You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Psalm 63

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. v1

David cries out to God as Saul and his men seek him out to destroy him.  David's life is at stake and only God can sustain him.  We must feel the same way.  We need God more than we need water because God provides living water and everything else that sustains us - we are already dead in our sins.  We must seek God to rescue us and also go to God daily for our provision. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me - even though You know everything about me. Thank You Jesus!  I am not worth such love as I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

Psalm 95

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. v6-7

A sweet reminder this morning of how God loves His children.  He places them under His care, and tends to us, ensuring our protection from predators and He provides for our needs.  Oh How He Loves Us. We should love and trust and Our Maker and Shepherd.  Drawing near to Him, praising Him in Worship, and living life as a daily sacrifice (Romans 12:1) are all spiritual disciplines that do this.  

Help me follow and love My Maker and Shepherd.

My Prayer: Lord, You are My Maker and My Shepherd.  You are worthy of my praise and worship.  You have never forsaken me and You always provide for me.  You come after me when I am lost.  What a great God You are!  Thank You for adopting me as Your child and for protecting and providing for me.  I am not worth such blessings.  You provide abundantly - just as You promise!  I am weak, selfish, impatient, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from such sin towards You.  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

Psalm 38

All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. v9

Lord, I know You want Your children to be completely dependent on You.  For many, including myself, this is difficult.  I believe that I can produce results...yet I must recognize that all of it comes from You.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

See also posts here, here from the OT, and here as well.

And God promises fruit when we abide in Him (John 15:1-8).

Once we recognize where all of our provision comes from, and in the context of our own sin, we MUST come to the conclusion that we are not worthy of such blessings and that we are and SHOULD be completely dependent on Him and through this dependence God once again promises blessings (Matthew 5:3).

God also promises that HIS strength will be on display in OUR weakness.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10.

My Prayer: Lord, what a great God Your are that You produce such fruit not just in me but FOR me, for You desire for me to have life in the full....even though I continue to sin and I am broken.  Thank You Jesus for such blessings and mercy.  Please forgive me for my worry and my harshness with others.  Please do a work in me and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Psalm 23

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. v5

Indeed, I am blessed beyond what I deserve.  Family, friends, provision, health, etc. Most importantly, I have a God that loves me more than anyone on earth ever can...and my God died for me so that I would not be slave to my sin but instead would have eternal life.  God has been so full of grace, compassion, patience, mercy, etc. for me...again...even though I am not deserving of such blessings.  The Lord provides. 

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Deuteronomy 9:6

See also here.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it [abundantly (ESV)] to the full. John 10:10

 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, without a doubt You are God that blesses His children abundantly...even when we think we are not being blessed we are...the blessings overflow as David writes.  Thank You Jesus!  Yet I am not worth such blessings...I am too easily distracted by the world and I too often "conform to the patterns of this world".  Forgive me Jesus and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength. Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of this cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

What sweet verses that David expresses about God and who He is...indeed I lack nothing and "apart from you" I have no good thing.  He comforts me, provides peace, rest and directs my path and my walk - what an awesome God You are Jesus!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

 

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6

 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105

My Prayer:  Lord, indeed You are great in that ALL good things are from You and that if I am in You and abide in You I know I will find comfort, peace, rest and direction - life in abundance and for eternity!  How awesome a God are You!  Yet I am not worthy of such a God - I fail to give You my first fruits as I am easily distracted by worldly concerns...please forgive me for my worldly desires and worry.  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Thank You for Your grace and patience.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin...and serve You. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Freedom
Philippians 4

 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. v13

While the devotion explicitly focuses on physical needs and material desires.  Yet for me there is a broader implication.  Every person will experience up and downs in life, times of plenty and times of want - whether this be financial provision, health, relationships, etc.  Paul reminds us that God is what carries us through these peaks and valleys.

In the last days, God writes to the church in Smyrna and sums it up this way:

I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! Revelations 2:9

Even when we have success, it is not through our own hands.  See post here and the reference to Deuteronomy 8:

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. v17-18

Earlier in Philippians Paul refers to his worldly gains as garbage in comparison to Christ:

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:7-9

Additional references on material focus here and via John 10:10.

My Prayer:  Lord Jesus, what an awesome God.  You provide everything that I need and in an abundance that is indescribable.  Thank You Jesus for providing abundantly and to the full.  I am not worth such blessing.  I am easily distracted and consumed by the world - please forgive me.  Help me overcome and turn from such sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Heal her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.
  

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 7

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. v26

We often may think about our earthly pastors or those within our church and whether our needs are met for sermons that inspire or brothers and sisters in Christ who are able to encourage and support us - yet our focus should be on Jesus - He is the one who truly meets our needs!

See also:
John 4
Matthew 6

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You provide for all of my needs - spiritual, physical, etc.  All I need is You - yet I often seek other sources of provision.  I am weak.  I know You love me knowing everything about me including my sin.  I am deeply grateful for this but undeserving of such love.  Please forgive me for being distracted.  I do want to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me turn from my sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Help me seek only You.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa, comfort, strength and freedom from pain.  Please heal and cure her of this cancer.  Please help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. v12-13

I am reminded of Paul's words here also:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Of course, God is also is the author and creator of all things:

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Psalms 24:1-2

and, God conquered the grave as posted here.  God is all we need. He is able.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are indeed able and able beyond my needs and beyond my comprehension.  You are great and Your love and compassion is both wide and deep, and again beyond my comprehension.  You suffered and died for me, knowing everything about me, including my sin.  I am not worth such love and blessing.  I am weak, selfish, and lazy.  Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome my sin, turn away from it and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin.  Help me lean on You for all of my needs and to be content regardless of my circumstances.  Please heal and cure Lisa of this cancer.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.