Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Psalm 104:1-9

Psalm 104:1-9
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  The world doesn't have to be beautiful.  It could be purely functional with no aesthetic  beauty, simply serving the purpose of enabling us to live.
  But God creates a beautiful and wondrous world, going so far as to make even the depths of the ocean vast with wonder.  God creates a world filled with beauty, and even this world gives glory to God.  It creates a heavenly chorus that is constantly praising God, through the crashing of the waves and the song of the birds.  All of creation gives glory to God.
  Will we join the song, or focus instead on ourselves?

May we lift our voices and hearts to glorify God!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Psalm 103:15-22

Psalm 103:15-22
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

  Every once in a while the brevity of life hits me suddenly, and my mind tries to wrap itself around the expanse of eternity in comparison with my short time on this earth.  I fail to grasp the depths of time, and I am left wondering just what I mean in my trip around the sun.
  In comparison to my short life, God's love endures forever.  There is no beginning and no end to the eternal love of God.  It simply is, and we are welcomed into that love, surrounded and embraced by it.  You are loved, I am loved, we are loved, and though we are on earth for the blink of an eye, we are forever embraced by God's grace and glory.
  In response, what else is there to do but to bless the Lord with all our souls?

May we give thanks today

Friday, November 21, 2014

Psalm 103:6-14

Psalm 103:6-14
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

  When we go to the bank for a loan, they deal with us according to our credit.  If we need to borrow something from a friend, they deal with us according to how reliable we have been in the past.  Humans work this way--our reputation and past actions affect our future outcomes.
  With God, however, he does not deal with us according to our sins.  He doesn't make sure we get what we deserve.  Instead, he deals with us according to the depths of his mercy and grace, and thanks to his abundant love, our previous sins do not determine our future outcome.  Because of his steadfast love, we can have hope that we might receive life when we might only deserve death.

May we cling to hope!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Psalm 103:1-5

Psalm 103:1-5
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

  Know what's great about the word all?  It includes everything.  God forgives all of your sin and heals all of your diseases--not just part of it, or the not-so-bad portions.  God redeems all of us from despair, and instead of the emptiness we deserve, we receive steadfast love and mercy.  Out of God's bountiful mercy and love pour gifts of grace beyond what we can fathom.
  In response to this total grace, we are called to respond with complete thanksgiving.  Since God has washed all of us, let all that is within respond with thanksgiving.

May we say thanks today

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Psalm 102:18-28

Psalm 102:18-28
The Message (MSG)

  We are in the midst of a story, and it is good.  It is a story of how richly God loves his people, although he is eternal and we are created.  He did not have to love us so, but he chose to richly pour out love upon us, and we are forever changed due to the transformative love of the Father.  You are deeply and wonderfully loved, and there is a home for you.
  Until then, we are charged to tell the story, to live the story, to sing with joy from the depth of our being that God has restored and redeemed us.

May we wonder at the miracle that enfolds us

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Psalm 102:12-17

Psalm 102:12-17
The Message (MSG)

  I think the last line of this section is perhaps the most important.  God does not dismiss your prayers.  God hears, and God cares, and God stretches out to help in the moment of despair.  This help may not always be exactly what we want, which is usually instant deliverance, but it is enough to get us through, to help us endure, to persevere to another day, one day closer to our deliverance, when all will be made clear.
  As we endure, as God brings us through the valley of the shadow of death, all those who make the valley their home will take note that we step forward, day after day, in the hopes of once more emerging into the light.
  Now that's a witness to the world.

May you press on today, with the strength of God around you, within you, before you, beneath you and behind you

Monday, November 17, 2014

Psalm 102:1-11

Psalm 102:1-11
The Message (MSG) 

  This is honesty before God, a feat many of us struggle with.  It's easier to pretend that everything is ok, to pretend that we're just moving forward, thanks for everything, God, and a little help could be fine.  We like to pretend we're independent.
  Independence isn't true.  If independence were true, we would have made today happen.  We would be able to break free from the ties that bind us, to set our own course without opposition.  But we depend on God for our life itself.  We depend on God to make it through today, and when opposition arises, we depend on God for the strength to carry forward.  Life is challenging, and when we're just pretending that everything is ok, we're ignoring the biggest source of strength in the world.  God wants to encourage you and urge you forward, to walk with you through all the moments of life.
  In times of despair, lean into God, and we will find comfort and strength to take the next step.

May you find God's arms waiting to support you

Friday, November 14, 2014

Psalm 101

Psalm 101 
NIV

 There are two parts to the faithful life:  there is how we look to God, and then how we act in response.  It's important that we tend to both.
  To start, we worship God.  All of life is a response to God.  We look at what God has done and say thank you, and we anticipate what God will do and live out our thank you.
  Our life of faith is our response to God's reaching out to us.  If we were to thank God and then live as though none of it mattered, what kind of response to God would that be?  If Rachel baked me a cookie and I said thank you and threw it directly in the trash, what would you say about me?
  So we live out our faith.  We avoid evil.  We live with integrity.  We are not perfect, but are zealous for serving and pleasing God, and in so doing we bring him glory.

May we look for ways to serve God today

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Psalm 100

Psalm 100 
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

  I have a recommendation.  Take 10 minutes and memorize this Psalm.  It's well worth your time, and once it's stuck in your mind, you'll be able to recite it over and over in any setting.  Waiting in line, when you're frustrated, sitting in traffic--it will be right there, and you'll be re-orienting yourself to God continuously.  It may seem challenging, but it's worth the challenge, and this bit of Scripture will forever embed itself in your heart.

May Scripture guide you in all you do

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Psalm 99

Psalm 99 
Revised Standard Version (RSV)

  I don't think that many of us pay our taxes with enthusiasm.  We offer our tributes, but we'd much rather keep that money for ourselves, and we may doubt if the government's use of it is the wisest and best choice.  We may not have full respect for the government.
  The picture we get here with God is that when we see God in his glory, when we recognize his power and majesty and glory and might and grace and love and mercy, we're overwhelmed with a desire to honor God, and so we give our tribute willingly--we give our praise and our money and our time and our energy to serve and honor God, because we recognize all that is good about God.  God reigns from heaven, and he reigns for us, pouring out love upon us.
  So we give back willingly, in the hopes of honoring God, crying out to the world around us that God is good and worthy of our praise.

May we make time to worship God in the midst of life

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Psalm 98

Psalm 98 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  What if I asked you why a lion roars? Or why a tree grows?  Or why the earth spins?  You might have an answer for each based on science, but your answer might also be similar to the answer we give Caleb for many questions:  'because that's what it does'.  Some things happen just because it's an essential part of that identity.  Lions roar.  Waves crash.  The earth spins.  Congress disagrees.
  Well, here we see that an essential part of many items in nature is praising God.  The waves and hills and rivers sing for joy to God because it's how they were designed.  Their beauty is made by God and exists to proclaim God.  The rivers and the animals praise God because that's how they were made.
  We were made that way, too.  The difference is that we used our intellect to choose another path.  We opted to worship other things, choosing to direct our full energies toward idols rather than God.  In doing so, we turned from our truest nature to a shallower form of life.
  God, in his grace, gives us the chance to turn back to him, to direct our energy and our life toward the worship of him, to join the natural chorus and shout God's praises in all we do.

May we worship God with all our voice today!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Psalm 97

Psalm 97
English Standard Version (ESV)

  My son has a number of stuffed bears.  Imagine that you are playing with a stuffed bear, unaware of the fact that it might be an image of a real bear, and the real thing is infinitely more lifelike and amazing and awesome than the stuffed image, but because you can't really fathom the real thing and because you haven't actually seen it, you content yourself with the fact that the stuffed animal is as real as it gets.
  You'd be in for a big surprise when the real bear showed up, right?
  In the same way, we content ourselves by playing with imitations of God, things that promise to fulfill our deepest desires without having the ability to do so, but if we don't recognize how short they fall, we will be in for a big surprise when the mountains melt at the presence of the Lord.  We will cower in fear out of our folly.
  So the pleasures of this earth are not bad--they just need to remain in their place, and we need to not forget that God is all-powerful and mighty and victorious, and He (and he alone!) is worthy of our ultimate praise.

  May we have discerning hearts today

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Psalm 96

Psalm 96 
The Message (MSG) 

  We would do well to take seriously the heart of this message:  God is worth rejoicing about.  Make a big deal about how great he is!

  I could start listing all the marvelous things God has done, but a century of lifetimes would only give me time to make the shallowest of dents.  I could begin to detail all the ways God has blessed each and every one of us, but I could only start to scratch the surface if I dedicated the rest of my days to this.  I could list how great God is for keeping every single promises, but the internet does not contain enough space to list God's goodness.

  God is more wonderful than you or I can even begin to fathom, and all of his beauty, wonder and love he has poured out upon us, for us, so that we might live with him, so that we might enter his kingdom and share in his glory.
  Nothing in our lives is nearly as important as our eternal relationship with our loving and gracious God.  May we be wise and set time aside to shout God's praises from the depths of our hearts.

May you place God first today

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Psalm 95

Psalm 95 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Sing in joy!  Shout with thanksgiving!  The Lord is good, and nothing shall change that!
  I often find myself focused on what is wrong, on the flaws that are a part of my life, a part of me, and in doing so I lose the opportunity to give thanks for so many good things!  When one tiny thing is wrong with my body, I focus on that and lose sight of the miracle that the rest of my body is working well together!
  So it is in life... we lose sight of the giant wonders because of the tiny flaws that we fixate upon.  We forget to thank God for so many good things because of a few things that are not going our way.
 
May our lives be songs of joy, and may the pain of life present to us an opportunity to remember all that God has done!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Psalm 94:16-23

Psalm 94:16-23
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I tend to hope in many things.  As it's election day, I could mention that I occasionally hope that politicians will strive to serve the people.  I hope for financial success and good health.  I hope for many things for my children, and I hope for the wisdom to live rightly.
  My soul, at its very core, places its hope in the Lord, because nothing else will stand the deepest and hardest tests we will face.  When all else has failed, when life itself is fading, the Lord will be faithful still.  At the darkest valley, God will abide, and hope can abound, because life eternal is in him, the light of the world.

May you hope in God

Monday, November 3, 2014

Psalm 94:8-15

Psalm 94:8-15
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I never think of myself as blessed when I am disciplined.  I don't welcome correction.  It's hard to receive such news.  I'd much rather just be told how wonderful I am.
  But when we receive correction, it is a blessing, because it helps us recognize our mistakes and it should lead us back to the proper path.  This is what Paul means when he writes, in Romans 2:4, that God's kindness should lead us to repentance.  It is the kindest thing God can do to help us see the error of our ways, for only then can we truly turn from sin and turn back to God and receive the wondrous joy of his grace shining fully on our face.  If we are running from him, we miss out, and God wants us to have the fullness of abundant life, now and forevermore.

May we have the humility and wisdom to seek correction and welcome discipline, that we might alter our course and participate more fully in the Kingdom of God