Pastor Stephen Dedman

All Praise To God

Where there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?
Luke 17:18

Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of a marvelous miracle of Jesus healing ten men from the dreadful disease of leprosy.  Luke tells that there were ten healed physically, but only one was healed spiritually.  Jesus used this event to open the eyes of the spiritual blinded especially the priests.

Leprosy was associated among the people as a curse on mankind.  Lepers were the most miserable people.  Their physical pain was awful enough but they also endured complete isolation from family and friends.  

By law they were considered outcasts and remained so until their death because there was no cure.  And that is where we find these ten men, standing afar off, as Jesus passed through their village. As soon as they saw Him, they lifted their weak and raspy voices and cried out for mercy and help.  

Luke doesn’t tell us that Jesus heard them but rather He saw them.  With great compassion and mercy Jesus sent them to the priests in order to fulfill the Levitical law of healing.  And as they walked toward the temple they were all healed of the deadly disease.

Verse 15 is the climax of the story.  One of them, when he saw he was healed, returned and worshiped Jesus.  With thanksgiving in his heart and praise in his voice, the Samaritan received the spiritual blessing of salvation because of his faith.  The other men didn’t consider Jesus as God.  They were healed but not saved.

We should always be thankful for our physical blessings but we certainly show our gratitude to Jesus for saving our souls.  We do so through faithfully worshipping and serving Christ and showing compassion and forgiveness to all people.  If the only blessing we received was salvation, it is enough.  All other blessings are extra benefits.

Is there something God has done for you and you didn’t praise Him for it? Take a moment and praise Him.

Pray

Lord, I thank You for giving me spiritual insight.  I confess You as my Savior and I worship You only. I give You glory and honor for who You are.

Joy Is Near

“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30:5‬

King David called for the nation to praise the Lord and gives them plenty of reasons to lift up their praise to Heaven. He describes God’s anger as brief when compared to His grace. His slowness to anger and His readiness to save makes it easy for anyone to praise Him.

David said there will be times of weeping, but by the mercies of God, we will experience joy. God allows us to go through seasons of sadness and sorrow, but only for a little while. There will be times when we are down but joy is right around the corner. Just as we can expect the sun to rise in the morning, we can hope that a time of joy is near.

A beautiful sunrise will give you a reminder of how God works. There may be times of darkness and gloom but God is at work. He knows what is happening in this world and He cares.

So when you finally see the break of dawn and the sun begins to give light, just know that joy has come. God is going to do a good work. A beautiful sunrise gives us hope of a new and fresh beginning.

Give God the glory for the grace and joy you are given.

Pray

Lord, You are worthy of praise. You deserve to be worshipped and adorned. Allow me to see how You are working things out for my good.

Honor And Glory To God

“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Psalm 29:2

Psalm 29 uses the name “The LORD” (Yahweh) 18 times in 11 verses. It’s a holy and reverent name referenced to God. There is and has always been a great emphasis on the name of the LORD.

Words cannot completely describe or explain His majesty, power, and grace. His name is above all names. And His name is to be treated with reverence and never in vain.

We also reference the LORD as “Jehovah” taken from the four letters Y H V H. The Jews would never speak this name because it is so holy. 

Today we often hear someone saying the Lord’s name in vain or using it to swear by. We must always lift up the name of the Lord as a holy name. As verse 2 commands, we are to give glory to His name.

To give glory means to praise and honor. It means to worship or bow down before. When we worship and glorify the name of the LORD we recognize His character and nature. The idea of this Psalm is that man should bow in humble adoration of the greatness, beauty, and holiness of the LORD. 

The frightening takeaway from this devotional is that we don’t worship and glorify God as He deserves. We don’t give Him the worth that is due Him. We don’t give Him the glory that is to be given. If only we would worship Him like all of Heaven worships Him as we read in Revelation chapters 4&5.

This Psalm of David is a reminder for us to get our worship on. It’s time for us to give what is owed to the One and True God. We do so by praising His great name. We sing to Him. We pray to Him. And most importantly we serve Him.

Pray

Lord, You alone are deserving of praise and glory. Help me to remove myself from getting in the way of Your great works. Help me to share Your amazing grace to those who need it.