Abiding in Christ
Psalm 27
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 27
Of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation)—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
What type of lights have you used in your lifetime? As a child, we had overhead lights that were activated by pulling a string or a chain. I despised those lights, because the string would sometimes break leaving you in darkness, and I was afraid of the dark! Some of our lights had switches on the walls, and those were fine once I reached the height to use them. I have used candles when the power went off, and flashlights for finding my way outside in the dark. But the most precious light I have found in my life has been the light that the Holy Scriptures shed upon my life.
I love Psalm 27 where we are told that the Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear. He is the stronghold of our lives, of whom shall we be afraid? When we make our dwelling place with the Lord, when we abide in Him, there is no place for fear or anger or despair.
The song “It is Well with my Soul” could well be the accompaniment to this psalm, for it assures us that whatever happens in life, if we have Jesus as our Savior, it is well with our soul.
Is it well with your soul today? Has the Holy Scripture been a lamp unto your feet and light unto your path? Has Jesus become your light and your salvation?
Today is truly the day the Lord has made. Come to Jesus today and allow Him to become your light, your stronghold, your safe place.
Prayer: Our Father, today we come to you confident that you love us and you want to protect us. May we abide with you now and forever. Amen
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
John 14:5-7
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas(A) said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am(B) the way(C) and the truth(D) and the life.(E) No one comes to the Father except through me.(F) 7 If you really know me, you will know[a] my Father as well.(G) From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
How many people reading this devotional today have ever been lost? Within two weeks after moving to a new city, I had a heart attack. Then, just two weeks after having the heart attack I took my husband to the airport which was forty-five minutes from our home.
I got lost going home.
Forty-five minutes turned into an hour and a half, and when I entered a new township I realized I had gone the opposite way. I was so weak the forty-five minute trip to the airport and back was stretching my abilities, but now it had turned into more than three hours as I tried to find my way home.
Even worse than being lost physically is when we are lost spiritually. Jesus tells us plainly that He is the way, yet in this politically charged climate it is not popular to cling to this dogma.
I do not know God’s plan for other cultures and other beliefs, I only know what the Bible tells me. It is not my job to judge others. My job consists of sharing God’s word, first by the way I live my life and then by teaching God’s word to others.
Has Jesus become the way, the truth and the life for you? If not, what is holding you back? There is a prayer in the sidebar of this page . Pray that prayer and you will receive a new heart, a new understanding from Jesus Christ our Lord as well as a new way to live your life, empowered by the Holy Spirit and strengthened by God’s Word. If you pray this prayer I hope you will leave a comment and I will stop what I am doing when I receive notice of your comment and rejoice with you that you now know the way, the truth and the life.
Prayer: Father, we admit we do not understand the mysteries of this life, but we do understand that you love us and want only the best for us. We want to know you better, so today we pray that we would come to know Jesus as well as we know our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and our fathers. May we each accept Your salvation that comes only by grace and may we share your love and grace with others. Amen
Water Walking Faith
Matt 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
We all know the context of these scriptures. Jesus had just fed the crowd the loaves and fishes and he had told the disciples to go to the boat while he went to a mountainside to pray. Just before morning a storm sent the boat far from the shore, and Jesus began to walk upon the waves toward the boat.
Peter saw the Lord and cried out, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come.” At that point Peter’s faith was strong enough to overcome the law of physics and he jumped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus.
Of course, what we all focus on is Peter beginning to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked his circumstances square in the face. What was he thinking? The waves were lapping up over his ankles and he looked down and began to sink!
I’d like for you to think about four things as we conclude our reading:
- Jesus had just spent hours communing with His Father. Is it possible this amount of time in prayer is what enabled Jesus and Peter to defy physics?
- We always focus on Peter’s brashness in jumping out of the boat and even his lack of faith when he begins to sink, but we need to remember at that moment his faith was at an all time high. Why not jump out of the boat?
- My friend Linda reminds us that, “Ya’ll, Peter walked on water!” Have we heard this account so many times that we forget Peter did something no one other than Jesus has ever done?
- When Peter was sinking, Jesus reached out to him.
Before Peter’s circumstances caused him to lose faith, his faith caused him to overcome his circumstances and walk on water. May each person reading this today have increased faith to “walk on the water” of your circumstances by keeping your eyes firmly upon the One who stills the waters. And, may you each be away that Jesus is always ready to reach out to you.
Prayer: Father God, today we come to you in awe as we see that if we keep our eyes on you our faith can keep our heads above the waters of our circumstances. Let it be. Amen.
“Whoever dwell…
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'” (Ps. 91:1-2 NIV)
Psalm 91 is one of my favorite psalms. The psalm is thought to have been written by Moses because the prior psalm was ascribed to him, and in verse 14 the phrase “set his love upon me” is reminiscent of a similar phrase found in Deuteronomy 7:7, “the Lord did not set His love upon you, or choose you, because you were the greatest in number….”
Dwelling is a word that indicates not just a temporary place of abode, but a permanent place of living. We are not to seek a hiding place after our life has gone awry, but instead, we are to live within the shadow of the Almighty on a daily basis.
What a beautiful image! Finding our peace, our rest in God provides us with a refuge that is strikingly different from anyplace we could construct ourselves. The walls that we would build as a fortress against attacks from the enemy are fragile indeed. But even God’s shadow extends greater protection for his children than anything which we could build on our own.
Prayer: Father God, we are amazed at how marvelous you are, and are so thankful that you provide a hiding place for those who dwell in you. May we find our rest and peace and security in you alone, our refuge and our fortress.
A Father’s Day Prayer
Psalm 103:12-14
New International Version (NIV)
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions(A) from us.
13 As a father has compassion(B) on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,(C)
he remembers that we are dust.(D)
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, a day set aside to remember our own fathers and to make the day special for our husbands. We buy cards, gifts, prepare favorite meals—in short, we do all that we can to make the day memorable.
David loved his heavenly father and found it easy to compare God’s love for us to the love of our earthly fathers. In this verse he says that our heavenly father has compassion on those of us who have an awesome respect for who He is. And, he is mindful that God knows each and every molecule of our bodies so that he is even more in tune with who we are than our earthly fathers.
I was blessed to have a father who loved me, so it is not difficult for me to understand God’s love. Some are not that fortunate, but I would like to tell you that you can still know a Father’s love. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
If you have not known the love of your heavenly father, then Father’s Day is a great day to begin that new relationship with Him.
Prayer: Our father, as we anticipate another Father’s Day, let us set aside some time to focus on you, to thank you and praise you for all you have done in our lives. And for those who find it hard to be in relationship with you because they missed out on a relationship with their own father, I pray that you will enable them to heal from old, failed relationships and have the courage and the faith to begin a new relationship with you. Amen
