Category: Devotions

Psalm 145
Day 145: Be blessed

To all who call on him …
To Ignatius Kattey, Nigerian Archbishop kidnapped by armed men …
To Shahin, Iranian Christian musician, in Adel-Abad Prison in Shiraz right now …
To the Christian villagers of Maaloula in Syria being terrorised by the rebels who are insisting they convert to Islam or die …
To Ms Doddamma and her daughter in Chikkamalaguru district, India, brutally beaten and their home destroyed …
To the many missionaries facing persecution, ill-health, financial difficulty…
To the many, the silent, the unknowns…
To you …
To all who call on him …
He is Great, Worthy, Mighty, Majestic, Wonderful, Awesome, Abundant, Good, Righteous, Gracious, Compassionate, Slow to Anger, Rich in Love, Glorious, Ruling, Enduring, Faithful, Upholding, Lifting, Giving, Satisfying, Fulfilling, Hearing, Saving, Watching, Destroying…
Describing Him there is no end …
But right now, all over the world, in the forgotten place, in the unspoken place and in the famous place. Here, now, with you and to all who call on Him ….
This hard to describe God …
… is near!

Psalm 144
Day 144: Be blessed

Yesterday one journalist wrote of the latest trend to hit social media websites. She focused on a 19 year old who posts up to 20 snaps of herself online a day. It has been given the name ‘selfie’. This self-confessed selfie addict often spends hours posing for up to 60 shots and constantly checks her smartphone to see what others think of the pictures she uploads. In what is so concerning to read the girl says, “I get such a rush when I see people’s comments, hearing what they think and reading their thoughts. If I get a positive reaction I feel great. If I don’t get many likes or I get negative comments on a picture I start feeling really down. I keep taking and uploading more selfies until I get the likes and comments I want.”
Before you say what I’m sure you’re thinking, “the world’s gone mad!”, the fact is so many wake up and spend the whole day wondering what people think of them.
But maybe you are with the blessed? For the blessed are people whose “God” is not man and what man thinks but the “Lord”, v15.
He loves you and protects you, v2
He incredibly cares for you, v3
He comes to you, v5-8
He gives you victory, v10-11
He blesses you, v12-14
Five huge thumbs up from God, He sees every photo shot of you, He likes you, He comments on you. How blessed are the people who have all this!

Psalm 143
Day143: Be blessed

Show me the way I should go.
If you don’t then judgment awaits, v2.
If you don’t then the enemy wins, v3.
If you don’t then the past becomes better than the present, v5.
If you don’t then I feel like its the end for me, v7.
Some days you need to know what might happen if God doesn’t guide you. It is this that gives you the driving motive to:
Put your trust in Him, v8.
Lift up your soul, v8.
To hide in Him, v9
To be teachable, v10.
To be available to serve, v12.

Psalm 142
Day 142: Be blessed

This is a cave not for exploration and adventure. This is not for camping out for the night with friends. This is a cave when there’s nowhere else to run to, when you’ve reached the end of your tether, when you have hit a brick wall. This is that cave.

A place where the prayer becomes very loud and you know no one can hear and if they could they wouldn’t be concerned, v1,4.
A place where there is only God, v2.
A place where tiredness is more within than bodily, v3.

A place where you realise He is all you need, v5.
A place where you can tell Him exactly what you need, v6.
A place where you can look to the future, v7.

So perhaps this is a cave of great treasure. This is a cave of the presence of God. This is a cave where there is only you and Him. This is a cave where hope is reborn. This is a cave of blessing not cursing.
Thank God for the cave!

Psalm 141
Day 141: Be blessed

When was the last time you were criticised?
Perhaps that’s far too soon for comfort.
Maybe today you will go back and work for that person who hurt you through criticism.
Criticism is often seen as negative and something to be avoided. Some people feel like they have spent their whole life being misjudged and brought down by some critical words of the ‘experts’.
Maybe because of this we can easily forget that criticism is very important for improvement. David thinks so in this Psalm, v5.
Here are 5 keys to healthy criticism from that verse.
1. Create a safe place for people to criticise. “Let a righteous man strike me.” Give permission, create the space for this to happen.
2. Welcome the thoughts of a righteous man.
3. Kindness is seeing things from a different perspective and speaking it.
4. All criticism whoever it is from does cause initial hurt.
5. Refusing to take such criticism is like refusing oil on the head, the symbol of blessing.

The blessed are criticised.

Psalm140
Day 140: Be blessed

I am in North Korea, rescue me, protect me.
I am in Syria, every day, war.
I am in the Maldives, venomous words come against me.
Pause, think.

I am in Saudi Arabia, surrounded by those who want to bring me down.
I am in Afghanistan, snares, nets and traps are hidden from me.
Pause, think.

I am in Iraq, I need mercy.
I am in Somalia, I need shielding.
I am in Mali, living with the enemies agenda.
Pause, think.

I am in Iran, threats are constant.
I am in Yemen, those who kill need stopping.
I am in Eritrea, slandered and violated.
I am in Sudan, poor and needy.
We are everywhere, we speak in every verse …
Surely the righteous and upright will live? Surely ….
For we are the blessed ones.

Psalm 139
Day 139: Be blessed

Yesterday I held a 4 day old baby. I had forgotten the incredible sense of wonder that the experience brings.
For 9 months this bundle of joy was hidden. But it was in that secret place that God was doing the most amazing work.
Her inmost being was created
She was knitted together, woven together.
God saw her throughout, He knew everything about her.
He has worked out already the amount of years she will live.
It is mind-blowing.
And for me the words that summarise it so far is this: she is “wonderfully made”.
Author and Pastor, R. C. Sproul shares the story of a college student he once taught who had cerebral palsy. Sproul writes: One day he came to me vexed with a problem and asked me to pray for him. In the course of the prayer, I said something routine, with words like, “Oh, God, please help this man as he wrestles with this problem.” When I opened my eyes, the student was quietly weeping. I asked him what was wrong and he stammered his reply, “You called me a man. No one has ever called me a man before.”

There can be no greater privilege to lead someone to realise that they are wonderfully made by God.
The good news is that the Creator hasn’t stopped creating.
You may be in a hidden place today but it is here that God is producing something wonderful in you.
This is blessing

Psalm 138
Day 138: Be blessed

It’s not too difficult really. Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God… and David, in this Psalm calls us to praise God for His love and faithfulness.
Praise Him with all your heart, v1
Praise Him above all else, v1
Praise Him in submission, v2

It’s so simple, most miss it.
The ones who don’t will see God exalt His Name and His Word …
… above all things, v2
… over all the earth v4
… by preserving you, v7
… by coming against your enemies, v7
… by fulfilling His purpose in you, v8
… by loving you forever, v8

When God is exalted things become easier…
… you call He answers, v3
… you can go through the trouble, v7
… you can live with purpose, v8

Now, that’s not that difficult is it?
Let’s praise Him and we will be blessed.

Psalm 137
Day 137: Be blessed

There are some periods of your life when you have to fight for your blessing. For some, every morning they have to make a decision to choose the path of focusing on blessing and not that of feeling cursed. This beautiful Psalm shows us “how we can sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land”, v4. I see 3 keys for blessing. They show us how possible it is to live in a broken body every day; how we can survive the disappointment, the anger and the grief; and above all, it shows us how we can change the environment, whether that be the sound that is coming from a home, a church or the place we work in. But before we see them let us look at the environment that this Psalm focuses on. It is set in the time of Ezekiel and it is worth taking the time to read the verses in that book mentioned.
There is a river of regret, of being in a place you are not meant to be, v1.
There is a river of being overwhelmed, Ezekiel 3:15.
There is a river of the glory of God departing, Ezekiel 10:15-18
Yet even in the river of exile …
It can be a place of heaven opening, Ezekiel 1:1
Of visions of God, Ezekiel 1:1
Of hearing the Word of God, Ezekiel 1:3
Of having the hand of God upon you, Ezekiel 1:3
How do we turn the river of regret into a river of God?
Through 3 simple keys that look the same but involve discipline and choice every day:
v 5 “forget” not. KEEP CHOOSING THE LORD.
v 6 “remember”. STIR HIM WITHIN YOU.
v 6 “consider”. THINK OF HIM THE MOST.
As I write this, I think of a group of Christian friends who are changing their workplace into a river of God through these 3 keys. Wherever you are, whatever the circumstance, you can do this too.
Choose blessing, stay blessed.

Psalm 136
Day 136: Be blessed

It was an ordinary day in 1937 and John Griffiths allowed his 8 year old son Greg to come and help him at work, controlling the railway bridge that crossed the Mississipi river
The morning went quickly and at noon they headed off for lunch, down a narrow catwalk onto an observation platform about 50 feet above the Mississippi. John told his son stories about the ships as they passed by. Suddenly, they were jolted back to reality by the shrill sound of an engine’s whistle. Looking at his watch, John realised to his horror that it was 1.07pm, that the Memphis Express was due any time and that the bridge was still raised. He calmly told Greg to stay put and then ran back to the controls. Once there he looked beneath the bridge to make sure there was nothing below. As his eyes moved downwards he saw something so terrible that he froze. For there, lying on the gears, was his beloved son. Greg had tried to follow his dad but had fallen off the catwalk. Immediately, John realised the horrifying choice before him: either to lower the bridge and kill his son, or to keep the bridge raised and kill everyone on board the train. As 400 people moved closer to the bridge, John realised what he had to do. Burying his face under his arm, he plunged down the lever. The cries of his son were instantly drowned out by the noise of the bridge grinding slowly into position. John wiped the tears from his eyes as the train passed by. A conductor was collecting tickets in his usual way. A businessman was casually reading a newspaper. Ladies were drinking afternoon tea. Children were playing. Most of the passengers were engaged in idle chatter. No one saw. No one heard the cries of a heartbroken father.
An ordinary day of extraordinary love.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.
For ever.
Never ending.
Love.