We're taking a trip chronologically through the Bible this year.
My heart is yours, O God, and my soul sings praises to you. Every morning as I see the sun rise, I praise you, LORD.
Great is your love! It fills the heavens reaching to the skies. You are exalted, God, above the heavens and your glory shines over all the earth.
Deliver us, Father. We know you reign over all the earth. Nothing and no one can stand against you, God.
With God on our side, evil doesn’t stand a chance. Victory is our’s.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Let’s join with King David in his prayer:
Hear me, LORD, and answer me, I need you. I am a faithful servant who trusts you – please save me.
You are my God, have mercy on me as I call out to you all day long. I trust you, God. Please give me joy.
You are so good. When I walk close with you, your love and forgiveness overwhelm me. There is no other god like you. Everything you have created joins together to worship you. You are great and marvelous. You alone are God.
I want to learn all about you, LORD, so I can build my life on your truth. Give me an undivided heart which is focused on loving and honoring you.
I will praise you, God, with all my heart forever.
Each day I feel your great love for me. Keep me safe.
I am surrounded by arrogant and confused people who don’t believe in you, God. But I know you are a compassionate and gracious God, overflowing with love and faithfulness.
Open my eyes to what you doing, God. Have mercy on me and save me just like you have done for those who have gone before me. Show me your goodness, LORD, so that others around me will see what a great God you are.
Thank you for your help and comfort, LORD.
Amen.
The LORD takes care of me each day. He provides everything I need.
My Father guides me on the right path – he knows what is best for me. He gives me exactly what my soul longs for as I walk closely beside him.
I can always trust my Father’s guidance.
Even when I’m going through the darkest, most painful times of my life, Father, I have no fear. You are with me. You comfort me.
You pour out blessings on my life. Even those around me who don’t want the best for me can see how well you take care of me.
You fill my mind with your truth as I continue to study your Word and grow in my knowledge of you.
I am overwhelmed by your love for me. Your goodness and grace fill all the days of my life here on earth. And I am 100% certain of what happens to me when my time here on earth is done – I will go to live with my Abba Father forever.
Amen. Hallelujah!
I love the picture I get in my mind when I read 1 Chronicles 29: 10-20. King David is standing in the middle of more than 300 tons of gold and 638 tons of silver along with 675 tons of bronze with his arms stretched out, praising God saying “It’s all yours”.
I think about this passage whenever I find myself focusing on my money and my stuff.
Do you see that ‘my’ word crop up? The truth is – it’s not mine. Everything I have has been given to me by my Father God. He owns everything. I am just taking care of what he has given me while I’m here on earth. And I give some back to him because I’m grateful for all that he has given me.
So I join with King David in praise of my Father today with my version of these verses in 1 Chronicles –
It’s all yours, dear Father. Yours is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours.
Wealth and honor come from you alone for you rule over everything.
Power and might are in your hand and you decide who is made great and given strength.
Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone soon without a trace. But you, dear God, give us significance. You call us your sons and daughters and you delight in us.
We love you, Abba Father!
I ask for a pure heart, O God! I want my life to be focused on you.
Keep me close by your side and grow your spirit within me. Bring back the joy I felt when I first asked you to be Lord of my life. Give me a faithful heart so I stay near you. Then I will tell others about your saving grace and I will share the truth you have revealed to me.
Please lift the burden of my guilt about my sins and rebellion from me, O God, and I will sing of your goodness forever. When I open my mouth, Lord, let it be to praise you.
I know you don’t want me to just ‘show up’ at church because it’s the right thing to do. I know you don’t want me to give money to the church just because it’s the right thing to do. I know you don’t want me to read the Bible just so I can check it off of my reading plan for the year.
You want my heart to be broken open,
repentant,
humbled,
willing to be filled with your truth.
Amen. Let it be so, Abba Father.
There are no ‘good witches’. This is one of the lies that permeates our culture. We all see these fictitious characters in movies and TV shows doing good things for people or cleaning their house with a twitch of their nose.
No one can be a ‘good witch’ because there are two major supernatural forces in our world – good versus evil, God versus Satan. God is very clear in his Word that witches and mediums do not get any power they have from him. God does not speak through Ouija boards or seances or cards- he speaks through his Word. So that leaves just one place where witches or mediums or wizards can get their supernatural power – Satan. And Satan is never good.
Satan is the great Deceiver and the Father of Lies. He can make something bad look like it’s okay. He can twist the truth just slightly to make it a very convincing lie. He can use something that looks good to bring about a bad result. Make no mistake – evil intentions lie under everything Satan does.
The story in the Bible of King Saul going to the Witch of Endor is a sad story with a interesting twist. The enormous Philistine army was approaching and Saul was terrified. He ‘inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer by dreams, or Urim or prophets.” 1 Samuel 28:6. Saul was regularly disobeying God at this time, so God stopped answering him. Why give Saul an answer if he’s not going to obey? Sometimes God will stop answering us, too, if we continue to ask but are not being obedient to what he has already told us.
In the past, Samuel had helped Saul listen and obey God, but Samuel had died. Saul wanted to talk with Samuel so he went to the Witch of Endor. The witch did her normal ‘consulting the spirits’ act but then screamed when she saw Samuel appear. Why did she scream? She obviously did not expect someone to actually come back from the dead – she was used to making it all up.
And Samuel wasn’t happy about being disturbed. That makes sense. He was enjoying heaven and suddenly he’s back on earth having to deal with Saul’s fear and lack of trust in God.
Samuel told Saul because he continued to be disobedient, God was going to do what he said – take away Saul’s kingdom.
And the next day Saul and his three sons were dead.
In this instance, God worked through a witch in order to achieve his purposes. But she was not a ‘good witch’.
Don’t be deceived.
Thank you for your truth, Abba Father.
Hear my prayers, Father, and show me your compassion. I will hide myself in your shadow until my fears and worries go away.
I ask that you fulfill your purposes for my life. I know the angels of heaven are fighting my battles and they will give me victory.
Your love and faithfulness never leave me, Father.
I am surrounded by the evil one who is trying to take pieces of me and devour me.
But I still praise you, God. May your glorious light shine over all the earth.
My enemy sets traps for me – especially when I am weary and distressed. The evil one digs deep pits in my path but then he falls into them himself.
I am confident in you, oh God. My heart sings your praises. I awake every morning with a song of praise to you. Thank you for your love and faithfulness which has no end.
I praise you, Father. May your glorious light shine over all the earth.
O God, you are my God. I am searching for you with all my heart.
My soul needs you. My whole being longs to be close to you in this empty, weary and very confused world. I treasure the precious time I get to spend with you.
I have personally witnessed your power and glory. I praise you for your love which makes this life worth living.
I will lift my hands and heart up to you in praise for as long as I live. Only you can fill the emptiness inside of me and make me sing for joy.
In the darkest part of the night, I remember how much you have loved me in the past and how much you have promised to love me in the future. My heart sings for joy as I cling to your promises and feel your arms around me, holding me safe and securely to your side.
The Evil One and his team are all around me, Father, trying to ruin me. But I know you are fighting my battles, God, and you have already won the war.
I rejoice in you, God. All who know the Truth know you. Liars will be silenced.
I will lift my hands in praise to you for the rest of my life, Abba Father.
God is good – all the time!
I will share this great news with everyone I know. Everyone needs to hear this – there is no one and no thing that compares to the LORD!
Say it with me – God is good, all the time!
When I talk to God, he answers me and takes my fears away.
The light of God’s love shines out of us, his children, and we are never ashamed. When we are lost in a pile of problems that we created, we can call on God who rescues us. His angel protects us and sets us free!
Try him and see! God is good!
My Father God is a safe haven and a provider for me and for everyone who has faith in him. Those who look strong on the outside are actually weak and empty on the inside if they don’t have faith in God.
God’s children have everything they need.
Listen to me –
respect and honor the LORD and you will live a life filled with good days. Stay away from lying and all evil. Be a peacemaker.
God watches over those who do what is right. He hears our cries. God is always close to the brokenhearted.
But God turns his face away from those who do evil.
When we have faith in God, we will still have trials but God walks beside us every step of the way – giving us peace and strength.
The wicked get what they deserve. The LORD condemns anyone who opposes the people who love him.
God rescues his children – he is a safe refuge that is always available to us.
We praise you, Abba Father, for you are good!
We all have them –
things we battle against.
Sometimes its family members. Sometimes its our boss. Sometimes its our friends or situations in our lives. Many times its how to handle our finances.
A lot of the time, we find ourselves fighting against attitudes and desires that grow within us…
lies that have rooted themselves in our brains…
unwillingness to change….
rebellion against giving God first place in our lives.
What are your giants?
As we read historical account of David and Goliath, I noticed that the giant Philistine came out every day for forty days to take his stand against the Israelites. Our giants also make themselves evident very regularly. They are persistent. We can’t ignore them…..even when we try.
And, just like David, we need to put our trust in God and let him fight our battles. We often forget what David knew and counted on – ” the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47).
David’s bold confidence in fighting his giant came from his absolute trust in God’s faithfulness. As a young boy, he stepped up to fight Goliath while an army of grown men around him cowered in fear. David knew that God had been faithful before, he would be faithful again.
I have also experienced God’s faithfulness over and over in my life. He hasn’t always done what I wanted him to do, but everything he has done has worked out for my good. Many things have worked out better than I could have ever imagined.
When I started to believe in the very depths of my soul that God wanted only what was best for me, my giants – one by one – were taken captive by God’s power and love.
There is only one way to successfully fight our giants – and that is with God leading the way.
The battle is yours, Abba Father.
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 