“How precious are your thoughts concerning me …” Psalm 139:17

It had been anything but a “quiet” time. Although I had closed the door and opened my Bible, my attention skittered between meetings just attended, people needs for which I felt responsible, and future events crowding the calendar. A glance at the clock too soon revealed that it was time to leave my private chamber and tend to the day’s responsibilities. “So much for spiritual preparation” was my somewhat whiny comment to God.

Then came His voice speaking into my heart—as clearly as if He had been physically standing before me: “That okay, my daughter. I just wanted to sit here with you. I’ve enjoyed our time together.”

We delude ourselves into thinking that our quiet times are primarily for our own benefit. We are intellectually aware that God is always with us, that His eye is not only on the sparrow but on each of us. We claim a personal relationship with Him yet are slow to understand much of what that means.

How different would be our attitudes if we began to learn that we come into His presence to give Him joy.

God, I am so grateful for Your personal love for me. To think that You simply desire me to be inYour presence is overwhelming. I love You.

Reflection: Sit quietly and imagine the look on God’s face as you come into His presence. What words of welcome might He be saying to you?

Learn to develop a heart of worship with our free, interactive life lesson.

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Psalm 34:1)

A young man said to me, “the Bible is forever telling us to praise God. What kind of a God is He that He needs a pat on the back all the time?”

No, God doesn’t need our praises. He doesn’t need us at all. You see, long before there were humans, there was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They praised each other all the time for the sheer joy of it. Persons in love do that. They worked together. They created everything together. They lived in perfect love and harmony.

Then why create humans who cause Him so much trouble? God is love and love reaches out. One day God said, “Let us make humankind after our image and invite them to join the circle of love.” So God created Adam and Eve and placed them into a beautiful garden. For a long time they enjoyed perfect fellowship with God and with each other. They experienced absolute delight in each other. There was no problem with praising God then.

One day Satan came along and said, “You don’t need God. You can be your own god.” Adam and Eve broke away from the circle of love. Ever since then, they’ve reaped a stream of broken relationships, vertically and horizontally. Being focused on themselves, they found it hard to praise God. Like them, we’ve become self-focused and need to be reminded that God deserves our praise.

When we praise God, we do ourselves a favor: we become ourselves. In Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddel makes the famous quote: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

When we praise God our focus is on Him and we receive strength to face the challenges of each day with confidence and peace. We reach our highest potential.

Father, I praise you for Who you are: always faithful, always loving, always wanting my best. Amen.

Question: What are some ways you show praise and thankfulness to God?

If you would like to know more about this theme, go to my web site www.helenlescheid.com and read about my newest book, Prayer: When Answers Aren’t Enough. 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Peter describes in vivid terminology that we are:

·    A chosen people; desired by God and uniquely valued

·    A royal priesthood; followers of the King of kings, ordained to serve

·    A holy nation; believers who have been set apart, sacred and holy to God

·    A people belonging to God; members of God’s family who have a home regardless of who has disowned us for our beliefs

God chose us, ordained us and called us His own for a specific purpose. We were chosen so that we would praise God. We were rescued from a world of darkness – pride, envy, lust, greed, anger, laziness, abuse and fear – and brought us into the wonderful light of His truth and love. Because He rescued us, we have a story to tell. That story is how we are to praise God.

Here’s a bit of my story: I always thought I was right and knew what was best for everyone. God showed me that attitude stemmed from my insecurity, my perfectionism and my desire to be in control. My strong personality wasn’t always very nice. Then the great and compassionate God of the Universe revealed the truth to me.

He exposed the sin in my life and showed me that I too needed a Savior. I couldn’t save myself no matter how hard I tried. He forgave me and poured out His love on me. Each day He is teaching me how to see people as He sees them: with compassion and patience and humility. Only God could change a stubborn heart like mine.

Thank you Heavenly Father for choosing me to praise You. Help me to praise You every day by telling how You called me out of darkness. Amen.

Questions: What is your story? How does telling our story praise God?

“Everything on earth has its own time and its own season” Ecclesiastes 3:1, CEV

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” Job 1:21

When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centered prayers—so you’ll know He exists. But as you grow in faith, He will wean you of these dependencies.

God’s omnipresence and the manifestation of His presence are two different things. One is a fact; the other is often a feeling. God is always present, even when you are unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.

Yes, He wants you to sense His presence, but He’s more concerned that you trust Him than that you feel Him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.

The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job. On a single day he lost everything: his family, his business, his health, and everything he owned. Most discouraging—for thirty-seven chapters, God said nothing!

How do you praise God when you don’t understand what’s happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they’re full of tears? You do what Job did: “Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’” (Job 1:20–21).
Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour out your heart to God. Unload every emotion that you’re feeling. Job did this when he said, “I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak!” (Job 7:11, TEV).

He cried out when God seemed distant: “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house” (Job 29:4).

God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions.

Question: How do you see the relationship between faith and feelings?

“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessednesses, they can continurally discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight, and in what ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessednesses, they can continurally discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight, and in what ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

“Thank the Lord for all the glorious things He does; proclaim them to the nations. Sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles” (Psalm 105:1,2)

How long has it been since you have taken time to meditate upon and list all the glorious things the Lord has done for you and how long has it been since you have shared them with your family, your neighbors or even strangers? Of course, your list may differ from that of your neighbors or of fellow believers in your local church or from mine. But among those glorious things that He has done are: He has, by His Holy Spirit, drawn us all to Himself; He has created within our hearts a hunger for His love; and through faith in Christ we have become His children; our sins have been forgiven and we now have the joy of living every moment of every day in vital union and fellowship with Him – all this with the certainty that we shall spend eternity with Him.

Mere human words could never express the gratitude that wells up within one’s heart at the thought of God’s great gifts. The word “alleluia” is universal and is spoken in all languages as an expression of praise to God and no word is more appropriate.

My personal list of blessings also includes a godly, praying mother who lived her Christianity and dedicated me to Christ before I was born, and followed me – as she did all her other children – with her daily prayers; a wonderful father who, I had the privilege of introducing to Christ after I became a Christian and seeing him begin to experience that peace which comes from knowing Christ; a Godly wife who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and shares my commitment to serve Him as our Lord and Master whatever the cost, wherever He leads us.

I thank Him for sons who love Him, and who have committed their lives to serving Him wherever He leads; a daughter-in-law who shares the love and conviction of her husband; a marvelous staff of thousands of Godly men and women who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and hundreds of thousands of co-laborers who undergird me and this ministry.

The glorious things that He has done are without number. Yes, we must sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles. We must proclaim the glorious things he has done to all the nations!

Bible Reading: Psalm 113

Today’s Action Point: Today I will meditate upon the glorious things God has done for me and I will sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles. I will give my prayer and financial support to helping proclaim His greatness to all the nations of the earth.

Are you too busy to spend time with God? Learn how to manage your time wisely.

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…” (Psalm 40:3).

As we listen to the people around us and even to our own thoughts and words, it seems that it is time to look afresh for the song in our hearts. God is the one who puts the music of hope and peace and love into our hearts and He alone enables us to navigate the twists and turns of life with true joy that is not conditional on our circumstances.

Time in His presence is the very first thing we need in finding afresh the music of our hearts.

There are also 5 simple, practical steps we can add to our days and encourage others to as we seek to lead those around us to higher ground.

L……Leisure

Make sure you schedule some leisure time for yourself.  Especially in the midst of economic change it is important to look away from the pressures now and then and find some refreshing leisure activity.  Get creative. Make it simple. Take the kids for a hike, cook a meal with your partner, have some friends over to play a game and laugh together, build something. Give yourself permission to take little leisure breaks.  It may seem trivial to think of it now, but it can become a lifeline during stressful times.  It will also help kindle the relationships that sometimes get strained with the daily challenges that face us. Plan mini breaks.

A……Affirm

Look around you and intentionally find the good. Affirm the positive things you see and hear.  Negativity is so easy to slip into and it can permeate you life like smoke permeates a forest. It clouds your thinking too. Affirm your loved ones regularly. When pressures in life mount up we tend to take it out on those we love the most. Be intentional in affirming the relationships you treasure and guard them in changing times. Look for the positive.

U…..U-turns

Allow yourself the freedom of making a U turn in life. If the direction you are going needs changing then make the change necessary. If you want a different job, take an online course and begin to work in that direction. If your marriage is feeling tense read some books on relationships, plan some positive times together or get some counsel. If your body is discouraging you make a plan to eat less and move more. Concentrate on the things in life that you have the power to change and focus some energy there rather than dwelling on the things you have no power over. Change what you can.

G….Give

Find ways to give. When life gets challenging our tendency is to hoard our resources. Give of your time to help someone out; coach a kid’s team, or do some repairs around the house. Give time to listen to those you love and hear the feelings behind the words. Give encouragement. Give kindness to strangers.  When you are feeling depleted, intentionally choose to give and you will be surprised at the refreshing it will bring to you. Be generous without using money.

H…..Hope

Dare to hope in tomorrow. Fan the flames of hope in your heart.  When hope feels scarce dare to hope in God to give you the strength you need when the road feels hard and rough. We all need hope in something beyond ourselves. God can provide that hope and that help when we simply ask Him to join us on the road of life and walk with us. He is the ultimate source of help and He is the one who can bring hope for tomorrow. Reach out for hope.

Lord, Help me to make time to be in Your presence where You can stir a new song in my heart. Help me to be an intentional influencer in these challenging days. Use me, Lord, to help those around me find firm footing in Your strength. Help me to bring joy to my corner of the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Questions: What step do you need to focus on yourself today? Are you making time to be in God’s presence so He can give you a new song in your heart?

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

(Luke 17:12-19)

My wife arrived home with flowers more beautiful than any I had ever given her. A dozen roses: pink, white, yellow, red, orange. They burst from the vase amid baby’s breath and leafy filler. And she wore a smile that told me she felt appreciated.

My wife is a career counselor and coach.  She helps people figure out why they can’t get employment or keep it. Each month she sees a dozen clients pass her way who struggle with issues related to work and home. Some lack schooling. Others perseverance. Still others carry deep wounds from hurtful pasts that make them seethe with anger—and it shows. For many their hurts act like leprosy, gnawing away at their vocational potential.

By the time clients leave the course they have picked up important insights into their personalities, how they manage time (or not), how they handle conflict (or don’t), as well as interview and resume-writing skills. During the program some people huff and gruff and argue “I know all this,” or “The problem isn’t me; it’s been my four bosses!” and they leave largely unchanged. Others show a more humble posture, listening, learning, soaking it in.

One attentive client was Nadia, and within a few weeks of finishing the program, she landed her dream job as office administrator and bookkeeper for a small construction firm. Days later she returned with the roses as a thank you. My wife will see a hundred clients a year, but only a handful return to say thanks. Like the nine lepers who were healed, the other ninety-some are busy about their lives, forgetting whom they might thank.

It really doesn’t matter who we are or what we’ve accomplished, we’re all lepers in some way. And along our journey others have helped. A teacher, a coach, a parent, a friend. May we be thankful for those who have invested in us, and let them know it.

Question: Who’s patient witness has touched your life? Who might you hand a dozen roses?

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for September 30th, AM.

Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.

“Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!” Psalm 66:2

It isn’t optional whether we’ll praise God or not. God is most worthy of praise, and every Christian, as the recipient of His grace, has been given both the wonderful opportunity and the obligation to praise God daily. Although we have no set of rules governing daily praise and we have no commandment prescribing certain hours to sing or give thanks, the law written on our hearts teaches us that it is right to praise God. The unwritten urgency comes to us with as much force as if it had been recorded on tablets of stone, or handed to us from the top of thundering Sinai.

Yes, it is the Christian’s duty to praise God. It is not only a pleasurable exercise, but it is the absolute obligation of our lives. Don’t think that because you’re going through difficult circumstances that you are free to avoid your duty to your gracious God by choosing not to sing songs of praise. You are bound by His love to bless His name as long as you live, and His praise should continually be on your lips.

You are blessed in order that you may bless Him. “The people I formed for myself,” God declares, so that “they may proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21) If you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit which God rightly expects from your hands.

So don’t let your harp just hang on the wall, but take it down, and make music with a grateful heart. Stand up and chant His praise. With every morning’s dawn, lift up your prayers of thanksgiving, and let every setting sun be followed with your song. Overflow with praise! Surround the Earth with an atmosphere of melody, and God Himself will hear from heaven and gladly accept your song.

“Even so I love Thee, and will love, And in Thy praise will sing, Because Thou art my loving God, And my redeeming King.” (St. Francis Xavier)

Question: When is it most difficult for you to praise God, and why?