Pastor Stephen Dedman

Category: Encouragement

Praise The Lord With Every Breath

Encouragement

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6

It is estimated that the average person takes 23,000 breaths every day. Every breath you take matters. If we were to stop breathing… death is near.

A dear friend of mine got really sick with Covid at the beginning of this year. He told me he had a really hard time breathing. He said he had to think about each breath he took. He had to concentrate on inhaling and exhaling.

Sometimes we don’t consider the necessity of breathing until we can’t. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we are breathing because we don’t have to think about it. We just do it, naturally.

Here is the point of today’s message. We are given 23,000 opportunities to praise the Lord. We should praise God for every breath He gives us.

Let’s praise the Lord for every breath we take and with every breath let’s praise the Lord!

Do you praise the Lord 23,000 times a day? With the mindset of praising God for giving us our next breath we can. But don’t wait until you can’t breathe to be thankful for each breath.

Take a deep breath right now and consider what happens when your lungs fill with air (oxygen) and you exhale the converted air (carbon dioxide). The 3 to 5 seconds that it took to breathe in and breathe out is amazing. The oxygen you inhale contains vital nutrients for blood to carry nutrients throughout your body to live.

Interestingly enough, you exhale carbon dioxide that provides sufficient nutrients for plants to survive. And in return plants give off oxygen for humans to survive. God works in mysterious ways!

How many times you can praise the Lord today?

Pray

Lord, thank You for every breath I take. Thank You for the clean air that I breathe and the plants that provide oxygen for me to breathe. Help me to realize that every breath I take matters and is an opportunity to praise You.

What Does Your Heart Look Like?

Encouragement, Trust

“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:34‬

Have you ever said something and the moment it came out of your mouth you regretted saying it? Yes, we all have. It’s because our hearts are deceitful. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

The truth behind Jesus’ teaching is not so much about watching what we say, but guarding and protecting the condition of our heart. Everything that comes out of our mouth springs forth from what is already in your heart.

A couple of chapters later, Jesus was answering criticism of the Pharisees about the Jewish custom of washing hands and He said, “Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15:17-20‬)

What you say is a reflection of the spiritual condition of your heart. When you speak kind words, it reveals a cheerful heart. On the contrary when you speak words that hurt others it’s because your heart is not in a good place.

The heart is a well and the mouth is the water pot that draws from that well. It’s not enough to simply “clean up” what you say. The mouth cannot draw up anything but what is already in the heart. That’s why we must guard and protect our heart.

Pray

Lord, protect my heart from evil. Help me to remain clean and pure. If I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing, please convict my soul.

Jesus Wants To Comfort You

Encouragement, Salvation, Trust

“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:5‬ ‭

The story of Zacchaeus took place while Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the triumphal entry. Zacchaeus did something most grown men wouldn’t do and that was climb up into a tree so he could watch Jesus as he walked by.

To his surprise Jesus stopped beneath the tree, looked up and called Zacchaeus by name. And as we read in today’s verse, Jesus wanted to go to his house and have a personal meeting with him.

Zacchaeus didn’t have a reputation for being a devout, moral man. He was a chief tax collector which meant he made his riches by taking advantage of the working class. Although his name means “pure one” he didn’t get much respect from other people to say the least.

But the day Jesus walked by all eyes were on Zacchaeus. Jesus made it a point to call him by name and show him some attention. After meeting with Jesus, he was transformed.

This passage of scripture helps us to know that when we feel forgotten or abandoned by others Jesus knows us by name. He knows our hearts and he wants to comfort us.

There is nothing that can stand in the way of Jesus loving us and making us feel special. Just as Zacchaeus had a personal invitation to meet and talk with Jesus, we too have that opportunity to share what’s on our minds or what’s weighing heavy on our hearts.

We don’t have to wait for Jesus to come to town nor do we have to fight our way through a crowd just to speak to Him. We have the convenience of praying at anytime and from anywhere. Do you spend time with Jesus in prayer? He wants to spend time with you.

Pray

Lord, you know me by name and you know my heart. Help me to know your heart and your desires. I want to be used by you.