to God. Nations have national anthems; armed forces march to martial music, colleges have Alma-maters. Almost every organization you can think about has a theme song. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,...we sing in the shower, we whistle while we work, at times we even find ourselves pausing along the way to hear a bird chirping in the trees to God.

We, by our nature, love to sing, even when we sound terrible. When we come to the Bible we find that the God of our Creation and our Redemption is the God of Song. When the universe was brought into existence, “The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). One day when this world is over and God’s plan of redemption has reached its consummation and we’re all gathered before Him, we’re all going to sing the song of the Lamb. So we see that our singing is evidence of our life. No one helps us understand this better than the Psalmist David, who wrote, “He put a new song in my mouth; a song of praise to our God”.

Many wait a long time for just that right moment in life when a new song in placed upon the foundation of their hearts. New pillars are set around a heart that has been steadily crumbling down far too long. '1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:1 - 3). He is describing in stark and graphic terms, what it is like to be delivered from a hopeless situation by a God with Whom nothing is ever hopeless.

My friends, perhaps this passage refers to your own situations or circumstances in life. It is talking about the trial that seems to be leading to your destruction; if not spiritually, then perhaps physically, financially, whatever. It is talking about the mire of your circumstances, against which you feel the full weight of being helpless, being dragged down. “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out the miry clay.”  He is able, believer! He is able to save to the uttermost; which means not only is His arm long enough to save initially, but to keep us saved; to successfully guard which we’ve given to Him. A heart that is mired in silence is where God's sings the loudest.

Let Us Pray: Lord, it seems today that all that is around me are the deafening sounds of silence. The silence of hearts that have been stilled, voiced hopes that once raised the heaven's own ceiling are now only heard as hushed whispers. The roaring sounds of the great jubilation are now only echoes that seem to get further and further away. Lord, refill the silent void in my heart with the words and songs You whispered unto creation itself. Let my heart be filled to overflowing with the great sounds of creation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udoUHdBvdVE

Newsboys - He reigns

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Its the song of the redeemed Rising from the African plain Its the song of the forgiven Drowning out the Amazon rain The song of Asian believers

Day 42: The Boomerang Blessing: God's Great Gift Of Mercy

Day 42: The Boomerang Blessing: God's Mercy And Grace

Read: Matthew 5:1 - 12 (specifically verse 7), Isaiah 55:10 - 11

Let’s just lay it down square this morning. It should come as no surprise to anyone when I declare before you that sometimes living this thing we call life can be tough. Some day's our lives feel like a large weight of brick sitting square on our shoulders. In this season that we are compelled to live in most of us are performing a mental juggling act. There is the mortgage or rent, our work, the kids, the spouse. We have pressures physically, emotionally and financially. Some days are filled with all kinds of difficult decisions that we must make when we would prefer to procrastinate. Days in which life shows no mercy gives no quarter. So, God, is this really Your better way?

Maybe you have noticed, in reading through the beatitudes, that they fall into two very distinct categories? The first 4 deal with our relationship to God. We are "poor in spirit," admitting our need for Him. We "mourn," we see our life in light of what Jesus sacrificed for us. Then we surrender to God’s control. We must try to empty ourselves of self-sufficiency and exhibit Christ dependency. We are "meek." The result of the first 3 steps? Hunger. What you hunger for is righteousness.. You want more of His Word, of Christian influences, you find you’re happiest when around fellow believers. You hunger and thirst after a right relationship, and God promises you will be filled.

So, now that we have been given a better idea how to build a right relationship with God, Jesus directs our focus to the second four - how we can be right with one another. He begins by introducing to us the coming of the divinely radical concept "Golden Rule of Life" or as I have heard some call it: “The Boomerang Blessing.” He says, "You’ll be happy many times over when you show mercy to others, because then mercy will be shown to you." Jesus is placing great amounts of emphasis on the point that the amount of mercy you show to others will be directly proportionate to the amount of mercy that you will receive. God promises: "give mercy receive mercy!"

Can this promise from God be trusted? Will this boomerang return to us in same the manner in which it is placed before us through Scripture "all things being held equal in the sight of God: mercy given equals mercy received"? Consider well these words spoken through God's Prophet Isaiah 55:10 - 11: 'For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'

Today, let your prayer for God's grace and mercy be the prayer that David unleashed on God (Psalm 6) when he needed to experience for himself equal portions of both when he found the circumstances of his life whirling wildly away and out of balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RqvN-QGAAE
The Music of the Bible Revealed: Psalms 6
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Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, LA MUSIQUE DE LA BIBLE REVELEE (Harmonia Mundi France, 1976): the original recording that accompanied the French

The Music of the Bible Revealed: Psalms 6

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Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, LA MUSIQUE DE LA BIBLE REVELEE (Harmonia Mundi France, 1976): the original recording that accompanied the French

Day 41: Forgiveness When Sin Always Seems To Win.

Day 41: Forgiveness When Sin Always Seems To Win.

Read: Romans 7:15 - 25, Psalm 51:3 - 5

"For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me" Yes, I know very well, perhaps all too well that the wrongness of my actions and my sinful response will be found standing directly before me, straight on in my face, too far inside my personal space which I reserve for only the most intimate of times with those I most intimately love and trust. Yes, the failures of my life are like the skin that God gave me when I was growing and developing in my mother's womb. Yes there they all are, for all the for all the world to see and bring their own brand of judgment to bare upon my soul. A saddened soul that yesterday, this morning and I expect tomorrow too, too often bares witnesses to my sin's victory.

It just seems that there is this constant never - ending war going on inside of my life. I see it everyday. It just will not give me any opportunity to take a moments breather. It stands before me, it moves as I move. I turn right to try and get away only to find it had gotten there ahead of me as though it already knows every move I will ever try to take to get away from it. I am so very tired. I am very weary even bordering on exhaustion both physically and spiritually. I try this tactic and that. I achieve a small victory here and there. I try to build on it in the hopes that I might gain some meaningful levels of momentum to propel me into the next battle, the next victory. Sin forever seems to remain victorious.

The Apostle Paul writes in response to this perpetual no holds barred conflict: '15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me' (Romans 7:15-20). Basically, why does sin always have the upper hand in our lives? God: Is there sufficient mercy left for me?

Perhaps it’s not so difficult to consider that God is willing to forgive us the first time we sin. Especially if we learn from those mistakes and vow never to commit that same sin again. But what about after we have repented, after we have promised to God again and again never to retrace that path that leads to our destruction then turn on that same cursed dime and do it all over again? Can God forgive us after so many repeat offenses? Or perhaps even by far more importantly – will He also forgive us of those sins too? Understand this about God’s grace and forgiveness: we need it desperately. He offers it to strengthen us, no strings attached for God's mercy always win in the end.

Let Us Pray: Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Now, DEEPLY personalize Psalm 17 to your own intimate war against your enemy SIN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9FG12eTSbI&feature=g-high-rec
How Deep The Father's Love For Us
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How Deep the Father's Love for Us by Joy Williams.

How Deep The Father's Love For Us

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How Deep the Father's Love for Us by Joy Williams.

Day 40: My Word Will Teach You ..... God

Day 40: My Word Will Teach You ..... God

Read: 2 Timothy 3:14 - 16

What does God want from me? Why do I struggle to know and/or understand God's will for me? What are God's shot or long range goals and/or plans for me? Why does it even matter that I know what God has in store for me and the rest of my life? Why? Because it would be awful nice to know that I am doing the right things, going to the right places, following the right paths in life, precisely doing what it is important and vital, what matters the most to God that He knows and I know I can confidently do. I desire so very much to do all that is within my mortal ability that which is pleasing in His sight. When I'm confronted by 'yes' and 'no' questions - What's the right answer?

So many times I am faced with both simple and complex dilemmas but I simply have no way of knowing what is the right thing to do. Sometimes these dilemmas show up all at once and that complicates matters more than I believe any single person can manage effectively without leaving a wide and twisted trail of chaos behind. I want so very much to make the very best, most considered decisions I can for the benefit of my God and my family. Are there any readers out there that can give me a great big Amen on this one? The challenge for any one of us is that in this constantly changing kingdom we are living in, we are struggling too mightily to find our share of stability.

The Good News is that God's Word is very much alive and very active and forever available. Somewhere contained within that book we call the Bible is every possible dilemma or decision we will ever be confronted by in our lifetimes. Believe it when God says that there is absolutely nothing that we can ever get involved or mixed up in up to our own eyeballs that He has not foreseen and provided the ready made solution to. God has planned and prepared for us every possible eventuality in life, given every answer to every 'yes' or 'no' question - even one's we do not know or realize even exist yet. It is God's Word. It is His vast accumulation of His most Ancient wisdom that resolves the un-resolvables.

It may be in the form of a story, a parable, a Psalm, a love letter, historical event or something else that will strike directly at your struggling heart and provide you with a measure of sound wisdom from God's vast storehouse of knowledge. Other books are written to give us specific information on an impossibly vast array of very specific life situations and provide checklists for feeling like you have achieved some measure of success. However, that is not how the Bible works. God's living Word is a guidebook for living day to day. God's guide to living, written to transform us from 'self centered, I try to think and reason too much' people into people who strive to live for One God.

Let us pray: Lord, I don't really mind how or when you choose to do it, but please, please, please, take me out of the equation that has become my own worst efforts at living my own life according to my own remarkably limited wits. Place before me the guidebook of true life, place before me and within my heart, the greater desire to learn from You. Place within my spirit the ancient truths to living my life only for You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU9Pi4g_3No
Christ For The Nations Worship - Take My Life and Let It Be
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This classic song was recorded on the album "Overtaken" at the Christ For The Nations Worship annual Live Recording in Dallas, TX. If you would

Christ For The Nations Worship - Take My Life and Let It Be

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This classic song was recorded on the album "Overtaken" at the Christ For The Nations Worship