S – Lamentations 5:21 “Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!  Give us back the joys we once had!”

O – The writer cries out to God to restore His people.  This involves God bringing them back to Him and giving His people the joys they once had.

A – In my own life, the greatest times of joy are always found when I am in right relationship with God.  With Him there is fullness of joy that goes beyond circumstances.  As I read this passage this morning I had the opportunity rest in God through an extended time of prayer.  I experienced this restoration, closeness and joy.

P – Lord, thank You for always offering me restoration and joy when I come to You.  Thank You for the ultimate restoration You have given to those who believe in Jesus.

Find time to rest in the joy of restoration that God offers you.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalms 85:6 – “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

O – Why do we need spiritual revival?  So we can rejoice in (be glad, delight in) the Lord.

A – Today we are entering day two of our senior adult sponsored revival.  I am reminded of the importance of revival and will pray for God to revive us spiritually SO THAT we can rejoice in Him.

P – Lord, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

Do you need to be spiritually revived?  Meditate on Psalm 85 this morning and ask God for revival in your life.   

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalm 84:5-6 “What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.”

O – Bear with me, I’m going show more scripture here than normal.  I’m actually in tears right now.  God is comforting me this morning.  A few verses earlier, the Psalmist writes: “I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God” (Psalm 84:2).  Several verses later we read: “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).

In times of pain, our time with the Lord is where we find “refreshment” and “blessing.”  In another part of our One Year Bible reading for today we read: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds” (Jeremiah 23:21-22).

A – I am being deeply convicted and convinced of my need and desire for time with the Lord.  I am going to rest in His Word and the Holy Spirit through a time of pain.

P – Lord, I feel your refreshing rain.  Thank you for your comfort.  Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Are you in “ the Valley of Weeping?”  Spend time with the Lord today.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Philippians 3:8 “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”

O – Paul calls “everything else,” this in includes a lot of stuff, “worthless” and “garbage” compared to the “infinite value of knowing Christ.”  In order to know Christ he has “discarded everything else” so that he could “gain Christ.”

A – I must make my relationships with Jesus what I value most.  I must discard everything so that I can gain Christ.  Today, I want to look for something I can throw away that takes my focus off of Him.

P – Lord, forgive me for placing value in so many things outside of my relationship with Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, help me to always prioritize my relationship with Jesus.

Is your relationship with Christ what you value most?  What do you need to throw in the trash?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Isaiah 45:19 “I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.”

O – Anna loves playing hide and seek right now.  Sometimes I hide in a place where I know she can’t find me unless I give her verbal clues.  God is telling the people of Israel that He is not hiding from them in a dark corner.  He can be found!  He is speaking bolding into their lives.

A – I need to look and listen for God today.  I want to watch for Him to reveal himself to me.

P – Lord, thank you that you “do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner.”  Publically proclaim bold promises to me today.

Do you think God is hiding from you?  Open your eyes and look for Him.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Ephesians 3:10-11 – “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

O – God is using Jesus’ work in the church to display the “manifold wisdom of God” (ESV) to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”  This happens through the unity found in its rich variety.  Jesus brings together all things.

A – I am part of leading a local church.  I’m blown away by the “heavenly” eyes that are on what I do.  Today, I need to posture myself in complete submission to the Holy Spirit as I prep for a sermon series on the local church.

P – Lord, I’m not able to lead your church apart from your Holy Spirit guiding my every thought and action.  Use Park Cities Baptist Church to display your manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places!

Did you know that God is using your church to display his wisdom to supernatural eyes?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalm 57:8-9 “Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations.”

In the mountains this week. Those are Big Horn sheep behind Anna.

O – David is calling his heart out.  How?  He is thanking God through worship in song.

A – Just yesterday I was talking with a mentor about the need to wake my heart.  God is speaking directly into my life through my Bible reading this morning.  I will wake my heart through thankful praise.

P – Lord, thank you for showing me again that Your mercies are new every morning.  You are good and Your love endures.

Is your heart awake?  Thankfully praise God through song.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Ecclesiastes 2:24 “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.”

Lord, use me!

O – Part of why God has given us work is so we can “enjoy” and “find satisfaction” in it.  Also in our reading today, Solomon writes “there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work” (Eccles. 3:22).  I’m reminded that God gave Adam and Eve jobs in the garden (multiply, subdue the earth, name every creature) before sin.

A – I want to spend time thanking God for the gift of work.  I want to adjust my eyes to see Labor Day the way God does.

P – Lord, thank you for giving me things to accomplish with my hands through your strength and for your glory.  Thank you for the satisfaction I find in my vocation.

Enjoy Labor Day by finding joy in your labor.  

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Proverbs 21:27 “The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable, especially when it is offered with wrong motives.”

Heading to Nepal to worship God… praying for the right motives.

O – God detests the worship offering (sacrifice) of an evil person (through Christ, believers are declared righteous) especially when it is offered with wrong motives (selfish not selfless, glorify self not God).

A – In vocational ministry I must constantly fight wrong motives.  Christ’s love compels me to offer my life to God (Romans 12:1) with a pure heart.

P – “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalms 139:23–24

Are you worshiping God with wrong motives?

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.

S – Psalms 32:5 “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

O – A few verses earlier we read: “what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!  When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.”  The gospel reveals God’s forgiving heart.  Those who are not centered on the gospel run away from God when they sin.  Gospel centered people run to God when they sin.

A – I want to live my life in constant confession.  Today I will spend time asking God to search my heart, reveal sin (Psalms 139), and forgive me.

P – Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to forgive me.

Are you hiding guilt from God?  Confess.

2013 Bible Reading Challenge: The Bible is the Word of God and the power of God is released in our life when we apply it. Join us as we follow the One Year Bible plan. Links to read digitally can be found online at www.pcbc.org/bible.