God Our Great Deliverer..Craig Denison Ministries

 God Our Great Deliverer

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

Our heavenly Father is the giver of every good gift. His mercies are vast, powerful, and real. His love has the ability to completely overwhelm and satisfy every one of our needs. Everything he gives us satisfies, transforms, and leads us to abundant life. As we spend this week stirring up our affections toward God, allow your heart to become soft and open. Allow his loving character to draw you close and provide life to every dry and weary place in your soul.

Scripture:“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” - Psalm 32:7

Devotional: 

Our God, who delivered Daniel from the clutches of ferocious lions, David from countless pursuers, Israel from the entire nation of Egypt, and Lazarus from three days of death, promises to deliver us from whatever schemes the world has set against us. 2 Samuel 22:2-4 says, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

When we call upon the Lord our God, he works in mighty, mysterious, and perfect ways. God is perfectly able to do any and every work it takes to deliver us. Whether you need deliverance from sin, affliction, lies, or sickness, God has the power and desire to deliver you. He is both mighty and loving. He is both mysterious and real. He is both servant and King. And he sees your need and longs to meet you exactly where you are.

What enemy comes against you today? What stress, circumstance, sickness, or sin seems to have entangled you? The Lord says to you, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16). Hold fast to the hand of your heavenly Father. Don’t just put your head down and muscle through whatever circumstance is before you. Instead, call on your Great Deliverer, place your hand in his, and allow him to guide you, equip you, and empower you for whatever stands in your way.

God loves to take the very circumstance that seemed insurmountable and use it to reveal to you the reality of his power and love. He loves to take the walls of Jericho that seem to stand between you and your dreams and cast down the enemy that you couldn’t defeat on your own.

Psalm 32:7 says, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” God is surrounding you with his shouts today. The question is, will you have the patience and faith to pause, open your ears, listen, and follow wherever he leads you?

Spend time in prayer allowing God to deliver you, protect you, comfort you, guide you, and give you peace.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire and ability to deliver you from whatever lies before you today.

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:17-18

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”Psalm 34:7

“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”Psalm 32:7

2. Reflect on your own life. Where do you need deliverance today? Ask the Spirit to give you revelation about an area from which he wants to deliver you.

3. Spend time in God’s presence opening your ears to hear all that he would speak to you. Ask God to deliver you. Pray boldly that your heavenly Father would come through for you in mighty and miraculous ways.

Keep your eyes open today to take notice of all the different ways God answers your prayer. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God will deliver you because he loves you, and his nature does not change. If he delivered Lazarus, the Israelites, David, and Daniel, he will deliver you. Have confidence in the love and power of your heavenly Father today.

Extended Reading: Psalm 34

A Prayer of Determination to Praise God..Tiffany Thibault

 A Prayer of Determination to Praise God

By Tiffany Thibault

“I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. “ - Psalm 9:1-2

I will. These two words, when spoken, proclaim that you will do what you say no matter what. This writer of this verse used these words of absolute commitment four times in these two verses. Choosing to follow the Lord and to live a life that honors Him is a wholehearted, life-changing determination and it begins with the words “I will.” 

As we choose to live a wholehearted life for the Lord, we can see that these verses give us four things that we can do each day as we worship the Lord with our lives, as we make the determination to state our “I will” in our relationship with the Most High God. 

1. Give thanks with ALL my heart. 

The Lord has done so much in our lives. He has forgiven us, accepted us, loved us, guided us and is preparing a place for us in Heaven for eternity! As we reflect on all that He has done, every single part of our heart should be overflowing with thankfulness to Him. 

2. Recount all His wonderful deeds.

It is important that we remember what the Lord has already done in our lives and to tell others about it. It strengthens our faith and encourages others around us to think more about their relationship with the Lord. 

3. Be glad and rejoice in Him.

When we are grateful and remember what He has done for us, we are glad. We thrill at who He is and we begin to see how He is moving in every area of our life, filling us with even more joy.

4. Sing praises to Him.

He is worthy of all honor and praise! We need to fill our thoughts and hearts with songs of worship to Him. Fill your days with praise music that glorifies God. Praise Him for what He has done in your life. He is worthy. He is good. He deserves our praises.

Today is a perfect day to recommit yourself to the Lord by stating “I will'' as you give thanks to Him and tell others how amazing God is. Today is a perfect day to choose to be glad and rejoice in Him as you sing praises to Him. We can make the determination to praise God regardless of how messy our life may be, because He is with us. He has helped us in the past, and He will most certainly help us through whatever we are struggling with right now. As we make the determination to praise Him, our hearts and focus will be on Him and our hearts will be full of joy and song, knowing that He is there with us through it all. 

Let’s pray:

Dear Lord,

Today I lift up a prayer of praise to you. You have been so good to me. Thank you for all that you have done in my heart and life. Bring to my memory all the wonderful things that you have done in my life so that I can be filled with gladness and rejoice in your goodness. I will sing praises to you. You are good. You are the Most High God. Thank you for saving me, for guiding me, for filling me with joy as I spend time thanking you for all you have done and all that are doing in my life today.

In Your name, Jesus, I pray,

Amen

Forgiveness That Sets You Free..Emma Danzey

 Forgiveness That Sets You Free

By Emma Danzey

Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Bear with Each Other 
The truth is that we are all sinners. There are going to be moments when we get on each others nerves, say things that we shouldn’t, and react in ways that are not Christ-like. When this verse talks about bearing with each other, this means that we have great patience for those around us. We give grace and endure through hardships. Part of hardships included having moments where we need to forgive or ask for forgiveness. Bearing is not a small task, it is a word that implies grueling difficulty. Ephesians 4:2 says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” The Holy Spirit empowers us to live by the fruit of the Spirit. This helps us to bear with one another in love. This is not our own love, but with Christ’s love.

Forgive One Another
Forgive one another is not just a suggestion, it is a command from the Lord. This is not an easy endeavor. We can only do this by the help of the Holy Spirit. I once was asked, “What is forgiveness?” Forgiveness is not acting like everything is ok, letting someone walk all over you, or enabling abuse. Forgiveness is not holding the sin of another against them, but releasing their action to the Lord who is the Judge and entrusting Him with the situation. It is not ignoring that there is hurt or pain that needs healing, but it is being willing to release the encounter to God and walk forward with Him. 

This concept of forgiveness can only truly be found in Jesus. Everyone has been wronged, but the fact is that we have all wronged others. Jesus gives the most pure version of forgiveness because He was sinned against, but never sinned against anyone Himself. If anyone had the “right” to hold a grudge it would be Jesus, however He chose forgiveness in His perfection. His abundant love poured out on us so that we would be reconciled to God.

The gospel is all about reconciliation for our sins. Forgiveness is a core theme. When we struggle to free someone else from our hearts and minds with bitterness, it eats us up and does no good. Forgiveness is following the life of Christ, releasing our desire to be in control, and living free of the bondage of unforgiveness. This does not mean that we accept sin, this does not mean that we say that what another person did was ok, this does not mean that we do not set boundaries with unhealthy or harmful people. This does however mean that we move forward, we release unforgiveness and choose to love like Jesus did for us. We are humble enough to admit that we too are in need of forgiveness and we need to extend it to others.

If You have a Grievance, Forgive as the Lord Forgave You
As Christians, forgiveness is a foundation of our faith. We forgive because Christ forgave us. When we ponder the many times we have let God down and have been in need of constant forgiveness, we are much more likely to be more ready to forgive. Maybe you have someone who you need to forgive? Whatever grievance that you have, do not forget to forgive like the Lord forgave you. When we think about how God forgave us, He did not only forgive partially, He forgave fully and completely. We do not have the right to pick and choose when we want to forgive and when we do not. The truth is that we are called as believers to a higher standard. We are called to forgive with the power of God in us to forgive fully and completely. Again, this is not excusing sin or diminishing its pain in your life, but it is honoring God, freeing yourself, and witnessing His love to the offender. 

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Are you holding on to any bitterness or struggling to forgive? Take time to pray and ask God to help you release this and pray for this person. Matthew 5:44 says, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” With God’s help we can all be more forgiving like our Savior Jesus.

Further Reading:

• Psalm 103:12
• Matthew 18:21-22
• Ephesians 4:32