Wisdom Comes From God

Scripture:

Proverbs 2:6  "For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding".

Observation:

Solomon tells us here that it is God who gives wisdom and that it is out of His mouth that knowledge and understanding come.  It doesn't say it comes from seeking, reading, or pursuing anything else, but it comes from God.

Application:

We can read, look, study, and work ourselves to death trying to get more wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  We can work hard at learning these things, but really it comes from the Lord.  He may use reading, seeking, classes, etc., but in the end, it all comes from Him.  If we learn to follow the Lord and His will, everything else will work out in our lives.  He is the source of everything we need.  We must seek Him above all else.

Prayer:

Father, help me to be a seeker of You above all else.  Teach me to seek Your will and Your ways.  I hunger and thirst to know You more.  Help me to honor You every day of my life and let my life bring Your glory.

Yours,
Jeff

The Whole Deal

Scripture:

I Thessalonians 5:23  "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ".

Observation:

Paul tells the Thessalonians that he wants the God of peace to sanctify them wholly.  Whole sanctification is when God is Lord over ALL of our lives, our body, our soul and and our spirit.

Application:

We need to give ourselves completely to the Lord in every area.  He needs to be Lord over our bodies, the physical.  He needs to be Lord over our souls, our mind, will and emotions.  He needs to be Lord over our spirit, which is who we are.  We need to learn to give our complete selves to the Lord and let Him be truly Lord over all of our lives.

Prayer:

Lord, sanctify me WHOLLY.  Let me be completely Yours.  Heal my body, bring peace to my soul, and let my spirit follow You completely.  I am Yours.

Your Son,
Jeff

ALL

Scripture:

Psalm 103:3 "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases".

Observation:

When reading this, the word "all" jumped off the page at me.  He is the God who forgives "all" our sins and who heals "all" our diseases.

Application:

If all really means all, then I have to forgive myself when I mess up and stop holding my past mistakes against me.  If all really means all, then I have to believe that God will heal every sickness and disease that comes to me.  He is the healer of every sickness and every disease.  I want more of the healer in my life and I want my body to be healed of every ailment.

Prayer:

Father, heal my body from every ailment, sickness, disease, etc.  Let my youth be renewed like the eagles.  Help me to walk in faith and health because You are my healer.  I will give You all honor and praise.  Thank you for healing everything in my body.

Your Son,
Jeff

Abundant in Lovingkindness

Scripture:

Psalm 86:5 "For thou, art good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in loving-kindness unto all them that call upon thee".

Observation:

David, in this prayer, asks the Lord to bow down His ear and hear him as he cries out to him.  He reminds the Lord of his good attributes.  He says that the Lord is ready to forgive and abundant in loving-kindness to all those who call on Him.

Application:

God truly is good and His mercies are from generation to generation.  He is abundant in love and kindness to those who call on Him.  Our job is to submit our lives to Him and call on Him.  He then is abundant in mercy and love to us.  God is more than ready to do His part, but we must do our part.

Prayer:

Father, demonstrate Your abundant loving-kindness in my life.  Let my life be a demonstration of Your love.  Work in me and through me to accomplish Your will as I travel today to Togo and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Let many come to Christ and be delivered.  Let many grow in You.  Bless my church here in Loudoun County and let it prosper as I go.

Your Son,
Jeff

No Good Thing

Scripture:

Psalm 84:11 "For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly".

Observation:

The Psalmist tells us that God is a sun and shield and that He gives grace and glory.  He goes on to say that He will not withhold any good thing from those who walk right.  God doesn't delight in withholding blessings from his children.  He loves to bless His kids and to provide for them.

Application:

It is not God that is delighting in withholding our blessings.  God doesn't withhold good things from His children.  It also says that He doesn't withhold good things from those who walk uprightly.  When we are walking right with the Lord, He is not going to withhold good things from us.  He delights in blessing His kids.

Prayer:

Father, help me not to see You as withholding good things, but to see that You are the provider of every good thing.  Lord, I need to see some major breakthroughs very quickly here and I ask You to take care of them.  We need to see You miraculous hand of provision for our church.  Don't withhold what is good and right for our church to grow and prosper.

Your Son,
Jeff

Integrity and Skill

Scripture:

Psalm 78:72  "So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands".

Observation:

Here we are told that David was Israel's shepherd and that he shepherded his people according to the integrity of his heart.  David had a heart of integrity and that wanted to follow the Lord, but he also had skillful hands.  With a good heart and a skillful hands, God can do great things.

Application:

I have always had a pure heart for the Lord and have always desired to do things His way.  My heart has always been a heart of integrity, wanting what God wants, but I sense I am at a place where I need to work on my skills, especially leadership skills.  I am starting a masters program to work on those skills.  I need to get the skills up to the level of the heart.

Prayer:

Father, help me develop the skills to lead Your people well.  I'm going after education in this area, but I really want You to train me and help me become the leader You want me to be.  Teach me to be all You want me to be and to do all You want me to do.  More than anything, I want to fulfill Your plans for my life and I want nothing to hinder that.

Yours,
Jeff

My Heart is Fixed

Scripture:

Psalm 57:7  "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, yea, I will sing praises".

Observation:

The Psalmist declares here that his heart is fixed.  He has no plans to stray away and he states it twice.  He then repeats twice that he will sing praises.  When we fix our hearts on the Lord, we will sing His praises.

Application:

I want my heart to be fixed on the Lord.  It is easy to get off focus and look at other things.  It is easy to get discouraged, etc.  I need to fix my heart on Him and He ill take care of every other detail.  I want to zoom in close and stay fixed upon the Lord, then I won't be distracted by what is going on around me.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to stay fixed on You and to ever stop singing Your praises.  You are amazing and have walked with me every day of my life.  You are my provider and the source of every good thing in my life.  You are my strength and I love You with all my heart.

Yours Forever,
Jeff

Restore My Joy

Scripture:

Psalm 51:12 "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a willing spirit".

Observation:

David had messed up royally with Bathsheba and was now coming to God and crying out for mercy for all he had done.  In the midst of his contrition and repentance, he cries out these words, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation".  David had walked with the Lord and experienced the Lord's joy.  When it was gone, he longed to have it back.

Application:

There are times in our lives when we go through things that rob our joy.  It may not be because of sin, but just the cares of life that drag us down and steal our joy.  We must learn to come to the Lord, the source of joy, and ask Him to restore our joy.  It is the joy of the Lord that is our strength.  We need it desperately, but it really only comes from God.  We must seek Him, then our joy will return to us.

Prayer:

Father, restore Your joy in my life.  My life use to be characterized by crazy amounts of joy.  I was known as someone who was always joyful.  I have let life steal me joy and I want it back.  I want to enjoy life again.  I want to laugh much again.

Yours,
Jeff

Know that He is God

Scripture:

Psalm 46:10  "Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth".

Observation:

The Psalmist here is speaking about God, then suddenly he switches to speaking for God.  He tells us to "be still and know that I am God" and that He will be exalted in all the earth.  This is God talking about God and telling us to be still and know He is God and He is in control.

Application:

God wants us to know He is in control.  He wants us to know that He will be exalted among all the nations and wants us to be still, stop worrying, stop stressing and be still.  Knowing He is God takes us a little farther.  We are not to hope He is God, but to know He is God.  When we KNOW He is God, we can be still.  We must KNOW Him.

Prayer:

Lord, I want to know You more and more each day.  I want to grow in You and be able to be still, simply knowing You are in control and that You will take care of all the details of my life.  You are amazing and I want to serve You well.  Help me to be still and know all I need to know.

Yours,
Jeff

Thou Wilt Answer

Scripture:

Psalm 38:15  "For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God".

Observation:

The Psalmist here tells us that his hope is in the Lord and I love his three word statement of faith, "You wilt answer".  In this I see the confidence of the writer that God will answer his prayer and his calls for help.  His first words show hope, this second statement shows faith.

Observation:

When we come to God, we must have hope and faith.  Our hope must be in the Lord and not in ourselves.  It is He who will bring us through the tough times of life.  I must learn to speak faith more strongly.  The Psalmist says, "Thou wilt answer".  My faith is more like "Thou might answer".  We need to walk in true faith that knows God is going to come through.

Prayer:

Father, You are the source of my hope and faith.  You are my all in all.  Help me to walk in more faith and make stronger faith declarations.  Help me to speak with boldness and confidence in You.  Let my faith language grow stronger.

Yours,
Jeff

The Eye of Jehovah

Scripture:

Psalm 33:18-19  "Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him, Upon them that hope in his lovingkindness; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine".

Observation:

The Psalmist says here that the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him.  It is on them that put their hope in His lovingkindness.  He goes on to say that He will deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

Application:

This is a beautiful picture of how God looks after us.  He keeps His eye on those who fear Him.  He watches our every step.  He delivers us from death and preserves our lives when His eye is on us.  I want God to keep His eye on me.  When we go away, we tell people to "keep an eye on my stuff".  God is keeping His eye on me and watching out for me every day.  I can have confidence that He will keep me protected.

Prayer:

Lord, thanks for reminding me that You are watching over me to protect me and to keep me from making wrong moves.  Guide me and show me exactly what You want of me each day.  Direct my paths and keep Your eye on me as I fear You and hope in Your lovingkindness.

Yours,
Jeff

Whom Shall I Fear?

Scripture:

Psalm 27:1  "Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"

Observation:

David tells us here that God is his light and salvation.  He also says God is the strength of his life.  Based on these two things, he says, "Whom shall I fear?" and "Of whom shall I be afraid?"  Because God was the center of David's life, he knew he had nobody else to fear.

Application:

When God is at the center of who you are, there is nobody to fear.  He is greater than everything we fear, therefore we must fear only Him.  God is above and beyond only and not beneath.  He is greater than anything we fear.  His name is worthy to be praised and we need to fear nothing.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to fear You alone and not any other man.  Help me to walk in Your strength.  Be my light and my salvation.  Be the stronghold of my life and let me fear only You.

Yours,
Jeff

I Shall Not Want

Scripture:

Psalm 23:1  "Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want".

Observation:

David says here that the Lord is his shepherd and that because of that, he will not want.  In other words, everything David needs, he knew the Lord was going to take care of.  He knew he didn't have to stress out about the things he needed because Jehovah would take care of him like a good shepherd.

Application:

This is a level of trusting God that says He will take care of our needs.  Sheep don't provide for themselves.  They trust the shepherd to take them into green pastures and beside still waters.  We must learn to trust the Lord like a sheep trusts the shepherd.  May we come to the place where we have no wants because we know the shepherd is working on our behalf and He will take care of us.

Prayer:

Lord God, You are my shepherd.  Forgive me for all the times I try to take my life into my own hands an do what I think is best to feed and provide for me.  Forgive me for not trusting You more with taking care of me.  I want to trust You more and more each day.  Meet all my needs today.

Yours,
Jeff

I Have Set Jehovah Before Me

Scripture:

Psalm 16:8  "I have set Jehovah always before me: Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved".

Observation:

The Psalmist here says that he has "set" Jehovah always before him.  He says because he has set Jehovah at his right hand and because of this that he will never be moved.

Application:

We need to once and for all SET Jehovah, over our lives in every area.  We need to place him at our right hand, which is the hand of authority.  We need to make Him the center of our lives and of every decision that is made in our lives.  Then, we will not be moved by anything our enemies can throw at us.  We have to set Him in place and never move.

Prayer:

Father, You said in Your word that we are to SET our affections on things above.  This morning help me to SET my affections on You eternally.  Let me not be moved by anything but You.  Help me to overcome every obstacle and run the race before me.  I SET You before me.  Help me not to get off track.

Your Son,
Jeff