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March 31 - April 4, 2023
God is love, and we are always His beloved.[18] God is the God of compassion and mercy, filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.[19] God never changes His character; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.[20] The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.[21] The Lord is trustworthy. He will do what He promises. He will remain faithful.[22]
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.[10]
Lord, we confess our tendency to “clean things up” before we come to You, attempting to conceal our sin or grief. In truth, we know that nothing is hidden from You. We thank You that You see all our emotions, all our wrestling, even all our sadness, and You love us anyway. We praise You that You are God, who can handle all of us, all our feelings. Lord, we ask that You would teach us to lament and that our laments would lead us back to praise, back to a place of trust and peace. Thank You for holding us close as we hurt. We love You. Amen.
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?… But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.[1]
“Occasionally weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.”[2]
Worship rises in the dark.
Even on my darkest days, nothing and no one can take from me the hope and comfort that come from my salvation, the joy that comes from knowing God, who loves me!
God, who loves you, made a way for you to have relationship with Him, now and in eternity. That is always a reason to rejoice. He is worthy of our praise.
This I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
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.[7]
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.[8]
The only thing that changes in the midst of his suffering is the posture of his heart.
When we know Jesus, our joy doesn’t come from our outward circumstances or the things He
has (or hasn’t) given us; it comes from our salvation. Even on the hardest days, we have the Cross and the Resurrection. Even on the darkest days, we can find our joy in Him.
Helen Keller said that there is joy in self-forgetfulness.[11] And isn’t it true? As I turn my eyes away from myself, away from my own troubles, my own shattered expectations and disappointments and deep hurts, and focus them on the Creator and His good gifts, there
is such awe, such gratitude, such adoration, that I am surprised by joy, undone with joy.
We worship because of who God is, regardless of our feelings or our circumstances.
finding my true joy in God, the Giver of all gifts, the Giver of the greatest gift: salvation in Jesus.
I want to choose joy not as a feeling but as a lifestyle. I don’t want to be someone who rejoices and worships only when life is good but someone who rejoices in God and worships Him for His goodness no matter what is going
on. I don’t want to just be thankful for the gifts; I want to rejoice in the Giver.
Father God, You call us to be people of praise, and You give us Your love, Your grace, and Your mercy to turn our hearts to worship You. Give us thankful hearts no matter the circumstance. Remind us that, in Jesus, there is always something to be grateful for. You have done great things for us; let us be filled with joy in Your presence. Even on the most difficult of days, God, give us hearts, minds, and voices to sing your praise and testify of Your goodness. Amen.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”[1]
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (esv)
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”[5]
There is great benefit in just being fully where we are. There is great hope in pouring ourselves into right now and trusting God that fruit will come in time, whether or not we get to see or partake of it.
Father, we long to be present where we are, but so often our minds race ahead to the future or get stuck in the past. We need Your help as we purpose to receive this day, this moment, as a gift. Give us this day our daily bread, God. Cause us to plant deep roots where we are right now, in this season, in this day. Cause us to dwell with You, in You. As we fix our eyes on You, may our days and even our minutes be pleasing to You. We love You. Amen.
John proclaims, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”[5] Look! he says. Look at Jesus! I want my life to be more like this. I want my conversations and interactions to be less about who I am or what I have done and more about who He is and what He has done for us. I want my life to testify of His goodness.
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may…please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”[7]
Mary has chosen to rest at the feet of Jesus. She has left work undone for the better thing that is right in front of her. Oh, that we would choose the better thing.
I am dearly loved. I am seen by a God who adores me. I don’t have to strive and I don’t have to hide. He alone is in control. He alone is trustworthy to hold it all. I am invited to retreat here at His feet.
Father, we confess that we often long to be all things to all people, even though we know that You alone are all they need. Give us wisdom with our yeses and nos; give us discernment to know when it is time to work and when it is time to rest. Remind us that Your love for us is not tied to our productivity or our achievements. We choose rest as a way to worship. We choose rest as a way to trust You with what is up ahead and with what remains undone today. Help us choose the better thing: You. Amen.
[God] through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.[6]
But when we think of what our sin did to Jesus, the undeserved punishment and torture He faced, no sin against us can compare.
who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross![7]
Father, we have sinned against You, yet You have removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west in the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. We are so grateful. Search us and know us and see if there is any wicked way in us! We repent of the ways we have sinned against You and others, and we ask that You would bring our sin to mind quickly and then help us repent and walk in a new way. Father, help us forgive others freely just as You have forgiven us. We can’t do it on our own, God. Fill us with Your love for the people around us. We love You. Amen.
He is inviting us to a lifestyle that seeks the good of others above ourselves, that values the comfort and well-being of others enough to step in and love even when that requires sacrifice.
Service is a heart of hospitality, not just with our homes but with our lives.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”[5]
When I think of people of peace, I imagine these friends, so full of the love and peace of God that they can humbly serve those around them. Not for accolades or praise but for joy.
Jesus, sometimes it is hard to fathom the mercy and kindness of Your sacrifice for us. How we long to live as examples of Your love and humility! We need Your help. Lord, strip us of our desire for accolades and praise, and give us hearts willing to be emptied of all privilege as we serve those around us. Cause us to be attentive to the needs of others, to be ambassadors of Your peace in our hurting world. Amen.
The waiting was intentional on God’s part. In the waiting, God grew Moses. God spoke to Moses. God showed Moses His glory.
But he waited in hope because he trusted in God.
The Lord is with Joseph everywhere he goes, in every hardship, showing him mercy and granting him favor.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.[5]
Through years of waiting, terrible trials and hardships, persecution and false accusation, Joseph has remained in communication with his Father.
they brought their instruments with them. They looked at an impossible journey, at an uncrossable sea, and believed there would be rejoicing. Miriam expected joy, anticipated that she would again worship God, even as she looked at the impossibility of the desert road. She grabbed her tambourine when there was nothing to sing about yet. She chose to anticipate joy, to believe in the promise and the presence of God. I want to live like this.
Faithful He has been, faithful He will be, and ultimately, no matter what comes in this life, He will be victorious.
If our hope lies in Jesus, we trade the anxieties of an unknown world for the peace of a certain future.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.[9]
