Christian Daily Devotionals

by Max Lucado

“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
2 Corinthians 4:17, (NKJV)

The words “weight of glory” conjure up images of the ancient pan scale. Remember the blindfolded lady of justice? She holds a pan scale- two pans, one on either side of the needle. The weight of a purchase would be determined by placing weights on one side and the purchase on the other.

God does the same with your struggles. On one side he stacks all your burdens. Famines. Firings. Parents who forgot you. Bosses who ignored you. Bad breaks, bad health, bad days. Stack them up, and watch one side of the pan scale plummet.

Now witness God’s response. Does he remove them? Eliminate the burdens? No, rather than take them, he offsets them. He places an eternal weight of glory on the other side. Endless joy. Measureless peace. An eternity of him. Watch what happens as he sets eternity on your scale.

Everything changes! The burdens lift. The heavy becomes light when weighed against eternity. If life is “just a moment,” can’t we endure any challenge for a moment?

We can be sick for just a moment.

We can be lonely for just a moment.

We can be persecuted for just a moment.

We can struggle for just a moment.    Can’t we?

Can’t we wait for our peace? It’s not about us anyway. And it’s certainly not about now.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/01/30/ml_weight/
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Max Lucado
From: It’s Not About Me
Copyright 2004, Thomas Nelson Publishers,

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://www.maxlucado.com/info/view/about_max_lucado/

by Alec Niemi

I did a Bible word search for the word "Praise" and it appears 296 times in the New International version of the Bible.  I read through all 296 of them this morning. All but a six are in reference to praising God. It was a good exercise. By the time I finished - all I wanted to do was praise the Lord. There was no reference to man praising man. It actually speaks against it.
1 Corinthians 4:5 says: “...we will receive our praise from God.”

The dictionary defines praise: as a verb to express warm approval or admiration of, to express one's respect and gratitude toward (a deity); As a noun it is the expression of approval or admiration for someone or something; the expression of respect and gratitude as an act of worship. The words origin: Middle English appraise, set a price on, attach value to; from Old French preisier - ‘to prize, praise’;  from Latin pretium ‘price.’

It is apparent that God is worthy of all praise when we recognize who He is and the price He paid for each of us.

My prayer for you this week is that you too are praising the Lord.

"Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens, Praise Him in the heights above.
Praise Him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon,
Praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Praise the name of the LORD, for He commanded and you were created. He set you in place for ever and ever; He gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth, oh great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding, the mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them Praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord. Amen." Psalm 148

Have a great week!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/12/17/an_praise/

by Katherine Kehler

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."
2 Corinthians 5:17

Recently I was reading questions and prayer requests we receive from the visitors to our website,  Thoughts about God

http://www.thoughts-about-god.com/.

My heart was heavy with the heartbreaking situations people are facing—terminal illnesses, extreme financial problems, abuse, addiction, poverty, confusion—and I asked the Lord, “How can I pray for them? How can I give them hope?’

Instantly He brought this song written by Bill and Gloria Gaither came to mind http://www.gaither.com/shop/myhomecats.php

Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life.

He reminded me that He is totally able to take a tangled messed up life, a confusing situation, a seemingly hopeless relationship and make something beautiful out of it. He is loving and He is all-powerful.

All we have to do is offer Him our brokenness and He takes what we offer Him and makes something good, something beautiful out of it.  Nothing is too hard for Him.

Father, thank you, thank you for taking our sorrow, our confusion, our messed up lives and loving us, forgiving us and healing us and strengthening us and guiding us. We love you!  Amen .

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/11/06/kk_beautiful/

by Sylvia Gunter
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I heard the car door slam in the driveway, and I raced to the front door.  I was just in time to see my granddaughter's fabulous blue eyes under cupped hands, above an ear-to-ear grin, peering through a window pane of the French doors.  I was opening the door from the inside as she was pushing it open from the outside.  I reached down to her, and she leaped up toward me as I picked her up.  She locked her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.  We hugged each other fervently.  I kept saying, "I am so glad you came to see me," while she smothered me with kisses.  She did not want to let me go.  She kept saying, "I want to stay here with you always."  So we sat down on the stairs, with her still entwined around me, and we continued our life-and-death embrace for minutes on end.

That is worship.

Do you feel the passionate heart connection that marks worship?  Each day your Abba Father in Heaven awaits that type of connection with you.  Worship means to throw kisses toward.  Jesus told us that people who "throw kisses to God" are the kind of worshipers God seeks.  The Greek word "worship" in John 4:23-24 is proskuneo, to throw a kiss toward someone in token of respect or homage, to adore, to show respect, or to kneel or fall prostrate before in reverence.  The ancient manner of greeting between persons of vastly different ranks was that the one who was inferior fell to his knees and touched his forehead to the ground, throwing kisses toward his superior.

My prayer for you is that as you awake every morning, your heart would be full of worship for our almighty and loving God.  May you press your face up to your Abba with anticipation of connecting with Him in a real and powerful way, locking onto Him, not wanting to let Him go.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/10/26/sg_worship/