The Voice of Triumph!

Scripture:

Psalm 47:1 "Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!"

Observation:

The Psalmist tells us to clap our hands and to shout to God with the voice of triumph. God is not afraid of a little volume! He asks us to clap our hands and shout to Him with "the voice of triumph". There is a sound to triumph. There is a sound of victory that is very real and the author tells us to shout to God with that victory voice.

Application:

Last night I was coaching a wrestling team and periodically, when a tight match was turned around or a defeat was turned into a victory, there was a sound that went through the gymnasium. God is not nervous and He enjoys hearing the sound of victory coming from His people. He wants us to verbalize our excitement about what He has done for us. We must give Him a shout of praise and victory. He loves seeing His children win.

Prayer:

Father, let Your people walk in victory and let the sound of their praise be like the sound of a gymnasium when a victory takes place. You have defeated the devil, death, hell and the grave! Help me to act like it and let my voice declare the sound of victory at all times.

Yours,
Jeff

The Source of Hope

Scripture:

Psalm 42:11 "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God."

Observation:

The author of this Psalm apparently had experienced being down, discouraged, and full of anxiety. He said his soul was "disquieted" within him. This would mean there was no peace in his life at that point. He realizes the depressed state he was in and reminded himself to place his hope in God. He realized that in God there is hope and that God is the source of hope. He also understood that this was a temporary thing he was going through because he said, "yet shall I praise Him".

Application:

When Satan tried his best to get us down and discouraged, we need to put our hope in God, who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or imagine. We must be a people who don't allow discouragement to get a root in our lives. When we feel it coming, we must hope in God. He is able to deliver from every situation. He is our strength and source of hope.

Prayer:

Father, You are good and your love is everlasting. Thank you for adopting me into Your family. You are the source of my strength and the joy in my heart. You keep me from destruction and cause me to triumph. You are amazing! I put my hope in You this morning.

Yours,
Jeff

National Blessing

Scripture:

Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance".

Observation:

The Psalmist makes a declaration here about the nation whose God is the Lord. He says that nation is blessed and the people are chosen as His own inheritance. The blessing of God can come upon a nation that places their trust in Him and when it does, that nation is blessed! The United States once was blessed in that way. It's God was the Lord. It's founders trusted God and the nation was blessed with an amazing history. It became a superpower in a relatively short time. The problem is that our nation has turned away from God and written Him out of their history books.

Application:

America must turn back to God. We need a third great awakening. We need to turn back to the God of our fathers and get under God's blessing once again. We experienced God's undeniable blessing for many years, now we no longer place our trust in Him. The blessing of God has left our nation and the only way to get it back is to turn to Him as a nation.

Prayer:

Lord, let America turn back to You. Let the hearts of men be pierced with the truth of Your word. Let transformation come to our nation. We have seen the day of Your blessing, now we are no longer under the hand of blessing. Forgive us oh Lord for turning away from You.

Yours,
Jeff

Joy Comes in the Morning

Scripture:

Psalm 30:5 "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning".

Observation:

This Scripture lets me know that there are times of weeping in our lives, but morning is as faithful as it gets and joy will come again. There are phases we walk through where we don't feel the joy and we may even feel distanced from God, but weeping only lasts for a period of time, then joy returns. I hear the author saying that joy will come again if we just hold onto God. Weeping is not a permanent situation.

Application:

Sometimes during the hard times, it's hard to think that we will ever smile a real smile again. Many people get caught in the trap of the enemy that says life is terrible and it will never get any better. Life may not always deal us the best hand, but when we are faithful to God, joy will come again. We are never doomed to a life of despair and trouble. Joy will return if we hold on through the storm.

Prayer:

Father, thanks for reminding me this morning that joy always comes in the morning. As faithful as the sun rising in the east, so joy will return to those who serve You. Thank You for reminding me that there are seasons of life that are happier than others, but joy always comes again. We are never defeated in You. You are my rock and my fortress! You are amazing!

Yours Completely,

Jeff

Examine Me

Scripture:

Psalm 26:2 "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart".

Observation:

In this Psalm, David asks the Lord to examine him, prove him and to try his mind and heart. WOW! He is asking the King of Righteousness to examine him thoroughly all the way down to his heart and motives. David knew in his heart that he was living a life pleasing to the Lord. When there is nothing hidden and you know you have a pure heart, you don't resist inspection, you encourage it.

Application:

God wants us to live lives that are pure. In purity is power! When we ask the Holy Spirit to examine our lives, we may not like what we see. This process is extremely necessary. This desire David had should be the heart's desire of every Christian. We should constantly be asking God to examine us, prove us and try us. We should desire to be more like Christ every day and our lives should be growing closer and closer to the full image of Christ. In this way, we will begin to look more like Him every day.

Prayer:

Father, You are awesome! I love you with all my heart. You have been so good to me. Open up my heart and examine me this morning. Search me O God and show me the areas of my life that need to change. I want to be an excellent representation of You and Your kingdom. Help me to represent You well.

Yours,

Jeff

Who is this King of Glory?

Scripture:

Psalm 24:8 "Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle."

Observation:

This is a Psalm of David the great king of Israel. His description of the Lord is fantastic. This entire Psalm is talking about the awesomeness and majesty of God Almighty. David's view of the Lord is that the Lord is strong and mighty. He sees the Lord as able to defeat any enemy. He sees the Lord as a victorious warrior.

Application:

Our view of things in life determines our outcome. If you believe bad is going to happen, it probably will. If you believe God is small or unconcerned about your life, that how his response will be. God wants His children to see Him like David saw Him. He wants us to be people who declare how strong and mighty He is. There is no enemy that can overpower Him. There is no situation He cannot rescue. There is no problem He cannot fix. He is the Lord strong and mighty.

Prayer:

Father, help me to see you like David did, as the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Help me to view You as my father, yet as the one who cannot lose. I want to see You as the mighty God and declare how mighty You are to the nations of the world. You are amazing. Help me to walk in the understanding of who You are and how powerful You truly are. I want to walk by faith in the un-defeatable God.

Jeff

A Pure Heart

Scripture:

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer".

Observation:

In this passage I see David's heart of wanting to please the Lord in every area of his life. He asks the Lord to let all his words and thoughts to be acceptable to the Lord. This is a pure heart and a heart that the Lord blesses. David didn't live a perfect life. He made many mistakes including some huge ones, but his heart was continually wanting to please the Lord. He asks the Lord , then declares that the Lord is his strength and redeemer.

Application:

We must all have a strong desire to please the Lord with our lives. We should have a heart like David that desires a clean and pure heart, motives, words and actions before the Lord. David saw his sin as sin against God and therefore cried out to the Lord to keep his heart pure. One of the secrets of keeping yourself pure is found in the second part of the verse, "O Lord, my strength and my redeemer". It is God who gives us the strength to please Him. As we focus on bringing Him praise and honor, our thoughts and actions will please Him.

Prayer:

Lord, I want to keep my heart on You today. Help me to stay in tune with You throughout the day. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. You are my strength and my redeemer. You are my life!

Yours,

Jeff

The Words of the Lord

Scripture:

Psalm 12:6 "The words of the Lord are pure words. Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times".

Observation:

David is describing the words of the Lord and he says they are "pure words". They have no impurity. They are not tarnished. His words are perfect. He says they are like silver tried in a furnace of earth seven times. He is basically saying that the words of the Lord are as pure as you can get and pure is extremely valuable.

Application:

If the words of the Lord are pure and precious like silver refined seven times, we do we not treat it with more respect and apply it to our lives more often? If we say we believe that God's words are pure like silver refined seven times, who don't we read it more? Why don't we study it often? We must begin to value the words of the Lord as the Psalmist David did. We must apply them to our lives, then great growth will come.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for your word. It is true and does not lie nor fail. Help me to respect and honor Your word more. Help me to discipline my life more and be able to spend more time in your word and with You.

Yours,

Jeff

Wise Advice for the Angry

Scripture:

Psalm 4:4 "Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent".

Observation:

David is reminding himself how to deal wisely with anger. Apparently, people were ruining David's reputation and telling all sorts of lies about him. He must have felt anger welling up in himself and made the decision not to be controlled by anger, but to think about it and make a wise decision.

Application:

When people get angry, they tend to lose control. One of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. God wants His children to control anger and not allow anger to control them. He wants us to be mastered by nothing but the master. One way to control anger and not let it control you is to "think about it overnight and remain silent". The more we think about it, the less angry we remain and we don't make choices in our anger that we will regret later.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for Your word. It is life to me every day. Help me to remain silent and sleep on things that get me angry instead of acting in a way that I will later regret. I want to walk in the fruit of self-control / Spirit control. Help me to be a witness for You today. I want to see souls saved every day in my life. Help me to be bold in my witness.

Yours,

Jeff

Trees Along the Riverbank

Scripture:

Psalm 1:2-3 "they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do".

Observation:

The Psalmist speaks here of those who delight in God's word and meditate on it day and night. He describes them as trees planted along the riverbank who bear fruit each season. He says these people never wither and that they prosper in everything they do. I see here the absolute power of God's word to change our lives. It will make us stable, fruitful and prosperous when we meditate on it day and night.

Application:

This Daily Wash has been the best thing in my life spiritually in decades. It has brought a fresh awareness of how God speaks through His word. I need to be stronger in this discipline and never let a day go by that I don't do it. God is truly speaking and His word is powerful, we must read it, meditate on it, and apply it to our lives.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to grow stronger in Your word. Meditation is not really much a part of our culture, but teach me to meditate on Your word. Help me to memorize scripture and commit it to heart so that what flows out of my life is the word of God. I want to be fruitful above all else in Your kingdom.

Yours,

Jeff

Devote Yourselves to Prayer

Scripture:

Colossians 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart".

Observation:

Paul is speaking to the Colossians and as he is beginning to close his letter to them, he throws in this simple phrase. He tells them that they must be devoted to prayer as their first priority and to do it with an alert mind and a thankful heart. He says that as we pray we should keep an alert mind. We must meditate on God and His word as well as walk in thanksgiving continually.

Application:

To be devoted to something means that you are going to do it whether you feel like it or not. When we speak of a devoted athlete, they train in good weather and bad, when they feel good and when they don't. We must have the same devotion in our prayer lives, keeping our mind alert and giving thanks. I think Paul throws in keeping the mind alert because sometimes in prayer, our mind tends to drift. We must pray a keep alert so our mind doesn't wander.

Prayer:

Lord, Paul closed this simple phrase with "a thankful heart". Help me to have a thankful heart for all you have done in my life. Thank You for Your many blessings. Thank You for sustaining me all these years and keeping me. You are awesome! May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in my life. Help me keep my mind alert as I pray and read Your word.

Sincerely,

Jeff Jacob

Stop and Consider

Scripture:

Job 37:14 "Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!"

Observation:

Elihu tells Job to pay attention, to stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God. This is great advice. We all need to stop and consider the miracles of God and all He has done for us. After these words, Elihu begins to tell of all the awesome things God has done in nature.

Application:

Stop and consider tells me that sometimes we need to stop everything and contemplate the awesomeness of God. Maybe at times we need to take a drive through the mountains and see His handiwork and simply think about God. We need to take time once in while to just think about the miracles we have seen in our own lives. Miracles are for today and we should see them regularly. Think on them and ponder the goodness of God.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to take the time to stop and consider the miracles of God. Thank You for letting me see the video last night of Your miracles and using it to increase my faith. Help me to stop and think about Your miraculous intervention in my life so many times in the past. You are truly amazing, but help me to renew my mind by thinking about those miracles I have seen in my life.

Yours,
Jeff

All Are Equal in His Sight

Scripture:

Job 34:19 "He doesn't care how great a person may be, and He pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all".

Observation:

Elihu, Job's friend had some good insight into who God is and what He is like. He has a healthy respect for the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. In this passage he brings out the fact that God is no respecter of persons. He does not pay more attention to the rich than the poor because He made them all. God does not give preference to anyone based on their economic level, looks, or other human measuring stick. He made them all.

Application:

It is easy to fall into the trap of respecting one person more than another because of their economic, political, physical, or social distinctions. In God's sight, all are equal. He loves all of His creation. All art doesn't look the same, some paintings are better than others no matter who the artist is. Most paintings are valuable, not based on their own excellence, but on who the painter is. Certain painters, no matter how bad a painting really is, will be purchased at great expense, simply because of the painter, not the painting. It is the same with God. The value of the individual is not shown by their bank account, but by their maker.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to be more like You. Help me not be a respecter of people based on anything except the fact that their maker is valuable, therefore they are valuable. Thank You for showing me this point about You this morning. You are amazing and have made us all!

Your Son and Creation,

Jeff