Loving Jesus Style

  Scripture: Psalm 29:1-11 (NIV) Ascribe to the Lord , you heavenly beings ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 3  The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. 4  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5  The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6  He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion  like a young wild ox. 7  The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. 8  The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9  The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10  The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. 11  The Lord gives strength to his people;

Scripture: Psalm 28:1-2, 6-9  (NIV) To you, Lord , I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit. 2  Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. . . 6  Praise be to the Lord , for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise him. 8  The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 9  Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.   Devotion:                         This psalm again expresses a common theme throughout the book of Psalms. One of pleading with God for rescue from some danger or enemy. Like all of these psalms the Lord delivers people from danger in the end and there is great rejoicing. This psalm ev

  Scripture: Psalm 27:4-6 (NLT) 4  The one thing I ask of the Lord — the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord ’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5  For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. 6  Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.   Devotion:               Psalm 27 is a psalm of delight in the Lord and rejoicing in His presence. The writer of the psalm says that there is protection and safety for those who dwell in the Lord’s presence. The Lord is seen as one who will hide us when He sees trouble coming our way.               This is why David desires more than anything else to go to, and remain in, the house of the Lord. Because the Lord is perfection no evil

  Psalm 26:1-8 (NLT) 1  Declare me innocent, O Lord , for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 2  Put me on trial, Lord , and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. 3  For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. 4  I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. 5  I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. 6  I wash my hands to declare my innocence. I come to your altar, O Lord , 7  singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders. 8  I love your sanctuary, Lord , the place where your glorious presence dwells.   Devotion               Today’s psalm starts out a lot like Psalm 1. The psalmist declares that he has no part with sinners of any kind. However, the writer of this psalm goes into much greater detail about the kinds of sinners he wishes to avoid. He begins by asking the Lord to p

Scripture: Psalm 25:4-7 (NIV) 4  Show me your ways, Lord , teach me your paths. 5  Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6  Remember, Lord , your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7  Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord , are good.   Devotion:               Today we consider a portion of Psalm 25. David, the psalmist, pleads for the Lord to show David the right way to walk. Trying to walk in our own ways according to our own sense of direction can lead us into real danger. When I was young my parents had a cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin where we as a family spent many beautiful summers. It was a wonderful way to grow up.               One day when I was around ten years old I decided I was old enough to go out in a boat by myself up a little creek called Paint Creek. Paint creek was a small quiet

  Scripture: Psalm 24:1-10 (NIV) 1  The earth is the Lord ’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2  for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. 3  Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord ? Who may stand in his holy place? 4  The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5  They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. 7  Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9  Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10  Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.   Devotion:                 The lo

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6 (NIV) 1  The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2       He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3       he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.               Psalm 23 is the best known and most loved psalm in the Bible. People through the ages have sought comfort from these words, and rightly so. Unfortunately, we usually only hear the psalm read at funerals or in hours of deep physical need. Perhaps today we can take another look at this classic piece of scripture through a new le

  Scripture: Psalm 22:1-2 (NIV) 1  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2  My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.   Devotion:               No Christian can read the opening lines of this psalm and not be confronted with Jesus’ cry from the cross in Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46. It is no wonder that this psalm is considered a messianic psalm. The cry of pain and abandonment simply fit no situation in David’s (the psalm’s author) life. A cry from a cross is the only thing that fits these words. Even though crucifixion was not devised and a method of death for several centuries after this psalm would have been written.               Psalm 22 goes on to affirm that David’s ancestors cried out to God in their pain and God heard their pleas for help. Israel’s history is full of such examples. From Noah’s faithfully building an ark when there seemed to be n