Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 147:12-20, “Extol the LORD, Jerusalem; praise your God, Zion. He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat. He sends His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast? He sends His word and melts them; He stirs up His breezes, and the waters flow. He has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws. Praise the LORD.”
Understand:
In this last cycle of praise, we see the people of Israel being called to praise the One who gave them security, peace, and the finest of wheat. The greatness of God is seen in how His word operates in all the earth. It’s by His word that He controls nature and all of its elements. In all this display of God’s greatness, the most important thing He has done is reveal Himself to His people. Through His Word, He has made Himself known!
Apply:
That God would make Himself known is good news for us! Yet, some choose to not accept it. The book of Romans says that God is plainly seen in His creation, but people choose to exchange the truth of God for a lie and their hearts become darkened.
I’m grateful that I have seen the light of God’s love. It’s humbling to think of God revealing Himself to us, at least it is to me.
I can remember one story of God revealing Himself to me. It was shortly after I began to walk with Jesus and I was having a hard time understanding what it meant to please God. Somehow I had come to the conclusion that I had to do something great if I wanted Him to be pleased with me; I had to impress Him by following Him well. Needless to say, I was falling far short! One morning I read John 15:16, “You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit. It is fruit that will last.”
I thought to myself, “Why me LORD? I’m a nobody. Why would you choose me? I’m dumb as a box of rocks…I’m so unworthy of anything you would do for me.” And immediately it was as though God said to me, “Jim, it’s because it pleases me; I find joy in choosing you! In fact, Jim, you are so precious to me that I have given my only Son Jesus for you.”
I was moved! The thought of me, a nobody in the eyes of the world, but who had such great worth in the eyes of the creator that God Himself would give His Son Jesus to die in my place was humbling and filled me with comfort.
This is what I remember when I think of what He has done for me. It leads me to praise the LORD, to trust Him in all situations. It fills my heart with great joy!
So, how about you? Take some time and think back to the time God made Himself known to you. Remember what He has done for you and humbly come before Him and offer Him your praise.
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.