138 I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I sing praise to you before the gods. 2 I face your holy Temple, bow down, and praise your name because of your constant love and faithfulness, because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme. 3 You answered me when I called to you; with your strength you strengthened me.
4 All the kings in the world will praise you, Lord, because they have heard your promises. 5 They will sing about what you have done and about your great glory. 6 Even though you are so high above, you care for the lowly, and the proud cannot hide from you.
7 When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe. You oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power. 8 You will do everything you have promised; Lord, your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun.
Go in peace and thankfulness, while serving and praising the Lord.
24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Go in peace and joy, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer Lives!!!
I wont spend a lot of time talking, because today’s scripture passage is longer than usual, but leading up to Resurrection Sunday, isn’t it good to know that Jesus Christ redeemed us from our sins and set us free from the bondage of our sins. He is indeed a chain breaker. All we have to do is believe.
Acts 16:16-34
New International Version (NIV)
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and draggedthem into the marketplace to face the authorities.20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailerwas commanded to guard them carefully.24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Go in peace, love and freedom, while praising and serving the Lord. Tell of the Good News of what happened on Calvary’s hill.
21 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, and were near the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of them into the village ahead.
2 “Just as you enter,” he said, “you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here.3 If anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, ‘The Master needs them,’ and there will be no trouble.”
4 This was done to fulfill the ancient prophecy, 5 “Tell Jerusalem her King is coming to her, riding humbly on a donkey’s colt!”
6 The two disciples did as Jesus said, 7 and brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt for him to ride on. 8 And some in the crowd threw down their coats along the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them out before him.
9 Then the crowds surged on ahead and pressed along behind, shouting, “God bless King David’s Son!” . . . “God’s Man is here!” . . “Bless him, Lord!” . . . “Praise God in highest heaven!”
10 The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.
11 And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth up in Galilee.”
12 Jesus went into the Temple, drove out the merchants, and knocked over the money changers’ tables and the stalls of those selling doves.
13 “The Scriptures say my Temple is a place of prayer,” he declared, “but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
14 And now the blind and crippled came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple. 15 But when the chief priests and other Jewish leaders saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, “God bless the Son of David,” they were disturbed and indignant and asked him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
16 “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Didn’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘Even little babies shall praise him!’”
As we prepare ourselves for next week, which is called Holy Week, I want us meditate on today’s scripture passage. What kind of love does this? The love of God is so overwhelming. Thank you for your great mercy, Lord.
Hebrews 9:1-15
Living Bible (TLB)
9 1-2 Now in that first agreement between God and his people there were rules for worship and there was a sacred tent down here on earth. Inside this place of worship there were two rooms. The first one contained the golden candlestick and a table with special loaves of holy bread upon it; this part was called the Holy Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was a room called the Holy of Holies. 4 In that room there were a golden incense-altar and the golden chest, called the ark of the covenant, completely covered on all sides with pure gold. Inside the ark were the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them, and a golden jar with some manna in it, and Aaron’s wooden cane that budded. 5 Above the golden chest were statues of angels called the cherubim—the guardians of God’s glory—with their wings stretched out over the ark’s golden cover, called the mercy seat. But enough of such details.
6 Well, when all was ready, the priests went in and out of the first room whenever they wanted to, doing their work. 7 But only the high priest went into the inner room, and then only once a year, all alone, and always with blood that he sprinkled on the mercy seat as an offering to God to cover his own mistakes and sins and the mistakes and sins of all the people.
8 And the Holy Spirit uses all this to point out to us that under the old system the common people could not go into the Holy of Holies as long as the outer room and the entire system it represents were still in use.
9 This has an important lesson for us today. For under the old system, gifts and sacrifices were offered, but these failed to cleanse the hearts of the people who brought them. 10 For the old system dealt only with certain rituals—what foods to eat and drink, rules for washing themselves, and rules about this and that. The people had to keep these rules to tide them over until Christ came with God’s new and better way.
11 He came as High Priest of this better system that we now have. He went into that greater, perfect tabernacle in heaven, not made by men nor part of this world, 12 and once for all took blood into that inner room, the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat; but it was not the blood of goats and calves. No, he took his own blood, and with it he, by himself, made sure of our eternal salvation.
13 And if under the old system the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows could cleanse men’s bodies from sin, 14 just think how much more surely the blood of Christ will transform our lives and hearts. His sacrifice frees us from the worry of having to obey the old rules and makes us want to serve the living God. For by the help of the eternal Holy Spirit, Christ willingly gave himself to God to die for our sins—he being perfect, without a single sin or fault. 15 Christ came with this new agreement so that all who are invited may come and have forever all the wonders God has promised them. For Christ died to rescue them from the penalty of the sins they had committed while still under that old system.
Go forth with grateful hearts filled with joy and thanksgiving. What an awesome God we serve.
Rev. Marcia Davis
Editor’s Note: Today’s amazing image/artwork entitled, “The Mercy Seat” was created by Hope T. Langley.
This morning, I woke up sing the old praise and worship song “Be Glorified.” My greatest desire is for God to be glorified through my life.
1 Corinthians 10:27-33
Living Bible (TLB)
27 If someone who isn’t a Christian asks you out to dinner, go ahead; accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is on the table and don’t ask any questions about it. Then you won’t know whether or not it has been used as a sacrifice to idols, and you won’t risk having a bad conscience over eating it. 28 But if someone warns you that this meat has been offered to idols, then don’t eat it for the sake of the man who told you, and of his conscience. 29 In this case his feeling about it is the important thing, not yours.
But why, you may ask, must I be guided and limited by what someone else thinks? 30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why let someone spoil everything just because he thinks I am wrong? 31 Well, I’ll tell you why. It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking. 32 So don’t be a stumbling block to anyone, whether they are Jews or Gentiles or Christians. 33 That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do, not doing what I like or what is best for me but what is best for them, so that they may be saved.
Go in peace, while praising, serving and glorifying the Lord.
I promise I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Last weekend, beginning last Friday, was so busy. I graduated from college/university this weekend. I was surrounded by my family and friends and I was just so very happy.
I’m so thankful for all that God has done. I am grateful to have completed my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Now it’s time to move on to obtaining my Master’s Degree in Counseling.
God has been, and continues to be, forever faithful. The love of God still takes my breath away.
1 John 4:7-16
The Message (MSG)
God Is Love
7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
13-16 This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of the Lord.
I pray that your day is filled with joy and thanksgiving. I also pray your for protection and safety, for those that are facing difficult times in their lives. I pray that if you are in a dangerous or abusive situation that God would provide a way of escape. May God’s heavenly angels protect you and may the blood of Jesus Christ cover you.
Please know that God is always on your side and so am I.
Psalm 91
The Message (MSG)
91 1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!”
I love you with the amazing and everlasting love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, The Christ.
Happy Wednesday to you all. I pray that your day is filled with joy and expectancy, as you anticipate what glorious ways God will manifest himself to you today.
Today’s devotional is a little different. I’m going to share the lyrics to my favorite song.
Phil Wickham is an incredible writer and an amazing worshiper. His song, Living Hope, is a celebration of the finished work of the cross and the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is indeed our eternal Living Hope.
Listen to this amazing song and read the lyrics below. Keep the words close to your heart. Always know that I love you with an amazing Love.
How great the chasm that lay between us How high the mountain I could not climb In desperation, I turned to heaven And spoke Your name into the night Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness Tore through the shadows of my soul The work is finished, the end is written Jesus Christ, my living hope
Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and bear my shame The cross has spoken, I am forgiven The King of kings calls me His own Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There’s salvation in Your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There’s salvation in Your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
Then came the morning that sealed the promise Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion Declared the grave has no claim on me Then came the morning that sealed the promise Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion Declared the grave has no claim on me Jesus, Yours is the victory, whoa!
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There’s salvation in Your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There’s salvation in Your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
Jesus Christ, my living hope Oh God, You are my living hope
I greet you this morning with the amazing and complete loving work of our Lord and Savior.
I encourage us all to stay strong, in our fight to lift Jesus high and to continue to be his witnesses until he returns. We have a powerful and angry foe that will do whatever it takes to make us stumble and lead us astray. Glory to God, we have the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies to protect and keep us, until we get to see Him face to face.
The Good News is that Satan has lost the war and Jesus has won all those who have called out and believed that he is the Son of God. Our job, as believers, is to continue to share and spread the Good News, the best news ever, of Christ’s salvation, with those that are lost.
Revelation 12:9-12
The Message (MSG)
7-12 War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,
Salvation and power are established! Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah! The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out, who accused them day and night before God. They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ. So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there, but doom to earth and sea, For the Devil’s come down on you with both feet; he’s had a great fall; He’s wild and raging with anger; he hasn’t much time and he knows it.
As Christians, we can walk boldly knowing that our salvation is secure. Spend each day, family, uplifting and encouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Spend even more time, lovingly introducing others to the One who can provide rest to their weary souls. Assure them that the complete work of the cross has already been done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Glory to God in the Highest!!!
Good morning, Family:
Sacred Journey Devotionals - Where Christianity and Metaphysics Meet 