Psalm 51:10

God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

David had committed willful sins of immorality, and there was no sacrifice for them. The sacrifices were for sins of ignorance, but David knew full well what he was doing. Here, he pleads to God from a broken spirit, knowing that his immorality had caused the defenses of the nation to become weak. In this prayer, he pleads for himself and for Zion. His only hope for forgiveness was to plead to God for mercy.

We have all committed willful sin, which is often the hardest to admit. We justify the sins we want to do and often deny they are sin at all. Guilt and shame, however, still accompany sin and weigh us down. When we are tired of carrying the heavy burden of shame, we can cry out to God with a broken spirit, and He hears us. He is faithful and just to forgive and even to restore us. Notice that David asked God to create a clean heart in him; he could not clean his own heart, no matter how hard he tried. He could never do enough good works to overcome the guilt and shame his sins caused, and the condemnation would send him into a pit of despair. His only hope was to cry out to God to save him from himself.

In verse 17 of this same chapter, David said, “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.” God will not turn away from a heart that is truly seeking forgiveness. He will create a new heart and renew the mind of the person who is broken before Him.

Verse 18 states, “In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.” With David forgiven, healed, and restored, Zion could now prosper as God built her defenses against the enemy. When we refuse to admit our own sin, it leaves those under our care subject to attack. Once we confess our sins, receive God’s forgiveness, and allow Him to create a new heart in us, those under our care stand to prosper from our own healing. Everyone wins! God can restore an entire household when one parent or grandparent repents!

Do you find yourself in a pit of despair today? Is God just not answering your prayers? Perhaps, it is time to search your heart and let go of anything that hinders your relationship with God. Release any pet sins you’ve been nursing or defense mechanisms you’ve been allowing to isolate your heart. Bring your pain, your guilt, your concerns, and your needs to God, and seek His forgiveness for the ways you’ve tried to handle things yourself. Allow Him to heal your wounds, comfort you, and forgive you of any wrongdoing. He has so much more for you and has stored up blessings for you if you will only come to Him with a broken spirit and ready for Him to transform you. He will create a new heart within you, renew your mind, increase your faith, and restore what the enemy has stolen. The beauty of grace is what it is not earned. It is free for the taking, so why not take it? The pit is no dwelling place for a daughter of the King. Now is the time to return to the palace.

Have a blessed day!

2 Timothy 2:13

…if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

2 Samuel 22:16 states, “With the faithful You prove Yourself faithful…” God is faithful to the faithful and to the faithless. His Word is truth, regardless of our faith. If He has promised, He will do it. We can count on His Word.

I have a promise from God I claim every day. Psalm 68:5:

A Father to the fatherless and a Champion (Defender) of widows is God in His holy dwelling.

This word is true, regardless of my faith. The promise is not dependent upon my actions; it is true of God’s character. I don’t have to do anything to earn it, nor do I disqualify myself from receiving it. This is who God is, and I can’t change that.

God is faithful. He is a Father to the fatherless and a Champion or Defender of widows. I will rest in this promise today, and I encourage you to do the same. Claim the promise as often as you need it because it reflects the very character of our God, who loves us beyond our limitations and weaknesses. Submit your cares to Him, and expect Him to work where you can’t.

Have a blessed day!

John 4:23

But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.

If we are going to worship God, it must be on His terms. The woman at the well knew this and, recognizing Jesus as both a prophet and a Jew, she sought an answer to a controversial question regarding proper worship. The Samaritans worshiped on Mt. Sinai, while the Jews insisted true worship must take place in the temple in Jerusalem. Which was correct?

Jesus dispelled her attempt to start an argument by instructing her on true worship. The time had already come when true worshipers could worship anywhere, as long as they worshiped in spirit and in truth. Where they worshiped was not important. How they worshiped and whom they worshiped were the essential elements. To worship God appropriately, it must be genuine.

God is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit – with their inner being. These worshipers, however, must also worship Him in truth – through Jesus Christ. We don’t have to wait to go to church to worship Him, either. We can worship Him every day through prayer in a quiet time, where we focus upon seeking Him and hearing from Him. He will commune with us and show us things we never imagined if we will only give Him our inner most thoughts and feelings and meditate upon His Word. Personal worship can take place anywhere and at any time.

Treasure your times of personal worship. God honors and blesses the time you spend with Him. Make Him a priority, and He will make you a priority, as well. When we worship Him in spirit and in truth, we bless Him by giving Him the fellowship and relationship for which we were created. Nothing is more satisfying or rewarding.

Have a blessed day!

Lamentations 3:31-33

For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.

While God certainly disciplines His children, He does not enjoy bringing suffering on anyone. He is not pleased when we hurt; He is pleased when we repent and turn to Him. Any hardship He allows in our life is for the purpose of repentance and drawing us back to the path He has set for us.

We often feel as if we have blown our destiny when we have failed. Regret can cause extreme disappointment and discouragement. God, however, is faithful to His promises. While our disobedience or failure can delay His promise, it will not ultimately frustrate the fulfillment of it. Hallelujah! We must remember that He made the promise knowing full well what we would do ahead and planned for it in advance. He comes to give us hope – a confident expectation of good – in the midst of our suffering.

The Message Bible says, “…the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.”

If you should feel today as if God has abandoned you, expect Him to return and deal tenderly with you. Draw from His stockpiles of loyal love, and rest in the assurance that He will deliver on His promises to you. Your pain does not glorify Him; your submissive spirit does. Ask Him to place you on the right path, and place your hope – confident expectation of good – in Him. He can’t help but be good to you. That is who He is!

Have a blessed day!

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

So many of God’s people struggle with identity issues, trying to determine just where they belong. Peter tells us in this verse exactly who we are, where we belong, and what we are called to do. God has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He simply spoke the word and moved us forward through faith, which came from the preaching of God’s Word. As we tell others what Christ has done for us, we lead them out of the same darkness and into God’s marvelous light, which is exactly what we are called to do.

Unfortunately, too many of God’s people remain in darkness, believing the lies of the enemy as he cruelly taunts them with feelings of fear, rejection, loneliness, unworthiness, and shame. Such thought patterns are familiar to us, and we, therefore, often believe them over the Word of God. We must begin to proclaim God’s Word on a daily basis until it becomes stronger in us than the lies the enemy shouts at us. When we succumb to his lies, we turn back to darkness and identify with its characteristics. Walking in the light requires proclaiming the praises of God and rejecting thoughts and feelings that do not align with His Word.

You can be set free in your spirit but chained in your thoughts and emotions. You can be saved for eternity yet bound on earth. As a child of God you are:

Chosen

Loved

Worthy

Accepted

Claimed

Anointed

Ordained

You have been called out of:

Fear

Rejection

Condemnation

Loneliness

Unworthiness

Shame

Proclaim God’s praises today, and identify with the light. Don’t allow the Devil to talk you out of the blessings God has already bestowed upon you or the work He has called you to do. Walk in the hope of your calling and give someone else hope to live in the light.

Have a blessed day!

1 Peter 4:7-8

Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be clear-headed and disciplined for prayer. Above all keep your love for one another at full strength, since love covers a multitude of sins.

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile toward anything Christian. Evil is called good, and good is called evil. The Bible clearly warns such conditions will mark the last days. Peter gives us further instruction on how to live in this time, and we should carefully heed his command.

In this day in which we live, we need to remain clear-headed – alert, sober, and aware. We need to make decisions with sound judgment, carefully obeying the Word of God and not popular opinion. To know God’s will on a matter, we must study His Word and delve into it daily. When His Word fills our being, it will overflow into our lives, bringing peace, refreshing, and God’s will into our situations.

We are also to be disciplined for prayer. When we see the evil of our day increasing, we should not lose hope. As James 5:16 assures us, “The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.” As warfare increases, so our prayers should increase with faith and a trust that our God is greater than anything that threatens to overtake us.  No weapon formed against us shall prosper, and we can stand on that word.

Finally, we should keep our love for one another strong. The Devil gains victory with strife among believers. For this reason, churches split or even die. There is power in unity, and when we overlook offenses with love, we are able to continue the race we are called to run with perseverance. Love and unity should be our goal for each other as Christians, and we should work together to fight our true common enemy.

Consider the Message translation of this passage:

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended upon it. Love makes up for practically anything.

Have a blessed day!

2 Chronicles 20:29-30

The terror of God was on all kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God gave him rest on every side.

Jehoshaphat’s victory was clearly a miracle. The Ammonites and Moabites mistakenly attacked their Edomite allies and destroyed them. Then they turned against each other. When Judah’s armies reached the battlefield, all they found were dead bodies loaded with valuables. What seemed like such a huge threat was actually no threat at all. God protected His people as they praised Him. No human army can prevail against God’s omnipotence!

Enemy threats cause us to run ahead of God. They steal our peace. They tempt us to take matters into our own hands and enter into battles we cannot fight in our own strength. Threats are full of lies and appear much greater than their actual power.

Threats, however, are no match for our omnipotent God! Just as He fought the enemy armies in the natural for Jehoshaphat, so He fights our spiritual enemies when we cry out to Him and give Him praise. We can’t fight an enemy we can’t see, but nothing is hidden from God’s sight. He will contend with those who contend with you and seek to destroy the work He began in you (Isaiah 49:25).

Praise God for who He is today. Thank Him for His everlasting and unfailing love for us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and we can depend upon Him. God gave Judah peace as long as Jehoshaphat reigned. He will give us peace, as well. In fact, we have no idea how many enemies he has already conquered for us today!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 30:11-12

You turned my lament into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, so that I can sing to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise You forever.

David learned the fine art of crying out to God in his trouble, and he sang of his deliverance. As a gifted musician, he poured his emotions out to God in both lament and praise. In doing so, he learned to control his emotions, rather than allowing his emotions to control him.

God’s favor has the power to change us. Not only can it change our circumstances, it can change us from the destructive habits that caused the negative circumstances. God’s kindness is designed to draw us to repentance. When you can do nothing on your own to change your situation and are in desperate need of divine intervention, you are in an excellent place for God to shine His favor upon you and work a miracle as you learn your dependence upon Him and your inability to be independent from Him.

David was transformed and renewed because of God’s blessing on his life. He could not help but sing praises unto his great Deliverer! God’s divine intervention on our behalf is designed to draw praise from us so He may be glorified and we may rejoice in Him. As the Message Bible illustrates in verse 12, “I’m about to burst into song; I can’t keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can’t thank you enough.”

We will be wise to follow David’s lead. When in trouble, cry out; when delivered, shout out! Pour your emotions out to God and surrender them to Him. Give Him both your need and your joy. Together they paint a beautiful testimony of His grace and give hope to this dying world.

Have a blessed day!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.

As widows, we must stay connected. We need the support and faith of those around us to lift us up and to help us move forward in God’s call for us. The enemy wants to isolate us and make us ineffective. Our faith, however, can act as a shield against his darts and help us advance. Two shields locked together can take even more ground and prevent one from falling.

Where two are more come into agreement, a thing is established. If my faith agrees with yours, we become stronger in that faith, giving the Devil less of a chance of gaining ground. When we build each other up in the faith, we all move forward together. A bunch of praying, unified, and determined widows is enough to give the enemy a nightmare he can’t handle, so be prepared for him to attack your prayer life, our unity, and our perseverance. Now is the time to be strong in faith and to build each other up in faith.

Take up your shield of faith today and simply believe God’s promises to you. Don’t allow the enemy to distract you with thoughts or feelings that draw you into isolation. Keep proclaiming His word and trust that He who promised is faithful. Encourage one another today, and lock shields if you have the chance. God is taking us somewhere, and we must continue to move forward.

Have a blessed day!

John 8:32

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

God sent us His truth so we would know Him – His character, His promises, His provision, His protection. The enemy will flood your mind with lies to deceive you into following his plan, but the truth of God’s Word will set you free from the lies that ensnare you. God’s truth also frees us to fight.

When we think of being free, we often imagine a carefree life with no worries, burdens, or responsibilities. God never promised us ease. Truth sets us free to fight the enemy. When we gird the truth of God’s Word around us, it holds the rest of our armor in place so our hands will be free to fight and our feet are free to step out into the provision God has destined for us.

Faith is applying that truth to our everyday life. While we may know the truth, it is meaningless unless we apply it and give it ability to operate within us. Without faith – applying what we believe – it is impossible to please God.

God’s Word is true, whether we believe it or not. It sets us free when we believe and apply it. Allow the truth of God’s Word to set you free today. Stop believing the lies the enemy has planted in your head, and determine to act on what you know to be true in God’s Word. Be free to fight, and step into God’s promise.

Have a blessed day!