Daily Devotional

Although I seldom show it, I am a very sensitive person, emotional in my inner man. Much more than Lynn is, in her way. When I was young, I felt this sensitivity to only be a weakness, and wanted to cover it. Certainly, I would not want to cry!

But I discovered that it is also a strength. While I can be stoic and disciplined, I can also have deep empathy and compassion. And at the right moment, in the Spirit I can be very confrontational and blunt, speaking truth in love. I can also lay on my hands, be caring and pray with depth. The combination of these things, I believe, has helped me be a good pastor. The wisdom is knowing when and how to utilize these parts of my personality and the gifts given me in the Spirit.

King David seemed to have an expanse of abilities. When the child of Bathsheba was ill, he prayed and grieved, almost to death. When the child died, he made a profound shift! He washed himself and dressed, and went in to worship! He astounded those watching out for him. Because sometimes the only godly choice before us is to worship!


Worship is a choice, and can be a type of exercise. I invite you today to slow down with me a little, and to worship and rest in the Lord. Utilize this piece I wrote a couple of months back. Read it out loud, or in your heart, slowly. Make the words your words, and the thoughts and expressions your own. Give thanks and praise to Him who made us, and let your heart be still and be glad in Him. I wrote the following while getting apart with the Lord near the Fish Hatchery in Friant. It was a pleasant morning outdoors.

“I worship You, Lord, for colors. For greenery and growth. For white and red flowers. For the wind which blows. For children, for fish and for the birds. For large pine trees which sing in the wind. For life in the midst of an inanimate world. For palm trees with large fronds. For mothers, who care for their children. For a lake and a dam, supplied by a river. For mountains which receive the rain and snow.

For building materials, like tar, cement, wood, metal from the ground. For varied insects, like butterflies, bees and ants. I thank You for the sky, filled with oxygen and nitrogen, with its soft and pleasant blue covering given to creation. For clouds which sit over us, which flow along, and provide rain and snow.

For rocks so heavy, both small and large, tiny and massive. For the sun which gives light, warmth and energy for life. For the innumerable creatures which run, swim and fly. Thank You for men and women who work and build and manage the world. Thanks for dogs and cats as special friends for mankind.

Thanks for milk, for water, for seeds and plants for food, like wheat, corn and rice, and for animals to eat. I worship you for oceans to water, to regulate and to refresh the earth, with also its many fish. I praise You for the moon to help with the atmosphere, for gravity and the circulation of the moon and the earth, to give seasons for the year. Thanks for night and day, with time to both rest and work.

I worship You for husbands, wives, children and families. I praise You for billions and trillions of stars, galaxies and planets. I thank You for fuel, like petroleum and coal, and even nuclear fission for powerful energy production. I praise You for beaches, for waves, for mountains which rise up. I thank You for the equator and such lush life and growth. I praise You for the north and south poles, all in ice. I worship You for the rotation of the earth, and the perfect angle of the poles as it makes its circuit around the sun. I worship you for electricity to give us light and power even in the dark.

I praise You for giving man work to do, yet rest also. I worship You for the centuries past, for the Bible truth, for the Savior Jesus, for the church which proclaims and serves and worships Him. I thank You for Your church, for faith, love, hope and prayer; for joy and peace. For life at all. I worship You for an eternal future promised to all who believe in Jesus, with no more death, no more sorrow or tears, no devil or demons, no sinners, no sickness, loss or deformity. I praise You for angels and cherubim, and all the rest of Your host.

I praise You for the blessing of food and drink, with its pleasure and joy. I thank You for love and sexual intimacy and little dependent children, who do grow up. I praise you for prayer and for faith. I praise You for the vast variety on every front of life. I glorify You, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

Read: 2 Samuel 12:15-23, 1 Kings 8:1-11
Sing: Holy, Holy, Holy, Reginald Heber (John B. Dykes)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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