Father ~ 4th Sunday of Lent 2010

When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.  Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You.  John 17:1 Amplified Bible

The 17th Chapter of John is a well-known prayer that Jesus prayed before His crucifixion.  Many times in the New Testament we are given examples of Jesus praying, an example He set for us.  E.M. Bounds wrote these words in his book on "Prayer":

What mystery that the Son of God should be under the law of prayer . . . How strange that the blessings that came to Him were impregnated and purchased by prayer.

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Like Jesus, pray that your life gives glory and honor to the Father. ~dho

Author ~Lent 2010

Since my first book has been published, as I have signed books, many have said to me, "Now, I know a real author; I have never been able to say that before!"  Over the years, I have met several authors, even had them sign books for me, but I can't say many of them are my friends.  At times, we have lingered shortly over their books, but on most occasions, we never communicated after that.  Yet, everyone has the opportunity to meet an author, and all believers have met The Author ~ and if we continue seeking a relationship with this Author, we will become friends - forever!  Jesus is The Author of our faith ~ He wrote the story of Grace!

Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2 NASB

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Get your Bible ~ off the shelf or the nightstand or the backseat of your car ~ wherever it waits between Sundays and get to know The Author better. ~ dho

Spirit ~ Lent 2010

For He himself is our peace, . . . For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father . . . In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.  Ephesians 2:14, 18, 22 ESV

Christ is our peace.  We find this peace by being in an intimate relationship with Him.  Growing deeper roots through the Spirit, our faith walk can be consistently enriched.  Our hearts must be a dwelling place for God, an altar for the Love Most High.

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Open the door of your dwelling place and introduce God to a friend. ~ dho

Intercession ~ Lent 2010

In Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest, these words describe our failure to truly worship and offer prayers to God.

Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other.  Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray.  Too often . . . . we [pray] in dispute with God - "I don't see how You are going to do it."  This is a sure sign we are not worshiping. . . We hurl our own petitions at God's throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do.  We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ.

It is true that we often "tell" God what we want.  Praying with an open and humble heart that desires God's purposes is not easy.  When we "tell" God what we expect Him to do, we do not demonstrate a relationship with Him that is built on faith and love.  We must seek to know the mind of Christ.

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD.
Ezra 3:11 ESV

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Spend time building a true relationship with God.  This is His delight. ~dho

Battle ~ Lent 2010

He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,. . .
Psalm 55:18 NASB

As long as we live in this world, Satan will battle for our souls, battle for our attention.  He seeks to destroy and distract; he desires to interrupt our focus on God.  Satan interferes as often as possible. There is comfort and security in knowing that God will always offer peace to our seeking souls. 

God rescues us in the battles that surround our daily life, sending angels to defend and protect.  In the heavenly realms, constant battles between darkness and light, between God's angels and Satan's angel-followers rage.  And us - as Believers and disciples of Christ, we stand redeemed and find peace even in the middle of the chaos.

The Message uses these words: My life is well and whole, secure in the middle of danger. (Ps.55:18)

Our sacrifice of praise ~
God-of-the-Angel-Armies sends peace ~ it comes on
angel-wings. LISTEN! ~dho

Remember ~ Lent 2010

Do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgements, and His statues which I command you today - when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful homes and dwell in them; . . .  For it is He who gives you power to get wealth.
Deuteronomy 8:11-12,18 NKJV

We find ourselves surrounded by plenty and more.  While we love dwelling in the beautiful places, our hearts do not always acknowledge The Giver.  Forgetting The Giver, we soon stray from His guidance, His promises, and His provisions.  In time, we lose sight of His Glory and sit around full yet dissatisfied.  Don't forget!

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Remember The Giver of all ~ in His honor, share His Glory! ~dho  

Blessing ~ Lent 2010

God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile! Psalm 67:1 The Message

Grace is the gift that marks the believer.  It is His great blessing on humanity. 

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Smile! Let God's blessing be known. ~dho

Praise ~ 3rd Sunday of Lent 2010

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise... then the peace of God will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT

We are constantly surrounded by the opposite of what the Scripture calls us to keep in our minds.  The world is full of the lure of thoughts that are false and reckless, against God and tainted, ugly and lacking merit.  There are so many unworthy things that catch our attention or capture our time.  Chaos thrives in these things ~ not peace.  You will not find God in these places ~ unless He is reaching through for a lost soul.  Even then, He is far above the ugly and dark; He is Beauty and Light.  God is peace.

The commentary of the Transformation Study Bible offers these thoughts:

The Christian who fills his heart and mind with God's Word will have a "built-in radar" for detecting wrong thoughts. . . Right thinking is the result of daily meditation on the Word of God. (Philippians 4:8 commentary)

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Whatever is worthy of praise, meditate on these thoughts of Beauty and Light. ~ dho 

Satan ~ Lent 2010 (Saturday)

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left [Jesus] until an opportune time.
Luke 4:13 NIV

This is not the devotion I wrote yesterday - it is gone, apparently did not "publish" as ususal.  I did all the same things but today as I started to write for Sunday, I noticed that Saturday's was not published.  Thinking I had made an error, forgetting to click "publish," I checked.  Saturday's devotion was simply not anywhere to be found.

As I have been writing as the Spirit leads, I could not even remember what I wrote yesterday morning.  Looking through my scant notes revealed no clues.  The NLT translation says that the devil left until the next opportunity came.  If you are surprised that the devil still acts to disrupt and hinder, attempts to destroy the work of God, think again.

The world would say "it was just a computer glitch" or "you must have made an error" - that's the reason it did not publish.  Perhaps those things are true; yet, the devil's ways are sometimes crafty and sometimes just annoying.  So, I salute the efforts of darkness lest I forget they exsist and have weapons to do battle everyday, BUT I worship the LORD God who is all powerful and everlasting!

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Do not be caught unaware!  Worship the power of the Living God even DURING the next opportunity of evil. ~ dho

Prayer ~ Lent 2010

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail;. . . strengthen your brothers.
Luke 22:31-32 NASB

These words were spoken by Jesus to Peter, after telling Peter that he would deny Him three times.  Jesus knew the trouble that was imminent, that Satan was lurking and using everyone he could to help hinder Jesus.  Satan underestimated the power of God because there is no power greater.  Jesus prayed for Peter, and still intercedes for believers today.

Prayer is the breath of life to our soul.  Mother Teresa

Our sacrifice of praise ~
Thank Jesus for praying for you, for breathing life into your soul. ~ dho