Day 273: The Light of Jesus

The Daily Word: Wednesday, September 30^th, 2020
Isaiah 60:1-62:5
Philippians 1:27-2:18
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 24:11-12
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. – Isa. 60:3

People will come to you because they see the light of Jesus in you. Your task is not to convince anyone to believe in Jesus! It is to live your life in such a way that the light of the glory of God shines through you, so that everyone who doesn’t know Jesus will look at you and say, “I want that!”

Get excited! God is going to use you today! He will bring people to you so you can tell them about Jesus. He will send people to you who are going through a tough time so you can minister to them! God has not chosen you because you have all the answers; He’s chosen you because you radiate His glory. And that, my friend, is enough.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for shining in, on, and through me! I love reflecting Your light, Lord. I pray that as You send people to me, You would fill me with boldness to preach Your Gospel without compromise, in Jesus’ name.

Day 272: Praying for Other People

The Daily Word: Tuesday, September 29^th, 2020
Isaiah 57:15-59:21
Philippians 1:1-26
Psalm 71:1-24
Proverbs 24:9-10
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy… – Phil. 1:3-4

The apostle Paul thanked God every time he remembered the people in the church at Philippi. He prayed for them “always in every prayer.” And when he prayed for them, he was filled with joy!

Yes, praying for other people is serious work. But it is also a joyful exercise! Do you take joy in praying for others? Does it feel like a burden to lift other people up in prayer, or does it feel like a blessing? Do you find it more satisfying to pray for others than to pray for yourself? Do you pray for the prayer needs of other people as if they were your own?

Your greatest joy in life is to lift others up in prayer. For whom are you praying today?

Prayer:

Father, would You please make praying for other people the best part of my day? Fill me with joy when I pray for others! I want them to come ahead of me in my prayers, and I ask that You would fill me with joy as a result, in Jesus’ name!

Day 271: Bring It Back

The Daily Word: Monday, September 28^th, 2020
Isaiah 54:1-57:14
Ephesians 6:1-24
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 24:8
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. – Isa. 55:10-11

God gave you His word on purpose. Yes, you are supposed to read it! But you are also supposed to bring it back to Him. We are supposed to return God’s word to Him in prayer! And as we do, His promise is that “it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please.”

God’s word is creative. The same way rain causes growth, His word causes growth. It causes dead things in your life to “bring forth and bud.” It causes the answers to your prayers to be deposited like seed in the ground so that they can take root and grow! They may start small, well beneath the surface; but as you continue to bring His word back to Him, they will sprout up into your life as demonstrable evidence of God’s goodness and glory!

Memorize God’s word. Declare it over yourself in prayer! Find Scripture verses that apply to your situation (ask your pastor for help if you need it!) and start to declare them over your life every day. As you do, God’s word will take root and grow.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for the power in Your word. Thank You for the growth potential that is released when I bring Your word back to You in prayer! I am so grateful for Your word and for Your presence, in Jesus’ name!

Day 270: Look to Abraham

The Daily Word: Sunday, September 27^th, 2020
Isaiah 51:1-53:12
Ephesians 5:1-33
Psalm 69:19-36
Proverbs 24:7
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.” – Isa. 51:1-2

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, was addressing people who wanted to know God more: those who “follow after righteousness” and “seek the Lord.” He was giving a key to wholeness and fulfillment to every man and woman who felt like there was something missing in their relationship with God. Wouldn’t you like to experience God like never before?

Here is the key: look to Abraham. What was so special about Abraham? He was righteous by faith:

And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. – Gen. 15:6

God called, blessed, and increased Abraham (v. 2) because Abraham had faith! God didn’t use Abraham because he had a perfect record; He used him because, despite all odds, Abraham chose to believe.

The key to everything you could ever want from God – more of His presence, more of His comfort, more of His direction, and more of His blessing! – is to stop thinking you can earn it. Instead, receive His love as a gift. Receive His goodness by faith! Because anything you will ever get from God is a gift – by grace, through faith – in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Father, help me to be more like Abraham! Help me to stop trying so hard, and simply believe. I am righteous by faith; and the way to know and experience You more is to believe like never before!

Day 269: Your Way Will Prosper

The Daily Word: Saturday, September 26^th, 2020
Isaiah 48:12-50:11
Ephesians 4:17-32
Psalm 69:1-18
Proverbs 24:5-6
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“I, even I, have spoken; Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.” – Isa. 48:15

God was about to redeem Jacob, His chosen one. He was about to cause the nation of Israel to experience restoration like never before! But first He needed to issue them a reminder: where God calls you, He will bring you, and you will prosper.

When God calls you He promises to bring you. You don’t have to do what God called you to do alone! You have His Holy Spirit in you! You have His presence all around you (Ex. 33:14)! God didn’t call you for your glory; He called you for His glory. So why would He ever let you fail?

Wherever God brings you, you will prosper. Prosperity is not a dirty word. Prosperity means you will have all the resources to accomplish your God-given destiny. It means God will advance you and quicken your success! God provides where He calls. He will never bring you somewhere and leave you hanging. He will bring you to bless you, so that you can be a blessing to everyone around you (Gen. 12:2).

You will prosper. You cannot fail! Because God has called you; and He will bring you to your Promised Land to prosper you in that place.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for giving me everything I could ever need to succeed on the mission You have for me. I know I cannot fail when I am with You! You not only tell me what to do; You also bring me there and cause me to succeed, in Jesus’ name.

Day 268: God Will Carry You

The Daily Word: Friday, September 25^th, 2020
Isaiah 45:11-48:11
Ephesians 4:1-16
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 24:3-4
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. – Isa. 46:3-4

Since the moment you were born, God has upheld you. He carried you from the womb, and He has been carrying you ever since! And God’s promise to you today is that no matter what happens, and no matter how hard things get, He will carry you! He made you knowing full well that He would have to “bear you:” even to your old age, and even to gray hairs! He will deliver you where He needs you, and He will carry you when you are too weak to continue on your own.

As a parent, there is something absolutely irresistible about your child’s request to be held. Even when I’m tired, if one of my kids asks me to carry them, I always will! Why? Because I love being close to them. Because as much as I want them to be able to stand on their own, I love those moments when they collapse into my arms. And God wants you to rely on Him the same way!

No matter what you are facing: God can handle it. You can’t! But He can. It’s time to trust Him, and it’s time to rest. Instead of trying to drag yourself through it, run into His arms and let Him carry you.

Prayer:

Father, I give up! I can’t do this thing called life on my own any more. Your promise is to carry me, “even to…old age.” You are God, and Your word never fails! So I am collapsing into Your arms, and asking You to carry me, in Jesus’ name.

Day 267: Revealing Himself

The Daily Word: Thursday, September 24^th, 2020
Isaiah 43:14-45:10
Ephesians 3:1-21
Psalm 68:1-18
Proverbs 24:1-2
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
…by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already)… – Eph. 3:3

Life is full of mystery. Faith is full of mystery! Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is God so present in moments when you barely seek Him, yet apparently absent in moments when you need Him most?

There will always be mystery in your relationship with God. But notice how the Apostle Paul identifies the purpose of that mystery. God wants to reveal the most mysterious parts of Himself to you. Mystery does not exist so that you might be troubled, or so that God can hide Himself from you. Mystery exists so that God might reveal Himself to you as you pursue Him!

God doesn’t hide things from you; He hides them for you. Don’t run from mystery. Don’t settle for easy answers! Run to God. Because the more you pursue Him, the more He will make Himself known to you.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for allowing mystery in my life. I pray the end result of anything that I don’t understand would be a passionate desire to seek You like never before! As I seek You, I know that You will reveal Yourself to me, in Jesus’ name.

Day 266: Because He Loves You

The Daily Word: Wednesday, September 23^rd, 2020
Isaiah 41:17-43:13
Ephesians 2:1-22
Psalm 67:1-7
Proverbs 23:29-35
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)… – Eph. 2:4-5

God saved you. Jesus died on the cross in your place. He took on the punishment – the death sentence! – you deserve, so that you could have eternal life when you believe in Him. And do you know why He did it?

He loves you. God saved you, “even when [you] were dead in trespasses.” When you were the farthest and most rebellious you have ever been, God saved you. He brought you out “because of His great love.”

God loves you. He has always loved you. When He knit you together in your mother’s womb, He loved you. When He planned your birth before the foundation of the world, He loved you. He has never stopped. And He never will.

No matter who you are, where you’re from of what you’ve done, know this today: you are loved!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for loving me! There is nothing I could ever do to earn Your love; but You give it to me as a free gift all the same. Thank You for loving me, and equip me to love You back with all my heart, in Jesus’ name.

Day 265: He Chose You

The Daily Word: Tuesday, September 22^nd, 2020
Isaiah 39:1-41:16
Ephesians 1:1-23
Psalm 66:1-20
Proverbs 23:25-28
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Eph. 1:3-4

God chose you before the foundation of the world. He created you on purpose. He built you to bless you! He designed you to do something on this world that no one else can do. And why does that matter?

Being “holy and without blame” and mightily used by God is not your goal; it is your destiny. It is not a possibility; in Him, it is an inevitability! You don’t have to work and strive to achieve anything for God on your own! You don’t have to try to be holy. You simply get to ask God’s Holy Spirit to awaken you to your purpose, and fill you with the strength to walk it out. After all, you didn’t choose yourself to do what God has called you to do! He chose you. And when God chooses, He does not make mistakes.

Prayer:

Father, help me to trust You more than ever before. Help me to know that You created me on purpose. You chose me for the destiny that is laid out before me. Help me to step into my purpose in faith, knowing that because You are with me, I cannot fail, in Jesus’ name.

Day 264: Restore!

The Daily Word: Monday, September 21^st, 2020
Isaiah 37:1-38:22
Galatians 6:1-18
Psalm 65:1-13
Proverbs 23:24
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. – Gal. 6:1

When someone makes a mistake, what do you do? Do you point a finger and use it as an opportunity to talk down to them? Or do you extend a hand and use it as an opportunity to lift them up?

God is a God of restoration:

Return to the stronghold,
You prisoners of hope.
Even today I declare
That I will restore double to you. – Zech. 9:12

And if He restores, who are we to cast down? If He has been patient with us, who are we to be impatient with others?

You have people in your life who have made mistakes. They’ve offended you. They messed up and you paid the price! But today is a day of restoration. Pray for them. Restore them “in a spirit of gentleness.” Remind them who God created them to be; because just as you are a child of God, so too are they.

Prayer:

Father, I want to be a restorer! Help me to lift up instead of casting down. Help me to forgive instead of holding a grudge! Help me to be a beacon of hope and light in this dark world, in Jesus’ name.

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