We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.
Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!
Today's Praise Passage: Psalm 100
Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are his—
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever;
his faithfulness, through all generations.
Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 1-2, Matthew 1, Psalm 1, Proverbs 1:1-4
Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year.
Devotional: Enter His Courts with Praise
Israelites literally ascended into the presence of God.
The Temple was at the top of a hill and they entered from the pool of Siloam, walking up toward the gates and into the Temple courts singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. There are many of these in the Psalms, called "Songs of Ascent." As they walked up the hill, through the gates, into the Temple courts to enter the presence of God and worship him, they put their minds and hearts on God by remembering his goodness and thanking him for his grace.
One of my church members once facetiously spoke of 'waltzing into the presence of God" - we give less thought and planning to worship than we do to going to a movie!
In heaven, God is on the throne and everything revolves around him. That is how life should be for us. As in heaven, so it must be in our hearts. The God who is seated on heaven's throne must have Lordship in our lives and everything must revolve around him. But too often, our minds are focused on the things of this world and our hearts are drawn away from heavenly things. When we come into the presence of God, it ought to be with praise and thanksgiving.
As we praise God and give him thanks our minds and hearts are realigned with the heavenly way. We gain godly perspective on earthly things.
If your Christian life is stale, enter the presence of God in praise and thanksgiving. Devote more time to gazing at God and meditating on his marvelous character and his wondrous acts of power on your behalf.
Father, thank you for being a God of love, power, and grace, We enter this year determined to focus on you, your power and grace.
The Temple was at the top of a hill and they entered from the pool of Siloam, walking up toward the gates and into the Temple courts singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. There are many of these in the Psalms, called "Songs of Ascent." As they walked up the hill, through the gates, into the Temple courts to enter the presence of God and worship him, they put their minds and hearts on God by remembering his goodness and thanking him for his grace.
One of my church members once facetiously spoke of 'waltzing into the presence of God" - we give less thought and planning to worship than we do to going to a movie!
In heaven, God is on the throne and everything revolves around him. That is how life should be for us. As in heaven, so it must be in our hearts. The God who is seated on heaven's throne must have Lordship in our lives and everything must revolve around him. But too often, our minds are focused on the things of this world and our hearts are drawn away from heavenly things. When we come into the presence of God, it ought to be with praise and thanksgiving.
- Praise focuses on the character of God - who he is; his holiness and righteousness, his love and grace, his sovereignty and power.
- Thanksgiving focuses on the gracious work of God in our lives - what he has done for us.
As we praise God and give him thanks our minds and hearts are realigned with the heavenly way. We gain godly perspective on earthly things.
If your Christian life is stale, enter the presence of God in praise and thanksgiving. Devote more time to gazing at God and meditating on his marvelous character and his wondrous acts of power on your behalf.
Father, thank you for being a God of love, power, and grace, We enter this year determined to focus on you, your power and grace.
Think and Pray:
Meditate on this passage and write down:
1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him.
2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him.
Do you tend to jump right into making requests, skipping praise and thanksgiving?
Commit this year to the Lord and determine to give him the praise and worship he deserves.
Commit this year to the Lord and determine to give him the praise and worship he deserves.
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