Call To Praise

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Mark Shields

The stimulus for the call to praise in Psalm 66-67, is looking back at the past and what good things God has done so this gives enthusiasm going forward. Let us all be encouraged today as a child of God and live with enthusiasm. Live each day knowing He is with us always and knowing the future with God will be beyond what could be imagined.

God is related to Israel’s history since the beginning as He brought the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. He parted the Red Sea so Moses and the people could escape to a land flowing with milk and honey where there would be peace and prosperity.

Other nations would witness what God had done for Israel and know that God would do it for them too if they would be a nation under Him. This day with God, let us consider God’s nature and review His activity in the world with the hope that this would inspire enthusiasm towards a future of following His way.

By reflecting on the joys of the past, we can get excited for what is to come about and be thankful for the path laid out. If we are excited about what God is doing in our life, those around us will get excited about what God can do in their lives.

The desire is to attract others to walk by faith, put their hope in God, and accept God’s mercy through the loving gift of His son. This fulfills the Great Commission (Matt.28:18-20) of taking the gospel to all nations.

This day with You Lord, we can remember the joys of the past and we are excited about what You will be doing in the future. You were there with Moses to part the Red Sea and You are with us now to help us get through anything. We can patiently handle difficulties with poise because we know there is freedom and victory in our future. Amen.

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The Right Path

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Mark Shields

A thought from a devotional on Psalm 58 is that you can start this day on the right path by first going to God in prayer and listening to the voice of Truth. This voice will remove roadblocks and lay out a level path so the advantage will then belong to the righteous for finishing victoriously.

Index of devotionals

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Poetry Friday 04-21-2023

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Mark Shields

A poem posted at my other blog Step Ahead is inspired by the post Reflect the Light which is about how there may be times those around us let us down but it doesn’t pay to be discouraged. We can always go to God in prayer to restore our faith.

As the song Strong Enough by Matthew West says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”. Christ has conquered the roaring lion called Satan to assure us of a sweet victory.

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Grow The Fruit Of The Spirit

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Mark Shields

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

The thought from “Spiritual Summits” is to reflect on the past, hope for the future, and praise the Lord in song with gratefulness. Words of worship and praise affirms a future in which God’s plan for us will grow the fruit of the Spirit like the rain showers grow the crops for the harvest.  

Worship today with the song The Goodness by TobyMac (feat. Blessing Offor) and take in the thought that during tough times, roots are growing and know that the Lord is still the goodness in my life. The fruits of the Spirit are growing through the good, the bad and ugly because the Son is above me.

Index of devotionals

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Spiritual Summits

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Mark Shields

This day with God, I’m reminded of the following thought from a sermon: Climbing higher in scaling the spiritual summits requires prayer. By praying in the name of Jesus, we can pray with confidence as a child of God because the Spirit can be counted on during defining moments of the climb. – Rev. Steve Ramsdell

With Jesus, there is power for forgiveness and with forgiveness, there is the opportunity to receive the goodness of God. Reading today the song of praise in Psalm 65, the goodness of God brings rain showers to prepare the land for the harvest.

A person’s praise of God is based on the wonders of His creation. The seas, the land, and the mountains which are worthy of praise. The crops of the land that are nourished with rain. Our praise to the Lord are words that spark our actions towards attainment of great feats for His glory. Each step of the way, momentum is gained until ultimate accomplishment.

God’s been involved in the world in the past to set in motion amazing beginnings for the future. Think of how Jesus fulfilled His purpose on the Cross and how in one cataclysmic moment, there became a better Way to our future. We can take in the seeds of God’s Word. Sow these seeds, cultivate, and as these seeds grow into fruit, share with others so they can participate in the harvest.

Reflect on the past, hope for the future, and praise the Lord in song with gratefulness. Words of worship and praise affirms a future in which we climb higher towards God’s plan for us. Then we gain confidence each day towards reaching our spiritual summit.

We pray today Lord that our hearts, our minds, and our actions are aligned. We set out to collect the powerful insight gained in Your Word. We discover insight each day and like seeds, we generously spread this insight so others can grow in Your Word too. Our daily worship and praise affirms our future actions and this formulates hope which we hold onto as we climb higher each day towards the summit.  In Jesus name … Amen.

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