NO LONGER DOWN IN THE DUMPS

Through Him, therefore, let us at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.- HEBREWS 13:15 AMP

Praise Him even when you don’t feel like it.

Are you feeling down in the dumps today? I have struggled off and on for many years with feeling down and “blah”. I try to remember, though, that today is a gift from God. What am I going to do with it? Will I focus on my problems and complain about them? Or will I praise the Lord who gave me life?

We have a choice. We need to choose joy. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Neh.8:10 NLT) We are commanded by God to rejoice always (Philippians 4:4). We are not to obey his command only if we feel like it. Your life will be much more enjoyable, and you will have a better attitude if you focus on our mighty loving God instead of yourself. Even if you have pain in your body or heart, Jesus wants you to worship him.

One of my favorite songs talks about praising the Lord all day long. I learned it a long time ago when I was at university in Quebec, Canada. You can hear me sing it on the audio link to this devotion. The enemy doesn’t like to hang around when Jesus is being praised. Worship is a great way to beat back the darkness. Please try it with me today. Perhaps sing some songs you have learned at church. Look up the lyrics if you don’t remember them. Search worship songs with lyrics on YouTube and sing along. Don’t worry if you don’t have a great voice. The Bible says, “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Ps.100:1 KJV), not make a beautiful sound!

Throughout this Day: Read Psalm 100 aloud and praise the Lord by thanking him for each blessing He has given you.

Trusting Godly Counsel

It’s never easy to hear correction, but we are blessed when we listen and respond humbly.

2 Samuel 19:1-7

David, though deep in grief over losing his son, listened to Joab’s reprimand about putting aside his personal loss in order to lead the people well. Throughout his 40-year reign, David repeatedly heeded godly guidance. Was it easy for him to hear the rebuke? Of course not, but he was wise enough to know that on his own, he couldn’t see the situation from all angles and needed godly advice.

We, too, should seek wise counsel from trustworthy people. Sometimes we need outside wisdom because we are too close to the problem. At other points, we’re too heavily burdened with life’s hardships to be clear about the best direction to take. Then there are those days when we just don’t know what to do and need the guidance of someone who’s already walked the painful road before us.

What a gift it is to have people in our life who bravely urge us to fulfill God’s call and won’t allow us to neglect our role. What frustrating problem are you facing today? Who could help you see the situation a little more clearly? Ask God for wise friends and mentors to help you—as well as a humble heart to receive their aid.

Peace to the Nations

Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah 9:9–10

The procession that led to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem was marked by drama.

Many times in the Gospels, Jesus and the disciples had gone off on their own, away from the crowd, as quietly and secretively as possible. It would have been possible for Jesus to have entered the city inconspicuously. Instead, He purposefully determined to approach Jerusalem in a fashion that declared Him to be the Messiah-King long promised in Scripture.

The people’s concept of what it meant for Him to be the King of the Jews, however, was so skewed that they misunderstood who Jesus was showing Himself to be. The people had previously tried to make Jesus a king by force, but He had slipped away from them (John 6:14-15). He knew that what they thought a king was going to do was not what He had come to do. Their heads were in the wrong place. The same was true when it was suggested that He was involved in some kind of political revolution. To this He replied, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

In the triumphal entry, the crowd’s chants had been filled with passion, expectation, and confusion. They didn’t want to live under Roman subjugation. They wanted national restoration and political revolution. They needed a political champion, and Jesus was their best hope. They were, it seems, trusting that Jesus would deliver to them something He never came to deliver. When the crowd shouted, “Hosanna!”—which means “Save us!”—they were not thinking about personal, spiritual salvation; they were thinking about the here and now.

Unless we keep the gospel at the center of our thinking, we might also fall foul of similar passionate, hopeful confusion. Even today, many of us continue to create a Jesus who can fulfill our own expectations, a “savior” of our own making who has come to bring us comfort, prosperity, or health, to bless our family and neighborhood and nation. Yet Christ did not enter Jerusalem as a conquering nationalist, riding a chariot; He came as a peace-bringing internationalist, seated humbly on a donkey. He came to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9, proclaiming “peace to the nations” under His perfect, universal rule “from sea to sea.” That is the message of the gospel—a message that is good for everyone, everywhere, always. It is not that our dreams and demands are too big for Him, but that they are too small.

Jesus challenges us today, as He challenged people in His day, to worship Him for who He is, not for who we think He should be. Do not tell Him to be about your business; count it a privilege for you to be about His.