Day 10

Psalm 43:3-5

³ Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. ⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. ⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Have you felt as if everyone and everything is working against you and even bent on misunderstanding you and causing you pain? I have. It’s a terrible feeling.

King David writes from a very dark place in his life. Yet, he pleads with God to send to him light and faithful care. He has experienced God’s presence in the past. And as David pours out his heart, he asks God to lead him once again to that place, an altar.

The king prays, leading his heart to God’s presence. And then God responds, leading him still deeper. As his heart moves into that sacred place, into God’s presence, God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, inspires David to ponder why he is downcast? Why is he disturbed? God re-calibrates David’s desire to be loved and treasured toward the only one who can truly do this right.

God alone is the perfect lover of our soul. God wants us to bring to the altar all the concerns weighing us down. Our need for love, our desire to be treasured… God cares about the way we feel. He cares when it feels like no one else does. He knows every problem and need. And in his presence, as we lay each of our concerns down on the altar, we can take up hope. God is our Savior.

Prayer: God help us to lead our hearts to your altar. Help us practice being in your presence. Lead us from our places of darkness, into your light. Into your hope. Into your salvation, into your love! In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Day 9

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38:4-7

Job didn’t realize he was God’s chosen vessel through which the Lord was going to reveal a mysterious side of himself. He didn’t realize his story would be included in the best selling book of all time, the Bible. All he knew was he had a wonderful life and somebody took it away.

Although these questions seem a little harsh, God knows how to get our attention and he knows how to speak to us, so we know it’s him. God was trying to redirect Job’s focus off his problems to God’s eternal perspective…

The questions God asks inspire a sense of awe. They help me realize 1.) there was a time I didn’t exist. And 2.) the world will go right on turning when I go to heaven.

There is humility in realizing these two facts. The moment we realize this and make God the center of our universe, instead of self, is a moment of joyful discovery, a redirection of purpose, a reorienting of the meaning of life itself.

Life is about glorifying God and relating to him, and enjoying him.

In your life, how can you begin embracing eternal perspective? How can putting God at the center of your universe create a sense of joy?

How might God want to use your story, even the very hard parts, to minister to someone who is needing encouragement?

Prayer: God, you know right where I am right now. You are aware of every single concern. In fact whoever it concerns, or whatever the need, you care more than me about it. You desire to redirect my focus away from my self-interest and toward you.

And the wonder of it all, is that somehow you can use me, and redeem my hurts and humbling circumstances, by blessing someone else with the comfort you gave to me, at the time I was hurt (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

Sometimes you ask us to wait, but sometimes, the person or persons who need the comfort are right in our midst, today. Show me Jesus, where you’re working (Romans 8:28-29) and help me adjust my life so I am where you desire to use me, even my life, as seemingly small and insignificant as that may seem. Because you love me, my life matters. Thank you.

Thank you for being creator of the entire universe, and also a personal God who promises to carry the weight of my concerns as your own personal concerns (1 Peter 5:7, Phillips). I love you Jesus! Amen.

Day 7

Text: ‘Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”’ Nehemiah 8:10

Has God ever spoken to you that something you were doing was wrong? How did you react?

The first response I have when God taps me on the shoulder and looks me in the eye with his holiness, is usually sorrow. I cry.

This was what happened to God’s people when they heard the Bible in a way they could understand. They felt heartbroken they had sinned. They wept, and wouldn’t stop. Nehemiah, finally had to calm them down. He told them not to cry. For the joy of the LORD is their strength.

There are two kinds of sorrow. The sorrow that God loves is the sorrow of repentance. This type of sorrow brings great joy to God’s heart and to ours.

It is similar to a child, confessing a wrong to his parent and the child saying she now understands why it was wrong and she does not have a desire to do it again. God loves when a sinner turns from sin. The Bible says that when a sinner turns from her sinful life and decides to enter into a loving relationship with God, there is great rejoicing in heaven.

There is however another sorrow. It is the sorrow of self-interest. It is the sorrow filled with poor-me-isms. This is the sorrow that refuses to persevere, because the way of obedience is “too hard”. It wants to give up because the going is rough and what’s more, plain uncomfortable and inconvenient. It is this type of selfish sorrow that keeps a person from truly following Jesus with a whole heart. After all, if they really follow Christ, it may cost them something. Maybe it will cost popularity, maybe they will be labeled, and maybe they won’t be comfortable with some of the activities others think are fun.

I’d like to say that this sorrow doesn’t tempt genuine believers, but, if the Apostle Peter is any indication, this type of sorrow may be more common than we may want to believe.

Remember Peter’s response when Jesus hinted at his death? Peter tried to talk Jesus out of it. And what was Jesus’s response?

He called Peter Satan, and commanded him to get behind him.

Satan is the tempter behind all the wrong kind of sorrow. And his sorrow, when put to the test, only yields more sorrow. Whereas the sorrow that leads to repentance leads to rejoicing!

God doesn’t want us to be dragging our past around with us. He has seen our sorrow and our repentance. And I believe he would say to us, too, not to grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Prayer: God, how thin a line exists between true Christian sorrow that leads to repentance and joy, and the sorrow that is full of self-interest.

Help us know the difference between the two, and may we rejoice in all you have done for us and the victory you have accomplished for us, through Christ Jesus our LORD. Who went to the cross, died, and was resurrected.

This resurrection power is available for us, to live a life of joy, celebrating our freedom from bondage. God, we rejoice in you! Amen.

Day 6

“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.” 1 Chronicles 16:27

Think about these description words.

Splendor: magnificence, sumptuousness, grandeur, impressiveness, resplendence, opulence, luxury, richness, fineness, lavishness, ornateness, glory, beauty, elegance

Majesty: regal, lofty, or stately dignity; imposing character; grandeur; majesty of bearing; supreme greatness or authority; sovereignty

This is God’s home we’re talking about… his dwelling place.

And yet God didn’t send his son Jesus to a palace. God sent Jesus to a filthy stinking stable.

That’s a little upside down, isn’t it?

In all Jesus’s ministry, there is not record of him behaving as a king such as wearing a crown or a regal robe. The only time, he was treated that way, was when the soldiers mocked him at his crucifixion. Do you wonder what Jesus’s thoughts were? Did he think back to his heavenly home, the luxury, the majesty that were once his?

I don’t know what kind of home you came from. But if you are a Christian, I know what home you are going to live in for eternity. Look again at the above adjectives. Splendor and majesty… and strength and joy…

For now we, live like Jesus did when he was on earth. We function in a upside down kingdom where it is better to serve than to serve. Where those who are first here will be last in heaven and the first in heaven will be those who were last and least here on earth.

God sees everything. One of his names is, El Rohoi, or the God who sees. And the God who is enthroned in glorious joy and splendor, and majesty, and strength will reward all unselfish service done in his name.

Are you growing weary of serving? Are you enduring, to the point it hurts? Are you feeling your work is ignored or that all you do is unseen by anyone? That your life is just poured out like a drink?

Think again, God sees, and one day he will reward all those who have served him, through serving even the least of these.

Prayer: God sometimes I just need fresh perspective. I need to realize you are at work all over the place, that you see my work… that you know my name, that you are aware of my struggles to please you.

Sometimes the weight of this world weighs me down. When I feel the desire to please people, and be esteemed by people, and impress them…remind me of who you are. Remind me of whose I am.

Remind me that you see my hard work. Remind me you care. Remind me you will reward me. And remind me that sometimes the most mundane of tasks are preparing me for things I may not know about yet, things I would never imagine. Remind me that one day, I will take my place in your great household of the faithful. And I will experience the reward for my labor. Help me know, as the Bible says, that my troubles down here are really achieving for me an eternal reward that outdoes anything I might go through down here, on this earth. And Jesus, on the hardest of days, when I feel bent out of shape with inconvenience, my body is hurting, my pride has splinters, remind me of your presence, and that you came down to earth, and that you are here with me through your precious Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 3

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2

There’s a movie scene, where a King comes out to fight, and he is glorious on his war horse as he shouts and gallops in victory toward the enemy. The glory of this moment is spine-tingling to see the king arrayed in his royal cloak and his face is radiant and fierce, friendly and ferocious, all at the same time. It makes you want to cry.

If we could see God, it would take our breath away—at least that’s my take on it. Seeing God face to face would be too much for the mind to comprehend, it would be too beautiful. So we worship by faith, a God we have not seen, but who has become such a part of our lives, our identity is wrapped in him.

We, who have been saved by grace, are freed from condemning thoughts, from accusations, from the power of sin, because our great God has won the victory. He has gone before us, and conquered the power of sin and death.

No matter what our social status, no matter what kind of clothes we wear or car we drive, house we live in, job we work—we share this common ground at the foot of the cross. We are actually princes and princesses, children of the King of Kings.

No matter what circumstance we are in. Whether in plenty or in want, whether rich or poor we are loved by this great God, cherished by our creator. The God who made us loves us.

Doesn’t that make you want to sing? That you are loved by this God, the King!? I know there are a lot of songs on the radio about Jesus. But I challenge you to just sing aloud a song of worship all your own. Tell God how much you love him in your own tune with your own words. Praise the Lord with gladness. Bring him a brand new song, all your own, that is a love gift to his heart from yours.

Prayer: God, how I needed this uplift. Just to sing and release my heart freely in worshipful song to you. How I need to take my eyes off my self-interest and lift them to you.

I live in a broken world. I am broken, and so are those around me. But You God are perfect. There is never any reason to doubt your honesty and integrity. You have never done anything wrong, nor have any reason for anyone to think unwholesome things about you. You are entirely and completely trustworthy.

So many times when I’m trying to get joy from the world, it breaks, someone takes it away, or it wears out, or simply fades. But you God are eternal, and you promise to fill me up as with streams of living waters.

How joyous is this water you provide! It quenches my thirst, time after time. Only you can do that Jesus. When we try to quench our thirst at any other well, we will end up thirsty as before, and disappointed. Even the best of human joys, treasures and trinkets, or even our dearest loved ones are finite and flawed in places. Only You God are worthy of our worship.

Help us remember this, we pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.