Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- May 15, 2012
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” Psalm 63:1-3
The God of the universe looks for those who would be with Him. The Lord longs for His children to take time to experience His tender loving presence. Almighty God is not needy, but wants His creation to come before Him in humble dependence. He knows prayer is what’s best for those He bought with His son’s blood. Generosity toward God in daily doses of solitude and communion are the wisest gift. Our presence gratifies God.
Like an earthly father revels in the joy of being close to his precious child, so our heavenly Father smiles to see us—His children—sit next to Him. The grace of God is not garnered with a drive-by life. Rather, when we park our lives in His presence and turn off the engine of our activity, we activate His perspective in our heart and mind. We invest in intimacy with our heavenly Father in order to fulfill His agenda in our daily calendar.
“For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.” Isaiah 58:2
Furthermore, be careful not to slip into a routine of perfunctory prayers that miss the heart of your Master. Your generosity toward Jesus with your time, doesn’t buy you time to do your own thing. Rather, you engage with Christ, so that He can love you to better understand His heart, and embrace His better way. By exposing your life to the Lord, He bathes your behavior with a body wash of grace and holiness.
Your generosity toward God in your time with Him can take on a variety of applications. Maybe you commune with Christ as you walk alone in a stoic cathedral, or perhaps you celebrate Jesus in raucous worship with other Christ followers at Sunday church services. You may engage Him as you stroll in your neighborhood, sit by a quiet fire, rest by a bubbling creek, or as you watch His heavenly handiwork in a brilliant sunrise or sunset. Above all else, be still, know He is God, be loved by Him, and then love on His behalf!
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I long to give you my time, to be loved by You and to love.
Related Readings: 1 Chronicles 22:19; 2 Chronicles 14:4; Acts 10:2; 17:27
Post/Tweet this today: Our presence in prayer gratifies God. #prayer #gratifies
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This really blessed my hungry heart today. Thank you for your ministry. I am so thankful for the many ways God shows his grace toward me.
Hi Boyd and Friends, “Generous Toward God,” just as all the other devotionals the Holy Spirit gives you to pass on, is so precious and exactly what a friend and I were discussing this morning of God’s desire for our daily time alone with Him, our dependence and fellowship with Him throughout the day, and our being yes, generous toward Him in every way. God changed my life some time ago by showing me that “It is more blessed to give than receive as outrageous as this seems, can also apply to our giving to Him- worship, love, fellowship, friendship, and on and on… Thank you again for your daily ministry and investment in our lives! Peter, lover and servant of God
Julia, The Lord is good! I’m honored He used this devotion in your life today.
Thank you Pete, this is extremely encouraging.
This was right on target as usual .We serve an worship a truly amazing Lord an Savior….May he Bless an Keep You an Your till his Day
It’s soooo refreshing to hear from someone who gets it!
Thanks Frankie, we do worship a big and amazing Lord and Savior.
Thank you for writing this message. It was a blessing to me as most of your writing is. I just don’t tell you enough. I always or try to always read what you have to say.
I like the idea of God doesn’t need us but He wants us to be close to Him like a Father to His Child. So comforting.