November 5, 2024

Have Everything

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

The first time I met you, I was on my knees
Praying, “Lord, if You’re out there, can You speak to me?”
‘Cause I was in a desperate place
My life looked like a hurricane
The moment I felt Your grace

You can have me, You can have everything
Oh, I am Yours
Not holding on, onto anything
But Your promise, Lord
It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn
I’ve found a place where I belong
Nothing I want more than what You’ve given me
Hey, so You can have everything
You can have everything
You can have everything

You are like the sunshine in the dead of night
You’re the only one standing when my world ignites
So why would I hold anything back
‘Cause You keep my world intact
It’s true, Oh, God, it’s true, so I’ll say

Every day I’m gonna wake up,
Gonna wake up
, wake up and say
You can have me, have everything

Singer/Songwriter: David Dunn along with Justin Ebach

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It’s hard for me to remember a time when I didn’t have Jesus as my Savior, my Companion, and my Rock.  I was a young child of eight when I asked Jesus to come into my heart.  I had very few hard times as a young believer and really all throughout my childhood.  He walked with me through my days and I could feel His presence.  I knew I belonged to Him and I knew that He was all that I needed.  I remember thinking, “How do people live when they don’t have Him?” Little did I know just how desperate I would feel one day…like He had left or taken a break or maybe fallen asleep on the job.  But really, it was I who had moved.

“…I was in a desperate place, my life looked like a hurricane…”  Oh, how those words described my life at times, when I had decided that I knew how to run my life better than Him.  He waited patiently, with so much grace and mercy until I once again told Him that He could have everything.  Now when my feet hit the floor, I pray a simple prayer: “Empty to fill.”

Every day is a new day.  One that is full of joy and wonder at the greatest life I could ever have.  My sweet Savior rescued me from darkness and filled me with His light and I will never be the same. What about you today?  Have you asked Jesus to be your Lord?  Have you felt His presence lately…or do you feel you have moved away a little bit? If so, all you have to do is ask Him to come into your life and live in your heart.  He is waiting for you to say, “You can have everything.”

Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:23

LORD, be gracious to us; we long for You.
Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
Isaiah 33:2

I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness known
through all generations.
Psalm 89:1

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Let us pray:
Dear God, thank You for giving us Your Son to be our Savior and Rock and Comforter.  Thank You for the grace and mercy that are ours through You.  When we fail and trip and stumble, Your hand is always there to pull us up.  What a privilege to be able to lay it all at Your feet, to be able to give You everything that weighs us down knowing no burden is too heavy for You.  All we have to do is ask…and trust You. You love us and You forgive us.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

He Has Made Me Glad

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart
I will enter His courts with praise
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made
I will rejoice for He has made me glad

He has made me glad
He has made me glad
I will rejoice for He has made me glad
He has made me glad
He has made me glad
I will rejoice for He has made me glad

Songwriter:  Gwen R. Shaw / Performed on iWorship volume A

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How many of y’all have seen one of the TRANSFORMER movies?  Often I feel like Bumblebee (he is the one that communicates in sound bites).  God drops little “sound bites” into my thoughts.  (Though, sometimes I’m a little slow to catch on.)  While reading this morning, He popped this song into my head.

As I was thinking about this song, I realized that many times when we wake up in the morning, we don’t feel like we have a reason to be glad.  We are still consumed by yesterday’s trials or focusing on the problems the new day might bring.  But Psalm 118:24 (NASB) says

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

And Psalm 145:2 (AMP) states

Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You];
yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever.

We may not think, or feel like, we have cause to be glad.  Yet Scripture tells us otherwise.  His Word gives us these reasons:

  • Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning
    Lamentations 3:23 NLT
  • Each day proclaims the good news that He saves
    1 Chronicles 16:23b NLT/ Psalm 96:2
  • But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me,
    Psalm 42:8a NLT
  • Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day-by-day
    Psalm 68:19a AMP
  • Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble
    Isaiah 33:2b HCSB
  • At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice
    Psalm 5:3a HCSB
  • Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful [unfailing] love
    Psalm 90:14a HCSB

His mercies are new each morning and His love is unfailing.  He hears us, bears our burdens, carries us. He is our Strength and our Salvation.  What more could we ask for?  Just one of those should be more than enough to make us glad and cause us to rejoice.  It is when we fix our eyes on this world we forget why He has made us glad. Psalm 143:8a (AMP) offers another reason to be glad:

Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning,
for on You do I lean and in You do I trust.

Today, as we recognize His faithfulness and place our complete trust in Him, let’s meditate on His goodness and…
♪ ♬ ♪ enter His gates with thanksgiving in [our] heart ♪ ♬ ♪  enter His courts with praise!  ♪ ♬ ♪

Your Love Never Fails

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjvNothing can separate
Even if I run away
Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes
You have new mercy for me everyday
Cause Your love never fails
Oh No No No

You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night
But joy comes in the morning

The wind is strong and the water’s deep
But I’m not alone here in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails

The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I’d reach the other side
But Your love never fails
Oh No Oh No…Yeah

And when the oceans rage
I don’t have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

You make all things work together for my good
(God, You never fail me)
You make all things work together for my good
(No, You never fail me)
You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes

There may be pain in the night
But joy comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage
I don’t have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails
Cause Your love never fails 

Sung by Newsboys  /  Song written by Anthony Skinner, Chris McClarney

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I led the community group that I am a member of this past week. My pastor’s wife had something for her kids so she asked me to do a devotional that would encourage the women. I based the lesson on Romans 8:38 and 39, “…nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”  Sometimes our human minds cannot comprehend just how much He loves us and that there is nothing that we can do to make Him love us more or less.  We are just His and He loves us.

Nothing can separate, even if I run away..Your love never fails….”  Just think about that.  I know I have run my own way before and I have felt so far from God. I remember thinking that there was no way that He wanted to hear from me. Guess what..He does want to hear from you and me!  Always, every day, non-stop talking to Him.

I know I still make mistakes, You have new mercies for me everyday….”  One of my favorite hope verses is Lamentations 3:23.

“Great is HIs faithfulness, His mercies begin afresh each morning.” (NLT)

To me, this means that today we may not be equipped for tomorrow’s problems but He will give us what we need when the time comes.  It also means that if today was just awful and you are at the end of your rope, He will refresh you and give you the grace and mercy you need to start again.  Don’t you just love how He loves?

You stay the same through the ages, Your love never changes.  There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning….

You know the verse—

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lets a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

To me,’ night’ can mean a hard season in life.   For my family, the ‘night’ was about seven years of hard.  But God is so good and He sustains us even in the dark places and when the ‘morning’ comes, we are strengthened and ready for whatever His plan may be.

There are so many good phrases in this song; so, I will let you listen and take notes on the ones that really hit home with you.  Maybe there are some Bible verses that come to mind when you are sitting still. I challenge you to journal them and to memorize them. His Word is a lifeline for you…it is His love letter to you.

There is no space between us and Him.  You can go to Him whenever and wherever.  Let us go to Him today in prayer and praise Him for Who He is.

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Dear God, We praise You for Who You are. You are all-knowing, all-loving, full of mercy and grace, close to us always, and faithful to answer us when we call. Thank You for new mercies and joys in the morning. You sustain us through the hard, dark times and bring us out refreshed and stronger than before and ready to share how You came through.  We love You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.