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When God Is All We’ve Got

Read Psalm 16

Featured Verse: Psalm 16:2

“I said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.’”

David’s confession that apart from God he had no good thing was not the admission of a desperate person in dire need pathetically clinging to his God. No, this was a bold and delightful recognition that being dependent on the Lord was the supreme place of blessing (“LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup,” v. 5), favor (“surely I have a delightful inheritance,” v. 6), wisdom (“the LORD, who counsels me; at night my heart instructs me,” v. 7), security (“because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken,” v. 8), emotional well being (“therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices,” v. 9), invincibility (“because you will not abandon me to the grave,” v. 10), and satisfaction (“you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” v. 11).

If you are in a place that provides all that—God’s blessing, divine favor, spiritual wisdom, personal security, emotional health, supernatural intervention, and soul-soothing satisfaction, what more could you possibly ask for? Anything else you have in life—financial abundance, physical health, relational well-being—is just icing on the cake.

Sometimes we get a little discontent when we focus on all the things we don’t have. And of course, it is appropriate to ask God for the things we need, even the things we desire—that is, if we ask in accordance to his will. But if you find yourself wrestling with chronic discontent, try focusing on all the blessings of just belonging to your Heavenly Father.

I am quite certain that if you will do that, you will come to the place where you realize that when God is all you’ve got, you’ve got it all!

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  ~John Piper

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Majesty

Read Psalm 29

Featured Verse: Psalm 29:1-6

“Praise the LORD, you heavenly beings; praise his glory and power.
Praise the LORD’s glorious name; bow down before the Holy One when he appears.
The voice of the LORD is heard on the seas; the glorious God thunders, and his voice echoes over the ocean. The voice of the LORD is heard in all its might and majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, even the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes the mountains of Lebanon jump like calves and makes Mount Hermon leap like a young bull…”

If you are a big fan of nature, like I am, you will love this psalm. David is extolling the indescribable majesty and awesome power of God in the ongoing witness of nature…the vastness of the deep blue oceans, the breathtaking beauty of the mountain peaks, the chest-rattling sounds of the thunder and knee-knocking fierceness of an electrical storm. Truly God was doing some of his best work when he created the cosmos.

I was flying back to the beautiful city of Portland recently after being in the Midwest for a few days. The sky was clear…a brilliant blue. We flew over the majestic Rockies after a plane change in Denver, and I was yet again struck by the stunning scene before me—the snow-capped wonder for the Front Range, an unhindered view of several 14,000 footers all the way from Pike’s Peak on the South to Long’s Peak on the north. Hard to beat!

But that was just the beginning. As we neared Portland, the pilot—I’m sure just for my benefit—flew as close to Mt. Hood as I have ever been. It was so close it seemed as though you could reach out and touch it. Words can’t do justice to its overwhelming wonder. But then out the other window was an amazing shot of Mt. St. Helens…or what’s left of it. And if Mt. Hood reminded me of God’s unequaled artistry, Mt. St. Helens reminded me of his unequaled power.

All I could do was what David did in verse one: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!”

But guess what? As amazing as God’s work in nature was, it wasn’t even his best work. You are his best work! You are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). The best of God’s power and majesty, glory and strength were on display when he redeemed you from your sin, made you a part of his forever family and gave you a divine purpose for this life and the one to come. And none of that due to your own worthiness, mind you! It was all because of his great love!

Now why don’t you do what David did by falling to your knees and ascribing to the Lord glory and strength!

“There is no peace more wonderful than the peace we enjoy when faith shows us God in all created things.”
~Jean-Pierre de Caussde Hall

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Who Put You In Charge?

Read Psalm 8

Featured Verse: Psalm 8:4-6

“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,  human beings that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God  and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them charge of everything you made,  putting all things under their authority.”

In comparison to the overwhelming vastness, magnificence, complexity, wonder and beauty of the universe—that which we see through both the telescope as well the microscope—man seems so insignificant.  Yet the Sovereign God created the human race and gave them co-rulership over his creation.  He put us in charge!

Imagine that!  God has entrusted us with the work of his hands.  We are to manage his resources, tend to his investment, and supervise the things he so lovingly and purposely crafted out of nothing.  We are to guard, preserve and even increase what is so precious to him.  We have been given stewardship of all creation.

Why did God do that?  Only God knows.  But when you think about it, it is both humbling and sobering that God has sovereignly placed this weight of glory upon my shoulders—and yours.

That, then, begs the question:  How are you doing taking care of God’s universe?  How are you tending his environment—Planet Earth?  What is your attitude toward things created—stuff?  And what about you, God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), how are you caring for you—spirit, mind, soul and, yes, even your body?

Hopefully you are giving great care to all these things like a partner rather than a hireling.  Hopefully you have an ownership mentality.  Hopefully you take seriously this calling of stewardship God has given you.  Perhaps a great companion chapter for you to consider would be Matthew 25:14-30 where Jesus teaches about the parable of the talents.

God has put you in charge of quite a bit—and he is counting on you to steward it wisely.  So when it comes to the creation, don’t let the crazies and radicals hijack the environmental movement.  Christians ought to lead the way with a common sense approach to loving the earth.  When it comes to your body, treat it like the temple of the Holy Spirit—because it is.  And when it comes to your inner being, tend to it often.  Make sure you are doing regular soul work, because one day it will return to its Creator.

Yes, God has given you the keys to his shiny universe—the macro, the micro and the personal.  Steward it well!

“Now if I believe in God’s Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. …God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”
— Martin Luther

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The First And Last Thing You Do

Read Psalm 5

Featured Verse: Psalm 5:3

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.”

What is the first thing you do when the alarm clock rings, awakening you to another day full of exciting possibility and challenging demands? Perhaps you are one of those who rolls over and mumbles, “Good Lord, morning!” Or maybe you are the type who pops up with delight and expectation by greeting the One who gave you the gift of yet another day with, “Good morning, Lord!”

Obviously, David was of the latter variety. Not that he was an overly optimistic person—in fact, much of David’s life was lived by keeping just one step ahead of death. But he had come to appreciate the presence and protection of God so much that most of his waking moments were spent connecting with his Lord.

David was a man who had truly learned to practice the presence of God. First thing in the morning, David lifted his voice to God—and before he did anything else, he waited for a reply (that’s what he means when he says, “and will look up”). But that was also the last thing David did when he hit the sheets at night. He prayed in Psalm 119:62, “At midnight I will rise to give you thanks.”

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why David was known as “a man after God’s own heart.” What do you suppose would happen if you and I took on David’s practices? Maybe we would develop that kind of heart after God too!

Let me suggest a 30-day trial—that the last thing you do when you go to bed is to recount as many things as you can think of for which you are grateful, and the first thing you do when you arise in the morning is lift your voice to God with gratitude that he has given you the gift of another day.

To give thanks is one of the highest callings we have and one of the most self-benefiting things we can do. Think about this: Even sitting where you are reading this devotional is a cause for thanksgiving to God. The prophet Jeremiah declared in Lamentations 3:22, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.”

G. K. Chesterton, who would say at the end of the day, “Here ends another day, during which I have had eyes, ears, and hands [to experience this] great world around me. Tomorrow begins another day. Why am I allowed two?”

Chesterton, Jeremiah and David had the perspective that all of life was a gift from God. Let’s you and I practice that perspective, too, every morning and evening for the next month. I have a feeling that the discipline of thankful prayer will turn into the delight of thankful prayer long after those 30 days are up.

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”
—Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

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The Attainment of Happiness

Read Psalm 1

Featured Verse: Psalm 1:1-2

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.”

Every human being who has ever walked this planet has this in common: The desire to be happy. In fact, our most revered national document, the Declaration of Independence, proclaims that the pursuit of happiness is our inalienable right, universally endowed by the Creator himself.

Now we can pursue happiness until we are blue in the face, and most of us do, but there is just one way we will ever attain it: By following God’s “roadmap”. The Psalmist called it “the law of the Lord,” Today, we would call it “the Bible.”

In this opening song from the songbook of the human race, the Psalms, we’re told that happiness comes by completely, deliberately and consistently ordering our life according to the full counsel of God’s Word. Not just a favorite verse here and there, mind you, or a Bible reading when it strikes our fancy, but through a “day and night” absorption of the whole “law of God.” Furthermore, true blessedness and lasting joy comes by completely, deliberately and consistently rejecting the humanistic definition of and path to happiness.

The Psalmist calls for a complete ordering of our life around the Word of God—“meditating on it day and night.” So here is the most important question you will be asked this year: Are you? Are you reading it regularly, and not just reading it, but absorbing it? Are you not just absorbing it, but are you figuring out ways to apply it to your daily life—your situations, your responses, your decisions, your planning?

May I suggest that before you do anything else—listen to the news, read the paper, look over your email, have coffee with your posse, which is perhaps the modern equivalent of “walking,” “standing” and “sitting” with anyone else before you get counsel from God—that you carve out time and then ruthlessly guard that time to read, absorb and apply God’s Word. And then discipline yourself to bring what you’ve read back to mind at various parts of the day, to make sure your thoughts, actions, interactions, responses and accomplishments have been true to the plumbline of God’s Word.

By the way, when “meditating day and night” on Scripture becomes the “organic” practice of your life, the discipline of daily Bible reading will have turned into the delight of practicing the presence of God. And when you practice the presence of God, you will experience the presence of God. That is truly what the joyful, blessed and happy life is all about.

“The Bible redirects my will, cleanses my emotions, enlightens my mind, and quickens my total being.”
 —E. Stanley Jones

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He Never Fails

Read Psalm 9

Featured Verse: Psalm 9:9-10

“The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.”

Do you ever wonder what people who don’t know the Lord do when they face overwhelming difficulty and indescribable pain in their lives? I’ve often thought of that when a young mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer or the sole breadwinner abandons his wife and kids or when parents stands over the grave of a teenager killed in a car crash, or a variety of other tragic scenarios. What do people do without Jesus?

I am so thankful that my trust is in the Lord. He is indeed a shelter and a refuge. Not that I have been kept from hardship and tragedy—neither have you. We’ve had our share, and perhaps will experience more in the future. As Jesus said, the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. The difference is, we know to Whom we can run when it’s raining—our loving Shelter. We know where to go in times of trouble—our great Refuge.

That is one of the things I love most about the faith that I’ve placed in Jesus Christ as my Savior. No matter what, I win! When trouble hits, I win because God delivers me from all of my troubles. (Psalm 34:17, Psalm 41:1) Even when I (or someone I love) go through the tragedy of terminal illness, relational heartbreak, economic disaster, or premature death, I belong to a God who:

  • Holds my hand—“never will I leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
  • Provides my daily bread—”My God will supply all your needs according to his riches.” (Philippians 4:19)
  • Turns my tragedy to triumph—“In all things he works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28)
  • Trumps death with eternal life—“He who believes in me, even though he dies, will live again.” (John 11:24-26)
  • And one day will permanently turn my tears to joy and make everything new—“He will wipe away every tear.” (Revelation 21:4)

Even though life doesn’t always turn out as we have planned, God will never abandon us. He has a track record of faithfulness and goodness going all the way back to the beginning. He has never failed, not even once! And even if life doesn’t make sense to us now, we have this assurance that when we cross to the eternal side, we will fall on our knees in worship and wonder at the wisdom of the One who does all things well!

So determine now to trust him at all times, and when the tough times come around, don’t abandon your hope and trust in the only One who will never abandon you.

“Let thy hope of heaven master thy fear of death.
Why shouldst thou be afraid to die,
who hopest to live by dying!”
—William Gurnall

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Godship: Who Gets To Rule Your Life?

Read Psalm 24

Featured Verse: Psalm 24:1

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

God owns it all—the entire earth and all it contains, including me.  He has the right of rulership over it all, including my life.  He determines the ways this world must operate, both physical laws as well as the moral code, and even the way I must live my life.  I cannot approach him on my terms; I must bend to his terms.  God doesn’t yield to me; I am to yield to him.

Why?  He created it all, therefore, he owns it all.  The earth is the Lords, and everything in it—and that includes me!

The problem is, from the beginning of mankind’s history, the human race has tried to reverse the immutable laws that the unchanging God has eternally established.  We have done our dead level best to create God in our image. We have usurped his rightful place.  We live as if we were God.

That is what ails the world, is it not?  It is an issue of godship—who is going to rule.  Every sin, every war, every crime, every calamity, every sad story of a broken home, everything that has ever gone wrong can be traced back to the wrong choice in the decision of godship.  We have consistently put ourselves on the throne in place of the One who rightfully owns it all.

And of course, what is true of humankind in general is true of our lives individually, including your life and mine.  Our biggest issue, bar none, is godship.  Who will sit as Master and Commander of our moment-by-moment lives?

Truly wise people have settled that issue once and for all.  They understand that God owns it all, and they are simply managing what he has given them in a way that will bring honor to the Owner.  When we get that right in the big and small, seen and unseen moments of life, everything else will fall into place.

The most important question that you will be asked today—the most important question you will need to resolve in life—is this: Who is ruling your life—you or God? I am not talking about the confession to which you verbally assent or even what you believe in your heart. I am speaking about what is evident by the way you live your life: The way you think, plan, talk, react to circumstances, respond to people, spend your money, use your time and whatever else you do in each of the 86,400 seconds that tick off the clock in each of the days the Creator has graciously provided for you.

The greatest thing you can do with your life is to respond to your Creator’s desire to take his rightful place as your God. Make that decision today—then gladly reaffirm it everyday for the rest of your life. When you trust that he will rule your life well—and entrust him with Godship—oh what unspeakable and glorious joy you will have!

 “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell.”  ~C.S. Lewis