Easter Week - Sunday, Resurrection Day!

From the Book of John Chapter 20:11-18 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said* to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.


Total Perfection

No more sadness or tears, no more reason to cry.
Celebrate Life! Jesus Christ is alive!
Just as He'd promised, He rose the third day,
Proving Himself, the Life, the Truth and the Way!
All of God's promises can be counted as true,
Arise and shine, your joy may be made full!
Go out into the world, tell one and tell all,
Tell the truth of the day death took its fall.
Dance! Shout! Leap for joy! Forever live the King of kings!
Praise be to God! We have reason to sing!
Death has been beaten with the King's resurrection,
God's plan's been fulfilled in its total perfection!

HE IS RISEN!!!



Without Easter, Christmas wouldn't matter, this is truly the day of all days!

Happy Resurrection Sunday when all God's Word was accomplished and all His promises fulfilled. May you all know the fullness of the Savior's love today and always!

Happy Easter!
Diana

Easter Week - Saturday Devotional

From the Book of Luke Chapter 23:50-56
And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.



Did Their Dream Die?

When brought down from the cross,
Their Savior was dead,
What could have been the thoughts
That went running through their heads?

No tomb of His own
To bury Him in,
Some "Son of God"
What freedom did they win?

When they placed Him there,
Did their dream die too?
They didn't know He would rise,
And leave an empty tomb.

They didn't know what we now know,
That their King would arise,
That they soon would know true freedom
For the first time in their lives.

Freedom from sin,
From sadness and shame,
Soon their hearts and their lives
Would never be the same.

How dark was the darkness
On the night they all mourned?
Not knowing the joy
That would come in the morn.

A reason to hope or believe
Must've been so hard to find,
They didn't know what I know
In the Truth is where my hope, I find.

They didn't know what I do
But their faith they still held,
But I know His death saved me
From going to hell.

No grieving in my life
As they did that dark night,
For I know the truth
And now live in the Light.

What more do I need
Than what He gave me on the cross that day?
Innocent, but HE paid the price for me
And washed ALL my sins away.

By Diana DePriest
© 1998

Easter Week - Friday Devotional

From the Book of Mark Chapter 15:12-39

Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led* Him out to crucify Him.

They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The inscription of the charge against Him read: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

They crucified* two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.” Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32“Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.



When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

What Were You Thinking?

Jesus came to share the message of grace, and prophecies to fulfill,
He came to walk upon the earth and to do the Father's will.

He had the message of how from the bondage of sin we could be free,
He came to make a better way for all, for you, for me.

He walked among the people, speaking of truth, of peace and love,
Sharing, living and showing, the Father's message from above.

No thanks or love for Him they had, they wanted Him to die,
When asked what they wanted done to Him, they screamed out, "Crucify!"

My Jesus, beaten and mocked, ridiculed and abused,
Was there no other way to save? No other way He could have been used?

Still even as He hung on the cross, in His heart He did forgive,
Willing to suffer so much up there so even these might live.

Sinless, He hung up on the cross, all our sins He bore,
Sacrificing Himself to atone for all we need forgiveness for.

Father, how it must have hurt Your heart, could You have even cried?
When You had to turn Your back on Him the day that Jesus died.

Father, what were You thinking when You sent Him here to die?
Did it have to take His sacrifice for me to find eternal life?

He broke down all the walls that stood between God and me,
So I could be reconciled to the Father for all of eternity.

Lord Jesus, I can't say "I'm sorry" and "Thank You" just won't do,
Only way I can repay what You did is to make my life a sacrifice for You.

You committed Your Spirit to the Father's hands, my life I commit to Yours,
Having only one prayer that I will pray, "Jesus, I want to love you and know you more."

By Diana DePriest
© 1998

Easter Week - Wednesday Devotional

From the Book of Mark Chapter 14:3-9 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”


Will You Pour Out Your All?

Will you pour out your all? Give the best that you have?
Do whatever it takes to honor the Son of Man?

Will you sacrifice your best, give Him all you have to give?
Make him your purpose? Your reason to live?

Others will look down upon you, unable to understand,
Why you have this devotion to the Son of Man.

Are you willing to give back all that's been given to you?
Do whatever it takes to give Him the honor He's due?

by Diana DePriest © 1998

(Original Art by Alice Whisman)

Bezalel - Intention & Purpose Part 1

I have been reading my bible twice a day, every day since the first of the year. With no pride, because I know it is only the grace of God, I tell you I have not missed a single day. I have been reading through the "Unlocking the Bible" reading plan.

The reading plan breaks down into four portions: Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. It may sound like a lot, but the Proverbs portion is only a few verses, the day's Psalm is sometimes even broken down into portions. It's never more than a chapter or so of NT, and never more than a couple chapters of the OT. I really like the reading plan, and I read Psalms, Proverbs and New Testament first thing in the morning and I read the Old Testament passages at night before I go to bed.

Part of the reason I end with the Old Testament at night is because a lot of it reads almost like a bedtime story. I also figure the more challenging portions of the OT (Hello Leviticus!) will just make falling asleep that much easier. Right now I am in the book of Exodus. Much of Exodus reads like an engaging story, reading the tales of Moses' adventures before I go off to sleep. However, there are portions of if it that have a definite Levitical feel. Big yawn.

Last night I started in on chapters 37 & 38 of the book of Exodus, and I wasn't instantly enthralled. At first look they tell the all too detailed description of the making of the Ark of the Covenant, as well as the Table, the Lampstand, the Altar for Incense, the Altar for Burnt Offerings and the Bronze Bowl. They even tell about the curtains for the courtyard of the Holy Tent being made. It tells in great detail of the work that a man by the name of Bezalel did. All those items I just listed? They were made by the hands of Bezalel.

The instructions were very finite. The ark was measured in very specific inches. And as I was reading I thought about how careful he had to be in his work. I have built my fair share of furniture via IKEA. We have a huge entertainment center in our living room that Neal and I built together. It probably had three or four dozen pieces, and it was painstaking to match things up and get everything put together, and we had instructions with pictures! It was a lot of work, and all we were doing was basically putting a puzzle together. It occurred to me how much more complicated it must have been to form these things out of raw materials. And the importance of them far outweighed the value of a place to put our television set.

As I read, I could picture in my mind this man, Bezalel, and the extreme care he must have taken to create these things. I could picture him running his hand down the edge of the frame of the ark making it smooth, and building the lid to match up and seal perfectly. He had to make it not only perfectly functional, but also beautiful. Over and over again it read, "Bezalel made," "Bezalel attached," "Bezalel put," "Bezalel hammered..." Each piece, careful and detailed.

I thought to myself about how I get when I am working. Tonight I was making a button for my blog and it took a lot of focus for me. My daughter came up to me to ask me a question and I snapped at her because I was struggling to get something "just so." And the truth is, it was just my own perfectionism in a work that was far from critical.

As I read about Bezalel, I felt certain that was not the atmosphere in his workshop. I could picture in my mind the peace of God as he focused and worked. Each piece was different, making gold rings, shaping winged creatures from Gold. To go along with the Ark he had to shape acacia poles for carrying it, and they were covered in gold. I thought about what that process must have been like. He had to have melted the gold down that the Israelites brought him, liquifying it making it useful to cover the Ark and the poles and such. The lampstand too had to be formed for it was "made of pure gold," the Bible says. I could picture him "hammering out its base and stand." The art of it, it said he even shaped part of it to look like "almond flowers." It was a piece made for specific purpose and it was made to be beautiful.

I was struck by the vast number of details and the great effort it all must have required. All of this work, all done by Bezalel. He even "made a wall of curtains to form a courtyard around the Holy Tent" Then it sums things up in Exodus 38:22 where it says, "Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD had commanded Moses." Then almost as an afterthought vs 23 says, "Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan helped him. He could cut designs into metal and stone; he was a designer and also skilled at sewing the blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen." He helped with the finishing touches, but this labor, was Bezalel's labor, and I supsect it was a labor of love.

I wish I could express to you the sense I had as I read. Such profound and important work, and it fell all to a single man. Later in the passage it talks about where all the metals used in this process were taken from. It talks about how all the Israelites donated and paid for the supplies, it says there were 603,550 men over 20, and all I could think was, "yet only Bezalel was chosen for this job." Can you picture the weight of the responsibility on this man? Can you imagine how time consuming it must have been?

In my mind I would think, "Delegate!" There were over half a million men to choose from, surely the work could have been done much more quickly if only they would spread thew work around! But it was NOT to be so. For some reason, this profoundly important duty was meant for a single man. I had to search him out, I wanted to know more about him. So I did a search on biblegateway, but there wasn't a whole lot more to be found. But in chapter 35 of Exodus, it did say this: "The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God and has given him the skill, ability, and knowledge to do all kinds of work."

Surely I was right! Bezalel's workshop must have been an incredible place to be. It was as a house of worship, I am sure. Bezalel surely was intentional and purposed as he worked to create all that the Lord commanded. What a privilege it must have been to take the gifts and talents he had been given by God and use them for God. Bezalel had surely felt his purpose in life, and perhaps in more than any other season, in those days, he must have felt he was truly living it out. He was living the life he was created for, a life with intention and purpose.

To be continued...

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

So we continued our family devotional time again tonight. We were six again with my honorary son present again and after an evening full of playful craziness among us we settled down after dinner and homework were done while chocolate cookies baked in the oven. We sat at the table together and prayed and then each of us spent time in the word. Neal and Jake were the only ones to wander away from the table for that. I think both of them continued in Job and Isaiah respectively. Trevor (HS) read several chapters in Proverbs and in the New Testament. My young ones worked from their devotional books again and I started my word study looking up verses on joy.

At lunchtime today I asked Neal what CHRISTmas carol he thought we should go over tonight. He actually threw me when he said "O Holy Night." It's not a song that I really know well, so possibly in arrogance, I guess I didn't expect it to be on the top of his list either. I guess I would have been less surprised if he'd said something like "Little Drummer Boy," since he's a drummer, but he said O Holy Night, so I pulled up the lyrics and went looking for a version of the song to play for the kids tonight.

When I have sung this song before it's been with a lot of "lala la's" You know what I mean, right? "O Holy Night, the stars I brightly shining, it is the night of the dear Savior's birth... la la la la la... Fall on your knees, o hear the angels voices..."

So I found a wonderful version of the song today at work by Chris Tomlin, but when we were home with the kids I couldn't find it on Napster. We had to settle for Martina McBride, and although her voice is awesome, she only repeats the 1st verse twice, she doesn't sing any other verse of the song. So I ended up singing the 2nd verse to the kids myself. It wasn't nearly as pleasant to the ears, but the words were just as beautiful.

As I read the lyrics today, where normally I would be singing my "lala la's" I was so moved by the words. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. These words really touched my heart, thinking about the longing the world had for its Savior. All those years since the fall of man, the world waited to be redeemed. Man, not even knowing, was pining away for the love of God. It was not until that moment, when Christ finally came that the soul, the soul of all mankind realized it's worth, it's preciousness to the Father. It takes me back to the days before my own salvation when I did not know the true love of the Father, so many people still, not knowing of God's love for them, and it makes my heart ache.

To explain the next line to the kids, A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. I talked about the feeling of being lost in the dark. I asked my children to imagine how they would feel if they were lost in a completely dark maze and could not find the door to exit. My wonderful daughter assured me she would be brave knowing God was with her, but I asked her to think about how she would feel practically. Ethan had all the right words, scared, worried, lonely and lost. Tired too, I imagine, wandering in the dark not knowing where to find their freedom. Then I asked them, if suddenly someone flipped on a flashlight, then what? We talked about how if they would just go to the source of that light, then it would lead them to the freedom they were looking for. If only we will draw to the Light, then we can find freedom, direction and hope.

That's what it was like, I am sure for the people of God. They knew the scriptures, had heard the promises and were waiting for the Messiah to come. Pining away. Those shepherds that night on the hill, I'm sure their eyes were drawn to star in the sky, perhaps even in wonder, but what must their reaction have been when suddenly the angel appeared.

I asked Victoria to recite her line that she has in tomorrow's CHRISTmas musical at church, "That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were afraid." (Luke 2:8-9)

Common, hardworking men, doing their jobs, tending their responsibilities and suddenly, the message came, their salvation was at hand. What an amazing moment that must have been. How amazing that they are the ones the Father first declared the Son's coming to. Surely their souls felt their worth. The Messiah had come for them.

Oh how that message needs to be shared today. The Messiah has come, for so many who are just working hard, tending their responsibilities. I so desperately want my children to grasp this understanding. I so want them to look beyond the presents and the tree, past Santa and the crazy push of materialism everywhere we look. The message of CHRISTmas, the true message is a humble truth of God's love for us, and His deep desire that we know Him, know His love, and the sacrifice He was willing to make in sending His Son so we could come to know Him.

The second verse of the song is the truth of CHRISTmas.

Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us Praise His holy name.

The kids and I talked about the truths here too... His law is love... Every day people question God's love, they talk about war and sickness and then point fingers and blame God, but the truth is, God's heart aches at these things, and aches for those who suffer through them without knowing His love for them. We talked about the "Greatest Commandment"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:37-39. All the other do's and don'ts that so many people define the bible and religion by are all wrapped up and accomplished in loving God and loving one another.

And His gospel is peace. We talked about how peace is found in the gospel, the good news, the words of truth the angels proclaimed that night, the Messiah came because "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Jesus came at the Father's bidding to give us eternal life. And that in this "good news" peace is also made between us and the Father.

I am so glad that Neal chose this song this morning, I think it continues to decorate our heart beautifully for the CHRISTmas season, because although no angels may come to proclaim this great tiding in these dark days, each of us who knows Him and loves Him can. We have the power and opportunity to speak the words of truth so that the souls around us might "feel their worth." And when they have, may they fall on their knees in worship for the one who loves them beyond their comprehension.

The good news of the gospel is the greatest gift I hope to give to all who might listen this CHRISTmas season, not only in words, but in love.

Joy to the World

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.


CHRISTmas time is here. Tuesday was the first of the month, and we did follow through with my plan to focus on the reason for the season. It was severely challenged and almost fell through, but in the end we pulled it off and it was worth it. We had company for dinner in my honorary son (sort of company, because he really is part of our family now) and afterwards everyone wandered off for 20 minutes or so to read the Word. It was a challenge for everyone in that I didn't really give them any direction, there was no assigned devotion to do, just spend time in the word.

My younger two both had devotional books, they read scripture that correlated with their devotions from those books. Ethan had a calendar oriented one, so he just went straight for the date. I helped Victoria pick a page from hers and they went off on their own to proceed. They both needed a little help, but that's part of the idea behind this whole process, to teach them about having their own devotional times. The older boys went two different directions, one digging into the gospels (off his iPod, ain't modern technology grand?) and the other heading into the Old Testament and the book of Isaiah. Neal continued to read what he's been reading in his daily time of work from the book of Job. Not very Chistmas-y but it's where he's been reading.

As for me, I read a little from each of the chapters I knew the younger two were looking into and I also read the Psalm that was connected to the Christmas carol I knew we'd be talking about when we gathered back together. It led me off onto a short word study on the word "joy." It's where I think I'd like to spend my devotional times for the month of December.

I was actually really pleased by the kids' responses, even Neal was on board. When they came back up to the table they each wanted to share about what they had read. It was almost hard to get the conversation going about the CHRISTmas carol I had chosen for the day.

Eventually I did. I played a pretty "rockin'" version of Joy to the World by Casting Crowns. I had been meditating on the words of the song most of the day, and the phrase that had been running through my mind over and over again was "let every heart prepare Him room..." That was the desire I had to impart to my kids, that I wanted us to make room for Jesus in this holiday season.

It was a hearty discussion, my younger two competing to answer my questions (we're going to have to work on that) the older boys having input and excitement too. I loved having us all sit there together sharing about the Lord. It made me feel like I was doing God's will.

I learned a few interesting things that day as I looked into the carol, for example I found a "lost" verse that I've never heard sung before. It's the 3rd of 4 verses in the song and it says:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

As a family we talked about the curse of our sin nature, and how the Lord came in part to break that. We talked about the "making room" and how when baby Jesus was born there was "no room" at the inn, and how in the world today, it seems more and more, that there is "no room" for Christ in CHRISTmas. I really wanted to impart to my kids the importance of remembering what the holiday is really all about. For our first day I have to say, I think it was pretty successful.

Yesterday we were not able to continue in the plan. It made me a little sad to drop the ball already on the 2nd day of the month, but it is why I said I wasn't going to be legalistic about it. Last night was Victoria's dress rehearsal for the CHRISTmas musical at the church, my honorary son was around but he had to be at church by 5 for worship practice, Neal got off late and got stuck in traffic so he wasn't home till after 5, and had to be to church by 6 for his worship practice. It just didn't come together, and yet truly, it was because most of the family was centering about the things of God, so it's certainly not the end of the world, or the end of the "Joy to the World."

We did decide at the table that for His birthday we're going to try to give Jesus a whole month of the Philippians 2:14 challenge. We're going through a rough phase of sibling rivalry with my younger two, and some tattle-taling and whining tightly intertwined, so having the ability to remind my kids of the gift we're giving Jesus is a good thing.

I really want to dig deeper in to the Word about joy, because to be honest, I have been struggling with it since yesterday. As determined as I was Monday to focus on it and choose to be joyful, yesterday the resolve felt sapped out of me. But I am trying to "prepare Him room in my heart because He is so very worthy. And I know that the word says, in His presence is fullness of joy.

I have not really prepared for the holidays, I have officially bought three small gifts and that's it. The outside of our home is decorated but nary a decoration is displayed inside. I guess my focus is to first decorate my heart, and the hearts of my family with the true holiday spirit, the spirit of CHRISTmas, focusing on the many gifts we've already been given but perhaps have neglected recently to enjoy.

Joy to the World
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the Earth! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98

... let every heart prepare Him room...

Psalm 63:1-3 - Devotional

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Psalm 63:1-3

This is my current Facebook status. I spent a little time with the Lord last night doing business, and I went searching for a scripture. I wanted to look up "I will seek You," because the fact of the matter is, I don't think I have been like I should. I have allowed distractions to take precedence. I'm a little off track.

I don't think I'm "off the road" completely, but how far does it have to be to be causing a serious delay in God's purpose for my life? A little bit of compromise can be the equivalent of pulling over along the side of the road and setting up camp.

As much as it turns out I enjoy camping, I really don't want to do it figuratively in my spiritual walk. I much prefer to be a constant traveler on the path the Lord has set before me. Mind you, not only looking ahead at what is to come, but rather walking along and experiencing every step of the travel with a sense of purpose and direction. I may not know where I am headed, but I want to be sure of Who I am following, knowing He knows the best way, and has purpose in every step of the trip. And should I be called to make stops along the way, I want it to be because He has called me to them, not because of laziness or distraction on my own part.

I long for this, the sense of direction and purpose, the sense of God's presence that comes with it. I will seek the Lord because my flesh and soul long and thirst for Him, and will be satisfied with nothing less. This world, this land I travel through is a desert, but the Lord will sustain me in it. As the land seems to grow more dry and good fruit more sparse, I am determined to walk closely with the One who will strengthen and sustain me on the journey.

Lord, lead me. Please help me walk with You and with purpose. Your love is better than life...

These are the words I long to meditate on today, and purpose to apply in my life. By your grace Lord.