Devos 365

Prayer: Dear Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To You belongs all praise, glory, and honor. You are sovereign God over my entire life. Thank You for allowing me to come to You in prayer and with all of my questions and requests. Please help me to learn more of You during this study time and may my love for You increase with each moment. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Read: Psalm 25 http://www.esvbible.org/search/Psalm+25/ Thoughts: Some days it’s difficult to remember what you had for breakfast that morning. And at other times, you wish the past would just go away so that you don’t ever have to remember it again. Our memories are tricky because we don’t always remember everything exactly the way it happened. We can be fooled and our      memories can become jumbled. Of course, it isn’t quite that way with God. He      remembers everything, right? Well, not quite; He chooses to forget our sins. But that’s for another devotion. In ...

Prayer: “ Blessed be the Lord God, for He has visited and redeemed His people.” (Luke 1:68a) Praises to You, God most High for You are worthy to receive worship and honor. Thank You for this amazing Word and for the chance to read it, study it, and allow it to inform my whole life. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Read: Luke 1:67-79 http://www.esvbible.org/search/Luke+1%3A67/ Thoughts: Waiting is the worst. No one likes it, but it is reality for all of us. There are times when we have to wait. But then the waiting ends and your name or number is called; it’s finally your turn. There’s a wonderful feeling of relief when the wait is    finally over and you can move on to the next event. Imagine you were living in a   Jewish community during the days of Jesus birth. Your people as a whole have been waiting since the time of Adam and Eve (or Abraham, or David) for the promised Messiah; and this is real waiting; several thousand years of waiting as a people for God ...

Those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis will notice a change in format. This will only be during the season of Advent. The reason for this is because I always write devotions for our church during Advent and Lent. These are what will be shared on this blog at this time. The format is a little different and the focus is on the reading for our worship time on the up-coming Sunday. I pray that God bless your time in His Word and that you are challenged to seek Him moment by moment. (P.S. This first installment is a compilation of 2 of the devos from last week. They fit the theme, so sorry for the rerun. Won't happen again!)   Prayer: Dear Lord God, it is time once again to rehearse Your story. Thank You for this time to study, pray, and think about You and all that You have done for us. Please send Your Holy Spirit into my devotional times and help me to stay focused on You and to pour out my life in honesty before Your throne. Build up my faith and deepen my love fo...

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to recognize something that the early founders of the nation knew - you have to be grateful for the blessings in life. Unlike those who would spend this national holiday celebrating football, excess, and a day off of work, let's take a step above all of that. What is "thanksgiving" if you don't have anyone to actually thank? The God who created you also provides every single thing that you have in your life, from your beautiful (and sometimes odd) family to the food in your mouth and the roof over your head. And while it would be appropriate to thank God everyday for your blessings, join the nation and take a few moments to recognize that He alone is the source of every good thing that you have. I know that this seems a little simplistic. That's because "thanks" are simplistic. But they are important because the acknowledge that we need Someone outside of ourselves to help us out. Contrary to popular opin...

2 Samuel 7:18-29 18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God , and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God . You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God ! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God ! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And yo...

2 Samuel 7:1-17 1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord : Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from ...