Seven

How often do you praise God? Do you just praise Him quickly in the morning and go about the business of your day? Do your have a time of devotions with your family later in the day? Do you praise Him before you lay your head down to sleep?

Seven times is what we read here. Seven times is not prescriptive. Don't make a checklist for yourself with seven boxes to check off each day. Seven is a number often used to indicate completeness in the Bible. Seven times a day. All day long. All day long I will praise the Lord.

In Pain

I don't like pain. Whether it's heartache or heartburn, I don't like it.

When we are experiencing pain, we sometimes want to hide. We want to draw the curtains, turn out the lights, and curl up into the fetal position. We want the world to do away. We may take something to relieve the pain. Maybe we pop a few aspirin. Or maybe we open a bottle of wine. We just want the pain to go away.

God knows our pain. He sent his son to rescue us. The Bible tells us so.

When I am in pain, I will cry out to the Lord. I will remember his word and know that He is with me.

Before

It's dark outside. The first rays of dawn have not yet made their appearance.

My family is sound asleep. Save for the purr of the refrigerator, nothing in the house makes a sound.

In the stillness I cry out to You, oh Lord. Hear my prayer. As I open your wonderful word and read, speak to me. Your word gives me hope to face the day. Walk with me today.

Pure

Have you ever been eating one of your favorite meals and something did not taste right? Perhaps someone made a favorite dish from your grandmother's recipe and it didn't taste quite right. After discretely asking, you find that out of necessity (or due to "creativity") a substitution was made to the recipe and it doesn't taste right. It's not fully your grandmother's recipe. It's close, but it's not pure.

God's word is absolutely pure. We may have many different translations, but His Word is absolutely pure. But there are many things that try and pervert Hos Word. Just as we may know Grandma's recipe because we've tasted and enjoyed it so many, many times, we know the pure Word of God by tasting it, by reading it every day. As we go to the source over and over again, we come to know it and we can better recognize when somebody is "changing the recipe." So open up your Bible and feast away!

Doorway

It's always darkest before the dawn and it's quiet and dark in the dormitory. Yet, light seeps through the doorway of one student. Did she pull an all-nighter to cram for a test or did she get up early to spend time with God. The light beckons you to come and you knock on the door...

God's Word has an open door policy. It's always there waiting for you. The light is always on welcoming you. You don't need to be a member of the clergy to learn from it. You don't need a degree in theology to become wise from it. You just need to open the door...

Growing Tired

Tom Petty famously sang "the waiting is the hardest part." We don't like to wait, do,we? We want it now!

Sometimes, God makes us wait. Maybe the answer to a prayer hasn't come. Maybe the sickness we've been fighting won't go away. Maybe it's just one more day of the drudgery we've become accustomed to. But still we wait.

And we grow weary as we wait. Waiting wears us out. Waiting is not passive like falling asleep on the couch while watching tv and waiting for our teenager to return home late at night. Waiting is active like cleaning the house as we await family and friends for a big holiday get together. Waiting wears us out.

But we should remain actively waiting. Like the virgins who had enough oil and kept their lamps burning as they awaited the bridegroom. (Matthew 25) They knew the bridegroom was coming and they, though they may have been tired, we're ready for his coming.

Whatever it is that we are waiting for, whatever it is that is making us grow weary, we know that God's promises are reliable. We know that Christ is coming again. The waiting may be the hardest part, but when the promises of God are fulfilled, we know that it is worth the wait!

Hiding

Some days you just want to run and hide.

You may have deadlines looming at work.

The house may be a wreck and you're not up for cleaning.

The kids may be restless and irritable.

Your husband may be upset with something and won't open up to you about what is going on.

You may want to flee...

Or drown your sorrows in a bottle...

Or hide...

But you say a prayer and open your Bible.

He is there for you.

He is your strength and shield.

He was is your hiding place.

In Him you have hope!