The Daily Word: Thursday, September 30^th, 2021
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:
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel… – Phil. 1:27

The Apostle Paul cautioned the church at Philippi to let their conduct – their behavior and their comportment – to be “worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Whether he was with them in person or writing to them from a distance, their devotion to Jesus should be the same! They should live like Jesus Himself was with them at all times!

The great basketball coach John Wooden said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” And here is the truth: God is always watching! And we should live like it. At the end of our lives, we will meet Him face to face and given an account of all our actions, thoughts and words. Are you setting yourself up for a good conversation with God?

Children behave differently when adults are watching; but mature believers always conduct themselves for the King!

Prayer:

Father, I know You are always with me! So I will always conduct myself accordingly. I will lay my life down at Your feet, and give my all for You: all day, every day, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Wednesday, 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 create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,” Says the Lord, “And I will heal him.” – Isa. 57:19

What you say matters. Proverbs 18:21 says that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” If you love “it” – the simple truth that your words have power – you will benefit from exercising that principle in your life. You will speak life over yourself instead of death.

“What you say” can also be defined as “the fruit of the lips.” Consider Hebrews 13:15:

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

The fruit of your lips should be the “sacrifice of praise.” You should use the mouth and the tongue God gave you to give thanks to Him! But here is the problem: if you’re like me, some days you just don’t feel like praising. And that is where God has good news for us.

“I create the fruit of the lips…,” says the Lord (Isa. 57:19). God will fill your mouth with praise so you can praise Him, even – and especially – when you don’t feel like it! You are not responsible for conjuring up something that isn’t there. You get to simply ask God to fill your mouth with praise; and all you have to do is open up your lips and let it out.

As you use your mouth to praise Him, He will heal you (v 19). What you say matters! Aren’t you so glad God will fill your mouth with speech so you never have to worry about saying the right thing again?!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for filling my mouth with praise. I pray that the fruit of my lips would always honor You. You are good, and I love You! Thank You for emboldening me to use my tongue as the weapon for good that You designed it to be, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Tuesday, September 28^th, 2021
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:
“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. – Isa. 54:2-3

The prophet Isaiah was prophesying here to women who were barren. In verse one, he reminds them to worship: “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into signing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child!” He exhorts them to maintain a posture of praise. And then he gives specific instruction:

“Enlarge the place of your tent…” (v 2). Make room for the blessing of God before it arrives. The Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, was telling God’s people how to prepare for increase! The way for any woman to combat barrenness was to believe God’s promise of fertility (see Psalm 113:9) to such an extent that she enlarged her home: that she made room for the increase that God had promised! And as she enlarged the place of her tent, God would fill that space with beautiful, healthy children.

Where do you need to make room? What are you believing God for? Make room. Are you believing for enough income to save for a home? Open up a savings account and ask God to fill it. Are you believing for a spouse? Pick out a wedding venue. Are you married and praying for a child? Buy a crib and decorate that baby’s room!

As you make room, God will fill it in Jesus’ name.

Prayer:

Father, tell me how to make room! I know that as I make room for Your blessings in my life, You will fill it. You will pour out such blessing on me that there is not room enough to contain it! Help me to demonstrate I believe in Your word, really and truly, by the way I make room for Your blessings to come to pass in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Monday, September 27^th, 2021
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:
For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it. – Ps. 69:35-36

God will build the city so that you may “dwell there and possess it.” Do you know how much He loves you? God loves you so much that He will not only rescue you out of your current mess; He will also build a protected place for you – not only for you to live in, but also to permanently possess. Your descendants shall inherit it, and they will keep it, as long as they love His name!

Are you building on your own? Or are you letting God build for you? There is a difference! If you try and build your life on your own, you will be responsible for the resources. You will have to buy the bricks! You will be on the hook for labor. The time, effort, and energy you expend building will be tremendous! And what’s worse, if you build it yourself, you will have to maintain it yourself. That is why building a life for yourself – on your own – is a waste of time:

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. – Ps. 127:1

God wants to build for you. All He needs from you is in invitation! Invite Him to build your life, so that You can sit at His feet and rest.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for building for me! I don’t want to build on my own any more. Come and construct the life You want me to have, and I will simply walk it out, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Sunday, September 26^th, 2021
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:
…who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. – Eph. 4:19

You were designed to live in partnership with God. God made you “in His own image” (Gen. 1:27). He gave you ears to hear His voice! He gave you eyes to see His will. He gave you senses to perceive His presence. And as you learn to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16), you will be “led by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:18) more and more as time goes on.

But if you ignore the Holy Spirit, your senses will grow dull. Your partnership with God will get weaker and weaker until it is fundamentally non-existent! Today’s verse describes those who are “past feeling.” Feeling is the Greek word apalgeo,[1] which means “to cease to feel pain or grief.” When you do or say things that don’t align with God’s heart, it should pain you! It should cause you grief. But if you willfully ignore His commands for long enough, you will stop feeling that grief. You will move “past feeling” and your flesh will take over. Your life that was meant to be yielded to God’s Spirit will instead by molded and shaped by the spirit of this fallen world.

Are you “past feeling?” Have your ears been so closed to God that you no longer know what He sounds like? Has your life been so closed off from God that His Holy Spirit no longer feels welcome? Ask Him to soften your heart. Ask Him to restore your feeling! The Holy Spirit is knocking at the door to your life. Will you answer and let Him in?

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  – Ezek. 36:26

Prayer:

Lord, soften my heart! Make my ears receptive to Your voice. Make my soul sensitive to Your touch! Open my eyes so that I can see what You want me to do, and what You want to do through me. I am ready, and I am waiting. Holy Spirit, come and move through me, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] Strong’s G524

The Daily Word: Saturday, September 25^th, 2021
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:
But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever. – Isaiah 45:17

God doesn’t just save for a time. His salvation is not just for a season! He saves forever. The salvation that you have in Christ is an “everlasting salvation.” You are saved on your good days! And you are saved on your bad days. As long as you cling to Jesus, you will never be ashamed or disgraced.

Don’t you see that there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God? Nothing, that is, except self-doubt. The only person who can separate you from the love of the Father is you! Satan cannot rob you of God’s love. No man can take salvation from you. But over and over again, men and women give up their salvation because they let go of God. They don’t know that His salvation is everlasting! They are unaware that He will keep you from shame and disgrace forever and ever.

Jesus died so that you would be saved forever. His mercy never runs out, and His grace never expires! His love may seem too good to be true, but He is not. He is Jesus, and He loves you with a never-stopping, everlasting love.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. – Jas. 4:8a

Prayer:

Father, thank You for Your everlasting love. Help me to trust and believe in Your salvation more strongly than ever before. I pray that the permanence of Your salvation – that there is nothing I can do to scare You away! – would stick with me like never before, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Friday, September 24^th, 2021
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:
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives — the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.” – Isa. 43:14

God will bring entire nations to nothing for the sake of His people. Babylon had taken Israel captive! But look at God’s promise to His people from the midst of captivity: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down…” (v 14).

Here is what I see throughout the arc of Scripture: God does not like His people being held captive. He brought them out of Egypt where they had become slaves. He brought them back from Babylon where they had been forced into exile! There was no enemy too strong for God, and He would stop at nothing to make them free.

And in the same way, He will deliver you. Where are you being held captive? In what areas of your life do you not feel free to worship God without fear (Lk. 1:74). God will deliver you! If He will move entire nations for the sake of His people, how much more is He willing to move things around at your company for you. How much more is He willing to restore your family for you! No matter where you feel “stuck,” He will bring you out for your sake, because you are His child.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for moving on my behalf! Thank You for being absolutely unwilling to have any state of captivity persist in my life. I believe that You can – and You will! – free me from anything and everything holding me back, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Thursday, September 23^rd, 2021
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), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus… – Eph. 2:4-6

Look at the precise moment God chose to save you and make you alive in Christ: when you were “dead in trespasses.” God didn’t wait until you were perfect to save you! He didn’t even wait for you to turn the corner and start to get better. He waded waist-deep into your mess and brought you out. He didn’t save you because you deserved it! He saved you because He loves you.

Romans 5:8 articulates it this way:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Rom. 5:8

Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner! And that is encouraging, because it means you don’t have to get your act together before you come to God! Call out to Him, right where you are, and He will meet you in that place. He will come into your life and do, in a moment, what you could never do on your own.

“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Acts 2:21

Prayer:

Father, thank You for saving me from the depths of my sin! I was totally lost; but You found me. You refused to leave me where I was! Instead, You brought me to You. You saved me from my sin, and I am forever grateful, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Wednesday, September 22^nd, 2021
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:
Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah – Ps. 66:3-4

We know that we should “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). But often when we go to pray, we don’t know how to start! We don’t know what to say. But thanks be to God that He provides us with a template!

Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!” – v 3

Tell God that He is awesome. You’re not doing it for Him, by the way. He already knows He’s awesome! You’re doing it for you. As you declare His magnificent power over your life, your soul will be reminded to praise Him and to trust Him like never before.

Then, celebrate His authority:

Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. – v 3

God has given you “authority…over all the power of the enemy” (Lk. 10:19). God’s enemies will submit themselves to Him! And you are “seated in Christ” (Eph. 2:6). That means that you – in Him! – have authority over His enemies who seek to attack the God in you.

Then, begin to worship. All the earth will worship Him (v 4)! They shall sing praises to His name. And there is no reason that worship should not start with you. Today will be a day of worship in Jesus’ name! You will sing praises to Him from the moment you rise to the moment you sleep.

Take a moment today to pray Psalm 66 over your life. Read one verse out, and then pause and reflect. Thank God – out loud – as you pray through each verse and recount His faithfulness in your life. This is called praying Scripture. Do it every morning, and watch how your relationship with Jesus is transformed!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for giving me Your word so I can pray it out! Thank You for putting breath in my lungs so I can declare Your word back to you. I will be faithful to bring Your word to Your remembrance so that You can cause it to come to pass over my life, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Tuesday, September 21^st, 2021
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

How you restore others is important. Scripture doesn’t say “you who are wise restore…” or “you who have a Master’s degree in counseling restore…” It says “you who are spiritual restore…” Restoration is a spiritual act, not an emotional one! Because true, lasting change relies on the powerful work of the Holy Spirit, and not our own human effort in the flesh.

Giving advice often backfires (see Job’s friends). Counseling sometimes helps (I have a Master’s degree in clinical counseling and I believe in the field)! But what inspires change most of all is a relationship with the Holy Spirit. True restoration happens when you understand that you cannot restore yourself! Jesus, through the power of His Spirit working in you, must restore you. Invite His Holy Spirit into your life, and He will restore in a moment what you could never piece back together in years.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for restoration! Thank You for making all things new. I receive Your resurrection life, in Jesus’ name! Holy Spirit, I invite You to come and move through me like never before. I am a restorer by the power of Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.