Press the arrow to listen to to “Here I Am to Worship” from Hillsong Church.
Scripture …Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:13
Prayer Hello God, I’m back from the dead. I’m alive, thanks to you. The coffin cover is opened. I have pushed through the soil and sod. The rigor mortis is out of my body. Life energizes my system. Resurrecting power tingles inside of me. My mind is alert; my body is poised. I’m ready for action. I am reporting in today for service in the army of the resurrected ones. You have things for me to do today. Let’s get going. Let everything be used this day for the benefit of Christ.
Observation
I love the crispness of the thought to present myself as one alive from the dead. I need to come to him fully alive ready to act. I must never underestimate what has been given to me. It all must be used for him.
Application
I’m going to let this thought linger into action today. I’m alive and reporting for duty. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Michael W. Smith sing “Ancient Words” while reading today’s devotional about listening. Read more on how to journal.
Scripture Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelation 1:3
Observation
I rarely read the Bible. I prefer to listen to the Bible being read with my ears more that taking it in off of the page with my eyes. I like listening better than reading the Scriptures silently to myself. With audio Bibles, it is so easy to have my own personal reader. Every morning I visit http://m.enewhope.org/bible on my iPhone and listen to the day’s readings.
The Bible was meant to be read aloud. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Only since 1450 with the printing press has anyone had a chance to get their hands on a personal copy of the Bible. In fact, only in the past 150 years or so has the Bible been cheap enough for the average family to own one. To read the Bible, one had to go to church or a house gathering where a copy of the Bible was kept to be read aloud.
The Bible was meant to be heard, because words are living things that enter the ears and take over the hearer. Listening to the Bible being read aloud is like a deep soaking rain. Our minds can process faster than the reader can speak. The extra brain space gives our minds room for imagination. The Holy Spirit also has elbow room to be at work. If God spoke and it was so, then there is something miraculous about Bible promises echoing in our ears. New life is created. Faith arises.
Application
The challenge is to be hear the word and to take it to heart. This is what comes to the ears moving deeper. Being read to is sometimes tedious. The mind wanders. This is where meditation can kick in. Reflecting on the word is what fills in the gaps and changes the heart.
Prayer Father, often I find I read and forget. I want to be one who reads and remembers because the meaning has saturated me. I ask today, keep the word in my heart safe by causing it too grow with words so deep that can never be extracted. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Christy Nockels sing “Holy Roar” while you read today’s entry.
Scripture
For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5
Observation
Discouragement should encourage us, because when suffering comes so too God’s comfort overflows. Setbacks should alert us to the coming of God’s uplifting comfort. Just as water seeks the lowest level, so the encouragement of the Lord naturally finds the low place where we may find ourselves. When we are disappointed we should be on the prowl for the hidden sources of God’s comfort.
Look for God’s comfort, not his coddling. The Father’s heart is always moved by our condition but like a wise parent he does not spring to action at our first cry. My son has been kept awake for the last few nights with his crying one year old son. He had been away for a few days and sleep patterns were disturbed. The little boy began crying multiple times in the night. So I gave my son the advice that worked for us decades ago, “When the baby cries, first call out to him and tell him you will soon be there. Let a minute or two lapse and then tend to him. Then progressively over the next few nights take longer and longer to get out of bed for him. Eventually, just call out to him without leaving your room, assuring him that he will be okay. This will teach him how to put himself to sleep.”
Doesn’t the Lord do something similar with us? The Father cares but he doesn’t coddle, he comforts us. In extreme times we want God to front up when and where we would like him to appear. The Lord does come, comfort does overflow, however sometimes it happens in ways we don’t expect. We must look for the comforting presence of Christ in our hardships.
I was watching an Australian survival show, where an Aboriginal bushman was showing a Caucasian adventurer where to find water in the thirsty Outback. While trekking through the scorched earth, the Aboriginal tracker disappeared from camera view and scampered down a rocky cliff. He pulled away a rock to reveal a hidden collection point for rainwater. He scrapped back moist leaves and damp earth. Patiently he waited as the hole in the ground filled with water. The Aborigine knew from experience where the secret water supply was and he knew where to find it.
Application
We should mark our life roadmaps with the places where God is most likely to show up with encouragement. In discouraging times we should camp at those places. Finding this comfort requires the effort of going to church, going to a home group, phoning someone who needs more than I do, doing my devotions, and ending the day with a stocktake of the smallest of encouragements that have come from the Lord. The comfort is all around us, and we are encouraged when we acknowledge it.
All around us is the comfort of the Lord. It may be an unexpected phone call. Perhaps an email comes. Maybe there is an opportunity to be helpful. Comfort can show up in our daily devotional reading. It may arrive in the first flower of spring or the last leaf of autumn. There are many ways that the Lord brings reassurance to us. There is only one catch: we must search for the comfort that surrounds us. The Father sometimes comforts us from a distance. It takes maturity to receive comfort like this. We must still our fretful cries and look for the comfort that abounds around us.
Prayer Father, today I need not ask you to comfort but I do ask that you’d open my eyes to your comfort. It abounds, so help me to abound with it. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to worship while you read today’s entry.
Mandisa God Speaking
Scripture “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.” (Hebrews 3:13, 15)
Observation
What would happen if I used last week’s paper to forecast today’s weather?
After all isn’t it a weather report and isn’t it printed in a newspaper? Isn’t that enough?
Of course it isn’t. To know whether I need an umbrella or sunscreen I need today’s report. Conditions change from wipers to swimsuits depending on the current forecast.
What if I based my spiritual journey today on last week’s journal or even last month’s sermon? The word is true enough, but it might not be the word for today.
Application
If I am not in daily contact with the word I will be deceived. In fact if I am not in contact daily with growing believers who are also in the word I can get off track. I am liable to be deceived by degrees. I will be hardened slowly.
Prayer Father, keep me daily in the word and in the company of those who hear you better than I do. Don’t let me be deceived. Amen.
I'm Phil McCallum, a husband, father and most of all one of the people Jesus loves. I'm privileged to serve Evergreen Community Church in Bothell, Washington as Senior Pastor where people love enough to believe "it's all about relationships." In 1982 I made a vow to read God's word daily and apply it to life. Each day I write out my reflections. Some days I post those on my blog. It's a little personal but it's my hope it will stir you to go deeper still. Learn how I do my devotions. These are my thoughts and not necessarily those of the ministry I serve. By the way check out the computer study Bible Glo. I highly recommend it.
