“Sing to the Lord with grateful praise” (Psalm 147:4).
Here’s a link to a song – “I’m forever grateful.” The video will lead you to think of God, your Creator. The words will lead you to the cross of Christ, your Saviour. Look around you – and sing to the Lord with grateful praise. Look to your Saviour – and sing to him with grateful praise.
Genesis 4:1-5
Lord, when we come to You, we come with our sin. We can’t do anything else. Sin is a part of what we are. It’s the heart of what we are.
Lord, our life is a journey. We can be travelling with You – or we can be running away from You. Day-by day, we are further down the road – closer to You or further away from You. Day-by-day, we must choose: Will we travel with You, Lord? or Will we go our own way? Often, we make bad choices. We take a wrong turning. Things go from bad to worse. We lose sight of You. We get lost. We wonder, “Is there a way back home? Is there a way back to the Lord?” We thank You, Lord, that You are waiting for us. In love, You are waiting for us to turn around – to make our way back to You. You are waiting for us to stop wandering – and start returning. Lead us, Lord. Lead us to Yourself. Lead us out of the wilderness of our sin. Lead us into the promised land of Your salvation.
Lord, You are always with us – but we are not always with You. There is never a time when You are not there at our side – but there are many times when we don’t realize that You are right there, beside us at every stage in our journey through life. Life isn’t easy! Bad things happen to us – and we take our eyes off You. Before we know it, we’re going round in circles – getting nowhere quickly. What are we to make of all this? Are we to say, “Why have You left me, Lord?” Our difficult circumstances are shouting at us, “God has left you. You’re on your own. Make the most of it – without Him.” Lord, help us, when we feel like this, to keep on listening for Your “still, small voice.” Help us to hear the “gentle whisper” of Your love (1 Kings 19:11-12). When our emotions are pulling us this way, pulling us that way, pulling us all over the place, help us to hear and believe Your precious promise: “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Lord, where have all the years gone? Five years becomes ten years. Ten years becomes twenty years. Twenty years becomes forty years …. Is there something more than this? – We thank You that You are the eternal God. In all the changing circumstances of our life, help us to remember this: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). You are the eternal God. Your love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. This is our encouragement – when everything around us is changing. We are encouraged. Lord, may we also be challenged: How much of our life is bringing glory to You?
Genesis 5:18-32
Lord, help us to walk with You. Sometimes, we wonder, “Where is our life leading us?” That depends, Lord, on who’s doing the leading. Are we being “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14)? or Have we allowed the devil to slip into the place where You alone should be? Lord, lead us to the place of blessing. Lead us by Your grace. Give us the faith which says, “Jesus is stronger than Satan and sin. Satan to Jesus must bow” (A.C.D.). When Satan – the intruder – tries to take Your place in our hearts, help us to give the answer of faith, “Satan has no authority here in this place. He has no authority here” (Debbye Graafsma). Help us to “leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul.” Help us “to keep our armour bright.” Help us to “attend with constant care, still walking in our Captain’s sight and watching unto prayer” (Charles Wesley).
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live
Lord, we’ve only just begun – to experience Your love and enjoy Your blessing. We’ve started out on the journey of faith – but we haven’t reached our destination. We’re still travelling. We dare not stand still. We must keep on going forward – with You and for You. Sometimes, we can forget where we’re going – and we can forget how to get there. Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus – He will lead us on to the glory of heaven.
We thank You, Lord, that Jesus is “Emmanuel … God with us” (Matthew 1:23). “He walked where we walk. He stood where we stand, He felt what we feel. He understands. He knows our frailty. He shared our humanity. He was tempted in every way – yet without sin. He is God with us. He is so close to us. He died in our place that we might live” (Graham Kendrick). As we think of Jesus, Your perfect Son, our perfect Saviour, may our hearts be filled with worship. May our songs of praise give glory to Your great Name, the Name of our salvation.
Lord, help us to stand upon the truth of Your Word – not to collapse under the lies of the devil. When Your Word says, ‘This is what the Lord has done’, who are we to say, ‘Is this really what You have done?’ Talk like that doesn’t come from You, Lord. It comes from our enemy, Your enemy – the devil. When the devil attacks us – sowing seeds of unbelief, help us to take our stand against him. Help us to triumph over him by the power of Your Word.
He walked where I walked (God with us)
You have been given the name above all names
We thank You, Lord, that Jesus – “the king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2) – is the “King of kings” (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16). Help us to “worship Him” (Matthew 2:3). Help us to “kneel before the King”, to “sing His praise”, to sing “Hallelujah to the King … our King of salvation, Master of the universe, King of all creation” (Gary McSpadden).
Lord, give us wisdom. How do we receive wisdom? – We receive Jesus. He is ‘our wisdom’ (1 Corinthians 1:30). What is the wisdom we receive from Jesus? – It is ‘salvation’ (2 Timothy 3:15). Jesus is our Saviour. Lord, give us more wisdom. Give us more of Jesus. Help us to get to know Him more-and-more each day. Give to us the knowledge of Jesus, which is our salvation – knowing Him as our Saviour, knowing His power to save, His power to bring us out of our darkness and into His light.
Lord, help us to worship You – not just to make big promises – ‘We will worship You’, and then forget all about these big promises! Worship is about putting You first. It’s about keeping You at the centre of our life. It’s about more than ‘going to church’ – more than ‘an hour on a Sunday.’ It’s about giving ourselves to You. It’s about living for You – our whole life becoming a song of praise to You. Lord, help us to worship You.
Matthew 2:13-23
Lord, we thank You for Jesus – risen from the dead, and living in us! We remember Jesus’ resurrection – and we give thanks with great joy. We think of Jesus, living in us – and we’re learning to live each day in His power. Through Your power, Jesus came from death to life. Through His risen power, we leave behind what we once where and we become what You call us to be.
Lord, you are so precious to me
_____
Romans 1:1-32
“I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (Romans 1:16). Lord, we thank You for Your Gospel. It is Good News. It comes to us with power. It brings to us salvation. Help us to believe Your Gospel, to release its power and to receive Your salvation.
Romans 2:1-29
Help us, Lord, not to come to You with the Pharisee’s pride: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” Help us to come with the sinner’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 11-13). Help us, Lord, to confess our sin and rejoice in Your salvation: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Romans 3:1-31
“All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Lord, this is more than the Bible’s teaching about sin. It’s our own personal story. It’s the story of our life. Sin – This is not the only story. There’s another story, a better story – the Story of Your salvation. You have sent Jesus to our world. He is our Saviour. He comes to us with His pardon, His peace and His power. He saves us. He changes us. “Sin shall not have dominion over us” (Romans 6:14) – Thank You, Lord.
Keep on praying for our troubled world – and don’t forget to thank God for answers to prayer.
How long will we be in this wilderness?
Sometimes, we feel like we’re in a wilderness – and we can’t get out of it!
The first half of the book of Exodus tells of the deliverance of the people of Israel from their time of bondage in the land of Egypt.
Things were looking up! Surely, there were better days ahead for them. Nothing could be as bad as slavery. So they thought!
Then, there was the wilderness – and it went on and on … for years … forty years!
Did they have any idea that their time in the wilderness would last for forty years?
Was there no end to this wilderness?
They had heard about the promised land – but they were not there yet.
There was nothing but wilderness … wilderness … wilderness …
There seemed to be no end in sight.
Were they getting closer to the promised land? or Were they just lost in the wilderness – with no idea where they were going and no way of knowing how they were going to get to the promised land?
Sometimes, we can feel like the people of Israel. We wonder if there’s any way out of the wilderness.
Sometimes, our time in the wilderness seems to go on and on and on …
Really? – The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years!
For almost all of Israel’s older generation (including their leader, Moses), there was no way out of the wilderness. Of the older generation, only Caleb and Joshua received the blessing of entering the promised land.
When Joshua led the younger generation into the promised land, was life any easier than it had been in the wilderness?
In the wilderness, there had been hard times. In the promised land, there were many battles to be fought.
What are we to do when we feel that our heads are going down?
Here are a few thoughts from the Old Testament books, which tell us about Israel’s journey from the land of slavery to the land of blessing.
“The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation” (Exodus 15:2).
When we become deeply aware of our own weakness, we look to the Lord and we find that our true strength is in him.
When we don’t feel like singing, he gives us a song to sing. It’s the song of salvation. It’s not a song that tells us to “always look on the bright side of life.” When we can’t see the bright side of life, we need something more than this. We need the Good News that God loves us, the Good News that tells us that the Lord has done great things for us, the Good News that creates in us ths song of praise, which says, “To God be the glory!”
When we move into the book of Leviticus, we find, as early as the fourth verse of the first chapter a word that is rich in meaning. It is the word, “atonement.” This word points us forward to Jesus Christ, “the Lam of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). When we’re going through a hard time, let us remember that Jesus was crucified for us – and let us, also, remember that he was raised from the dead for us. When we feel like everything is getting too much for us, may the bright shining light of Christ’s resurrection lead us to say, from the heart, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
From the book of Leviticus, we move on to the book of Numbers, where we find these wonderful words: “The Lord bless you and keep you” (6:24). There are many times when we don’t feel very blessed. These are the times when we need to be reminded of God’s love for us. God keeps on loving us in the hard times as well as the happy times.
Moving on into the book of Deuteronomy, we learn that we are to “live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (8:3). As we travel through the wilderness of our life, we are not left to live in our own strength. We receive strength from the Word of the Lord. Let us listen to the Word of the Lord. Let us read the Word of the Lord. Let us study the Word of the Lord. Let us build our lives on the Word of the Lord. The wilderness will not seem such a terrifying place when we’re “letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3:16).
The book of Joshua takes us beyond the wilderness. It takes us into the promised land. It may have been the promised land – but it wasn’t heaven on earth. There were battles to be fought. There were victories to be won. In the opening chapter of Joshua, there are some wonderful words of encouragement: ““Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (verses 7-9).
Where does our strength and courage come from? It comes from the Word of the Lord. We feed upon the Word of the Lord, and we grow strong. We feed upon the Word of the Lord, and we receive the courage that we need to step into the future, trusting in the promise of God: “the Lord your God will be with you” – in the bad times as well as the good times.
Here’s a hymn which will help us to be the kind of people the Lord wants us to be – I Want To Walk With Jesus Christ Song Lyrics Video – YouTube.
To end our time of praising the Lord together, let’s sing Colours of Day (Light up the fire)
God bless each of you.
Charlie
Learning From God's Word 
Thanks, Donald, Mrs Holliman, Ryan, Alan and Bangon, for liking this post. God bless each of you.