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Fr, 5/29/15, "Day of Praise"
"Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." - Proverbs 30:7-9
When I was a kid, my mom went with my dad on a business trip. My dad worked in the international division of chemical sales for Tennessee Eastman, which was a part of Eastman Kodak at that time. Their trip was to Europe, which meant that somebody had to stay with us four kids for about a week.
Her name was Mrs. White. I have no idea how old she was. My goodness, I can't remember how old I was. All I knew then was that she looked old and over-matched by us four kids, of which I was the third.
To the best of my knowledge, we kids had never met Mrs. White before her stay with us, and, afterwards, we never saw her again. We must have terrified her.
I know I did. I can't remember anybody's age, but I can remember my offense. All I wanted to eat was macaroni and cheese. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For a week.
I thought I was in heaven.
She must've thought I was unstable or something because every time she asked me what I wanted to eat, I'd say, "Macaroni and Cheese." Then she'd look at me like I was crazy. And then she'd make it for me. Every meal for a week.
It was like I was saying, "Give me only my mac and cheese." It was a child's version of the heart of today's Bible passage where God teaches us to say, "Give me only my daily bread," which is what Jesus also teaches us in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," which is only to ask for each day's portion of bread for the belly and bread for the soul.
Can you imagine how awesome the whole world would be if every single person was content with the day's portion of bread for the belly and bread for the soul? Everybody would have God and friendships and enough food for the belly to satisfy. Everyday. Forever. Can you imagine the peace and contentment and joy?
Oh sure there'd be some who would look at us like we were crazy as they were thinking, "You're able to live and be satisfied with 'only your daily bread'?"
Can you imagine?
I can. It would be the adult version of a kid who was happy for a week with only his mac and cheese!
Praise God!
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Tu, 5/26/15, "Day of Praise"
"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." - Psalm 103:1
My poor dad.
When I was eight, I would praise the Lord with "all my inmost being" every time we went to church so much so that even my left leg got involved. Ya see, my left leg would start praising God by tappin' up and down, usually while we were sitting and listening to the sermon.
However, my praises had a tendency to drive my dad, (who always sat on my left), and his right leg, nuts.
And then, like magic, without even looking, he'd reach over and touch my left leg and send my praise of God directly to my right leg!
It was amazing!
Then, without looking, he'd reach toward my right leg, and before he even touched me, he could send my praise of God to my neck, which would swirl my head all around like a praise-filled bobble head doll.
And then, he'd finally turn his head and look at me.
To this day, I have no idea what expression he had on his face because his look would freeze my whole body.
For at least three or four minutes.
And then all my praising God would start all over again.
My poor dad.
Now I just lift my heart and voice all the time. And I lift my hands a lot of the time. And I really can't get enough worship.
I could worship at church seven days every week, probably three times a day, and I wouldn't get tired of it.
But since my current station in life as a father of three amazing kids won't exactly permit being at church that much, (though, I'm quite sure my kids would love to worship that much too if it was practical), I just walk around with a song of praise to God in my heart.
Most of the time.
I do have my moments.
But all the time I really do walk around, thanking God for my dad, who endured my younger years of worship, and for my wife and kids and my mom and my church family and all you Day of Praise friends who send inspiring stories and/or uplifting brief replies.
I pray that the praise of God will overflow from us all so much that we, well, maybe we move a person or two to look our way and wonder what in the world all the leg-tappin' and head-bobbin' is all about.
"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." - Psalm 103:1
Praise God!
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Mo, 5/25/15, Memorial Day, "Day of Praise"
Here's one of my favorites from Memorial Day last year.
John 15:13 - "[Jesus said,] 'Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.'"
As we take time this Memorial Day to thank God for the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and the freedoms we enjoy, let's remember that Christ, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the spiritual freedom of every nation, was raised from the dead to pour out his life everyday to set people free.
My three kids and I are on vacation for a few days. As we worshiped together in our hotel room yesterday morning, my oldest, Calley, concluded our worship by asking God to cross our paths with His choices so we could be a blessing in Christ here like we ask to be at home.
Well, no sooner had we finished worship than we walked 50 yards to our bus and got there just in time to be the last on board so that we were standing at the yellow line next to the driver. The driver started having a grand time, looking in the mirror and engaging everyone on the sound system. His name was Tito, and he was from Carolina, Puerto Rico.
I turned to Tito and said, "I'm so excited because I've always dreamed that when I retire from pastoring that I'll become a Disney bus driver and minister to people like you're doing."
Tito replied, "Oh, I'm a big believer, but I don't do the church thing."
I said, "Just look at all the joy you're bringing to people on this bus who weren't even looking for it. Just think how much you'd bring to the many people who come to church because they're looking for God!"
Tito's face turned white as a sheet. Then he asked if, after we got to our destination and everyone else got off, we'd stay and listen to something about God as Creator that he'd recently downloaded to his phone.
Of course, we said, "Yes!" because Calley had asked God not ten minutes beforehand to cross our paths with His choices.
After the bus unloaded, we stayed with Tito, and he played his download about God being the greatest Artist who created all the other great artists. And then we encouraged him to find a church home and use his God-given gifts toward others.
He started crying, which is a Biblical mark of revival, and shared how he wasn't even supposed to be driving that bus yesterday, but two others bailed out on the company, and he was the next driver they called. He also shared how God told him to close the door right after we got on the bus instead of cramming in 20 more like he was supposed to do, which led to our standing right next to him.
In sum, y'all, Christ poured himself out through worship in a hotel room and Calley's prayer and a willingness by Tito to serve by driving a bus you're not supposed to be driving and to talk to the most important person in your world, namely, the person who is right in front of you. Tito, Calley, and the rest of our family, we're just plain ordinary people like all of you, who God wants to work through extraordinarily, as with all of you, so He can get the glory because we were all made to love to praise the Lord.
So stop right now, like Calley did, and ask the Lord to cross your path today and everyday with the people of His choice. Yes, it's kind of scary because it's laying down your life both for others and for God's glory. But we can lay down our lives for these purposes because 1) others have poured out their lives for us, as we celebrate today on this Memorial Day, and 2) Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, continues to pour out his life for us everyday!
To God be the Glory!
Praise God!
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Sa, 05/23/15, 49th of 50 Days of Easter, Pentecost Eve, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." - Romans 10:4
I love the song "10,000 Reasons". (Google/YouTube it.)
And today's verse gives us one of the top reasons out of 10,000 why we sing to God -- "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." - Romans 10:4
Apart from Christ, the law is never ending because the law points out our sins and our shortcomings. With our sins and shortcomings in full view, we need the law to curb our sin and keep sin in check. Furthermore, the law just tells us what must be done, but it can't do anything for us. Therefore, the law creates a never-ending cycle that points out our sin but can't help us end our sin.
Christ, on the other hand, is the end of the law. This doesn't mean that we get a blank check to sin. To the contrary, the holiness and perfect love of Christ stand in stark contrast to, and therefore reveal, our sin and our guilt. However, Christ, unlike the law, is alive and personal, so Christ can live in us and work in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, doing for us what we can't do for ourselves, namely, cover our sin and pay for our sin and give us a clean slate and new beginnings.
This is why Christ is the end of the law -- because he does what the law does and more. He points out our sin, and he also deals with it on our behalf.
But remember today's verse, Christ does this "to everyone who believes." If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you're on your own, and the law will never end for you. But when you surrender to the Holy Spirit, which God sends to call us to faith, then Jesus comes faithfully and dwells in you so that you might have peace with God and a new life, characterized by humility, thankfulness, and the love of Christ flowing through you.
It's a lot to think about on a Saturday, but it's a better alternative to remaining under the law!!!
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." - Romans 10:4
Happy Saturday!
Praise God!
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Fr, 05/22/15, 48th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
Sometimes I just need to be quiet and let God tell us why we should praise him. Here ya go.
Psalm 104
1 Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate--bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
to their labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.
Praise God!
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Th, 05/21/15, 47th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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We, 05/20/15, 46th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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Tu, 05/19/15, 45th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
So, I'm barely done sending out yesterday's Day of Praise texts since there are many who receive it that way instead of email. (And remember, yesterday's devotion was about a wonderful kid with orange-Cheetos hands giving me and my black clothes a big two-handed hug from God.)
So I'm barely done sending out those texts when I walk into church and see all the preschool kids in the hall, and I ask them all what I regularly ask them, "Who's with you all day long?" And most of the 3s and 4s and some of the 2s say, "Jesus!"
And before I can get to the next question ("Who are you?" where the kids answer, "A child of God!"), this three year old boy comes flying out of the bathroom and gives me a great big, WET, 2-handed hug, and then he steps back, looks up and says, "I huuded yah voice so I huuded out to hug you!"
Tears of joy spilled forth from me and another adult who saw it.
Maybe that's why Jesus said, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them..." in today's verse. I bet Jesus loved it when God's littlest ones came running to him with Cheetos hands or wet-bathroom hands just because they heard his voice.
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Mo, 05/18/15, 44th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional, which is from the archives, but we had a worship and potluck dinner celebration last night for our high school grads and it reminded me...
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." - Romans 1:16
So, the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
What might that look like in everyday, earthly terms?
Here's an image.
A little boy comes up to me at church last night.
He's a hugger.
He's just eaten.
Something orange.
Like Cheetos.
I don't know, but he's definitely just eaten something orange because it's all over his right hand.
I totally love him.
And his hugs.
But I'm wearing black. Ya know, preacher-clothes black with the little white thingie on my collar.
It's before worship, so I don't want orange on my black. Kinda like the priest in the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. Ya know, the priest probably didn't spread the love to the guy who needed it because the priest didn't want to mess up his preacher clothes.
Anyway. I know this little boy is a hugger. Just like me 99% of the time. But just not right before worship when it's gonna get a big right hand of orange on my black pants.
So I smile and tell him. "I love your hugs, but not till you wash."
He looks at me. Kinda puzzled. Then thinkin. Looks at his hand. Looks back at me.
He says matter-of-factly, "I can hug you with one hand."
My heart melts.
So we hug.
With two hands.
If you don't believe me...
I have the orange on my black to show it. The wonderful consequence of persistent love.
A love that's always lookin' for ways to bless.
Even when we're lookin' for ways to keep it at arms' length.
Or further.
But God keeps comin'.
One handed hugs.
Two handed.
You name it.
The Advent, the Coming of our God.
In power.
And childlike love.
God come to us in Jesus Christ, a babe in a manger. Or with an orange hand on our black pants.
Either way God sees fit. Whatever way God sees fit. Because by God's grace, I am not ashamed. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" - Romans 1:16
Praise God!
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Sa, 05/16/15, 42nd of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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Fr, 05/15/15, 41st of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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Th, 05/14/15, The Celebration of The Ascension of Our Lord, 40th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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We, 05/13/15, 39th of 50 Days of Easter, "Day of Praise," so say it with The Easter Guy, "Jesus is alive, and you are loved!"
Okay! Today's devotional...
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