From the Word

Blessed be the Lord,
    who daily bears us up;
    God is our salvation.

– Psalm 68:19

Child of God, today, the Lord is bearing you up.  Today, God is your salvation.  The great truth about your relationship with God is not only has he once and for all borne your burdens and secured your salvation, today He is bearing your burdens and saving you.  Today the Lord is offering comfort and rest and healing and security and protection and forgiveness and significance.  Today the Lord longs to bear up his children.  And today the Lord is saving you from fear and selfishness and lust and pride and anger and worry.  Today the Lord longs to save you.  As you go today, lay your burdens at his feet and trust that He can bear them.  And if by God’s sovereign will you are given a tomorrow, do the same, for the sunrise is simply a testimony to God’s faithfulness in bearing you up.  As you go today, rest in God’s power to overcome today’s enemies and save you.  And if, by God’s sovereign will you are given a tomorrow, do the same, for God is your salvation yesterday, today, and forever.

Unbeliever, today is the day of your salvation.  Turn to God in repentance and receive the forgiveness offered in his Son while it is still called today.  For it may not be in God’s sovereign will to give you tomorrow.

From the Word

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

– Psalm 66:16

Child of God, your conversations need to be filled with thanksgiving for what God has done for your soul.  And you can only do that if you are regularly allowing God to nourish your soul.  Yes, you can tell of what God did to save you and bring you into a relationship with him.  That’s a great story, tell it often.  But more than that, what has the Lord done for your soul today?  In this moment in time, what is the Lord doing for your soul?  How, today, is he encouraging you, challenging you, changing you, maturing you, comforting you, convicting you?  This is the new song that God puts on our lips.  This is they hymn of praise to your God.  These daily revelations of God’s mercies and grace must be central to your life and your conversations with others.  Your relationship with God must be marked by regular meetings with him, discovering the new ways he wants to bless your soul and those meetings will be followed with proclamations to your brothers and sisters: “Come and hear”.  Before you go today, as you go today, and after you’ve gone today, spend time meditating on God.  Intentionally meet with him today.  Boldly ask the Lord to do something for your soul today.  Feed your soul from the unending bounty of the Word.  Nourish your soul from the intimacy of prayer.  Encourage your soul today by acting in faith.  Meet with God, have your soul nourished, and then tell somebody what God has done.

Unbeliever, God longs to do something radical in your life.  He is poised to show you grace and mercy.  He wants to give you a new heart, new life, a new family, and a new song.  He wants you to know the intimacy and joy of his presence.  He wants you to know the freedom of forgiveness.  He wants you to know the peace of his understanding.  He wants you to know him.  But your sinful heart is keeping you from him.  He stands to show you grace, but you must ask for it.  You must repent of your sinfulness and sin, turn to him in humility, and receive the grace he wants to pour into your soul.  He wants to do something supernaturally miraculous in your soul.  Then he wants you to turn and shout: “Come and hear”.

From the Word

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them…

– Deuteronomy 11:16

Child of God, you were made to worship.  God in his infinite wisdom and grace created you with a heart that longs to worship.  And you must remember two things about your heart, it will worship whatever you treasure and it is easily deceived.  So knowing these two things, take care.  Take care to treasure God and God alone.  Take care to treasure the Maker of heaven and earth.  Take care to treasure the great I AM.  Take care to treasure the Redeemer of all the earth.  Take care to treasure the Mighty Warrior.  Take care to treasure the One who is your righteousness.  Take care to treasure the Provider of every good and perfect gift.  Take care and do not be deceived by lesser gods.  God is to worshiped and God alone, not his gifts, not his people, not his church, not his deeds, but God and God alone.  God is to be worshiped and God alone, not your ambitions, not your comfort, not your power, not your talents, but God and God alone.  Take care and do not be deceived.  As you go today, take care by spending time rediscovering who He is through his Word.  Take care to re-engage with Him through prayer.  Take care to be reminded of Him through fellowship.  Take care to resurrect your devotion through serving Him and others.    Worshiping God does not happen by accident, and your heart will worship something or someone.  Take care today unless your heart be deceived.

Unbeliever, you, too, were made to worship and your life is marked by that worship.  By grace, may your eyes be opened to the all-surpassing greatness of the endless worth of God.  May you realize today that your heart has deceived you into worshiping and treasuring and following after things that will ultimately disappoint and destroy you.  May you realize today the two truths that you were made to worship and that you’ve been deceived, by your own heart.  May you also realize that God wants to give you a new heart in Christ that longs to worship him alone.  Turn from worshiping lesser things and turn towards your Maker in worship and thanksgiving through the shed blood of Jesus.

From the Word

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God…

– Deuteronomy 7:9

Child of God, in case you have forgotten, your God is God.  It sounds simplistic and elementary, your God is God.  But in a world of heavy burdens, confusing paths, and weighty decisions, sometimes the most simplistic and elementary truths are also the most comforting and encouraging ones.  Your God is God.  The God that has chosen you, redeemed you, rescued you from slavery, and is providing for you in the desert, is God.  The one, true, and living God.  The incomparable One.  The high and lofty One.  The sovereign One.  Your God is God.  Your God is directing all things for his glory and your good.  Your God is sustaining the vast and immense cosmos while also sustaining your heart.  Your God is defeating every enemy of his and yours.  Your God is preparing an inheritance for you far beyond your comprehension.  Your God is God.  As you go today, rejoice and rest in the truth that your God is God.  Replace worry and fear and depression with confidence and boldness and contentment, for your God is God.

Unbeliever, your God is still God, for there is no other God but God.  But you are at war with your God.  You are in rebellion against your God.  You have not surrendered your allegiance to God.  You have not set your worship on God.  You have created a world of lesser gods and are worshiping them.  They are no gods at all.  They do not care for you.  They will not provide for you.  They can not rescue  you.  They are no gods at all.  Turn from your worship and treasuring of lesser things and turn towards the worship of the one, true God.  He will save, He will rescue you, He will redeem you, He will forgive you, He will bring you into his glorious presence.

From the Word

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us.

– Psalm 62:6-8

Child of God, wait.  Wait and trust.  Wait and trust and pour out your heart.  God and God alone is the source of your hope, your rock and your salvation.  God and God alone is your fortress and refuge.  You will not be shaken.  Wait.  Trust.  Pour out your heart.  Wait in silence in anticipation of the miraculous thing God is about to do.  Trust in him at all times, even when trusting in him seems foolish and fruitless.  Pour out your heart before him, eye to eye, face to face, heart to heart, in the intimacy of his presence.  As you go today,  on the trembling ground that is your life, believe and live as if the God of the universe is your foundation; your immovable, unchanging, glorious, comforting, mighty rock, for He is.  Believe and live as if your salvation and glory depends on God and God alone, for it does.  Believe and live as if the safest place to be is the quiet presence of a majestic and beautiful God, for it is.

Unbeliever, waiting and trusting and pouring out your heart only brings peace when you are already at peace with God.  You are not.  Your sin and rebellion are keeping you from peace with God.  And ease of life and lack of troubles is a deceiving peace.  Actually, it’s really no peace at all.  Your deepest need is not a peaceful life, but peace with God.  But take heart, for God has provided that peace.  Christ is your peace.  Your salvation and glory depend on God and God alone.  He alone saves.  Place your hope in Christ and the peace He offers through his perfect life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection.

From the Word

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

– Romans 8:38-39

Child of God, this is one of the most foundational and neglected truths in all of Scripture:  God loves you in Christ.  God loves you and nothing will ever change that.  Nothing.  God has once and for all declared his love for you, secured you in that love, sings over you with love.  Once and for all.  Nothing will change that.  The great day you feel you’re having full of faithfulness, closeness, obedience, devotion, and intimacy will not increase his love for you.  That’s not possible.  The awful day you’re having full of faithlessness, distance, disobedience, and apathy will not decrease his love for you.  That’s not possible.  God, because he is rich in mercy and grace has directed his love towards you in Christ.  Once and for all.  As you go today, rest in the love of God displayed in Christ.  It will never change.  As you go today, grow in the knowledge of his love for you as you dig deep in his Word and meditate on the truths found there.  As you go today, grow in your obedience driven by the confidence produced by the love of God in Christ.  Worship because he loves you.  Serve because he loves you.  Sing because he loves you.  Proclaim because he loves you.  Repent because he loves you.  Come back because he loves you.  Take risks because he loves you.  Love because he loves you.

Unbeliever, you are secure today, but in an entirely different way.  Your sin has secured the punishment of God.  Because of your rebellion God’s wrath is directed towards you.  But because God is gracious, he has directed the wrath deserved for you onto his only Son.  Repent of your rebellion and place your faith in the work of Christ on the cross, deflecting the wrath deserved for you onto himself and reflecting the love deserved for him onto you.

From the Word

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

– Romans 7:21-25

Child of God, the battle has been won, but it’s not yet over.  The battle for holiness, righteousness, and salvation was won when Christ died on the cross and was raised from the dead.  Sin and death took a deadly blow, from which they will not recover, but the battle is not yet over.  Sin is still very much present in your heart and is waging war against you.  Your heart, though changed and being changed, is still littered with the remains of sin.  The battle still wages on.  But take heart, for God has provided a rescue, and not just an ultimate rescue, but a daily rescue.  God wants to rescue you today from the battle that wages in your heart.  God wants to rescue you today from the battle against pride, insecurity, jealousy, anger, lust, laziness, unforgiveness, greed, and the like.  God wants to rescue you today from your past mistakes and the consequences that follow you.  God wants to rescue you today from the past mistakes of others and consequences that follow you.  God wants to rescue you and his rescue is a person.  Paul does not ask, “what will deliver me”, but “who will deliver me”.  As you go today, rest in the truth that your deliverance from the sin that is still present in your heart is not in your efforts, your strength, your wisdom, your knowledge, your anything.  Your deliverance comes only through Christ.  Rest in him.  Rejoice that he has overcome, is overcoming, and will overcome.  

Unbeliever, you are losing a battle you don’t even know you are in.  Sin is not only present in your life, but it also has power.  Power enough to enslave you.  Power enough to destroy you.  By the grace of God, though, he has provided not only the ability to see that you are in a battle, but also a rescue that guarantees a victory.  May your eyes be opened to the reality of the war in your heart and the reality of victory in Christ alone.  Turn and be saved.  Turn and be rescued.  Turn and be free.

From the Word

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

– Numbers 23:19

Child of God, rest in the promises of God.  Rest in truth that what God says, he does.  Make sure, though, that the promise you are holding onto is actually a promise from God.  God did not promise a trouble-free life, so don’t lose faith when troubles come.  God did not promise a healthy and safe life, so don’t lose faith when you get sick or hurt.  God did not promise a life free from conflict, so don’t lose faith when relationships are strained.  God did not promise your life would turn out like you planned, so don’t lose faith when your life takes another path.  But God did promise a lot of things that will come to pass.  God did promise to be your peace in the midst of trouble.  God did promise to be your hope in the midst of sickness and pain.  God did promise to show you compassion when you are hurt or disappointed.  God did promise to make your paths straight when your life has taken an unexpected turn.  God has made lots of promises and God will keep all of them.  As you go today, discover the promises of God in his Word.  Meditate on them, treasure them, believe in them, respond to them in faith.  And as you discover the promises of God, let go of those promises that were never actually from God.  God has said it, he will do it.

Unbeliever, God has said it he will do it.  God has said that the wages of sin is death.  God has said you deserve to be separated from his presence for all eternity being punished for the sins you’ve committed.  God has also said that he will forgive your sins and bring you into his presence through faith in his Son.  God has also said he will remove the guilt and shame of your sin and replace it peace and joy in his Son.  God’s words are true and faithful, which can be an equally frightening and joyful thing.

From the Word

You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?

– Psalm 56:8

Child of God, your Father in heaven sees you.  He sees you and all you are going through and is intent on caring for you.  Your Father knows every wandering thought, every sorrow-filled tear, every desperate sigh, every painful groan that comes from his children.  He knows them and keeps track of them.  And he keeps track of them in order to respond to them in due time.  God sees.  God records.  God will respond.  It is not true that you are alone, don’t believe that lie.  It is not true that no one cares, don’t believe that lie.  It is not true that things will never change, don’t believe that lie.  Your Father in heaven is with you, even to the end of the age.  Your Father in heaven wants you to cast your burden on Him, because He cares for you.  Your Father in heaven is making all things new.  As you go today, toss, turn, cry, moan, sigh and know that your Father in heaven sees you and cares for you.  Don’t believe the lie that you have to get things together before coming to the Lord.  Come to the Lord the blubbering mess that you are and experience his grace as he gently responds, heals, protects, provides, changes, and comforts.

Unbeliever, the God of heaven sees you.  He sees you and all you are going through and has provided a way out.  He sees your life and your inability to rescue yourself.  He sees your blind wanderings and your self-reliant tears.  He sees and He saves.  By the grace of God, may your eyes be opened to the glorious truth that God has seen your greatest need and provided for it.  He sees that your greatest need is to be saved from your sin and has provided His Son to rescue you and bring you into his forever family.  Turn to him in faith and repentance and be saved.

From the Word

And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

– Numbers 18:20

Child of God, would you be satisfied if all you had was God?  Would you be happy if you had nothing in this world save the presence of God?  When the world is jockeying for more, better, and bigger portions, are you satisfied with the Lord as your portion?  When the world is obsessed with storing up treasures on earth, are you satisfied with having treasures in heaven and none on earth?  You know that having the Lord as your portion and inheritance is far greater than anything this world has to offer.   As you go today, live like you actually believe it. And living like you believe it begins and ends with worship.  You worship what you treasure.  You worship what you can’t live without.  Does your life reflect that the Lord is your great treasure and that you would die without him?  Or does your life reflect that you have other treasures (family, work, money, acclaim, Facebook, security, TV, comfort, religion) that you can’t live without?  Repent of the lesser treasures and misplaced worship in your life and ask the Lord to become the treasure in your life by grace you know He is.  Ask him to reveal more and more of his beauty, worth, and glory, then wait and watch as he overwhelmingly answers your prayer.

Unbeliever, you don’t know it yet, but you are striving for things that will not last and settling for things that are far less than you were made for.  By God’s grace, may he open your eyes to reality of his worth.  By God’s grace, may you see that with the Lord as your portion you will never hunger or thirst again.  By God’s grace, may you see that the gift of eternal life as your inheritance is freely given to all those who come to Christ through faith.