Chapter 1
He is like a tree planted by steams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (v.3) Blessed is the man. We need to understand what blessed means first before we can truly understand what this whole psalm is talking about. Curious enough, the internet dictionary gave the definition as “one who lives with God.” I love that definition. So what do we learn from the passage about a blessed man, someone who lives with God? They are like a healthy, vibrant tree full of life. The fruit of their life is ripe for their benefit but also ripe for the benefit of others. They are constantly connected deeply to the source of energy and rest which allows them to never find themselves withered. They find success in their life because they are following the one who brings about prosperity. I believe God wants to give us a clearer picture of what a life lived out for Him actually looks like. It’s not some burden that is going to limit and weight us down. No, God is in the freeing and life business not the shackles and death one. A life lived with God is about health, for you and for those around you. It’s about purpose and direction. It’s about success and life. It’s about everything you’re looking for. God wants to bless you with what you’re looking for, and you’ll find yourself blessed when your life is with Him. – Daily DEVO 23
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers…Psalms 1:1 – First off, Merry Christmas from Brandi and I to all of you! Today, as we read over this psalm, remember the only reason you and I can have the option to not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or have to deal with the punishment of our sin is because of the gift God gave us. Jesus came to earth born and laid in a manger but also He died on a cross your yours and mine sin so we can have life with God. Remember how much God loves you and how now through what Jesus did for us we can have a new life away from the way of the world. That’s a gift worth celebrating! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 757
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3 – My wife Brandi has kinda became obsessed with plants. What’s crazy to me is how some of the plants remain flourishing outside despite the crazy weather. We go from 100+ degree weather to severe thunderstorms all in the same day yet they remain healthy. How? Because they are connected to the source of their provision. Brandi keeps watch over them and waters them when they need it. So it is with us and Jesus. We are like a tree planted near streams of water when we lean deeply into Him. His supply is constant and exactly what we need to keep flourishing even when life isn’t perfect. We can still bloom and still produce the fruits of joy, peace, and love when life isn’t great all because we have the constant provision of Jesus in our story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1719
Chapter 2
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2:10-12 – This psalm begins with the kings, rulers, and nations of the world boldly proclaiming their defiance to God. Saying they have the power to break the bonds God puts on them and are able to cast away His hold over them. Yet, what is God’s response? Laugher at such foolishness. One king’s power or a million king’s power united together could never even cause the Lord to flinch. Instead, the Lord has set His Son as the King over all nations, and this King has the power to easily break the powers of these defiant kings. Therefore…with all that truth laid out in front of us, be wise then which side you unite with. Side with the defiant world who thinks God is a bondage bringer and believes they hold the real power in this life, know your ending is death and eternity away from the God who could save you. Yet side with the Lord, and the blessing of life, refuge, and salvation is yours. Examine every person and story of history of those who chose the defiant side, where are they today? Dead and gone. Where is the King that God the Father established, that many have chosen to reject? On the throne in Heaven reigning still today. Choose wisely, but know the choice is also an easy one. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 757.5
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Psalms 2:2-4 – What would be your reaction if you heard that the powers at be in your life currently together began to plot against you to take you down? I’d have to be honest and say I’d find myself worrying and stressing out over something like that taking place. God though just laughs at those powers. Why? Because He knows His power and He knows it far exceeds any power of this world. As we start this new year, remember God’s power is with those who follow Him. When the world’s power comes against you this year, your reaction doesn’t have to be worry, stress, and fear. God is more powerful than anything that will ever come against us and He is fighting for your success. We too can laugh at the efforts of our enemy because the God who loves us holds us and fights for us. Remember this truth as we press on into this new year. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 764
Chapter 3
I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Psalms 3:5-6 – There is something beautiful about this idea of sleeping and waking again. Meaning that even in the presence of many foes, God can give us the peace to settle our minds and find the rest we need. It also means that even when we sleep and are doing nothing to stop the enemies, God is still working on our behalf and keeping us safe. Maybe today you need to be reminded that even in the presence of your struggle God gives you the peace you need to take hold of the rest you’re looking for. He also never sleeps and is constantly working in our story. God has this all under control, trust Him, get the rest you need, and know you’ll wake up and God will have taken care of things like He always has. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 765
…many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah Psalm 3:2 – Those who don’t know what God is capable of of course would say this. When life crashes and difficulties surrounds, most everything in this world can’t sustain us and give us the help we need. If so many things fail why would this Jesus be any different? Yet for those of us who follow Jesus we know how great the salvation is we always find in Him. We’ve read the stories in scripture where God came through for His own in ways that boggle our imagination. We’ve seen Him work wonders in the life of our brothers and sisters. Even in our own past we’ve personally experienced how great of a salvation Jesus can offer. So yes, others may doubt what Jesus can do and even try to convince us to believe like they do. We know better though because we know Jesus. We know He is more than able to provide the salvation we need in our story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1720
Chapter 4
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Psalms 4:7 – Let’s put this in now a day terms. You know the feeling you have when everything is full? The fridge is full, the relationships in your life are going great, and you have extra funds in the bank account. We understand the joy that comes when the things in our life are full, so did the psalmist. Yet he still says that the joy God brings into our life is more than all that other stuff. We can constantly be spending our time trying to fill all the areas in our life to the full: making people happy, making more money, going grocery shopping, or we can accept that God can fill us with joy more than anything else can. You can go after those other things, but make sure you are going after God first in your life. Because you need joy, and not always will those others things give joy to you even when they are full. God though is already full and He just wants to fill you now with His joy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” Psalms 4:6 – This verse shows us the common struggle of our world. They are in this constant search of what is good and what can help them but never find what they need outside of God. The psalmist though knows the truth we take hold of today. That what is good and helpful in this life comes only from God. I believe God is wanting us to hear what He is saying in these past few psalms. That in Him we find what we need so our life should be about pursing Him. So today if you’re searching, search in His direction and find what you’re looking for. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 766
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Psalm 4:7 – Here’s a modern day adaptation. Than when the kids fully respect you and listen always. Than when the bank account is full. Than when the kids do all their homework without asking. Than when the house is cleaned for you when you get home. Than when the boss gives you a raise without you asking for it. For them when grain and wine abounded it caused joy to overflow in their life just like these things and others would cause joy to flow in our story if they happened. What’s beautiful about this verse is that the psalmist understands God puts more joy into our story than anything else can. Meaning joy can abound in our life even when things like the grain is gone and the kids fight and the bank account is low. When our source of joy is God we can have joy always. Yes, our life may be filled with joyless things but we have a God who overflows joy into us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1721
Chapter 5
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Psalms 5:7 – Oh if we as a generation of the church can fully take hold of the message being spoken here what freedom can be found! We can enter God’s house, but how? Through your amazing church attendance? Through your elaborate end of the year church offering? How about the Bible Reading streak you have on your Bible app? Is that what the passage says or does it say due to God’s abundance of steadfast love we will we enter into His house? Don’t take my words as trashing those other things, if done with the right heart those are amazing gifts to God, they just don’t earn you a spot with God. That only comes through God’s abundance of love being shown through Jesus. So remember this, if nothing you do earned you God’s love nothing you do can take it away. Don’t live in this fear that you’ve lost God’s love in your life and are no longer with Him. If you’ve accepted His life and love through Jesus, then it’s yours forever. That’s the freedom we need to remember. Not that we now can do whatever we want, but that even if we do slip up in our pursuit of God we still have God’s love with us. This message alone may be what can change the course of your walk with God this new year. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 767
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. Psalm 5:3 – One of the many beautiful things about our relationship with Jesus is that we can come to Him whenever. 2pm or 2am makes no difference to Him, He’s always ready to receive us. What I love about today’s passage is the psalmist’s heart for wanting to be with God. Yes, he could have waited till later in the day to approach God, but He didn’t. Like many of us with coffee as the first thing we go after in the morning, time with God was that for him. He was aware of how deeply God was needed in his day and the change God can make when welcomed into our day. I encourage you to create a habit of approaching God in your morning. Speak with Him, invite Him into your day, and let Him know you are aware of your need for Him throughout your day. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1722
Chapter 6
I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Psalms 6:6-7 – While this passage in itself isn’t much of a source of encouragement, it does remind us that even on our pursuit of God we are going to find times of struggle. David isn’t sugar coating any of how he is feeling with God in this passage and I’m glad because it makes it more relatable to our life and struggles. There very well may come some seasons in your life where what David shared is what you’re feeling, just keep in mind during those times what he wrote in verse 9. That the Lord heard his pleas and accepted his prayer. Just because the current season of life is hard, it doesn’t mean God is absent from that season. He is still with you, talk with Him and share how you’re feeling. While the season might not change immediately, our outlook can when we know we’re not alone in it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 768
Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. Psalm 6:4 – Turn. My hope today is that you realize God has turned towards you. The cross is symbol we can look to that reminds us that our plea for help was heard, an answer from God was given, and that answer was He’ll turn to save us. Today we don’t have to sit wondering whether or not God wants us or is willing to step into our story to help us. He made it overly clear on the cross He deeply wants us and has already stepped into our mess even before we asked Him to. This is the God we serve, one that is willing to turn to help us. Let’s take some time today in prayer to thank Him for the help He’s already given us and the help He’s promised to give us in the future. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1723
Chapter 7
God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. Psalms 7:11 – Apparently this indignation means an anger that is provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment. It makes complete since though that God would see our treatment of Him often as unfair. He gave us everything, including His own Son to die for us, so that we could be free from sin and be with Him. Yet so often we take the life God gives and then go about doing as we please not giving God a thought. How has this been your story? How have you treated God unfairly? We see in this psalm God’s attitude and plan for sin and the sinner who refuses to repent. We know though that as Christians that ending isn’t our story because of Jesus. We’ve been blessed with life and salvation, what then does God deserves from us because of that? What does giving God our everything look like and how can you begin today doing just that? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 769
O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause…Psalm 7:3-4 – The psalmist is acknowledging that if he had done these wrongs that it would make sense to him for God to not become his refuge from his enemy. What we must realize is we have violated God’s law. We broke the law with our sin. That’s what makes what God did for us all the more special. He was fully aware that we broke His law yet still He became our refuge. He choose to still come through for us even when we walked away from Him. That’s the sort of love your Heavenly Father has for you. Today, maybe you’re coming of a streak of not-so-right of choices. Know God has remained a refuge for you to come to and even today after all that if you turn to Him He’ll gladly welcome you in. He deeply loves you like that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1724
Chapter 8
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalms 8:3-4 – Yesterday I had the blessing of getting to preach at church and my message tied itself around the point that God has pursued us and we should begin pursuing Him back. When I read a passage like this the message, though I even preached it just yesterday, still amazes me that God loves us and pursues us over anything else in creation. Today as you’re scrolling through social media and you see those amazing nature sceneries in the background remember the God who breathed those into existence loves you and is pursuing a life with you. You mean that much to Him. Never let the enemy steal away from your memory this truth. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 770
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalm 8:1 – Above the heavens. We can be amazed at grand things on earth. Like a powerful waterfall or breathtaking mountain, but God’s glory is higher than theirs. We can look at the night sky and see the bright moon, bazillion stars, and everything else that is so stunning to look upon. God’s glory though is higher than even all of that. God is worthy of more awe than these things and is more praiseworthy than all of creation combined. Scripture says even creation itself is aware of this because it gives God its praise. Where my heart is going to dwell today with this passage is to remember to give God the most praise and awe in my life over anything else. I may see beautiful, powerful, breathtaking things, but God is worthy of my praise over all those things. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1725
Chapter 9
The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. Psalms 9:6 – God is about the complete removal and uprooting of sin and of any hold of the enemy in our story. We see that clearly in this verse, that God wholly rooted out the enemy and even the memory of them has gone. Today I hope we can have the same heart towards sin as God does. Often we allow a little bit of sin to hang around in our walk with God, leaving just a few roots buried underneath the ground where it looks like we got rid of the sin yet in truth we just covered it up. It doesn’t take an expert gardener to know that if you leave the roots in the ground the plant will keep growing. God wants a full uprooting of the sin in our story. It’s your enemy and nothing you want growing in your life. Trust that what God wants to plant in your life is better than anything the enemy wants to grow. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 758
For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. Psalm 9:4 – God maintained his cause. David was walking a path of being faithful to all that God had placed in front of him. Despite the pushback from the enemies that surrounded him David was able to press forward because of the way God maintained him in his journey. What I also love is that God was able to do this seated on His throne. This just shows what power He has! Yet even with that power, when the need came to leave the throne and hang on a cross Jesus was willing to do that as well to maintain our cause. Whatever we need to continue pursuing Him faithfully God was and is willing to do. When our path is seeking Him, He’ll maintain that cause. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1726
Chapter 10
But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Psalms 10:14 – In verse 11 we see this enemy that is being quoted through the psalm summing up his statement with I can do what I want because God will never see it. But as the verse we are looking at today reminds us, God does see it. God sees the work the enemy is bringing and the pain you are in. God sees you. While at times it may feel as if God has hidden Himself from you and your struggle, know He hasn’t and never will. Seek Him and you will find Him. He is always a refuge for those who pursue Him. Today, while we all are in our own types of struggles, let’s give more of our minds to dwelling on the God who is always with us rather than the temporary struggling in front of us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 771
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Psalm 10:11 – God sees it. Whatever it is we must remember God sees it. This is a truth I believe most all of us are aware of, but nevertheless we entertain the idea sometimes that God is just not going to notice a sin once in awhile. Thinking we can entertain our worry, our lust, or our pride and simply go on with life like it never happened. While our sin has been forgiven for all time when it comes to our salvation, sin can still disrupt our walk with God in great ways. It can still steal our joy, kill our relationships, and destroy our peace. Just because we think we’ve gotten away with a sin doesn’t mean we still won’t feel the repercussions of it within our walk. Be wise then about the sin in your life. Know God isn’t blind to it and sin still can interfere with our walk with Him. What then is a sin in your story that you’ve been hiding but know is still causing issues within your walk? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1727
Chapter 11
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalms 11:3 – The foundations being spoke of are those we in society hope will prevail. Like moral values, honesty, and the law. The psalmist is having enemies tell him that when those thing get overrun by injustice and sin, that those who are righteous will have no where to run to. His response to those remarks is the one we need to remember. That even if evil prevails over those foundations we have a firmer foundation to stand on in God. This firmer foundation will never be overrun by evil and will always be a place for the righteous to seek help from. Know that even when evil seems to be getting the upper hand God will never be taken down by any scheme of our enemy. This is the amazing God we have an close relationship with. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 772
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. Psalm 11:4 – His eyes see. Our God is seated above every power there is on earth. He is far above every struggle, every kingdom, every person, every lie. He is able to see all things that take place on earth, through every lie and past every mountain. God doesn’t miss a thing. Which means for us who our followers of Him He is watching our lives and the way we live them out. Do we run to Him when struggles in life hit? Do we love violence like the wicked do? Are our deeds righteous? God, seated on His heavenly throne, sees all. What then is He seeing from you? Let your life be a beautiful view for Him. When He squints His eyelids to really look at your story, let what He sees be pleasing to His sight. What’s one thing then you can do today that would make your story all the more beautiful of a sight for Him? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1728
Chapter 12
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. Psalms 12:5-6 – I love that phrase about how God’s words are pure words. Meaning there is no hidden agendas in them, no lies, no deceitfulness. So when He says I hear the cries of those in need and now I will arise to their rescue He means every word. God’s words are pure words. Know what He says about Himself, says about His plan for you, and even what He says about you is true and pure. What then is something God has spoken that you are grateful are pure words? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 773
You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. Psalm 12:7-8 – The wickedness that is on our every side is nothing new to the story of those who pursue Jesus. Yes right now in the news we can see destruction from natural disasters and persecution in the Middle East and disunity in our nation, but these sorts of things are not new to God. He has been walking His people through things like this for generations. Over and over and over again God has keep His people safe and guarded them through the wickedness of this world. God will do it again. Will the protection always come in the way we think it should, no. The protection may end up with us embracing Him in heaven, but what we see even in that is His great power to keep us close to Him and safe. Yes, evil may be having its way in our world, but God is able to guard His own through it all. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1729
Chapter 13
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalms 13:6 – David is singing to the Lord his praises because of what God has done. There still may be struggles that need overcoming and enemies that need protecting from and directions that need to be given, but David is choosing to praise God for what He’s already done rather than waiting to praise Him till everything is right in his life. For you, some of the ways you need God to answer your prayers haven’t been answered yet. Though the answer hasn’t come, God is still good and has already done so much for you. In this waiting make sure God still has your praise. While in the future God is going to do amazing things for you that will inspire you to praise Him, He has already done so much for you that deserves your praising of Him even today while you wait. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 774
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 13:1-2 – Your rescue may not come quickly. Your healing may not come when you ask for it. Your answer may not be given when you hoped it would. Like the psalmist here we too may sit and ask God “how long?” How long is it until the situation I’m in will change because you stepped in God? In these moments of waiting seek to keep the heart of the psalmist. He dwelt on all the past times God came through for Him and that grew his confidence in the truth that God would once again take care of him. We too can look back at our own story, see the ways God provided in past times of need, and use that as our way of believing God will once again come through for us. Waiting for God to move is never easy, but know His timing is perfect and He has a purpose behind the wait. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1730
Chapter 14
There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. Psalms 14:5 – The boldness and confidence of those that say, “There is no God” gets put to the test when the God they say doesn’t exist shows up. In our walk we are going to encounter people very much like this, that refuse to believe in God and make it their aim to live as opposite as possible to the ways of God. Our responsibility is not to condemn them or fight them, but to show them God’s love and live an amazing witness in front of them. Trust God is working in the ways only He can and remember what our role is too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 775
Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? Psalm 14:4 – Imagine a person who knows nothing of the dangers of a forest. They’ve never heard of a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion. So at night they could stroll into the dark woods without any hesitation because of their lack of knowledge of what’s out there. Here the psalmist asks if the evildoers of his day have knowledge? Do they have knowledge of what sin is, the consequences of their actions, or even of who God is and His hatred of those sins. Do they know those things? If we saw someone strolling into a dark forest we’d hopefully stop them to make sure they were aware of the dangers and hopefully we are doing that with the sins in the lives of those around us. Our role is to open the eyes of others to the pain sin brings and the life they can have in Jesus instead. Today, what is one way you can help someone have the knowledge they need to live with Jesus? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1731
Chapter 15
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? Psalms 15:1 – This verse asks the question what does the life of a man or woman who follows God and is able to be in His presence look like? What we see following is the answer scripture gives. How many of these are a characteristic of your’s? Blameless. Speaks what is true. Does no evil to his neighbor. Vile people despise you. Who is unchanging in his beliefs. This is even just a start, but it’s a start to work from. Know that it’s because of Jesus we can be with God, but a follower of God is supposed to look and live differently. Here we see some of those differences. Reread over the passage and see today where you can work on growing in. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 776
…He who does these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:5b – The psalmist gives a list of things that we as followers of God should make a part of our life. Things such as not slandering another person, letting the sin in another’s story be something we can’t stand to see remain in their life, and to speak truth. The psalm then concludes with our passage, we won’t be moved if we do these things. Moved from where? Seek out verse one for the answer, from God’s holy hill. When we choose to follow Jesus God brings us close to Him and invites us to a life of deep pursuit of Him. He brings us up and places us on His holy hill where He is at. We are with Him, but pursuing Jesus requires a change to some of the ways we live. We can no longer let slander be a part of our life if it was before. We must speak the truth. When we as a follower of Jesus refuse to follow the example set by Jesus, that’s when we’ll feel that “move” from God’s hill. We are choosing to lean away from a life pursuing Jesus. All the peace and strength that comes from being close to Him begins to fade because we are choosing a life God wouldn’t want for us. Choose then the life of pursuing Jesus, the one that fills your life with the blessings of being close to God on his holy hill. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1732
Chapter 16
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalms 16:6 – Think of these lines like property lines. Where God has chosen the land, meaning the life, He wants you to settle in and has marked off your land with property lines. The psalmist is saying those property lines fell in good places for him and what’s inside of the land God gave to him was good and will be good for him in his future. God has set your property lines as well. He’s given to you your life and set the property lines up of your blessings. And it’s good. Remember that God has blessed you with this amazing life and blessed you with amazing things in it to help you today and for tomorrow. While within those lines may be some difficulties God has been good to you. Let work on being more thankful for what’s been given to us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 777
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8 – Here scripture tells us the secret to having a steadiness in your life. It tells us how we can not be knocked off balance by every unexpected thing that comes our way and how to stay standing tall when the enemy attacks you hard. When we put God before us we can remain steady. Meaning when we step back from leading our life and let God take the lead we find a steadiness to our story. We find strength, peace, and protection that only comes when God is the lead to our life. So has your story been feel shaky lately? Spend some quality time today then putting God in front of you. In Him you’ll find a firm foundation to stand on. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1733
Chapter 17
With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. Psalms 17:4- Especially for those who have been a Christian for a long time, this can be an easy trap to fall into. The trap is forgetting how you got here. David writes that’s its due to His leaning on the Words of God that has kept him free from the sinful ways of man. It’s not by his own efforts or ability, but by resting on the Word of God. Where it’s easy to slip up here is we can forget that it’s God who saved us and perfected us. After a while we can begin to think we got ourselves here and we don’t struggle with those sins anymore because of our determination. So we look down on those still struggling with sin as if we are better than them somehow because we got ourselves out of our sin and they could to if they tried hard enough. God here reminds us it was all Him that got us where we are at and it will be Him that helps them out of their sin too. How have you looked down on someone else’s sin? In response to their sin, was the reason you didn’t share God’s grace with them because you forgot it was God’s grace that saved you to begin with? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 778
…from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. Psalm 17:14-15 – Where does your satisfaction come from? Here scriptures shows how some can be satisfied by the world. They are satisfied by what goes into their bellies and satisfied with the normal grow up, have kids, die, and leave everything to them life. The psalmist though says his delight comes from God. Seeing God before Him on his path, around him in his story, and seeing God deeply within his past satisfies him. Maybe he doesn’t have food on the table or children to leave his treasures to, but having God in his story is enough. God is more than enough for him. Is He enough for you? Would the way you live give an answer you’d be proud of? Today you may not have everything you want, but you have everything you need in God. Seek to find contentment in that truth and let Jesus satisfy your heart. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1734
Chapter 18
For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. Psalms 18:28-30 – What we see here is the change God can bring into someone’s life who follows His ways. He makes clear the path for them to walk down in life. He gives them the strength to confront the enemies in their story whatever those might be. Concerning the brick walls they keep facing in life as they move forward, God gives them what they need to move past those walls. God is a help to those following Him. Where the world gets the idea that God is a burden to your life and only removes things is straight from the enemy. Challenge yourself this new year to put God first and follow His path. Sure you’ve heard the lie that it isn’t worth it, but you know you need something bigger than you this next year. God is offering you a path of following Him today, choose it and see for yourself this upcoming year how much further He can take you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 759
For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. Psalm18:39 – You may be currently in the midst of a serious battle in life. A relationship is falling apart, a job isn’t going well, your health may be deteriorating. As you should, you lift your voice to God in prayer asking for help assuming the help is for Him to pick you up and remove you from the hardship. Instead, He gives you a sword. Our passage reminds us that sometimes the way God helps us in our struggles is giving us what we need to fight through the struggle rather than a rescue out of it. He can give the peace we need to stay calm and the wisdom to navigate difficult choices. He also gives the essential relationships that helps us through. So in our struggle are we looking to the heavens for a spiritual rescue chopper when we are surround by swords we need to be picking up? Maybe God hasn’t left us without help, it’s just the help is coming in a different way than we expected. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1735
Chapter 19
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Psalms 19:10 – David here is speaking about God’s laws in a way that is a little different than some of the culture of the church sees God’s laws today. David sees the laws as the most precious things in existence. We can see them sometimes like speed limits. Where we know it’s for our safety so we follow them most of the time, but generally we feel they are limiting the life we could be having. What if though we saw the laws of God like David did as a treasure map to something beautiful. Where each day we keep following directions given to us by God which leads us to a life more beautiful than anything this world can offer. Where our view of God’s laws are not limiting our life, but expanding it. Today, begin the journey of seeing the directions of God differently and see how different life looks because of it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 779
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. Psalm19:7-9 – If I shared something was perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous, wouldn’t you agree that is something worthwhile having in your story? Such is God’s law for us. His command for how we should live and what our life should be about is all those things. When Jesus sums up the law for us He says we are to love God and love people. That is the perfect thing for us to do with our life. That is the sure, right, and true direction for our life today. What you are to do today is to love God and love people. That is God’s command for us and that command is perfect. So, how do you plan to lean into that perfect direction for your life today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1736
Chapter 20
May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions! Psalms 20:5 – The word “your” in the passage is what made this stand out. Your salvation and and all your petitions. How often do you shout for joy when someone else gets their prayers answered and you’re still waiting on your answer? While it’s the attitude we should have, it’s a discipline to see life like that. Where we can find joy when we see someone else have their requests fulfilled is that it is a sign to us that God still sees us and still is working. If He saw them and worked mightily for them, He is doing the same for us. So let’s begin seeing the blessing of others a little different. Rather than sinking deeper into a slump because you don’t see change happening in your story, let their blessing be a sign to you that the God you serve is still alive and strong and working and hasn’t forgotten about those who serve Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 780
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! Psalm 20:1-2 – Do we care about the needs of others like this? Listen to the way the psalmist writes. Here the congregation is praying on behalf of David as he comes before God to seek direction before a battle. Everything isn’t about their needs or their wants or their cries to God. They are concerned about David and his needs. May the Lord answer you, may the Lord send you help, may the Lord fulfill your plans. There is nothing wrong with bringing to God our needs, in fact God directs us to do so. Let though your heart care deeply about the needs of others and let your prayer life include those needs as well. Pray that God will answer quickly the needs of those around you. Pray that their blessings will come swiftly and that they find the encouragement in the Lord they need. Here is where our faith life takes a step forward, when it begins to include prayer for the health of others walk with Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1737
Chapter 21
He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. Psalms 21:4 – What are you asking from God right now? Directions on what to do now? Answers to why this is happening? Healing is this stage of your life? Provision for the lack you are facing? David here writes that he asked of life from God and God heard him and gave it to him. God hears you as well and if God is able to give life, He also is able to give you what you need. Talk with God today about your need and know He hears you. The request may be met differently than you expect, but know God doesn’t leave those who faithfully follow Him alone and without. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 781
O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. Psalm 21:1-3 – God is the reason the king has what he has and is blessed like he is. It’s the Lord’s strength that fuels the kings rejoicing. It’s God who met the requests of the king. It’s God who set the king in power and placed the crown on his head. God is behind everything. Yes, this was all referring to king David, but it’s the same for our story too. God is behind everything in our story and is the reason we have everything we have. How can you acknowledge that more today and praise Him more for it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1738
Chapter 22
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. Psalms 22:2-4 – This is how we should move forward during a season of struggle. David is vulnerable to God saying he’s crying out to God but currently not finding the break he needs. He though reminds himself that God is holy and that God came through for those before him that trusted in God. We must too remember that God is holy. He is perfect in all of His ways. Know God is worth trusting in and has a purpose for what He does. He’s come through for you before, and come through for all those who trusted in Him for all eternity past, and He will come through for you now. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 782
I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. Psalm 22:22 – The psalmist begins his writing by sharing how broken he is. How his enemies are surrounding him and attacking him relentlessly. He is drained of all strength and cries out to God for rescue. What we see in the verse right before our passage today is that God comes through with the needed rescue. Now, as a result of being rescued, the psalmist begins to declare the name of God to those around him. He was rescued and wants to share with others the power and mercy of the one who rescued him. We too must remember we’ve been rescued from sin by Jesus. If we are in a relationship with Jesus then we’ve been rescued from the sin and death that encompassed us. As a result of that rescue, how much is God’s power and mercy something we are talking about with those around us? The psalmist couldn’t hold it in, how about us? If you’ve been rescued by Jesus, talk about it with others and help them realize they too can find rescue in Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1739
Chapter 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 – What we find in our life when we let God lead is the things we want. I’m not meaning this like some prosperity gospel thing, I’m talking about the things we all deeply want. Believer and non-believer are wanting purpose in life, hope that there is more to this existence than just existing, love and someone to share it with. These and so many more of the deep life desires we have God can satisfy and is the only one who can. So is He your Shepherd? If what you want is on His path, did you even think about walking down it today until now? It’s almost a new year, maybe it’s time for a new path. If you’ve been going your own path all this past year and still don’t have what you were looking for, try letting God lead in 2019 to see where His path will take you. Maybe you’ll find more than you expect. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 760
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 – In this read through of psalms I’m seeing the truth this passage reveals to us over and over again. That God doesn’t often remove the enemy or remove us from the battle, but provides for us in the battle. The psalmist writes that while surround by enemies, possibly even in the middle of a battle, God takes the time and care to set a table up for him full of the provision he needs to keep going. Not only to meet his minimum needs either but to overflow him with blessing. So when we pray to be removed from a battle, yet Jesus’ answer is to instead overflow you with all you need to keep fighting, can we truly say He doesn’t love us or doesn’t care about us? Yes, the provision wasn’t what you asked for, but nevertheless provision came for you. Let’s choose to trust that if this is how God answers our prayers He knows this is what is truly best for us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1740
Chapter 24
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Psalms24:7 – There is a message here for both the people this was shared with back then and for us today. Back then, they were being called to lift the gates and lift the doors. But for what? For the ark of God to come in to the newly built temple. This verse is saying make way and open what needs to be opened so that the ark of the Lord can come and remain permanently within the temple. For us, the message is quite similar. God is seeking a permanent home within your life. He’s telling you to open your heart and open your life so that He can come in and make residence in your story permanently. So what “doors” in your life are you keeping shut that’s keeping God from coming in? What “doors” are you keeping shut that is keeping God’s power from moving through you? Whether it’s lack of trust, a grudge against God, a sinful habit, or even just apathy towards God’s mission, what doors have you been keeping shut that has been keeping God from coming and and beginning to work though you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 397
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalms 24:3-5 – This means we are able to stand before God in His holy place. Somehow we can actually stand free before a perfect God and not crumble because of fear, guilt, and shame. How can we stand like that? Because of the righteousness we can find through Jesus. When we have been forgiven and cleaned by Jesus, we are free from all our mess ups and can actually come before God without fear. If this is true, then why do we often feel so fearful about coming before God with what we are dealing with? Remember that because of Jesus, those and who trust in Him have full access to God and can come to Him with anything anytime. You have access to the King of Glory as this psalm reminds us. Take hold of what’s been freely given to you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 783
He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah Psalm 24:5-6 – Such is the generation. I love how this promised blessing isn’t for only a select few or only the super elite, but it’s being given to an entire generation. Meaning all who choose to seek God find Him and all the blessing that comes from Him. Today know you are a part of the generation that is welcomed to seek Him. You are invited to lean deeply into Him and He longs to overflow you with blessing. Seek the Lord with all you have and find a life that is flooded with all He gives. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1741
Chapter 25
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. Psalms 25:12 – I see this passage helping a few people today. What we see being spoken here is how to find the answer to the direction to go in your life. You may be at a point in life where you have a big choice to make. Stay dating this person or let them go. Stay working there or find a new place to work. The examples could go on so just fit your situation in the blank. So how do you find the right answer? Well we see here that those who fear the Lord are given the instructions on which way to go. Meaning as we fear God (respect, listen, obey, follow God), God will show us what to do. He’ll make the right choice clear for us. Now if you’re anything like me who’s a hardcore planner, this can be difficult to hear at first because it’s trusting that God’s going to work all this out and we may know nothing as to how He’s doing it. But truly, who could plan your life better, you or God? If you want your direction, start with your devotion. Begin fearing God with your life and watch as God begins to clear the fog surrounding your path revealing His plan for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 398
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalms 25:8 – Thank goodness this is how God handles things. If not, we’d all be lost with no hope. I’m so grateful that this verse didn’t say “God only instructs the perfect” or “God only instructs those who have it all together.” For if either of those options were what the verse said, I’d be left out alone with no help from God. But the God we serve says He’s willing to work with and instruct sinners like me and like you in the path to Himself. That He wants people like us who aren’t perfect and don’t have it all together coming to and following Him. That’s the beauty of our God. So if today you’re looking at your life and see the faults we think would disqualify us from following God know those are the very things God says He can work with. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 784
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:14-15 – Closeness and friendship with God is an option for us. We have something that beautiful offered to us. What’s our role then in making this a reality in our story? It’s keeping our eyes solely fixed on Him with an undivided heart, hearing what His commands are and following that lead. We can judge the depth of a relationship by how much your thoughts and time are given over to them, such we can do here with God. How much is He captivating your daily thoughts? How much is searching for Him the goal of your eyes? There is a richness to our walk with God that’s available if we seek Him fully, let’s lean into that available promise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1742
Chapter 26
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Psalms 26:8 – Habitation is defined as the state of living in a particular place. What we’re seeing the psalmist say is that he loves to stay in the house of God. He loves to stay where God is worshiped. He loves to stay where God’s followers stay. This environment is where he wants to stay. How about you? Rather than just taking the verbal answer to that question, if someone had the ability to look back at your life this past year where would they say you “love the habitation of?” Rather than camping out on the regret of how maybe last year we didn’t value time with God like we should, let’s choose to make it a priority this upcoming year. God desires you to desire time with Him; where your heart longs for the fill that comes from time of worship of Him and of fellowship with other believers. Let’s begin to find our home in His house. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 399
I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. Psalms 26:4-5 – The strength of your walk will be determined by the crowd you stay around. We must be careful not to use verses like this as our reasoning to not be in touch with our communities. Far too often churches use passages like these as excuses to stay within their walls and never reach outside of them. The psalmist isn’t saying to not be around wrongdoers, he is saying don’t let them be the influencers of your life. Don’t sit and take their wisdom and direction as your own. We need to be the ones influencing them not the other way around. So where do you sit with this? Have you used passages like this wrongly to let you not reach out? Have you let the wrong people be your influencers? Make sure people are where they need to be and in the correct position in your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 785
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Psalm 26:8 – He loves to be where God is at. This passage written is easy to relate with, most of the time. While so often we love being close to God, when our hearts lean back after sin we may begin to change that desire for God’s closeness. We think He’s going to come down on us hard or change the nature of our relationship with Him. This though is based on a false representation of Jesus. That’s not how Jesus works. Yes, He’s close when we’re faithful, but He remains faithful and close to us even when our walk isn’t so steady after Him. His closeness isn’t with us to destroy us, it’s to gently guide us back to peace with Him. He isn’t responding to us with hate but with love. While we have this forgiveness let’s live in a way that’s demonstrates a gratefulness for God’s grace, not an abuse of it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1743
Chapter 27
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Psalms 27:4 – Their is one thing I ask from God and one thing I am seeking after. I want to be
with and follow Him. This is the attitude we all should pursue in our walk with God. A single minded, wholehearted, undivided devotion to God. So let’s ask ourselves how much of our prayer life has been asking things like the psalmist? Asking God what His will is, His direction, how He wants me to handle this, how can we get closer to Him today? It’s so easy to let our life be devoted to so many other things other than our life with God, today let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s all about Him today…single-minded, wholehearted, undivided devotion to God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 786
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Psalms 27:8 – For this next year, I see for all of us an area we can grow in within this passage. David hears from God and quickly replies I’m following your command. How quickly do we respond to God’s command with obedience? When God says to love your neighbor, how long do you choose to hold a grudge over them till you begin to love them? God says to be His witness, do you just wait till Sunday to take on that role? As I stated earlier, I think this area of responding quicker with obedience to God’s commands is something each of us can grow in. Challenge yourself this next year to be in places where you will hear God’s direction being given more (in the Word, in church, in prayer) then make the determination that wherever He leads you’ll go. This could be a very different way of handling your Christian life, but this is the adventure of following Jesus that we’re called to. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 400
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. Psalm 27:10 – Jesus isn’t like anyone else we have within our story. Jesus won’t forget about you even though others may. Jesus won’t change his love for you even though others might. Jesus won’t forsake you even though some of the most precious people to us may. Jesus is different. We must remember that when we step into a relationship with Him. He isn’t going to treat you like the people who’ve hurt you treated you. He isn’t leaving and He isn’t going to abuse us because He is different than all others. Pour into scripture then to understand better who this Jesus is that you’re walking with. Rather than assuming He’s like the people you’ve existed with in your past, read the love letter He gave you describing His intentions for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1744
Chapter 28
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Psalms 28:1 – To you, Lord, when I am in my daily struggles to my deepest pains, I call. That was David’s heart, but how about your’s? What do you go to when the struggle arises? Yes the right answer is prayerfully coming to God for help, but often that isn’t what we do. Anger, isolation, past sins, wrong relationships. These are just a sampling of other options we can run to that unfortunately make themselves very easy to run to in our pain. We see though throughout the psalms the benefits of running to God in our pain versus anything else. Set your mind today that He will be the one you call on when the next struggle arises. While others may set themselves up as easier to run to, when they can’t offer all the help you need you’re wasting time with them. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 787
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Psalm 28:1 – “…my rock, be not deaf to me…” We see throughout the Old Testament the peoples of earth crying out to the mountains and hills for protection and salvation, yet the mountains and hills remain silent. They don’t hear and don’t respond because they can’t hear and can’t respond. Yet God, our Rock, is different. He does hear and does respond. He doesn’t remain silent to our cries. He hears us from His throne in Heaven and enters into our mess to bring us the life we need. Is what you’re crying out to hearing you? Is it responding like you need it to? If your voice isn’t calling out to Jesus know then your response may be silence and I know that’s not what you need. Jesus is here and He’s inviting you to choose Him to reach out to. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1745
Chapter 29
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. Psalms 29:3 – My wife has been listening to that new Avril Lavigne song “Head Above Water” often as of here lately. When I read this passage today I got an even better understanding of why we can call out to God in the middle of our drowning and ask Him to keep us above the water. It’s because He is over the water. He’s not caught up in the chaos distracted and overwhelmed like we are. He over all that and inviting us to walk on the water with Him like with Peter in the storm. So remember the chaos that is overwhelming you today isn’t overwhelming God. He’s over it and sees past it. Trust His lead and lean on Him for help in the water. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 788
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 29:5 – Think of what is an example of power in our world today. Things like beams of solid iron, lifeproof phone cases, or the arms of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. These things and others represent to us strength and the ability to withstand even the worst of opposition. That’s what the cedars of Lebanon were for the people of the day this psalm was written. These trees were the strongest and used for projects that needed true strength. Yet the voice of God breaks the cedars. His voice alone is more powerful than any example of strength our world can muster up. So when the enemy comes at you with some serious strength and power, know God can easily take care of them. You are safe with God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1746
Chapter 30
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalms 30:5 – Here is the reminder we often need as we study throughout the Old Testament about the character of God. Also it is the reminder you need as you experience the just and righteous side of of God in your life. That while God doesn’t go soft on sin and we will experience the shaping that comes when God is forming us into what we can be, that season isn’t forever and the joy and favor of God is what God wants us to rest in. We must remember that God is a perfect God and sin has no place in His presence or within the lives of His followers. God is also love and has a purpose for the season that is rough. Don’t let the shaping process blind you from the love that the Creator has for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 789
As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed. Psalm 30:6-7 – Here the psalmist recounts when he took refuge in his mountain, his kingdom and all the power and glory that came with it, when his enemy came. Instead of finding refuge in the one who established him in that kingdom, he found security in the kingdom itself. A commentary I read over this passage said this, “In that state, however, God showed him that there was no real security but in his favor: security not in what a man can draw around himself, but in the favor of God alone.” God may have blessed you with true strength or financial blessing or even deep relationships with others, but when trouble comes we must not just reach out to those blessings to provide for us but to reach out to the one who provided the blessing. The only true refuge and help in life comes from Jesus. We may find short term help in other places, but the lasting salvation from our troubles comes only from Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1747
Chapter 31
My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Psalms 31:15 – David humbly admits before God that he realizes his everything is in God’s hand. His life, his future, his provision, his hope, everything. We too need to come to this same understanding that David did that our everything is in God’s hands. This though shouldn’t be something that creates worry as if you have lost control, it should create an overwhelming peace within you because the God who has all the power in the world is taking care of your life and future. A God who has consistently showed His great love for you is watching over your life for you. So praise God that our life isn’t in our hands but His! So today walk in peace that your everything is within the loving hands of an all powerful God. When we remember this, why would we need to worry about anything? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 790
Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. Psalm 31:11 – For some our struggle will be too much for them. Too much for them to walk alongside and too much to even listen about. That can been overwhelming to us when we reach out for help but they step back and away. What we must remember is that this is not how everyone will respond. Yes, some won’t lean in, but others will. You have people in your story who are willing to lean deeply in your pain with you and walk with you. Count me as one if I can be for you. You also have Jesus, an ever present help in our time of need. Never leaving, never overwhelmed. Don’t let the few people who walk away from you settle in your mind no one will help you. You have help available, ask for it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1748
Chapter 32
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Psalms 32:5 – God forgives our sin. Why then are we so afraid to come to Him with our mistakes? We know nothing is hidden from God yet we try to conceal our sin from Him thinking if we don’t acknowledge it before Him it really didn’t happen. We know that’s not true though and on top of that we have passages like this that remind us we serve a forgiving God when we come to Him. So what have you been trying to conceal from God? What have you refused to acknowledge is in your life? Remember you serve a God who sent His Son Jesus to die for you so your sin can be forgiven. Reveal what’s been concealed and begin moving forward in your walk with God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 791
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Psalm 32:1-2 – If you have asked Jesus to forgive you of your wrongs and you have stepped into a life of faithfully following Him, this passage tells us something about you. It’s says you are blessed. You are deeply blessed. Yes, your story may not feel #blessed but look at where you truly are. We could have been condemned to death but instead we’re held up as free. We could have been eternally disconnected from God and Heaven, yet now we can freely approach God as a child would a father. Our sin could still be our master, but God has broken those chains. We are blessed. True, money might be tight and struggles at work may be real, but we are truly, deeply blessed. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1749
Chapter 33
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. Psalms 33:3 – For me this passage hit home differently than others in this psalm because I’ve recently stepped into the role at my church as the worship leader. After hearing what this verse says about our worship, it elevates our responsibility as worshippers. First it should be new, where we are willing to give God more praise each time in worship than we have last time because He deserves it. We should play skillfully and not just go into worship with a half-hearted effort. And it should be with a shout, not some weak voice that is too intimidated by what others may think of you if you truly worship. God deserves our absolute best worship. How has your worship of God been recently compared to how this psalm says it should be? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 792
The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. Psalm33:13-15 – God sees you. Our psalm speaks of the greatness of God. He gathers up the seas as a heap and by His breath the host of heaven were created. Yet even in all His greatness, while seated on His powerful throne in Heaven, He looks down and sees you. He sees your story, your needs, and your faithfulness to Him. I know it can feel sometimes that your story is cut off somehow from God’s view. I’ve been there myself many a time, but see what the scriptures lay out for us. Despite if we feel God’s presence or not, He is there and He is watching and He is working. Our feelings can deceive us, rest in the truth of scripture. Know God sees your story right now and He is working on your behalf. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1750
Chapter 34
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalms 34:18 – I’m not sure who needs to hear this psalm today, but I felt as I read it this is the one that needed to be shared. Today, if you find yourself brokenhearted or crushed in spirit, I hope you find the encouragement you need here. God is near and He’s here to save you. I don’t know what has caused your heartbreak or what’s crushing your spirit, but I know that God sees you, is with you, and He’s got you. I’m praying for you today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 793
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14 – Try to picture someone physically taking these actions. They are walking in one direction, they stop, they turn around, they search for something different, then when they find it they chase after it. That should be our story with evil and peace. In our relationships with others and God evil is what we are walking toward until we turn and pursue peace. So in what relationships currently are you not pursuing peace in? Primarily is peace something you’re pursuing in your walk with God? Has Jesus first forgiven your sins? Is His message of loving justice and walking humbly with your God your path? Is loving God and loving people your heartbeat? However your walk may be pursuing evil, turn from it. Pursue, chase after, peace. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1751
Chapter 35
But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing Psalms 35:13-15 – We don’t need to respond back to their lack of compassion with the same they gave us. When people come at you with hate-filled, malicious, or even just careless words and deeds, we need to be a type of people that are willing to show compassion and grace to those who do the opposite for us. This is what will stand out and this is what will give us a platform to share Jesus’ name and love with those around us. Be different in how you respond. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 794
Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!” Psalm 35:3 – The image that ran through my thoughts when I first read this was of someone surrounded by enemies cowering under a rock for protection. Then Jesus walks in between them and their enemy. He kneels down, places a hand on their shoulder, looks them in the eye and says, “I am your salvation.” I’m not sure how heavy the enemy is currently working you over. I don’t know how pain and hardship are plaguing your story right now. Maybe things are good, maybe not. What scripture is promising to us is that God is our salvation in the presence of our enemy. He is the bringer of provision, the bringer of rest, and the life we so deeply need. Know you are going to be more than just okay when Jesus is your salvation. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1752
Chapter 36
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9 – Found a verse today that’s going to be a new favorite. When it speaks of the light at the end of the verse, understand it this way. As we dwell in the light, in the presence of God, we will begin seeing more of all that His light brings such as love, peace, and joy. As we make it our habit to spend time with God we’ll see more of the things of God in our life. We’ll see a peace that passes all understanding. We’ll feel the beauty of unconditional love more. We’ll taste more of the freedom from the ties to the sins we’ve wanted gone for so long. This and more is a part of the light of God. Seek then deeper, more purposeful time with God. As you find yourself deeper in the light, you’ll see more of whats in the light. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 972
For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. Psalm 36:2 – As deeply as we often wish it to be, our sin isn’t hidden. Here the passage speaks of someone who puffs themselves up so much in their own eyes, in the eyes of others, and even with God. All for the point of blinding themselves and others to the sin that remains in their story. What they are thinking is if all I do is look at my good then the bad can remain hidden from sight. If I don’t see it then I don’t have to address it. Let’s challenge that mindset. Have you ever taken care of a two year old? Sure, if you don’t see them they can’t be getting into any trouble right? How about cancer? If I don’t acknowledge it then it’s not going to do any harm. Sin is a cancer to our life. Do not be deceived into thinking if we highlight our good and blind ourselves and others to our sin, that we can remain moving forward well. Open your eyes to your own sin, place the spotlight on it, and seek the help of Jesus to remove its hold from your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1753
Chapter 37
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. Psalms 37:23-24 – God has your tomorrow under control. When reading through this psalm, verse after verse supported the truth that God is able to handle your future and is handling it. Our role is to trust Him. To be patient when our worry tells us to act. To be still when our fear is telling us to move. Sometimes in some seasons rather than rushing forward, God tells us to simply be still. Then as we begin to move as He directs, we have verses like these telling us He’ll make our path solid and straight and catch us when we fall. So trust God when He says to be still that He is working things out and trust Him when He says to move that He’ll take care of you every step. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 973
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. Psalm 37:10 – You remember Qin Shi Huang right? You know the first emperor of the Chinese Qin dynasty? The one who built so much in ancient China and was such a powerful force in his day? If you’re like me, I didn’t know about him until I googled “rich, ruthless leaders of the past” so I could have an example for the devotion. That’s the point though of this verse, we don’t remember him. Yes, at one point his rule was great and his power was great, but now he isn’t even known by most people. Here scripture reminds us that the presence of the wicked may be great now but in time even a search party won’t be able to find a remnant of their power. So don’t fret over the wicked. Don’t envy the wicked either. Yes, they seem to be having such success, but listen to their end scripture speaks of. Death and no lasting legacy. Incline yourself to God and find the blessing this psalm speaks clearly of. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1754
Chapter 38
I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. Psalms 38:18 – This simple verse is the sort of heart God is after. David saw the pain his sin brought into his life and within his walk with God. He then lifts this verse up to God saying he was sorry for the sin he committed. This is where God wants us all to begin. To realize that the sin in our life hurts us and hurts our closeness with Him. Then as this verse says to confess that sin to Him, not trying to hide it from Him but wholly bringing it to Him and giving it to Him. Finally what God wants is for us to turn from that sin to starts living as He leads us to live through scripture. What God wants is for us to change directions. To stop following sin and change to begin following Him. Know that no matter how deep and dark of a spot your sin has taken you, if you have breath in your lungs, you always can turn to begin following Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 974
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Psalm 38:3-4 – The damage sin brings is deep. When we have to walk outside in the cold for too long we say we are “frozen to the bones.” Meaning the cold has found it’s way past the layers of clothing and has caused even the deepest part of us to feel the chill. Our psalm reveals the chill of sin finds its way past the superficial all the way to the deepest part of us. No part of our story is exempt from the hurt sin brings. Our body, our mind, our relationships, our witness, our life with God, our everything. Sin’s chill is deep. Yet Jesus’ ability to cover and handle that sin is deeper. Recognize the depth of pain your sin can bring and remember the depth of healing Jesus is able to bring about. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1755
Chapter 39
My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue Psalms 39:3 – David was trying hard to push down and back the sin in his life. Yet the desire for it became hotter and stronger as He mused, as he let his mind dwell on it. Then he spoke, the very thing he was trying to hold back, he did. David tried to not sin by relying on his own strength to keep him from sinning. That didn’t work out for him and it won’t work out for you either. We should strive to set aside all the sinfulness that is in our life, but we must rely on God’s strength, not our own strength alone, to overcome the sin in our story. For us alone, we can’t overcome sin as we see with David. With God though we can overcome all sin for good. Sin doesn’t have to be a part of your story anymore, but it’s going to take a bigger strength than your own to push it out. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 975
I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” Psalm 39:1 – The psalmist made a plan on how he was to keep himself from sin. Rather than being reactive whenever temptation was present he chose to be proactive in his ways to guard himself from times of temptation. How often do we plan ahead to guard ourselves from sin? This may look like choosing in the morning to not go somewhere we know is a temptation filled place. This may mean spending more time in prayer to incline your heart towards God and away from temptations. This may mean asking someone to hold you accountable where they will ask you tomorrow directly if you fell into temptation the previous day. Sin is a part of all our stories, but what are we doing at this moment to guide us away from sin in the next moment? Let’s game plan now how to be ready to avoid sin whenever it shows it’s ugly face rather than being caught unprepared. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1756
Chapter 40
In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.” Psalms 40:6-7 – In Hebrews this passage is spoken of concerning Jesus. Sharing that the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the law weren’t what was going to delight God. Then Jesus speaks saying I come to be the sacrifice that will delight the Father. A sacrifice of obedience to God’s Word. That for us is the sacrifice God desires. He wants us to obey His Word and live in that obedience every day our life. We are to seek to grow in our love for Him and pursue constantly ways to show God’s love to others. That’s the sacrifice God’s looking for from us. A life that says His direction is my life’s path. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 976
You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. Psalm 40:5 – Some days we just have to lean into the truth this psalm speaks of. Our days can be heavy and hard and we can feel like the “wondrous deeds” of the Lord are far from our story. Yet what if we pause and begin to recall all the things God has done and is currently doing for us. We’d end up like the psalmist, recalling so many that the number can’t even be counted. In these hard, heavy days we need to pause and recall the blessings we currently have in our story. It helps us remember God isn’t far from our struggle and it reminds us God is able to take care of us. Whatever season we are in, whether drought or abundance, God has done more wondrous deeds in our story than can be told. Yet when we begin to try to recall them all, that’s when we begin to see just how deeply blessed we are. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1757
Chapter 41
By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. Psalms 41:11 – As my wife and I read through this psalm this morning she pointed out a simple, yet oh so important truth from this verse. A truth we so often forget and often choose to not believe. That God delights in us. That God delights in those who have placed their faith in Him. This means that if you have done that, God delights in you. He’s not mad, or annoyed, or disappointed, or fed up with you. He delights in having you close and wants you. How does this truth compare to the way you’re telling yourself that God sees you? How would living in this truth change the way you live? God delights in you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 977
Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. Psalm 41:1-3 – When this passage says they are blessed it isn’t kidding. They will be protected, be kept alive, called blessed in their land, not be given over to their enemies, and be restored to health. Yet who are “they” that we see spoken of? Those that watch out for the poor. Now as Spurgeon describes, poor includes the poor in substance, weak in strength, and desponding in spirit. We find blessing when we consider those who are poor like this. When we lean into the life of someone who is needing help God calls us blessed and blesses our story. Who then is “poor” like this around you today? Who is weak in strength, down in spirit, or low on resources around you? Lean in and help however you can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1758
Chapter 42
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalms 42:11 – Sometimes we will have to tell ourselves to hope in God even when we don’t feel like it. Its not that God’s faithfulness to us has changed or His love for us has changed. Nothing on God’s side has changed to give us a reason to believe we can’t hope in Him. Life though, and the trouble in it, can depress us and discourage us deeply. In those moments, we may just have to tell ourselves to hope in God. Maybe we don’t feel like hoping in God at the moment or life has made you question God’s faithfulness. Whatever the case is, our hope for anything good in life is only from God. Life may be downcasting your soul, but you can choose to lift your eyes to God. That may be the only choice you can control today, just know it’s the right choice. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 978
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation…Psalm 42:5 – In our pain and struggle, sometimes our soul doesn’t want to hope in God. We don’t feel like praising Him. We don’t feel like worshiping Him. The psalmist was right there in this season of his life, yet look at what he did. He chose to hope and he chose to lift praise. Maybe he didn’t feel like it, but he chose to turn to God. This is the example we need to follow in our story. When we don’t feel like hoping in God and when we don’t feel like praising Him, tell your soul to do it anyways. It’s the redirect our life needs in the struggle. Jesus is the one who will bring salvation and healing to the pain, turn to Him especially in the times when turning to Him isn’t what you feel like doing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1759
Chapter 43
Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Psalms 43:3 – It’s beautiful to me that in David’s plea for help he asks for light and truth to show him the way into God’s dwelling place. Why is it so beautiful? Because look at what our mission is today. We, who have been called by Jesus the light of the world, are carrying the truth of God’s love to a world who needs to know the direction to God. God answered David’s prayer, He answered our plea for help, now He’s using us to answer the prayers of others. Even helping those who don’t even know what it means to pray yet. God is so good. Letting those who have been given light and truth freely give both to all who need it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 979
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 43:5 – Maybe you noticed it, but today’s passage is identical to yesterday’s. The psalmist in another psalm writes about his soul being downcast and he again chose to tell it to hope in God. What this tells us is that we most likely won’t find ourselves in just one season of life where we have to tell our soul to hope in God. We may find ourselves over and over again in times of difficulty where our heart is discouraged and we will have to over and over again tell ourselves to rest in the hope Jesus brings. Daily we will have to tell ourselves to hope in Jesus. Don’t let your heart be troubled then if today you woke up feeling discouraged once again. God is inviting us to approach Him each day, it’s then our choice to tell our soul to hope in Him each day. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1760
Chapter 44
O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old Psalms 44:1 – They knew about all that God did in the lives of those who came before them. They knew about God’s power, love, and grace. How? Because someone told them. That’s how it’s going to happen today as well. We want this broken world to begin following Jesus then someone needs to tell them. You want that family member that doesn’t follow Jesus to follow Him, tell them of how good He is and His love. How will they hear if no one says anything? Remember, the reason why they are in your life and you have a relationship with them and you see them and you talk with them…is because they have been placed in your life for you to show Jesus to them. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 980
All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way…Psalm 44:17-18 – If you read through the previous verses that describe for us what the psalmist meant by “all this” it can be confusing why God decided to let His people taste all that. Being rejected, not fighting with them, scattering, and being a disgrace are just a few of the ways the psalmist speaks of their lot. All this after apparently a faithful pursuit of God. Why was this their lot? Why does this happen in our story? When we walk faithfully yet feel as if we are being punished. I know that sometimes God will use us in the life of someone else and we’ll experience struggle all for the purpose of someone other than ourselves coming to know Jesus. I know God will allow us to taste a refining now in order to prepare us for something long away in our future. What we must remember when it feels like He’s abandoned us is that He hasn’t. He is present always and is working always. When we taste struggle as a result of our faithful pursuit of Him remember Jesus was more faithful than us and it lead Him to a cross. Struggle and hardship when we are faithful means God is working on our story not that He has stepped away. The roughest seasons are often accompanied by the richest progress. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1761
Chapter 45
I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever. Psalms 45:17 – Is this something your life is speaking concerning Jesus? Is by the way you live saying you will let nations know God’s name? Never forget that’s why we are here. To share the name and love of Jesus with the nations. Who’s one person you can begin that task of making God’s name known to them today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 981
…you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions…Psalm 45:7 – Maybe it’s with a healthier marriage than others. Maybe it’s with kids who behave better than most. Maybe it’s with more rest and time than others have. Maybe it’s with wealth that others don’t have. Maybe it’s with a better community than most have. How has God blessed you more than most? Know it’s not bad to be shown extra favor by God, it’s a blessing! But when shown this extra favor, however that favor comes into our story, we must ask a big question. How can I use this for God? We’ve been blessed well, let’s use that blessing well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1762
Chapter 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1 – Another way to translate this is to say a “well proved” help in trouble. Either way what a verse this is we have to hold onto. That we have a God who’s not far off from us when we are struggling but is very close and aware of what’s happening. We also have a God who has proven Himself time after time that when trouble arises He is able to always provide and rescue. This is the God we praise when we sing. This is the God you can ask to be your Lord. We truly are blessed to have a God like ours within our story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 982
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah Psalm 46:2-3 – A helpful Bible study hint is when we you see a “therefore” ask what is the therefore there for. It’s says we won’t fear even when the earth gives way and the mountains begin to tremble. Things that seem pretty fear instilling won’t birth fear within us. Why is that though? Because of what the verse before our passage says. It’s says God is close and a well proven help in our time of need…therefore…we don’t need to fear. Panic, worry, fear, and anxiety don’t have to be places we run to anymore when our life begins to shake. We can run to the refuge God provides and find the safety and rest we need when life begins to become uncertain. Since God is so present for us, let us therefore make it our habit of running to Him when life pushes us to move. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1763
Chapter 47
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! Psalms 47:1 – I’ve heard it often that “____ isn’t me.” That clapping isn’t me. That singing out isn’t me. That lifting my hands isn’t me. What I’m learning here from scripture is a couple things about worship with song. First that in scripture they weren’t shy when it came to praising God. They expressed how they felt towards God in worship and God accepted it. Second I’m learning worship with song isn’t about you. It’s not meant to be your fill time or whatever else. It sure can be those as well, but when we praise God it should be all for Him and giving Him all we got. Whatever then you’re holding back for whatever reason in worship of Him, stop. He’s done so much for you He deserves all you have to give Him in praise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 983
God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Psalm 47:5 – Here understand when they speak of God they are referring to the ark of the covenant that represented the presence of God with them. After the victory had been won, the ark would return back to its place. Something beautiful though is captured in this image of God returning back up to His place. As a commentary I read stated, “The ascent of God presupposes a previous decent.” In order for God to go back up He must have come down first, and that’s exactly what He did. God stepped into our story, fought our battle, paid our ransom, and found His seat once again on His throne. This is the reason we praise Him like this psalm speaks of. We have a God who was/is willing to come down into our mess and save us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1764
Chapter 48
We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. Psalms 48:9 – Here’s a new habit we should all form, to think on God’s steadfast love for us. The psalmist writes that while in the temple of God he looked back, remembered, and pondered the love God had shown him. While this habit is easy to do when life is great, it not so easy when the struggle comes. Struggle or not, the truth though about God’s love for you never changes. He always has and always will love you. Dwell on that today and remember the love He has for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 984
Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Psalm48:12-14 – Perambulate. While studying this passage I came across this word that I had never seen or heard of before. It means to walk through or around a place especially for pleasure in a leisurely way. I love how it directs us to approach God. It reminds me of how God walked in the garden of eden in the cool of the day. God is inviting us to slowly walk with Him, to look at all He has done and accomplished, to be amazed at His strength, and to see His ability to be all we need for forever. God is inviting us to perambulate with Him. Let’s choose then to walk with Him like this. He is inviting us to see all that His is and is able to do in our story. In the chaos that often accompanies our life a walk with God like this is exactly what we need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1765
Chapter 49
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah. Psalms 49:15 – It’s pretty special how this verse today started with “But God.” I just finished a week of missions with our youth family and the theme was “But God.” I taught that when God steps into a story He changes the direction of that story. We see that clearly shown within this Psalm. Life was going one way then God stepped in and changed the direction of that life. Know God can change your life’s direction too. No matter the path you’ve taken your story can have a “But God” added to it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 985
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. Psalm49:16-20 – Notice the key phrase there in that final sentence…”yet without understanding.” This psalm speaks deeply on the impact wealth and riches can truly have on a life. Yes, they can provide temporary blessing and reputation, but when it comes to our death that wealth means nothing. Only with understanding does any of it matter. Understanding that is was God who first gave us what we have and the understanding that is is only God who can save us from death. Your wealth, your riches, and your talent can’t save us from the death that is in everyone’s future. As though verse 16 says, “but God” can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1766
Chapter 50
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! Psalms 50:23 – What God wants from us is thankfulness. We see written in this psalm that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns it all, nothing we give to Him of this world like that isn’t His to begin with. Understand what God is seeking from you is thankfulness. A thankfulness that is expressed in your life through the obedience of His Word. Let today then be a day of giving to God what He is seeking. Obey Him today in what He says within His Word. Begin pursuing Him and showing His love to the person in front of you. Let your offering today be thankfulness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 986
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Psalm 50:12 – In our psalm God is reminding us what we can offer Him that isn’t first His…nothing. Every animal in the forest is His, every bird in the hills is His, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. So place yourself in the position of a Jewish person back in the time this was written where animal sacrifices were a huge part of your faith life. God here is telling you that every sacrifice you would be “offering” to Him is His to begin with. Like a child buying a Christmas present for dad with dad’s money. So what is an offering we can give God that’s pleasing to Him? As we see later on in the psalm, a heart of thanksgiving and a life committed to fulfilling the promise we made to follow Him. Live thankfully and live faithfully. This is the offering that can come out of our life that is pleasing to the God whole owns it all. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1767
Chapter 51
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalms 51:16-17- As it was with yesterday, scripture today is showing us once again the type of sacrifice God is seeking from us. God wants our brokenness. God isn’t asking us to have it all together before we come to Him. God isn’t requiring us to be perfect to come to Him. What He desires is a heart and spirit that understands its brokenness due to sin. One that understands its only chance of true healing is going to come from God. Let’s make sure that we are offering to God the sort of offering that pleases Him rather than the ones that please us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 987
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! Psalm 51:1-2 – During last night’s message that was given at our young adult ministry the speaker spoke on the mistake David made with Bathsheba. Today, I read Psalm 51, where the header for this chapter tells me this is David speaking after confronted about his mistake with Bathsheba. We see him broken, coming before God realizing the deep mistake he made. He’s pleading for mercy, forgiveness, and wholeness again. What we see then in David’s story is still a navigating through the repercussions of his choices, but God’s hand never left him. Know satan is going to seek to convince you that when you’ve messed up that God’s hand is going to be removed from your life. That you’ll lose everything in your life that God gives and His love will no longer be shown to you. Hear this please, that isn’t true. When we fall, God asks us to bring to Him the pieces and a heart that longs for togetherness with Him again. Forgiveness is available to all for all things. Nothing you’ve done is too big for God to forgive. Nothing is too bad that would make God not want you. Know any voice telling you a different message than that isn’t one from Jesus. Have you fallen? Is the mistake of your sin just weighing so heavy on you today? Do you feel bringing this to God would just ruin what you have with Him? Use then our passage in scripture today to see that we can bring to God the worst mistake of our lives. He’ll take it, forgive it, and restore us to Himself. Our God isn’t a God who casts away sinners, He’s the type to leave the ninety-nine to save the one that is lost. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2011
Chapter 52
The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!” Psalms 52:6-7 – Please don’t let this be your story. Don’t let it be said of you that you trusted in yourself and what you have to take care of you in this life and set aside this “God thing” because you didn’t need it. I understand that in life there are things our power and resources can handle which make us think we don’t need anyone helping us. Truth is though while there are things we can handle, there are many more we can’t. Like your afterlife for one. Please recognize you can’t do life on your own. You need God in your story. Know that if you find yourself in the spot where your power, smarts, and resources come up short and you need help, God is always here and I’ll always be happy to direct you to Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 988
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Psalm 52:1 – When you find out someone backstabbed you and the end result was your worst opposition headed straight for you, is your first thought about God’s steadfast love? Yeah, me neither! Yet, David after that happened to him, this was his heart. We see from the chapter heading this was written by David after he was betrayed by Doeg, a guy who pointed out where David was to King Saul when David was on the run. I’m sure there was still feelings of anger, yet in the midst of all the other feelings David still remembered the steadfast love of God. That when betrayal comes, hurt happens, and opposition comes straight for us that these aren’t signs of an absence of God’s love. These are realities everyone faces in this broken world we live in. We as followers of Jesus though have a God whose love remains steadfast for us through the negatives and He remains a safe place to find shelter in when the push gets too heavy. Yes, hurt and hurtful people will be a constant in this life, but so will God’s love. Seek in the moments when the hurts are fresh and deep to remind yourself of the love of God you still have in your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2012
Chapter 53
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. Psalms 53:1 – After reading a psalm that over and over speaks about how there is no one who does good, we can walk away from scripture pretty discouraged. Is God trying to bring us down by reminding us of our sin? No, He is reminding us of our need for Him. We aren’t good on our own anymore due to sin and we can’t be going through life saying there isn’t a God because we need God to save us. Here God is showing us once again that we need Him in our story. Thankfully He is willing to step into your story. We all need God and God is willing to help. How are you leaning on Him today for help? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 989
God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Psalm 53:2-3 – When reading the passage understand this is speaking of the hearts of man before coming to know Jesus. That God looked down on man to see if there was anyone at all who was good, had a heart of love, and was seeking Him out. He though found no one who had the perfection needed to be with Him, no one who was sinless. Did God then just turn His head away in pride from us because He was better than us? No, His heart broke for us and chose to do whatever it took to make it possible for us to be whole, good, and followers of Him. Without what God did for us, we’d be in the same boat as our Psalm: corrupt, fallen away, not pursuing Him. Yet because of Jesus we can be found holy, close to God, and pursuing Jesus. Our hope for this difference in our story is in Jesus alone. Know if you haven’t chosen to follow Jesus and trust Him, your story can change today. Choose to follow Jesus. If you need more details on all that, shoot me a message and I’d love to chat! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2013
Chapter 54
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. Psalms54:6 – This freewill offering was an offering that God set up as a way for us to give to Him outside and over the other offerings such as sin offerings. Why did the psalmist choose to give more to God than God asked of him? Because God is good and the psalmist has begun to see the goodness of God overwhelm his story. When God begins to move like this in your story, make sure you’re not stingy with your thankfulness and the expressions of it. God is always so good to us, let be sure our life is freely lifting up our thanks to Him by the way we serve Him and love people. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 990
For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah. Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. Psalm 54:3-4 – You will have ruthless people who are careless in the ways of God come against you. You have a God who holds up your life. Something that we also must remember is that you can have both at the same time and this doesn’t contradict God’s goodness. God can still be all-loving, fully good, and sovereign even in our seasons of great pushback. The presence of pushback doesn’t mean the absence of God. When people are for you, God will be with you. When people are against you, God will be with you. When people are no where to be found, God will be with you. Don’t let the fluctuations of life’s hardships dictate for you how God’s presence will be in your story. Let God’s own word do that. What He says in His word to us is He’ll never leave nor forsake us. Even when enemies are heavy, pushback is unbearable, and the struggle is real, God is present and is upholding our life. When the enemies hands are all over you, don’t forget who’s hands are holding you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2014
Chapter 55
Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan Psalms 55:2 – When we worry over what should be left in God’s hands is when we find ourselves dealing with restlessness. When our thoughts continue to dwell on struggles or conflicts with people. When our mind is overwhelmed with the uncertainty of what tomorrow holds. When we take what should be in God’s hands and hold onto it ourselves, we are going to find ourselves restless. Whatever then is causing you restlessness, hand it over to God. It was never meant to stay in your hands. Allow God to show you that when you give to Him what’s causing you restlessness, you can actually find the true rest you were struggling after. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 991
But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:16-17 – This morning is the first Sunday of the month and at our church we also do communion (take the bread and juice to remember Jesus’ sacrifice) on that day. As I read through this psalm it reminded me that all that we have in this life is because of what Jesus did for us. We can call to God because of Jesus. The Lord is able to save us because of what Jesus did. God hears our voice and is able to respond how He desires because of Jesus. We have life, we have salvation, we have a relationship with God like this because of Jesus. Today at church we’ll be remembering this truth, how will you be remembering it? As you approach God today freely, as you lift your requests to Him knowing He is listening, as you dwell securely in God’s presence, remember it’s only because of Jesus we have any of that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2015
Chapter 56
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Psalms 56:8 – God sees your pain, hears your cry, and has not forgotten about you. Thats what we can learn from this passage today. All the times we’ve lifted up our concerns and struggles to God, He has heard them and keep track of them. We also learn from the psalm that He not only hears but acts on our behalf. We must remember that God isn’t an absent God where He doesn’t see our pain and hear our cry. Nor is He a powerless God who hears our cry but can’t do anything about it. He is present and powerful. He hears and He acts. We can put our trust in God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 992
For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13 – David shares his deep pain with his readers as he writes this psalm. He is being pressed on every side all day long by his enemies. Yet through it all he reminds himself, and us, that God is a safe place to put our trust. In the midst of his heavy seasons David still kept his trust in the Lord and the Lord came through for him. This final verse in the psalm then reveals why God would come through like this for us. He delivers our soul from death and our feet from falling so that we can walk with God even in this earthly life. He’s made the way for us to walk and be with Him in Heaven once we die and what we see here is that God will rescue us in the pains of our today so we can walk with Him in our today. God isn’t wanting to wait to walk with you till your life on earth is over, He is wanting to walk with you right now. He is saving you from your enemies of today, He is moving aside mountains today, He is calming the storms of life today, all so you can walk with Him today. Know this eternal life with God doesn’t start the moment you die, it started the moment you placed your faith in Jesus. Meaning if you are a follower of Jesus, your eternal life has already begun and God is wanting to live it out with you today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2016
Chapter 57
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! Psalms 57:5 & 11 – The psalmist took a praise break. While in the midst of crying out to God about the struggle he was in, he took the time to allow some of those cries be ones of praise for how good and mighty God is. Be sure to let there be praise breaks within your cries to God too. God is open to share our struggles with but we must remember who His is and what He deserves. We must also remember all He has already done for us. Take then today some time in your normal conversation with God to have a praise break where you acknowledge how good, loving, and powerful He is. Not only does He deserve that, but you need reminders of that over your struggle too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 993
I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalm 57:2 – The order to these words I believe is everything. To God who fulfills “his” purpose for “me.” Not who fulfills “my” purpose for “him.” Big difference. How God works and moves within our story is to fulfill the purposes and plans He has made for us. He gives to us to fulfill His plans and He takes away to fulfill His purposes. God is not bound to only move according to our purposes for Him. We don’t have that sort of authority over Jesus. We for sure are at the center of God’s heart of love, but we aren’t the center of all things. Jesus is. Meaning our purposes don’t come first. God isn’t focused on bringing our plans to life, He is working to bring His purposes for us to life in our story. Don’t let that though be a discouragement. If you are a focal point of God’s love, the moves He makes will be for your tremendous good, even if they don’t seem like it in the moment. Humbly remember who is God and who isn’t. Let’s place God on the throne and take ourselves off. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2017
Chapter 58
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Psalms 58:6 – David here is praying that the enemies of God’s church would be disabled from causing further harm. He was being pursed by men constantly, all directed by Saul and Saul’s counsel. David though expands his prayer to all who seek to cause harm to God’s people. We too have the right to pray to God on behalf of the church to ask that the enemies that pursue it would be stopped. In fact we should make a habit of praying for this. That the enemy would be hindered and stopped from having his way within the church’s life. Pray for the church as a whole, pray for your local body, pray for people individually. The enemy is ruthless, but God is bigger. If God allows us to pray for safety from the enemy’s attack on behalf of our church, why shouldn’t we do that? Let’s start praying then. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 994
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. Psalm 58:2 – What is being devised in your heart will be what is dealt out by your hands. Let’s then be very careful what we are allowing to be devised within us. If we allow things like anger and hatred to be devised within us, our hands will be dealing out painful blows and impatience. If we allow things like envy and greed to grow within our hearts, things like closed hands to the needy and comparison will be dealt out. If we allow things like grace and love to grow, our hands will offer forgiveness and help to those who need it. What you allow to be devised in your heart will be dealt out by your hands. Looking back at this past week, what has been brewing in your heart? Has the things you’ve been allowing to grow been more on the negative side? Looking at what you’ve been pouring out on others this past week, can you see a connection between it and the state of your heart right now? If we want to be offering helping hands rather than painful blows, let’s first figure out what we’ve been devising in our hearts. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2018
Chapter 59
Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill. But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Psalms 59:14-16 – After another night of his enemies howling and prowling the city for him, the psalmist songs aloud of God’s love in the morning. What a mindset to challenge ourselves to have. The psalmist understood the fact that he was still here and alive the next morning and this was proof that God’s steadfast love was real and with him. We too must realize that if we woke up this morning, even if we are still in the midst of a struggle, the fact we made it through the night is a result of God’s steadfast love over us. He watched over you and your situation while you slept. He kept working on things when depression halted you in your track. He fought while you were scared. Maybe the evidence you’ve been looking for that God is within your story right now is the fact you’re alive today. For if you woke up this morning, that means God was working, sees you, and has a purpose for you today. Know God is never going to leave you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 995
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. Psalm 59:1-2 – This seems to be a common way David starts his psalms, asking God to deliver him from some sort of trouble. Yet even in that there is a powerful message David is giving. When trouble came he went to God. When trouble came again, he again went to God. How about for you? When enemies continue to return do we continue to return to God? Or does the reappearance of an enemy cause you to doubt God’s strength? Do you ever catch yourself thinking, “If God was so strong why would I be dealing with this again?” It’s understandable, but forgetting the nature of our enemy. Our enemy is Satan and his forces and they aren’t going anywhere till Jesus takes care of them once and for all in the end times. All that means is we’re going to continue to face enemy after enemy our entire life. Yet while we’ll never have a time to look forward to in this life where enemies will be absent, we never have to fear a time in this life where God is absent. You can over, and over, and over, and over come to God for help in your time of need because He’s not going anywhere. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2019
Chapter 60
You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger. You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah Psalms 60:3-4 – God allows us to see and feel the consequences of our bad choices. Not because He doesn’t love us or enjoys seeing us struggle, but as a good Father He knows that we will learn what isn’t good for us when we see and feel those consequences. What’s beautiful about the attaching verse four is that God has set up for us a banner, a place where we can run to find safety and rest. The banner is also a place where we can find the support from God we need to fight the very enemy that deceived us to begin with. These verses should reframe how you view struggles in your life. While some struggles are as a result of following God, other are a result of us not following Him. Either way, remember a struggle can be the perfect reminder of our need for God and our need to run to His banner He set up for us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 996
Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes. Psalm 60:11-12 – I wonder where each of us are at with all this? Have we truly gotten to the point where we understand and believe that the salvation man gives isn’t what we need. I’m sure many of us would say this to be true. That we trust Jesus alone and He is the source of all we need. Yet, setting our words aside and looking at our actions, what do they say? Are we needing approval from others when God’s approval is all we need? Are we leaning into food to cope with the stress of life when Jesus should be the place we lean into? Are we trusting our good works to get us into Heaven? Is God the source of your salvation or is man? What/Who are you coming to for your help today and for your tomorrow? Scripture reminds us the salvation and help man gives us isn’t what we need for our story. It also reminds us that with God we’ll find victory and hope. Let your trusting God for your help be more than just words, truly let Him be the source of all you need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2020
Chapter 61
From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalms 61:2-3 – Take me to a place that I can’t reach on my own. That’s what the psalmist is sharing with God in the midst of his enemies. In God is where we’ll find our peace and safety, but God is that rock that is higher than us. He is that place we can’t reach on our own. You must know that God is aware of this and made a way for us to come to Him to find the peace and safety we need. That way is through Jesus and a relationship with Him. Know today you have a place you can go to find refuge and a God who will help you get there. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 997
So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day. Psalm 61:8 – There’s a couple deep takeaways from this for me. First, day by day, he is choosing to keep his vows to God. Coming to God, worshipping God only, serving God with all his heart was something he did daily. Second, he did this even when we was overwhelmed. We see in verses 1&2 how he was in a season of crying out to God and his heart was faint. Yet, for better or for worse, he kept his vow to God and keep God his only refuge. Which direction do you need to start keeping your vow to God? Do you draw close when everything is good yet when bad happens turn away from Him? Or do you run to Him when life falls apart yet when things are good you forget Him? Is there a daily keeping of your vows of worshipping God when things are good and when things are not so good? I don’t know where you’re at today in life, but I know where you should be going. Whether you’re on a mountain top of blessing or a valley of the shadow of death you should be coming to Jesus and serving Him today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2021
Chapter 62
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalms 62:1-2 – Notice as you read through this psalm how often we see the word “alone” or phrases like “only from Him.” This reminds us that the peace and hope we are looking for in life isn’t going to come from multiple places. There is only one place to find true peace, hope, joy, and salvation. That’s only in God alone. Know you’re going to be told all those things and more can be found elsewhere, but those voices that speak that to you aren’t trustworthy like scripture is. What you need is found only in God. Let’s stop then searching elsewhere for what can only be found in Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 998
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Psalm 62:5-7 – On God alone. For God alone. In God alone. Such is the theme that is repeated within this psalm. That it is in God alone that our psalmist find his everything. He found his shelter, salvation, peace, hope, refuge, and purpose in God alone. This is not just a theme simply repeated in this Psalm, but is repeated throughout many of the psalms written by David. Hear then the heart of it again, only find your all in Jesus. Stop running to these other sources of that are offering you sustenance because their fill is only temporary and harmful. Run to God alone for His fill is eternal, holy, and beneficial for your story. So where are you going to today? If God, take a bold step in confidence. If not God, know a change in direction is all you need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2022
Chapter 63
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Psalms 63:3 – God’s love is better than life, but how often do we find ourselves allowing our lives to say otherwise? I taught from 2 Timothy 4 last Wednesday night and shared about how Demas because of his love for the world left the mission. He was someone who showed with their life that he believed something else was better to pursue than God’s steadfast love. If God’s love is so much better than even life itself, why then does it not consume our thoughts and actions? Today is the perfect day to live out this truth that God’s love to us is better than life itself. Put Him first today in everything and seek out in everything how you can learn more about His love for you. If this love of God is so good like this, why wouldn’t we give up everything to pursue it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 999
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm63:5-8 – The nature of David’s heart in all this is what I want to have. He is in true peace with God. Even with enemies around, even with the pressures of being king, even with all the other stressors that where in his story at that time, he had found peace in God. His soul was satisfied and his voice was filled with joyful praise. I pray today that you’ll latch onto the truth that there can be a joy and satisfaction in this life even if life itself is not joyful and satisfying right now. God’s hand is upholding us and we have found shade under His wing. We have life, forgiveness, and intimacy with God. So yes, life right now can be really crummy, but our heart can be satisfied with life because of Jesus. This takes a HUGE mindset change for sure and I still haven’t gotten it perfect yet myself. At least know today peace is available to you right this moment in Jesus. Life can be anything but peaceful at this moment, but in this moment Jesus is still able to be your peace. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2023
Chapter 64
But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. Psalms 64:7 – The enemy fights, but God fights back. Not only does He fight back, but He wins the match every single time. That’s the God who is with you and for you. Sure we have an enemy who is strong, but we have a God who’s stronger. Sure the enemy has power, but God has more. Remember what side we are on. We’re not on the losing side if we’re with Jesus. Scripture says we are more than conquerors through Christ. Let’s never forget that the God we worship fights for us against our enemy. That’s why we can walk in confidence rather than fear. So however the enemy is attacking you know God is bigger. God’s bigger than your fears, worries, struggles, sins, past, and doubts. How do you then need to reshape today how you see God? Thanks for walking with me through scripture these past thousand days, looking forward to another thousand! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1000
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers…Psalm 64:2 – Let me encourage you, your enemy is plotting against you in secret and you’ll have no clue how, when, and from where the attack is going to come. I know, so encouraging! While that message may not uplift your heart, know this, while what your enemy is doing is secret to us, it’s not secret to God. We don’t know how he’ll attack, but God does. We don’t know when the attack will come, but God does. We don’t know from where it will originate, but God does. And with all this knowledge God is able to protect us from such attacks. He can be our shelter and our refuge when under fire because He knows where the fire is coming from and the sort of protection we truly need. So don’t let the lack of knowledge on your end about the enemy’s plans debilitate you from moving forward. Trust God is fully aware and full ready to take care of you every step you take. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2024
Chapter 65
When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. Psalms 65:3 – Let’s unpack this. When the guilt and shame of our sin presses down hard on us making us feel unworthy to come to God, God Himself makes things right and removes our sin. He removes what is keeping us from moving closer to Him. This demonstrates that God isn’t stopped by our sin from showing love to us. What presses us down doesn’t keep Him down. What overwhelms us doesn’t overwhelm Him. Don’t let the voice of guilt and shame deceive you into thinking God doesn’t want you. Jesus died so that sin no longer can have a say in how we approach the Father. Know today God has removed your sin from your story if you’ve placed your faith in Him. Come to Him free of guilt and shame because in God’s eyes you’re holy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1001
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! Psalm 65:4 – Whoever is chosen to be brought near and into the home of God is deeply blessed. They will find a contentment and deep satisfaction in their life because they have been brought into the arms and house of God. In most things in life, an offer like this is only for a select few, lucky winners. If you are the 10,000th person in or first to call you get the prize. If our God’s arms were small and house tiny then maybe that would be the case here….but that’s not the case. Our God’s arms are wide and house large. The promise of scripture is He has chosen all to come near and be invited in you His house. You have been chosen by God to be His and in His home with Him. As a result you are deeply blessed. Maybe the blessing isn’t in the shape of financial security or physical health, but if you’ve chosen to respond to God and follow Him, the blessing of being in His family and house is yours. Sure the blessing of money and healing of God can/may be given to you, but don’t set aside the blessing of being in His family as a second place gift. The deepest blessing anyone could ever receive is being called a son or daughter of God and if you’ve chosen to follow God that blessing is yours. If you have questions about how to become a part of God’s family, reach out! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2025
Chapter 66
Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! Psalms 66:20 – This was true for the writer of this psalm as he looked back on all that he had gone through and it’s true for us as well. I’m not sure how 2019 went for you. Maybe it was a year of success and joy, maybe though it wasn’t. What I do know is that God hasn’t rejected your prayers or removed His steadfast love from you. It was that way all last year and is a promise you can hold tight to for this upcoming new year. God hears what you say to Him and His love will always be with you. Cling to this and let this be your hope during whatever this new year brings you. Happy New Year. Know I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1129
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Psalm 66:1-2 – This whole psalm had many pieces I needed for my walk with Jesus today, but these first two verses were more of a conviction. Like when was the last time I shouted for God? Or when was the last time my praise could be defined as glorious. I’ve praised God, I’ve spoke well of Him, but I wonder if my praise and words have reached the level of what our psalmist is speaking of. I wonder what holds us back from a full release in worship? Is it our fear of what others will think? Is it because we’re more caught up with the style not being our preference over dwelling on who we’re singing to? What’s keeping our voices a whisper and our praise minimal? My challenge will be for you, this upcoming Sunday, wherever you go to church, when the worship songs are being played…worship God. Yes, the songs may not be your choice, the style may not be your preference, the band may stink, and the singers sing off key. All that may be true for you Sunday at your church, but do you know what else is true? God remains constantly deserving our shouts of glorious praise in every worship setting. So praise God not because some worship leader or song made you feel something, but because God is worthy of glorious praise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2026
Chapter 67
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Psalms 67:1-2 – In these two verses we see the complete purpose of our life with God. First that God would shine His face on us, to look on us and pour out His favor and grace on us. Then taking all that as fuel we go out and let the world know about God’s ways and the power He has to save! This passage for me is resonating with so much of what God has been working in me this year so far, to settle even deeper into the real reason as to why we exist. To love Him and to love people. Reflect on all that God has poured out on you and in you. Then, show the world they can have all that too! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1130
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Psalm 67:3-5 – All the people. I love the sound of that! Everyone everywhere singing God’s praise. Every tribe, every nation, in every language singing and worshiping Jesus. Every knee bowing before God and acknowledging Him as Lord. That would be a wonderful sight, but as you well know, we are far from that right now. Every knee isn’t bowing and many voices aren’t praising God. How then can we begin shifting this lack of worship towards worldwide praise of God? As verse 2 in our psalm states, it takes getting the knowledge of God’s saving power among all the nations first. How can they worship a God they’ve never heard of? Do you want to see the world praising God? Then tell someone about Jesus! Lean into their story, speak of the wonders of Jesus, tell His story, and tell them how He can help their story. Worldwide praise of God begins with us who know Jesus telling those who don’t about Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2027
Chapter 68
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Psalms 68:19 – Have you ever stopped to think about what it means that God is our salvation daily? We understand He is our salvation for eternal life after death, but what about the part of that eternal life that began the moment we accepted God’s gift of grace? We started our eternal life when we said yes to Jesus which means daily we are living in God’s salvation and daily He is holding us up. Our life with God doesn’t start the moment we die, it started the moment we said yes to Jesus. He now is holding us up and holding us together day in and day out. God wanted a life with you that didn’t have to wait to begin till you passed from this one, He is active now in your story. Blessed be the Lord for sure. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1131
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. Psalm 68:5-6 – For me this has been a passage I continue to dwell on in my whole foster/adoptive journey. That God is a Father to those who don’t have a father in their story. While that is the role God takes on for all, He also calls us to be imitators of Him in Ephesians 5:1. So while He’s being a father, we should be too. While He is being a protector, we should be too. While He is leading those captive into freedom, we should be too. This psalm reminds us of the grandeur of God, and while we should dwell in awe of it, let it also remind you that you’ve been called to be a follower of Jesus. What you see in Jesus is what you should seek to become. No, not meaning becoming the central price of all worship, but as Jesus is serving and loving, so should we. Who then needs a father? Who then needs a protector? Who needs a guide towards freedom? God’s stepping up to do His part, let’s be true followers of Jesus and imitate God like we’re called to. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2028
Chapter 69
I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Psalms 69:30-31 – God wants your praise more than your stuff. An offering to God that doesn’t have the worshipful heart behind it doesn’t mean much to God. God speaks of wanting a cheerful giver. God says the sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart. What then is your heart behind what you give to God? A penny with a worshipful heart is more pleasing to God than a million dollars with a inwardly focused heart. So don’t be caught up on what and how much you give, be caught on what your heart looks like when you give. If you want God to be blessed by your offering, come with the right heart. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1132
For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. Psalm 69:33 – Our Heavenly Father hears and our Heavenly Father comes through for His people. This is a promise we see replayed throughout scripture, God rescuing His followers from their distress. Yet today, I’m preaching on a passage where God’s people cry out to Him and He says no. He doesn’t come and save them. What we’re going to see today is that the deep sin in our story can cloud clear communication with God and can even cause God’s response to be a no to our cry. Yes, He comes through for His people, but when we’re following our sin are we truly still faithfully pursuing God? It’s impossible to follow both so God will allow us the choice of who we want to follow, and as a result, who will be the one to save us in our time of need. If we follow God, He’ll be our shelter. If we choose sin over God, God will sometimes allow us in our times of need to see how much sin truly can offer us. This is not God giving up on us, it’s God giving us a chance to see we need Him in our story, not sin. What sin then have you been holding onto and finding shelter in? Lay it at the feet of Jesus so you can freely experience God’s rescue in your time of need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2029
Chapter 70
May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” Psalms 70:4 – Verse 2 says let those who seek my life find shame and confusion, yet here we see the psalmist writing to let those who seek God rejoice and be glad in Him. We must be careful what we are seeking. Hopefully our focus isn’t seeking someone else’s life, but is our focus more on them than God? Maybe our envy is fueled by their life, or maybe our anger is fueled by their success. Either way our focus is on them rather than on God where it needs to be. Let’s shift where our focus is and what we allow to fuel us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1133
Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! Psalm 70:2 – You have someone seeking your life. Yes, of course, Jesus is seeking your life to save and heal, but you also have someone who is seeking your life to destroy and kill. If in that moment a name of a person came up, set that name aside because that’s not who we’re talking about. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that our enemies, the ones who are seeking us like our psalm speaks of, are not flesh and blood people. Our enemies are the evil spiritual forces that are seeking to keep us far from Jesus. Possibly the reality of a spiritual war for your life isn’t something you dwell much on, but today can you please dwell much on it. There are two opposing sides seeking your life, one to save and one to hurt. Pray as David did that the side who is seeking to hurt will be thrown into confusion and not have their victory in your story. Pray this for each person you love today. There is a real battle over the lives of those on earth today between Satan/his demonic forces and God/His Heavenly armies. Be praying that you and your loved ones don’t walk mindlessly into the ambushes of our enemy. Be praying your eyes will be open to the real war happening right now over our lives. Be praying each day the enemy will lose over and over and over again. Be praying Hell loses another one today because they chose to follow Jesus instead. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2030
Chapter 71
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Psalms 71:18 – The psalmist understood his purpose. His purpose in life that didn’t lessen just simply because he got older. His purpose was to tell others about God’s might and power. He saw there was a new generation alive and he understood his purpose was to share with them what he knew about God. Hear this today, this means we have a purpose to carry out till the moment we take our last breath and that old age can’t cancel us out from. To tell those who come after us about Jesus and His power over death. Don’t ever then let your enemy convince you that you’re time is finished on being able to do the mission. Speak about, write about, pray about the power of God so that this next generation knows God better than we did. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1134
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. Psalm 71:15-16 – How true is that statement that God’s wondrous, righteous deeds are beyond any number we can count or measure. Within just our own story there is a vast number of them and in the entirety of creation, immeasurable. What then are we to do with this truth? Tell people! The psalmist speaks of how as he moves forward in life he’s already planning on telling others about the good God has done in his story. He even will go so far to remind others what God has done in their story to point their eyes to God again. His purpose going forward was to make sure people knew how mighty and good God was. This deeply should our heart moving forward. Remind yourself first daily of how good God has been in our story and how we are where we are at only due to His grace. Remind others daily of the same so their focus can be on Jesus as well. Let’s make this day have a bigger purpose than yesterday. Let’s speak well of the immeasurable deeds of God in our story to everyone we can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2031
Chapter 72
Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! Psalms 72:1 – This verse, and the chapter that follows it, can be understood from a few point of views. From Solomon speaking to his own son, Solomon writing as his father David to himself, even Solomon writing of the Messiah that was to come from his line. Whatever way we read it though it’s clear that there is an understanding that it is God who takes care of the king and the land. It is God who should be sought out, asked of for blessing, and praised. It’s easy in our life to give things like our own effort or our jobs the credit to what is taking care of us. Here the psalmist makes it clear to us he understood it’s only through God that these blessings come and his life is sustained. Have we came to that understanding yet? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1135
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! Psalm 72:6 – Yesterday evening where I live there was a torrential downpour of rain. So much rain that I briefly had to run out to pull the car up for my wife and in the few steps I took out in the rain I was soaked. Every inch of my clothes, hair, and shoes were drenched. Nothing was kept from being touched by the rain. Now our verse today relates the blessing of God to the rain of the earth and I can’t help but think about the shower I got last night in the rain. God isn’t just sprinkling a droplet of blessing on our story once in awhile, the way God is moving in our story is a torrential downpour. Every part of our lives is being touched by God. Nothing is staying dry. Just like the rain refreshes the parched earth so will this downpour of God refresh us. Today know you are in the downpour of God. Maybe it doesn’t feel like it in the moment, but God is pouring deeply into your life right now to sustain you and provide for you. Dwell today on your life and seek if you can find a part that God hasn’t had His hand in somehow. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2032
Chapter 73
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Psalms 73:16-17 – This psalm looks at the apparent success and wealth of those who choose a path of not following God compared to that of a faithful follower. We see the psalmist confused and overwhelmed trying to understand this on his own. Then he went to God with it all and found the understanding he was seeking. We too will run into confusing things in life and find ourselves overwhelmed trying to understand them on our own. Know God is inviting you to come to Him with your questions and confusion. He can help give answers and new ways to view this life. Don’t find yourself weary trying to understand life when the Creator of life is available to seek answers from. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1136
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. Psalm 73:21-23 – The psalmist is reflecting on the state of his heart towards God in the past. Bitter and ignorant of who he was speaking to. It even says he was like a beast toward God. Meaning just like an animal who can’t have any connection with God like humans can, he was in complete disconnect from God in his reactions. Not thinking of God at all in how he was responding, feeling, thinking, or speaking. Nevertheless, God never left him. Even when the psalmist rejected connection with God, God pursued connection with him. Maybe your heart isn’t as bitter towards God as our psalmist, but whatever lack of connection you have with God right now know God is still plugged in deeply to your life. The disconnect isn’t on God’s side and He’ll never step away from you even in your brutish attitude towards Him. Know anytime you want to seek connection with God again He’s ready, waiting, and welcoming you back to Himself. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2033
Chapter 74
They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. Psalms 74:7-8 – They set fire to all the meeting places of God, burning them to the ground. Yet the church is still alive and well today. What we must remember the church building is not the church, the people are. The buildings can be torn down and burned down but God’s church will never die. We must remember that our enemy is going to attack the church, and there will be time when it looks like he has had a victory, but we must remember there is no victory the enemy can have when it comes to a battle against God and His church. Don’t let the superficial wounds to the church make you think the church is dead, the church of God is alive and God is alive and no power of the enemy is going to change that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1137
Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs…..We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. Psalm 74:4, 9 – From what I can tell commentators aren’t exactly sure what the psalmist meant by “signs,” but they were either national banners being placed in the temple and around the city to show their victory or possibly idols being placed around. Whatever the signs may have been, it was crushing for the people to see them. Those signs meant defeat and that defeat didn’t look to have an ending anytime soon. Those signs were outward signs declaring to the people “God is not with you and cannot save you.” In our story we too will have signs trying to convince of the same message. Maybe it’s a person speaking hurtful things, doors remaining closed, sicknesses not being healed, or families not staying together. These outward signs can come in all shapes but have the same message. They want you to believe God is not with you and can’t save you. In the moments when those signs are bright, loud, and in your face, when the message they are saying is crushing…look to the cross for a different message. The cross is our sign that the enemy has not won and that our God will never leave us. Yes, the enemy will make his presence clearly known, but Jesus has made His presence known too. Our enemy has not and will never win. Our God has not and will never leave. Allow the cross to speak over any and every lie the enemy is seeking pour into you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2034
Chapter 75
For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. Psalms 75:6-7 – If you’re seeking blessing, a lifting up, or just anything truly good outside of God you won’t find it. Here the psalmist writes that the promotion and execution of justice comes from God alone. The blessing and promotion for the righteous and judgment on the unrighteous. So if we were to ask ourselves who should we strive after and who’s word we should follow and who is it that we should aim to please with our life, don’t you think it would be the One that has the authority we’re reading about within this psalm? Let your life be about God and His ways and trust the lifting up you’re seeking with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1138
We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. Psalm75:1 – Within this verse is my way anymore of handling life when life is simply just too much. When I’m filled with fear and worry over how things in life are going and I’m overrun with confusion with how to handle the future, I have been seeking to “recount God’s wondrous deeds.” Meaning I’ve been seeking to stop the spiral of the question “what if” can take me down and replace the spiral with remembering all the ways God has already come through for me. Maybe for you the spiral of worry and fear has just held you captive for so long. Today, our psalm is showing a path to break the spiral. Remind yourself of all the ways God has come through for you in the past. Let the previous ways of God’s provision encourage you in the heaviness of today. Even if all you can think of is how Jesus made a way for us out of our sin, that’s more than good enough! Dwell on Him and how God has already come through for you as you navigate the seasons of life where the provision is yet to come. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2035
Chapter 76
In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. Psalms 76:1 – I’m so glad that in Judah at this time God was known. What would happen though if we replaced Judah with a _______ and filled that blank with other places. Would the statement still be true? In “my family” God is known. In “my workplace” God is known. In “my weakness” God is known. Keep filling in the blank and keep seeing if the resulting statement is true. Wherever it’s not true is a mission field for you. Maybe our eyes will be opened to a greater harvest around us than we thought. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1139
In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. Psalm 76:1 – This is my second time through writing a devotion over every chapter of the Bible. Last time I was in Psalm 76 was Daily DEVO 1139. I wrote on how we should look at this verse as a guide to where we need to share the Gospel. In ____ God is known; his name is great in ____. Fill in the blank with a place or name of a person. The the statement wouldn’t be true, there’s a mission field. I love that idea, and what hit home today is how we need to be willing to continually ask this question. For example, when I wrote DD1139, I wasn’t at FBC Augusta, I wasn’t in the process of adopting two teenagers, I wasn’t where I’m at today. My mission field has changed. So has yours. As we grow and are moved into different seasons of life we need to be continually filling in those blanks and discovering the new mission fields God has placed in from of us. Where then is a place you can share Jesus now that you weren’t able to year ago? Who is someone you have the sort of relationship with now to share Jesus with that you didn’t six months ago? If I learn anything from some of the things God called me to do this past week it’s that you can never wait to share the gospel with someone. Where’s your mission field? Let’s start the harvest. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2036
Chapter 77
Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. Psalms 77:8-11 – The psalmist writes that his current situation seems hopeless. The Hebrew here can be translated “this makes me sick” as he looks on his life at this time. But he chooses to bring this season of life, and all the questions he has about God and His goodness, to the memories of how God has proven Himself good in the past. He chooses to remember how God has taken care of him in the past and brings his current struggles and doubts to those memories. Let’s do the same when we are struggling and doubting God’s goodness. Remember how He has been good and saved you in the past and remember He is an unchanging God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1140
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah Psalm 77:1-3 – “Days of trouble must be days of prayer.” I found this quote in Matthew Henry’s commentary over this passage this morning. Not sure if you needed to hear that, but I sure did this morning. As we navigate the psalm, it’s clear the psalmist was going through a season where trouble was presence yet also a silence from God. Those seasons can be the most difficult, where you have the enemy in your face yet you can’t see your Savior. If that’s your season right now, pray. Pray like you’ve never prayed before. Maybe that looks like actually getting on your knees before God. If you’ve never done that before, there is just something humbling about that posture with God. Pray without saying anything, giving God time to speak instead of us talking the whole time. Read scripture but pray it to God as you read His Word. Right now you need your Heavenly Father and prayer is going to best connection point. Yes, it feels like He is distant, but He isn’t. He’s right here. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2037
Chapter 78
In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. Psalms 78:32 –
The psalmist begins by writing we need to remind this next generation of what God has done
for His people and how His people responded. He goes in detail of all that God has done for His people by rescuing them and saving them. What we see though is multiple times passages like ours came up. In spite of all that God has done for them, they still chose sin. Verse 8 shares that the hope of sharing all this would be that this next generation wouldn’t be like their fathers. Learn from this passage, learn how good God is and about His saving power. Learn that choosing sin gets you nowhere. Learn from their poor choices and make the choice they refused to take in following God with your life fully. Let your story be different than their story and be in the business of helping a next generation make the right choice as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1141
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:5-8 – Today I’m sitting at a picnic table at a campground kicking off Day 2 of our high school camp and these verses really come alive for me today. One, I’m surrounded by young people, the next generation, and I’m literally seeing them being told of the the goodness and power of their God. This passage is also coming alive because I have two of my own daughters with us at camp this week. I’m seeking to be that father who tells his children about the goodness and power of God. I want them and I want these other campers I’m with to grow up following Jesus. I know by the end of this week I’ll be exhausted, have no voice, and a lot of mosquitos bites, but it’s worth it to see the next generation grow closer to Jesus. What’s a way you are pouring into that next generation today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2038
Chapter 79
Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalms 79:12-13 – We see two types of people being spoken of here, those that follow God and those that don’t. Both though have sin that needs to be dealt with and God will judge that sin. Yet the faithful are not destroyed due to their sin as with the unfaithful, but why? Because they are turning from their sin and allowing God to take the burden of it rather than them carry it themselves. Jesus is offering us a new way of life, one where we follow Him and He takes the burden of our sin for us. We don’t have to carry the weight of our sin, Jesus will do that for us. Turn to Him today and ask Him to take that burden from you so you can follow Him well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1142
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Psalm 79:9 – He did. God came through, atoned for their sins, and made a way to life for them. He did this because He loved them. God heard their cry and He responded in salvation. My hopes with this devotion is to remind you that this salvation has come to atone for your sin as well. All your sin is well known to God, whether you’ve “revealed” it to Him or not. All your sin is sin that God can handle. All your sin has been taken care of by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. If you then have started following Jesus and have asked Him to forgive your sins, know though sins have been atoned for. Meaning those past sins are forever gone from causing disconnect between you and God. They are gone, God is done with them, but do you allow your past mistakes to continue to have a say in your life? You are not your past sin if you’ve chosen Jesus to follow, you are forgiven. Seek to live that way today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2039
Chapter 80
Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! Psalms 80:3 – Three times this phrase is said within this one psalm. Another way to read this is “turn us again, O God.” See God has already taken care of them and helped them in the past. He had already shown that simply by the light of His face could He save them from all their trouble. Yet even with that knowledge they turned away and here they are asking for God to turn them back to Him. This is sadly the cycle we follow to, we see God’s saving power in our life then turn away once again. Here we must remember God’s grace and love, yet not take it for granted. Know that God forgives and restores us after we sin, but seek to let that cycle not be the constant cycle we are in. Remember the goodness and grace of God and let that help you stay turned in the right direction. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1143
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved! Psalm 80:19 – How do you need restoring? Maybe it’s a restoring of your mind back to a place of peace. Maybe the restoring you need is health physically so you can serve once again like you once did. Maybe the restoring is a removal of all this anger built up that just won’t go anywhere. The point of restoration is getting the thing being restored back to the original design. Your original design didn’t have things like worry, fear, anger, pride, and pain in it. It was to be fully devoted to the pursuit and purpose of Jesus. Come then to God asking for that restoration. Ask to be brought closer to that original design today. In that asking and seeking to walk in that direction, there we can begin to see God’s face shine on us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2040
Chapter 81
There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. Psalms 81:9-10 – God is reminding His people that He alone is more than enough to supply all their needs. They don’t need to be searching elsewhere to find their fill, God can easily supply that if they only would listen and walk in His ways. This is a message straight to His people today as well. We never have to be searching elsewhere in life for a meeting of our needs. We can open wide our need to God and no matter how deep or wide our need is God can fill it. All that is asked of us is to listen to His Word and walk in His ways. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1144
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Psalm81:8-12 – Today is the last day of our High School Camp. This passage hits home with our conversation after worship together last night as a group. We spoke on how deeply important it is to be intentional with our pursuit of God after camp. Here we have scheduled time with God multiple times a day. At home, we’re in charge of making that time. God is speaking to you, God is reminding you of how He has been your God all along. He is commanding us to set aside anything else that may be taking the “god role” in our story. He finally is inviting us close to be filled by Him. Today, pray for these students to remain open to God’s filling back at home. Pray this for yourself as well. God is searching for time with you, will you give Him that today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2041
Chapter 82
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: Psalms 82:1 – When the word “gods” is used here it’s referring to the kings, leaders, and even religious leaders that God had put in place to judge and lead His people. What we learn from this passage is that God judges those that judge us. God is over those that are over us. God is sovereign, meaning He is over all and has power over all. So this means that when we have a power over us that God is over that power. We need not fear or worry, God is bigger and in control. How then should that change the way we follow and respect our leaders if God is over them? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1145
They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. Psalm 82:5 – The “they” spoken of is the political leaders and judges during this time. They were wicked and not seeking after God in anyway. Rather than helping people away from sin, they dove deeper into their own sin. They end result, the foundations of the earth were shaken. Meaning as a result of the leaders sinfulness all the way down to the very foundations of society were effected by it. When the leader is consumed with sin, everyone under them feels the shaking. Be very prayerful then about who you set up as a leader. Maybe it’s a political leader, maybe your school is seeking out a new principal, or maybe like my home church we’re searching for a new senior pastor. Be very, very prayerful for God’s wisdom and direction on who you set up as your next leader. Don’t be caught up with all the flashy stuff the worldly looks at, look at their heart for Jesus. If Jesus has their heart and Jesus is clearly their leader, that’s a great sign they could lead you well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2042
Chapter 83
O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! Psalms 83:1 – When God speaks, universes are created. When God moves, all humanity feels it. The psalmist then is pleading for such power to begin happening with the setting he is in. This is when we need to be the ones being still and keeping silent. This is when we need to come to God and trust God hears us and is moving for us. Maybe what keeps God’s Word from moving like it could within the setting we’re in is because we haven’t been still enough to let it move. Allow then space for God to move and have His way in your story. This power we read about is still alive and active, give God the space in your life to show you that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1146
Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 83:16-18 – Humility is so needed in our approach towards God. If we can look at ourselves and our story as see no wrongdoings then we can’t approach God like we need to. This verse speaks about filling their faces with shame. That they need to be shown how wrong the path is they have taken, they need to be brought low as a result of their sinfulness. Why? So they can see the wrong of their sinfulness. Sometimes it’s only when we’ve hit rock bottom that our eyes can see how shameful our sin is and how holy our God is. I don’t believe it brings joy to God to bring His creations to these low places, but He will allow it to happen so their eyes can be turned onto Him. Where then are your eyes? Do you see the wrong of your sin? Are you only focused on the depth of wrong in other people’s lives that you don’t see your own sin? Allow yourself to gaze at the sinfulness that is still within your story today. See it, sacrifice it at the altar, and being seeing Jesus as the Savior from your sin that He is. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2043
Chapter 84
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10 – Clearly this is someone who has tasted and seen how good God is and what beauty there is within His presence. How marvelous could a thousands days anywhere you could possibly imagine could be? Yet this psalmist writes he’d trade all that for a day in God’s courts. He’d rather stand in the doorway holding doors there than be a welcomed guest enjoying the splendors in the places of the wicked. These courts must be something. If they are in the presence of the universe creator they must be. God is so much better than you can imagine. How then would your life be different today if this understanding of God led it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1147
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84:1-2 – How deeply can you relate with the passion in the voice of our psalmist? Here we see he loves being in God’s presence. He longs to be in the space where God is. His heart and whole being is singing for joy to his God. This guy is passionate about being in the room with God. Again our question is asked, how deeply can you relate with the psalmist’s passion? Does the idea of coming into God’s presence to worship Him overflow you with joy or could something actually take more importance so you pass on the opportunity of worship? Do you long for time with Jesus? Does your heart feel weak when you haven’t gotten a chance to have closeness with Jesus in awhile? Our psalmist loves being in the presence of his God. I know for myself I love Jesus, but sometimes my heart isn’t always at this level of passion about my pursuit of Jesus. If that’s you as well, then choose with me today to be passionate about it. Maybe you aren’t noticing the faint feelings, maybe you aren’t overjoyed in this moment about your walk with Jesus, but regardless choose to pursue Him with all you have. Maybe the joy isn’t there yet, but the moment you truly come into the courts of our Father’s house we’ll taste a joy that is unmatched by anything else in this life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2044
Chapter 85
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Psalms 85:8 – After reading psalms like this one, it’s a clear reminder that the one changing their faithfulness in this situation isn’t God. We are the ones that hold the possibility of turning back to folly, not God. God through remains faithful to us. He still speaks to us, still shows us peace, still offers to revive and restore us. We must remember that in our relationship with God He remains steadfast and stable. While we may become shaky, know God is stable like He was on your best day and that won’t change when you’re in your worst. Remain turned in His direction to see just how stable He is. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1148
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85:10 – All this must have taken place in order for you to have the life in Christ you have. God first had to have a love that was steady and unchanging throughout the course of history and through all our rejections of Him. That then had to connect with a faithfulness to His promises He has made to peoples long before our time to never leave us and to provide a way to life with Him. God then chose to not let His righteousness crush us in our sinfulness but allowed peace to be found. This is where He covered us instead and let His righteousness be our righteousness. As a result, we can now have life with God. I know, that’s a lot to process, but that’s kind of the point today. It is a lot and God did a lot to make is possible for you to have this life you have with Him. Let’s not misuse this precious life we’ve been given. Use it to draw closer to Jesus today and to point others to Jesus as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2045
Chapter 86
In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. Psalms 86:7 – I think of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The false prophets cried out again and again, the even resorted to cutting themselves all to gain a response from their god. Yet none came, no one answered them. God though answered Elijah, apparently the psalmist knew God would answer him, and we too can have the confidence that God answers us when we call out to Him. So in your day of trouble, whatever that may look like for you, know you can come to God, cry out to Him, and have confidence He hears and moves on your behalf. He loves you and He answers your cry. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1149
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. Psalm 86:11 – I hope today your heart is seeking to know the truth of God’s way. That you are inclining your ear to God’s voice, seeking to know the way God desires you to move today. Now, once you find it out, will you walk in that way? Sure we can ask to know the path and have the path’s entrance cleared with neon signs flashing “go this way!” We can know the way but still not go that way. Today, your path is to love God and to love people. This is the way. God has taught us already what His way is and now He expects us to walk in it. Of course, be seeking still out the specific ways God wants you to walk in His way, but don’t just sit on the knowledge you do have. Maybe all you have is simply you’re called to love God and people with no specifics coming to mind on how. Then whoever is in front of you, love them. Love God by serving Him and having time with Him. You have been given the way, will you walk in it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2046
Chapter 87
And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; for the Most High himself will establish her. The Lord records as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah Psalms 87:5-6 – Here in the US this year we will be taking a census where every person will say to the government where they are from. Imagine then in these verses God is taking a census of the world. It’s our turn to come up and announce where we are from. To say we were born on earth in sin and that’s where we come from. Yet instead of giving us a chance to speak out, God speaks and says this one is mine and was born of Heaven. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we have a new home and a new story. We are of Heaven and born of God. Not because of anything grand we did but by the sacrifice and love of Jesus. Remember where you’re from and live accordingly. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1150
Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.” Psalm 87:7 – All the springs of peace, mercy, support, love, and rest that I come to in my time of need are found in you. Now of course this verse can be understood as the “you” being God. He is the spring that is the source of all this and more for us. Yet I also challenge you to uncover what the “you” in this verse was really pointing at. It was the church, the house of God. The whole psalm is speaking about the church and then concludes with saying that in the church can be found these springs of life we need. Today I want to encourage you to dig deeper into whatever church body you call your church family. In that community are springs of peace, support, wisdom, and life. The church is God’s tool at bringing the world to Himself. While that means it’s the tool to get the gospel to the lost it’s also the tool to bring the believer closer to Him. If you’re a believer in Jesus know the church is designed to draw you close to Jesus and be these springs of life in your walk. If your church isn’t being that for you then really pray about what to do. Do you stay to help change the culture there or is God leading you to a new church family? Either way scripture is pointing out the true role of the church. Do you have this in your church family? Have you leaned in enough yet to your church to experience these springs? Are you contributing to the springs coming out of your church to support the other members? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2047
Chapter 88
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Psalms 88:11 – The psalmist is asking God how long is it going to take till I see your steadfast love come and help in my current struggle. If I go any longer I’m going to end up dead, can your love help me there? Well, let’s ask Lazarus that question. Never think you’ve gotten yourself too deep into the mess or struggle that God’s love can’t change things. Lazarus went through the struggle till it killed him, yet Jesus’ love was still able to move in his story. While I’m not saying God’s going to be raising people from the dead like that, I am saying you’re not too deep into your struggle that God can’t help you anymore. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1151
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Psalm 88:15 – Helpless. Not often a term we think as one to describe how we come to Jesus. For me, I know God welcomes me to come to Him in a helpless state. I have the head knowledge of this, but I don’t know if I allow myself to actually still approach Him this way as often as I should. Parts of me still feel like I have to come to God put together and strong; strong in my own power somehow. I wonder if you ever find yourself in this same struggle. Where God is allowing us to approach Him helpless but we don’t allow ourselves to come to Him this way. We believe we have to get things figured out on our side first so we bring to God something worthwhile. Hear and really hear this today, you helpless is still worthwhile to God. He welcomes you even in the most helpless state. Know you can approach your Heavenly Father with nothing but tired, open hands and He’ll bring you close. In fact, this is how He longs for us to come to Him. Not glued together by our own wisdom, not held together by our own strength, but humble and broken before Him. Come to Jesus who welcomes the helpless. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2048
Chapter 89
…if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. Psalms 89:31-33 – If we all understood the message behind this passage, and actually believed it fully, it would change our walk with God so much. That God takes our sin, our violating his statutes and commands, seriously, but that doesn’t mean He removes His love from us. Yes, God is going to allow us to feel sometimes the results out our bad choices. We’ll feel the “rod” that helps us realize the choices we made weren’t wise, but God never removes His love from us. You will never be able to walk too far away from God where His love can’t reach you. Accept the truth that God remains faithful to us even we weren’t are faithful too Him. His love for you isn’t going anywhere. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1152
I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Psalm 89:34 – I’d encourage you today to search on the internet “God’s promises in the Bible.” Most likely many sites will be found through this search, click on a few that look good. Gaze through the lists they give and see all the places in scripture where God has made a promise to His followers. See how the promises are to be with us, to take care of us, to provide for us, to guide us, and to forgive our sins. Now remember the verse we’re writing on today in Psalm 89. God will not violate His covenant with us or change even a single word that went out from His lips towards us. Meaning whatever He said He’ll do. We may have a habit of saying one thing but doing another, God’s habit is saying one thing and doing exactly what He said. Never once in all of scripture has God not fully come through on something He spoke He’d do. Today the promise is you aren’t going to be the first that’s going to happen with. Take hope in knowing God isn’t changing His promises with you. What you see promised in scripture is promised to you. How then will your walk today be different knowing these promises and knowing they are sure in your story? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2049
Chapter 90
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalms 90:12 – A wise heart looks at life as a whole and doesn’t just remain in the moment. It sees the reality that an ending will come and will ask what sort of change did it leave behind. Here the psalmist is asking God to help him see his life for what it really is, something fleeting yet something that has purpose for the moment it’s around. We too need to realize our life on earth isn’t forever. What change then is going to be left behind once your life is over as a result of the life you did live? Remind yourself you only have one life to live and time moves fast. What change in this world and in the lives of others do you want left behind because you were here? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1153
You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. Psalm 90:8 – Today I’m getting the chance to preach on a favorite topic of mine, reconciliation. My definition will be it’s the process of bringing back together what’s been torn apart. That two parties who were once good now aren’t due to some sort of wrong. They choose to come together, address the wrong, and seek peace and forgiveness with each other. Know today God knows the deep, dark wrongs in our story that has caused such havoc on our walk with Him. In fact we don’t even have to invite Him closer to see them, the light of His presence reveals to Him even the most secret of sins in our story. Meaning God knows about all of it. Yet, knowing all of it, He still is seeking reconciliation with us. Being fully aware of all the wrongs and secret sins God still chose to sacrifice it all on the cross to be with us. Dwell today on the truth that God knows it all and still longs to be with you. That someone sees your whole story, not a letter missing out or overlooked, and still deeply wants you in their life. This is Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2050
Chapter 91
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. Psalms 91:3-6 – He will. Have confidence in this promise of God. He will deliver you. He will cover you. You will not fear. This is what we have promised to us who choose to make God the one we turn and run to. Whatever evil is around you now know God will take care of you. There was no doubt in the psalmist’s heart when he wrote what he did; we as well don’t need to doubt God’s promises to us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1154
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. Psalm 91:7-10 – I find myself trying to imagine what this would look like in battle where all around me thousands are falling but not a bullet, arrow, or weapon is able to touch me. That there is a level of protection over me that no harm may come my way in that battle. I want you to understand there is this level of protection over you as you faithfully pursue Jesus. Does this mean no harm or sickness will ever come your way? No, God may still allow that to come into our story, but you do have such a level of shelter over you from God that anything He doesn’t allow through isn’t coming through. Difficulties, troubles, and even sickness are still a very real thing even in the most faithful follower of Jesus. What though we may not see is the immense protection being given to us from all the spiritual attacks of our enemy. I truly believe if our eyes were able to see the spiritual battles taking place over us we would never question the depth of God’s care and protection. Know there is safety in the pursuit of God, but that safety isn’t a result of an absence of attacks. You just have a God who is able to protect you well in the attack. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2051
Chapter 92
They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green. Psalms 92:14 – Imagine planting an apple seed. When the season comes to harvest apples that year, you don’t expect to be getting much from it. You expect to see some growth, maybe some leaves beginning, but no apples. What about though the apple tree planted many years ago? We should be able to find it full of fruit because it’s be taken care of and fed for years. This is the imagery given concerning believers. As with a fruit tree, we shouldn’t just say “oh there are old and mature, we shouldn’t expect any fruit from them.” We should expect the most fruit from the ones who have walked the longest with God and been fed by Him the longest. So if you have had the blessing of being nurtured by God for many years know God is seeking fruit from you. What are you bearing for Him today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1155
….that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever….The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm 92:7, 12-13 – Scripture shows us that both grow. The wicked grow and the righteous grow. Both will have their time in the light and both will bloom. Yet notice here in these verses the examples the psalmist gives for each on how they’ll grow. The wicked will sprout and flourish like grass. They’ll grow fast and cover a lot of area and can seem overwhelming at times. Yet, like I did a couple evenings ago, a lawnmower can take out a whole yard pretty fast. The wicked may grow, but they don’t have much life to them. For the righteous though, they grow like tall palm trees and like the sturdy cedars of Lebanon. They aren’t coming down with a lawnmower. They aren’t green for a season but when a simple change in temperature comes or rain is scarce they die off. They remain steadfast because their roots are connected to something real. So yes, both grow, but one remains. It’s those who stay faithful to their pursuit of God that stands the test of time. Today choose to pursue God and overlook the momentary blooms of the wicked. What God has for you in a life with Him is far better than anything this world can offer you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2052
Chapter 93
Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. Psalms 93:2 – God has been in charge and on top since the beginning and there is no chance of His placement changing. Know there is no “second place” that is closing in on Him and challenging His position. God isn’t fearful of anyone or anything displacing Him for His place as God of all things. His throne isn’t going anywhere. Yet while His position never changes, we can choose to not give Him the honor within our lives that He deserves. God does reign over all, let Him then reign over all of you. Be a part of the kingdom that will last forever. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1156
The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty! Psalm 93:3-4 – The floods spoken of are the powerful forces that come against us in life. This could be an enemy, an oppressive health issue, a fractured relationship, or even destructive mindset. Just like a raging flood coming your way these things can look unstoppable and the destruction they are about to cause will be irreparable. Yet, One who is mightier than the waves steps in. This is Jesus, the Lord most high. I know this truth is so difficult to believe when you see the water coming and you’re waist high in the flood. Jesus though is more powerful than the flood. Jesus is mightier than the force coming against you, know matter how powerful it may be. Whatever damage has already been made Jesus can still create something new and beautiful from it. Remember if God can renew a planet after a worldwide flood, He can bring life in your story even if there is a flood coming your way. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2053
Chapter 94
If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Psalms 94:17-19 – These few verses are so relatable. If it wasn’t for God I wouldn’t be here. When I thought I slipped up so bad everything was going to crumble God’s love helped me up. When my worries overwhelmed me, God cheered me up. Here is the God that people need to see. God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, but He also is deeply invested in your life. He’s there when things get heavy and He remains always. Make sure when you speak of Jesus this part of His character is spoken clearly about. People are seeking someone like this within their story and they need to know that someone is Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1157
Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. Psalm 94:8-11 – Our chapter unpacks how the wicked were doing the very opposite of what God had commanded to do. Rather than caring for the widow, loving the sojourner, and being a father to the fatherless, they were killing them all. All under this belief that, “The Lord does not see.” Our verse today reminds us He does. He sees the injustice taking place in our world. He sees the evil happening. He hears the cries of those being silenced. He knows what’s going on in our life. I’m not too concerned at the moment if the wicked know these truths, eventually they’ll learn that God was aware of all they were doing. I want to make sure you know all this. God does see what’s going on. Whether that’s about the hurt being put on you or the secret hurt you’re causing, know God is aware. If there is a secret sin taking place, bring that to God today who isn’t going to be surprised about it because He was there at the first yes you made to it. If there is a heaviness being placed on you somehow, know God is present and is on the scene for you. God is with us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2054
Chapter 95
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Psalms 95:1-2 – Six times within this psalm do we see the phrase “let us” appear. This shows us an important message that if we haven’t grasped a hold of yet we need to. That our faith in God isn’t a solo act, nor is it something that “they” should do yet not us. Our faith in God is something we are called to do together in community. Isolation was never the direction or example Jesus set for us on how to live out your faith well. Finding solitude to be refreshed by alone time with God is a part, but Jesus always came back to the community of believers to continue the ministry work. Be asking how much community truly plays a part in your walk with God. Just as it’s so much easier to move a broken down car with others, so is walking in community when it comes to our faith life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1158
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. Psalm 95:7-9 – What happened at Meribah/Massah? In Exodus 17:7 we see the story where the Israelites were grumbling about their situation after God rescued them from Egypt. They had nothing to drink so they questioned if God was even with them anymore. What we see being directed in this psalm is to not respond to the moves of God like these people did. They, after seeing God move in front of them in mighty ways and hearing His voice to them, still hardened their hearts and didn’t believe. You may not of have a Red Sea part or water come from a stone, but God has made His presence know to you. You can hear His word through scripture. You can see His majesty in the sunset. You can see His hand working in the lives of the broken. Today, if you hear His voice and see His working, don’t harden your heart towards Him. He is doing exactly what He promised He’d do, He’s being faithful to His word. If even with these moves of God in front of you, you still close off your heart to Him, may I gently ask why? What is it that God is/isn’t doing that’s causing such a hard heart towards Him? Know I’d love to listen. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2055
Chapter 96
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Psalms 96:5 – All the things that people can place as gods in their life have no substance and can offer nothing to those who follow them. Jesus, the one true God, is the creator of all substance and has breathed life into everything that exists. All that has been created is here because of Jesus. Why then set your heart after something that can’t offer you what you really need? Why devote your life to something that has no substance when the creator of the heavens is here? Each day let’s make sure we are choosing Jesus to follow. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1159
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. Psalm 96:11-13 – The heavens are going to show their gladness for the presence of the Lord. The earth is going to be heard about its joy for the presence of the Lord. The seas are going to roar and crash as their way of showing they are desiring the presence of the Lord. The fields are going to praise the presence of the Lord. Even every tree in the vast forests all sing for joy when the Lord comes. How about you? All of creation is lifting up their voices and sounds how they can to welcome the coming and presence of the Lord. Will your voice be a part of the sound? Not just someday in the future either, how about today wherever you are at? Maybe your voice isn’t yelling out, but by your life today and the plans you had made for the day, could Jesus see in your life a gladness for His presence in it? Maybe your day is like mine and needs some re-adjusting after reading a passage like this. Let’s today seek to join our voices into the chorus of creation that’s worshiping the coming and presence of our God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2056
Chapter 97
Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. Psalms 97:3-5 – What a powerful scene that is being given here concerning God. Such majesty and such grandeur. This same God is the God who left the ninety nine to rescue you. Who allowed His Son to die on a cross so that you could finally find peace with Him. Don’t take all that though as a message to exalt yourself, hear it to help you understand the true nature of God’s love for you. This simply tells us we are valued and special to this powerful God. Not as a result of anything on our part, but because He chose to love us. When we think of who we are and compare that to all that God is, let that vast difference create in us such a gratefulness for what He’s done. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1160
The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Psalm 97:1 – I’m not a big soccer fan, but I do know the World Cup is happening this year. While I wouldn’t care to go to watch the game, it would be awesome to go to the championship game of the World Cup. Why if I’m not wanting to watch the game? Because of the atmosphere of the stadium. I’ve seen videos of these passionate teams and fans literally shaking the foundations of the massive stadium with their cheers. Because their team is winning, because their team reigns. What we see in those stadiums is only a mere drop of the rejoicing that will happen on earth when Jesus returns and it doesn’t even come close to the rejoicing in Heaven right now because the Lord reigns. Rejoicing is happening in Heaven, rejoicing will happen all over earth one day, is rejoicing happening in your life today? Remember the Lord reigns over all and our enemy has been defeated. We have life everlasting with God. We have every reason to rejoice today, let’s give God our best. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2057
Chapter 98
Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. Psalms 98:1 – I want to focus today on that phrase “For he has done marvelous things.” Sometimes we can allow a wrong way of worship to creep into our praise to God. We can go to church, serve Him, share His Gospel, and worship with song in order to get God’s attention so He’ll bless us. Yet how does that compare to what the passage is saying? We are to sing a new song of praise to God for the things He has already done for us. We must remember our worship is our demonstration of gratitude and submission to God, not some perfect combination on a vending machine to get from God what we want. Tomorrow at church, and today even as you worship Him, let your mindset about coming to Him for worship be to thank Him for what He’s done already for you. For even if God never did another thing for you He deserves your eternal praise because of all that He has already done. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 761
The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Psalms98:2 – God has made known to the world His plan of salvation. He’s made known to the world that He is the Creator who loves it and is offering life to it. We see later in the passage that the seas, the rivers, and the hills acknowledge this and are doing their part to tell the world of His majesty and salvation. How about you though? God has given us who has been saved by His grace the mission of making known His salvation to the world. We are the ones to spread the good news that salvation can be found in God. Are you doing your part? How so? Let’s make sure that today is a day we can look back on and know we joined in with all the rest of creation and made God’s salvation known to the world through us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1161
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Psalm 98:4 – I feel like I hear this verse quoted often in the church, mostly after someone feels they sang badly or after a little kid’s music performance. Make a joyful “noise,” doesn’t have to be a sweet melody. Yet, that’s exactly right, it doesn’t have to be a sweet sounding song, but a noise of pure joy for what we are existing in. See the writer of our psalm lived before the coming of Jesus. He hadn’t had the chance to speak with Jesus, see the cross, or experience the life we have with God today because of Jesus. Yet there was still a joyful noise coming from his mouth. If someone who never saw Jesus, never heard the message of the cross, and was only looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises can rejoice like this…what excuse to do I have for giving a halfhearted worship? I’m taking this as a personal challenge this week as I step into another week of camp. I’m going to worship like I’ve been saved by grace by my loving Heavenly Father who has already fulfilled His promises to me. How about you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2058
Chapter 99
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! Psalms99:1 – The cherubim here speak of the two above the ark of the covenant which represented the the heavenly host that are ministering the Lord day and night. This same heavenly host that when seen by men in scripture struck fear into their hearts due to the overwhelming glory that was on them. But as with the moon, the light coming off them doesn’t originate from within themselves but by being in the presence of something that creates light. Our passage reminds us that as glorious as the angels are, their glory comes from God and being in His presence. He is above all and over all. Whatever then in your life that is stunning, brilliant, and glorious, know that God is more. I love you, but Jesus love you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1162
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them. Psalm 99:6 – It’s easy to find ourselves thinking that God loved people more like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel because of the clear answers they got from God. I mean this passage literally says they called to God and He answered. We see so many crazy, amazing ways that God moved in their midst and spoke to them in such clear ways. While yes, this was such a blessing for them that would be amazing to have in our story, we have something amazing in our story that exceeds all that we read in the stories of Moses, Aaron, or Samuel. We have the cross and the salvation of Jesus. Something so beautiful, so amazing, so lovely. Yes, God loved those in the Old Testament deeply, but God so loved the world as well. He loves you so deeply that He provided Jesus and the Holy Spirit to listen and provide everything we need for our story today. This God who our scripture reminds us reigns on high, over all nations and people, who is holy and just, has loved us so deeply to make a way for us to be with Him. Celebrate how God listened and answered in the past, but never set aside the blessing that we have today in Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2059
Chapter 100
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalms 100:5 – God is good. Maybe that short little phrase is what you needed to be reminded of today. For life is going to paint out a picture for you that says God isn’t for you and isn’t good. Sometimes we get faced with situations that boggle us as to why a God who is good would let something like that be apart of our story. Yet even when life is telling you that God isn’t good, we must remember He is. Hardship, struggles, and loss are a part of life, thankfully so is God and His love. Don’t let the situation that’s right in front of your eyes be what determines if God is good. Let the entire story of scripture and the multitude of blessings God has brought into your story be what determines God’s goodness. God is good, and His love and faithfulness to you endures forever. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 762
Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalms 100:3 – And we are His. I love how this passage not only reminds us of this but declares it over us. God is God and we are His. What does that mean for us? That means we get to enjoy the benefits of His pasture. The joy, peace, purpose, forgiveness, freedom, and salvation that are His and He gives freely to those that are His. We though must remember as God’s people we receive from Him all that He gives, but He also is the leader and Lord over our life. He sets the direction and we follow. So being God’s people is a wonderful blessing but we also must be willing to let go of the reigns of our life and let Him lead. Know that sacrifice is more than worth it for all those who choose to let God lead. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1163
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Psalm 100:2 – Last night we had 15 of our students respond to the pastor’s invitation last night. No one placed their faith in Christ, but God stirred something in them and they felt moved to come forward and then chat with one of us leaders about it. They took steps towards Him for the first time or back towards Him finally. That’s why I serve the Lord with gladness. No, camp isn’t all fun for us leaders. The bunk beds aren’t my bed at home, the heat is unbearable, and don’t get me started on the smell of the dorms. So why serve? Because like the psalmist, I’ve seen the beauty of the work of my Savior, I know that I am His, I know that He is good and His steadfast love endures forever…so I want to serve and help others to know that too. So don’t feel bad for me having to deal with the heat and smell, I’m good! My leaders and I just got to walk with 15 students wanting to respond to the unique ways God is stirring their heart. It’s not me missing out, it’s you if you’re not here! So if you’ve seen the beauty of God like our psalmist, how are you going to serve Him with gladness? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2060
Chapter 101
I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house Psalms 101:2 – I see the words “I will” coming up ten separate times within this psalm. What that shows me is living the sort of life this psalm depicts is a choice on my part. That me pondering the blameless way, me walking with integrity of heart, me not setting anything worthless before my eyes, or me knowing nothing of evil, isn’t just going to happen. That’s a choice I’m going to have to make daily within my walk with Jesus. That’s a choice you’re going to have to make as well daily. Are we then making that choice to say I will? Maybe yesterday you didn’t, today though is a new day. Let God know we will choose to live for Him today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1164
Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord. Psalm 101:8 – Stepping back into the psalms we have David sharing his intentions when it comes to how he will establish his kingdom. He will set aside every temptation, he’ll distant himself from those choosing a sinful path, and will care for the faithful in the land. In this last verse we see a part of his reign will be to destroy all the wickedness and wicked things he can find in the land. Morning but morning, day by day, he is going to seek out and take out any wickedness that may be growing. Now this is solid advice for any kings out there reading this devotion on how to run your kingdom, yet I highly doubt any kings are reading these. So for us common folks, how does this apply? Morning by morning, each day, be on the look out for our Satan and his wicked schemes are seeking to enter your story. Watch, and when spotted, destroy. Don’t allow the enemy to gain even a foothold within your life. “Destroying” may look like bringing that secret temptation out into the light with an accountability partner or even simply praying to the Lord about it asking Him for help with it. Just don’t become aware of the enemy’s presence and dismiss it as nothing to worry about. Be healthy in your walk by daily cutting any ties with the enemy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2232
Chapter 102
Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: Psalm102:18 – The psalmist sought to record this message so that those who weren’t following after God yet, or those who weren’t even alive yet, would know of the power and goodness of God. We must realize there is a generation of God’s people yet to come. Could be that they are just our future children or grandchildren that haven’t even been born yet. They could be the people that are to soon come to know Jesus but haven’t met Him yet. Either way, how are you today readying yourself to put God’s Word in front of them? In our passage they were choosing to record it so they could read it. For us, are we ready to share our story with them? Are we prepared to share God’s Word with them? Are we ready to help them see Jesus like they need to? We need to keep in mind the health of this next generation of believers can either be damaged or increased by us today. Let’s do everything in our power to make this people to come have a better walk with God that we ever did. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1330
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you. Psalm 102:25-28 – Our God will never fade away or pass out of our story. Even things like the heavens and the earth will pass away someday, but our God will remain. While that’s beautiful to know, what help does this knowledge offer us today? As the final verse says, we can have confidence now knowing the next generations will remain secure because of the Lord. While God’s hand has been with us protecting, blessing, and guiding, we can know it will be the same for our children and their children and their children as well. Since our God has no end He will be with every generation that is to come after us just like He was for us. We can trust God then with our families and our ministries. We won’t always be here to watch over those after us, but the beautiful thing is we don’t have to be. God will stand watch, will protect, will direct, and will offer generations after us His salvation just like He did for us. What a good God we serve! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2233
Chapter 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 – I love that phrase, “And forget not all his benefits.” Here we see recorded that God does so much for those who follow Him. He forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, and renews us. He steps into our story so we don’t have to walk under the shame of sin. He showers us with love and mercy. He makes sure we have what we need to keep moving forward. Yes, as we unpacked in our Deuteronomy study, God asks us to give all we have to Him in our following of Him. All our idols, all our focus, our life. Today though we are reminded of just a small, small portion of the benefits that come when we do let go and follow God. In those moments and mornings then when we are choosing if we are going to follow God or not, look at the benefits of both choices in front of you. Which one truly gives you what you are looking for today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1331
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. Psalm 103:10-13 – Something we must understand about sin and our relationship with the Lord is that if God truly gave us what we deserved when it came to our sin, we’d forever be shut out of Heaven and a life with Him. That’s not God being unjust or unfair, it’s the reality of our sin. What this passage reminds us though is God is choosing to not deal with us like He “ought” to when it comes to our sin. Instead His grace, mercy, and forgiveness are at play. We shouldn’t have a chance at forgiveness, but God is offering that to us. We shouldn’t have access to Heaven and the Father, but we do because of Jesus. We shouldn’t even have the right to speak with the Lord, yet we can anytime we want. Thank you Jesus that you are not treating us like our sin deserves. Dwell on how deeply God’s grace and mercy are at play in your life today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2234
Chapter 104
These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. Psalm 104:27 – The psalm speaks of all the different creations of earth looking to God for what they need. Whether it be the lions looking for prey, or birds looking for a branch, or even the mountains that need water, all look to God for the satisfaction of their need. Our question then needs to be if we fit into all that? Does the way we search for a satisfying of our needs begin with coming to God and expecting from God? Yes big needs of course, but small ones as well. Or can we find ourself leaning on and expecting from things not godly to find our satisfaction? Whatever then your need, seek God out for the provision of it. Maybe in past times of you trying this the need was met in a way you didn’t plan and that has shaded your confidence in God some. Yet if creation has found a satisfying of their needs in God, maybe we can too. Just understand the provision doesn’t always come the way we expect, but it does come. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1332
From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. Psalm 104:13- This psalm is dedicated to declare the greatness of the Lord. To show how He creates all things and all things are kept by Him. The birds are taken care of, the seasons are taken care of, even the rock badgers are taken care of. The whole earth’s needs are satisfied by the Lord. How about you? Is the Lord taking care of you? Is there any promises God has made to you that He hasn’t been faithful to? Yes He is taken care of us and no promises He has made has been unkept. So why might we sometimes still feel “unsatisfied” in a life where God is supplying everything we need? Possibly because we don’t see our needs like Jesus does. Possibly because we’ve allowed some sin to cloud things. Possibly because we’ve allowed our focus to be on self rather than on Jesus. The reasons could be many, but the truth is God is a steadfast provider for His own. We will never be without what He sees we need. Maybe the change that needs to come isn’t God being a “better provider” but us being more content with the provision God deems as what we need. I know, not the most fun message to hear, but a journey to learn contentment with the provision of the Lord is one that will better your entire life. Find satisfaction in the provision the Lord has chosen to bring at this moment. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2235
Chapter 105
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Psalm 105:1-2 – And that’s exactly what this psalm did. It made known God’s deeds among the people and told of his wondrous works. Because when you share what you’ve seen God do in your story people who haven’t yet seen things like that begin to see God for who He truly is. How then could you help people who haven’t yet seen God like they need to begin to see Him more like the need to? Tell them of the wondrous works you’ve seen Him do. Whether those works are from your story, someone else’s story, or the story of scripture, help them see God for who He truly is. Let your story change the narrative they have of God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1333
And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord! Psalm 105:44-45 – This psalm is a snapshot of the workings of God within Old Testament so far. The psalmist shares all the wonderful and miraculous things God did for His people Israel. A good question though that comes up after reading such a chapter is, “Why did God do all this?” One, God had made a promise to Abraham and God never fails to keep His word. But we see a second, equally as powerful, answer in our passage. God wanted to give them what they needed in order to keep His statues and laws. He wanted to set them up for success in being able to follow Him. God wanted a relationship with His people, He wanted to be their God. So He did everything needed in order to foster that coming about. Today know the reason God takes care of and blesses us is the same. He is keeping faithful to His promises and He desires relationship with us. He wants us to be able to faithfully follow after Him like He says to in His word so He provides what we need to do that. So remember today the blessing of breath in your lungs, the blessing of all your things around you today, even the blessing of your life has been given for the purpose of you pursuing the Lord and what He wants. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2236
Chapter 106
Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 106:1- Yes, amen, praise the Lord and give thanks to Him, because He sure doesn’t have to be so good to us and keep showing us His love. It just floors me that God keeps on showing His love to a people like us. As we read in this psalm over and over and over the people turned away from Him. And it wasn’t due to a lack of God’s love or provision, it was just a choice on their part to forget what God had done and to walk a new path. Yet He kept forgiving and kept allowing them to come back and kept moving forward with them. He didn’t have to, but He chose to because He wanted them. He also doesn’t have to keep forgiving us, but He keeps choosing to and choosing us. That’s why today we should praise the Lord. Not just because it’s the Christiany thing to do, it’s because we have a universe-creating God who has every right to let us wallow in the punishment of our mistakes but instead chose to sacrifice everything for us so we could have an opportunity to choose Him. Thank you Lord and all praise to you today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1334
They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Psalm 106:19-22 – The psalmist retells the journey of the people of God when they were rescued from Egypt and journeyed to the promise land. One would think that after seeing the miraculous acts done by God and having freedom actually found by them from Egypt that they would be captivated by the Lord forever. Instead they chose the work of their hands to worship rather than the Lord who rescued them. My hope and prayer is that this isn’t what’s said of me, my church family, or the generation of the Church today. I would hope that’s your prayer too. That’s what said of us is we has seen God move in mighty ways and have chosen to remain steadfast in following Him. Maybe we haven’t seen a sea part in front of us, but we have seen Him do some great things in our life. Choose then today to let God be what captivates you. Let Him be what your life is about and what you worship. For He has done great things and deserves our forever praise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2237
Chapter 107
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble. Psalm 107:2 – Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction. Some were fools through their sinful ways and because of their iniquities suffered affliction. All these are just a few ways this psalm and scripture speaks of where people can find themselves. Yet here in our passage, we see that while these “some” found themselves in dark, painful spots, they found redemption in God. Have you wandered? Have you found yourself sitting in darkness? Have you put yourself in pain because of your own foolish choices? Take heart because we see here in scripture that those who find themselves in places such as these can call out and be redeemed. If you have be redeemed like the ones spoken of in our passage, let us speak to others of the redemption we’ve found. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1335
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! Psalm 107:8 – Four times we see this verse in our psalm (v.8,15,21,31). So who is the “them” spoken of? Thankfully our passage also answers that. Some of the “them” were those who wandered hungry and thirsty in desert land. Some were those imprisoned by hurt and chains. Some were those who found themselves in a mess due to their own sinful choices. Some were even those who just found themselves in the middle of God’s powerful nature. Each though in their time of need cried out to the Lord for help and He came to their rescue. Let “them,” let all those who God came to the rescue for, thank the Lord for His steadfast love. Let us remember something important here with all this, we too have had the Lord come to our rescue. We have been saved from our sin and distress. So let us today give thanks to the Lord for His steadfast love. He has worked wonders in our story and He deserves us responding to Him with thankfulness in how we live our life for Him and with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2238
Chapter 108
My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! Psalm 108:1 – We’ve seen it before, where you have a children’s concert and during the solo portions most of the kids are shy and too nervous to sing in the mic. You barely hear them and can’t understand what they are saying. Yet among the young ones there is a kiddo who isn’t shy at all, boldly gets up to that mic, and sings at the top of their lungs! That’s the heart in which the psalmist is referring to. This heart that will sing with all his being. Today let’s be more like the bold kid when it comes to our worship of God. Not shy and timid where even if we do speak out it’s too quiet to understand or hear, but boldly with all our heart we should worship and praise Him today. Possibly that’s way out of your comfort zone, especially in front of people. That’s fine, then in your alone time with God be like the bold kid. Practice in small ways so you can be bold when it really matters. God deserves our entire being behind our worship of Him, let’s try to give that to Him today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1336
Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! Psalm 108:12 – Looking to the world for help is an empty pursuit. The help and rescue we truly need in life can only be found in the Lord. As I looked deeper into this passage this morning I came to realize that Psalm 60:6-12 and Psalm 108:7-13 are almost identical. And way back when I wrote my devotional over Psalm 60 I chose verse 11, “Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!” God in His word is having us see repeatedly this truth that help and salvation can only be found in and through Him. Sure the world can offer temporary fixes that feels like rescue from our struggle, but when it comes down to the real healing we need and especially rescue from Hell, only through Jesus can we find that salvation. The Lord sees this as message worth repeating even in holy scripture. Is it a message we’re repeating in our own story or is it a message we need repeated back to us because we keep searching for help in all the wrong places? Know our help comes only from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2239
Chapter 109
In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. Psalm 109:4 – May this ever be the attitude of Christians; to respond with prayer to the accusing, hatred, and evil of those around us and towards us. Sadly, even as I just scroll through social media, that’s not often what I see. I see such anger and hatred being spread through posts and comments. I hear the festering bitterness in people’s voices towards certain decisions made and certain politicians when I step into conversations with some people. I’m not here trying to shame any actions made by anybody, I know if that’s the path taken many could shame many of my actions too (that would be a beautiful cycle right?) My challenge for myself is to be the light God has called me to be, whether on social media, in person, or just in my own head. To hand things over to Him to handle, as we read in our passage today to do. I want the way I respond and react to things happening in this world to be attracting people to Jesus rather than giving them another reason to have a distain for Christians. Hopefully you want that as well. How then to handle the built up anger and stress towards people and things? Give yourself to prayer and let God take the brunt of all that. Let Him be your go to with all that so the witness you give to the world can stay healthy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1337
May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord, of those who speak evil against my life! Psalm 109:20 – David is speaking to God about the evil being shown to him by an enemy. As we read through this psalm, even for me some of the language used here by David seems odd to pray for. Why would you pray for some of these heavy things to be done to anyone, even if they are your enemy? Yet this passage is not being given to us as an example of how to pray like we see with the Lord’s Prayer, but it is placed in scripture to remind us how God handles those who reject Him and attack His people. Our God is merciful, but if someone rejects His mercy then the only other option is God’s wrath which we see just touched on within this psalm. Now, we who have heard the words of Jesus and seen in scripture what’s to come for any who don’t accept God’s mercy, be in prayer for those who don’t know Jesus that they would come to know Him. Yes they may be rejecting Jesus now and yes they may even be attacking you like we see in our passage. Let us though continue to show kindness in response to their evil. Let us pray they come to know Jesus and turn to Him. They may be our enemy today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pray and even hope for their salvation. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2240
Chapter 110
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4 – Our Messiah, Jesus, has not and will not change. His mind is set on being our high priest who intercedes between us and God the Father. Nothing will change His mind on that. Not the current state of the world, not the mess ups you make, not even the doubts you have about God. Jesus has set Himself up in your story as your Savior for all time and nothing will cause Him to shift around on that. Take hope from this that while we may be shaky in our devotion to God, He remains steadfast. You never have to worry that Jesus may step away from His role as your intercessor and savior. That’s His role forever and He takes joy in being that for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1338
Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. Psalm 110:3 – I settled on this verse today for my devotion because it confused me the most and I wanted to figure it out. Yet, after some study of it, I’m still pretty confused! I even found this quote from Charles Spurgeon in a sermon he did on this verses, “After looking at the old translations, and employing every means in my power to discover the meaning, I found myself as far off as when I began.” In short, this is a confusing passage, but here’s what I’m beginning to gather from it. It’s speaking of Jesus coming into power. When Jesus takes power people will come to Him willingly and in a holy manner. The part about the womb and dew I’m still confused on so please take that into consideration as I’m explaining it. One way to explain it that Christ will have the same power and vigor as ever as our leader. He will always have the strength He needs to lead us for He’s not some old leader who can’t fight or stand up for us. In short I see this passage as a reminder of the power and coming of the Lord. For us He has come and is coming again. We have already seen His power and majesty when He first came and we can read and wait in expectation for the power and glory to come in His second coming. He will come in strength and His holy ones won’t come to Him reluctantly but with excitement. Take courage in this message! Also, hopefully a devotion like this shows you that just because a scripture is confusing it doesn’t mean you can’t still lean into it. I still don’t fully grasp the passage, but God can still guide us even with difficult passages if our heart is open to being guided. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2241
Chapter 111
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Psalm 111:2 – Imagine being wowed by a magician on stage. Then after the show he invites you behind the scenes and tells you what any magician never tells, how he did his tricks. Suddenly the awe just goes away when you look deeper into the works of the magician and see how simple most all the tricks really were. What we see in the passage though is very different. It says those who deeply study the great works of God come away delighted by them. Not filled with disappointment when they get behind the scenes, but filled with even more awe and amazement. The more you dig into the works and words of God, the more you’ll walk away from them in awe of God, not disappointment. So today, dig in. Meaning open scripture and unpack what God has done. Recount all the ways He’s done great works even in your own story. Begin peeling back the layers to see how He did what He did and leave that path amazed at the sovereignty and power of our God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1339
He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. Psalm 111:6 – The Israelites got the wonderful opportunity to see the power of God displayed in front of them by how He worked on their behalf. God’s power was seen when He shut down the hold the Egyptians had over them. They were able to see God’s power in the ways He provided for them during the time in the wilderness. God also established His power before them by removing all the peoples from the land He promised them. God made clear His power by the ways He worked in their midst. Today, we can say the same thing about God’s power within our story. In giving us an inheritance of Heaven and the blessing of salvation through the work of the cross, we get a firsthand view of the power of God. We see in our own lives how He can shut down the enemy’s hold on us and can destroy sin within our story. He has shown us death has no grip on Him. And when we take our first steps into Heaven there will be no questioning His power there. He showed His people in scripture His power and He has continued that truth with His people today. What a mighty God we serve! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2242
Chapter 112
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. Psalm 112:7-8 – Here we see scripture say that the one who delights in God’s commandments, the one who fears and follows the Lord, isn’t afraid of bad news and his heart is steady. So glad we don’t live in a season where bad news is everywhere right? On the contrary, we see it every time we scroll through social media, get on TV, and we even hear about it in hallway conversations at church. There’s really no getting away from it. God though in our psalm today shows us how we can remain steady and unafraid even when we are surrounded by bad news and the enemy. It’s to follow Him and keep His word. When our eyes remain on Him, sure we’ll hear the bad news of course, but our focus will stay on the hope, joy, and strength our God gives. While we are in this world we don’t have to react like the world. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1340
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. Psalm 112:4 – This psalm is a reminder to us of the blessing our daily faithfulness to God will be for us. It truly is a better life for us when we choose to live our life for God. In the verse above we see though a truth that’s found often in scripture, sometimes forgotten by believers, and sometimes even dismissed by some Bible teachers. That there still will be dark times for the faithful. Notice that scripture doesn’t say the upright will never taste darkness nor ever walk through it. It’s not saying the steadfast believer in God won’t see struggles in their family or health problems or loss ever. These sorts of things a realities for all people. What though the believers has promised is light beyond the darkness. We have the promise of God that He will walk us through the struggle and provide joy, peace, and purpose to the seasons we walk through. Take heart knowing today that as you follow the Lord struggle will still come but Jesus will never leave you alone in that struggle. He will be with you every step of the way and will bring good from it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2243
Chapter 113
Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! Psalm 113:5-9 – You get a true view of someone’s character when you look at what they do with power. Do they end up using it for their own benefit or do they use it for others. Here our passage is speaking of the power and majesty of God and how no one is like Him. How then do we see God using His power? For us. To raise the poor up from the dust and to help the barren find the joy of life. This is just beginning of the character of our God. What we see about God is that He’s truly a loving, caring God that wants our best. He has the power to create the universe, but chooses to work in the details of our life so we can be blessed. That’s our God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1341
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised! Psalm 113:3 – Are you further east than the sun rises? Are you further west than the sun sets? If somehow you are, then I suppose this passage doesn’t apply to you, but since it’s impossible to be either of those things what scripture is saying is for you! All people should be praising the name of the Lord. From as far east as you can go to as far west as you can go, all should be praising the name of Jesus. Today, since we fall into this category scripture is speaking of, how can we praise the name of the Lord. One way is to have the name of Jesus being spoken by us today. Let others hear you speak well of Him and be speaking about Him to people who may not yet know Him. Praise His name by speaking His name today. So when the sun sets tonight in the west you can see the glory of the Lord displayed in the sunset and say I have praised the name of the Lord today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2244
Chapter 114
What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob… Psalm114:5-7 – Pause for a moment and actually imagine that just the presence of God can cause all this. That mountains and hills lift from their places and are moved aside and the seas spread and flee. We have nothing in our world that even comes close to creating such a reaction like this. Yet, this is the power of our God. This is just what can happen when He appears, what about when He speaks or lifts a finger? Scripture says the universe was created by just His Word. Maybe we too need to have a little more of a tremble in our attitude towards Him. Not because we are scared, but because we are beginning to grasp the magnitude and majesty of this God we serve. Let’s try better today to worship Him as He speaks of Himself in scripture rather than how sometimes think of Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1342
The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Psalm114:3-4 – The psalmist recounts when Israel left Egypt. He speaks of how the earth reacted to the presence of the Lord as He walked with His people. Seas couldn’t remain in their place, rivers stopped flowing, mountains that stood in the way couldn’t help but tremble at the sight of the Lord. Think today of anything else ever in creation that has such power! No weapon could do this or no authority ever put in place had any rivers reacting to them like this. Truly we have a powerful God. Nature sees the truth of this. Every enemy that has tried to stand against our God has learned this truth. How about us as His followers? Let’s make sure today while we are inviting Him close and resting in His arms that we don’t forgot who He is. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, God of angel armies, and conqueror of death. We serve a mighty God and that truth should be one we remember. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2245
Chapter 115
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Psalm 115:5-7 – What’s being spoken of here? The idols that the people of the day had created for themselves to worship. God spoke clearly here of how these creations of man would help them in their life. These idols wouldn’t bring the encouraging words or direction they needed to hear. They wouldn’t see the pain they were in. They wouldn’t be able to lift them up. They wouldn’t be able to walk alongside them. These idols brought nothing to them that they actually needed. So it is with the things we choose to prioritize over God. What we truly need in life, only God can give. For He can speak the words of life into us and see our struggles and walk alongside us. Be ever sure then that God has priority in your story. That He’s the one you look to and lean on. Nothing else will offer you what He can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1343
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Psalm 115:1 – The setting of this psalm understood by commentators is that something must have happened where God’s people are calling out to Him for help. We don’t know exactly what that was, but God’s people are calling on God. Yet, all around are those who worship idols with their false gods literally in arms reach. They can see and feel their “god” while the worshippers of the Lord seem foolish in their eyes because they are crying out to an invisible God. Yet the glory and worship of these followers of God’s life wasn’t going to be given to any creation of stone or gold but to the one true creator of the world. Maybe in the moment we can’t see the Lord nor see His hand working on our behalf or even see His victory that He is promising. He though will still receive our glory and praise. For His love has remained steadfast for us throughout all time and His faithfulness to us has been displayed over and over and over again. Because of that, He’ll get our praise today. Not anything else in all creation; the one receiving our glory is the Creator. That choice may look foolish to the ones around us whose “god” they are leaning on is tangible and visible, but we know the reality of what their “god” can do for them and we know the truth of what Jesus can do. Our God is with us, He is for us, and He will always be worthy of our praise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2246
Chapter 116
For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9 – I love how this chapter begins. The first phrase is “I love the Lord, because…” Then the rest of the psalm seems to be the second part of that phrase, telling us why he loves the Lord. Because while nothing else could, God was able to deliver his soul from death. God heard his cries, saw his pain, and stepped into the mess and saved him. Now because of God he can walk in places and in ways he couldn’t before. All because of what God did for Him. What then would your answer be to the phrase, “I love the Lord, because…?” If your story is anything like this psalmist’s and you’ve been saved from death by God, then let the level of love you give to God reflect that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1344
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Psalm 116:6-7 – We can return to rest. The place where our body and mind can exist at peace and joy, where fear and worry are far from us, this is where we finally can settle again because of Jesus. In our psalmist’s story they had gone through struggle but God heard their cry and brought them to safe, solid ground. Their heart was finally able to rest again because of the rescue provided by God. Know today we too can return to rest. God has come, God has saved, and He has placed us on solid ground with Him. Maybe the current season of life doesn’t feel like much rescue has come, but be willing to dwell on what your life currently would look like if God’s hand was never within your story. His hand has played a massive role in carrying you to the blessings of life you have currently and His directions are to guide you back into His rest. No, every struggle and every battle are not over, but we can still find His rest if we allow our souls to rest in Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2247
Chapter 117
Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117 – Praise the Lord! Why? Because He is forcing us to? Because He’s holding a punishment over our heads if we don’t? Because He threatens to remove blessings from our life if we don’t? No, because His steadfast love for us is great and His faithfulness to us is forever. We see in this short, but amazing, psalm that our praise of God is not for the purpose of bribing God into doing something for us or keeping Him from doing something harmful to us. Our praise is a result of what He’s long already done for us, is currently doing for us, and at the promise of all that He will do for us. So praise the Lord today! Not because you have to, but because you realize how much He’s done in your story and how deserving of your praise He is. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1345
Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! Psalm 117:1 – This verse speaks a truth that is for you today and for me; praise should be coming from our lives to the Lord. Shouts of praise should be coming from us to God. Our hands should be lifted high and serving hard to praise the Lord. Our hearts should be filled with the praise of Heaven. This is also something not just for a select few whose lives are going good right now. All nations, all peoples, praise the Lord. Meaning today our life may not be necessarily in a praising-the-Lord type season, yet praise should still be coming from us to Jesus. Maybe we don’t understand how life is turning out or understand some of the moves God just made in our story, yet praise still should be coming from us to Him. It’s important that as follower of Jesus we establish in our minds Jesus is worthy of praise regardless of how the current season of life is unfolding. In the days of blessing, in the years of drought, in the seasons of loss, and the moments of pure joy, Jesus is worthy of all praise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2248
Chapter 118
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. Psalm 118:13 – This is the contrast we need to see when we look at our enemy and God. Our enemy wants us flat on the ground, face in the dirt. Weighed down by our mistakes and guilt, too ashamed to even try to lift ourselves up. Yet what God does is He reaches down, brushes all the shame off us, and helps us up. So today does the first part of our verse resonate with you? You would say that you’ve been pushed hard to the ground, you can taste the dirt in your mouth, and the shame is too much to bear to even try to get up? Know God is reaching out His helping hand to you as you read this, offering you the strength and forgiveness you need to stand back up. Take it and begin walking again. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1346
Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. Psalm 118:5 – I’m unsure of where you are at today, but this verse resonated with my heart this morning and some of the things I’m navigating today in my own life. Listen to the truth of scripture. When you call on the Lord in your time of need two things we can be assured of. God answers and God grants freedom. The voice of the Lord will be spoken into your life and over your struggle and an answer will be given. Yes, the answer may come not when you expect it to or in the shape you expect it to, but a truth we can rest on is that God will not leave us unanswered. Also the voice of our God has a heart of setting us free. Free of the feelings that we are left alone in our struggle. Free from the guilt and shame the enemy wants to pour over us. Free from the sin and the enemy that wants to find victory in our story. We are heard by God, we are answered by God, and we are set free by God. Be sure then in your time of need to lift your voice to the Most High. He will be your help, your shelter, and your salvation. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2249
Chapter 119
I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! Psalm 119:32 – God must first bring about a change in our heart before we can truly run in His ways. Unless God steps in, cleans up, strengthens, encourages, and unites our heart to His, it’s impossible for us to fully walk in His ways. We can’t show His love if our heart hasn’t first been filled with it. We can’t be a light if He hasn’t first become our light. So while yes the mission is to run in the way of God’s command to teach others about Him and share His love with them, we must first allow God to change our heart. So let Him today begin the enlarging of your heart. Pray, seek Him out in scripture, and ask Him to change your heart how it needs changing so you can serve Him well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1347
I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. Psalm 119:131 – As you read over this psalm, you gather that scripture was something very close to the psalmist’s heart. It was something he meditated on day and night. He valued God’s word over even fine gold. As our verse today even shows he panted for God’s word like someone thirsty for water. This is an example of a healthy heart towards God’s word, but it’s an example that can seem far off from where we are at today. For some of us God’s word isn’t right now something we pant for like water. We can go days, even weeks, without opening God’s word and be good. If that matches where you’re at right now, let me just speak into that for a moment. Right now your story may appear just fine because you aren’t feeling that thirst for God’s word, but as a believer we need God’s word in our life constantly. It’s like a young lady I had in my youth group a long time ago who hated the taste of water and only drank mountain dew. She constantly said she felt fine and wasn’t even thinking about turning to water. Yet she found herself in the hospital at least three times due to severe dehydration. When our habit is not coming to God’s word daily, don’t be surprised when a thirst doesn’t appear. Please don’t take that though as a sign that you’re a special type of believer that just doesn’t need God’s word and can make it without it in your life. Your life is panting for the refreshment for God’s word and you’ll eventually see how deeply you needed God’s word steadily coming into your life when life begins to become shaky. Find yourself daily taking in God’s word like water. Other things can deceive us into thinking our thirst is quenched and we don’t need the refreshment of God’s word anymore, but our lives were created for Jesus and the only thing that can truly quench our thirst is His voice within our story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2250
Chapter 120
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (v.3-4) God doesn’t sleep. What does that mean for you? It means you will never catch God at a bad time. It means you never will find God unable to help you. It means God is always available to be your support whenever you need Him. It might be three in the afternoon or three in the morning; it doesn’t matter. It might be Sunday while worshipping or Thursday when you’re alone struggling, either way God is available to His followers. When we strive to understand this promise that God is offering us that He will not sleep on His watch over our lives, we can know that whenever, however, and for whatever God will always be ready and available for us. What a boost of confidence for those fearful to take a next step. What a reminder for those who are feeling the struggles of life. God won’t sleep on His watch over you, that means you can find rest in Him. – Daily DEVO 22
Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. Psalm 120:6 – This psalm speaks of the exhaustion that is tied with being too long around those who seem to never want peace. Where agreement is never found and forgiveness is never given. Possibly even you have found yourself in situations, relationships, or even seasons of life where it sure seemed like no one sought out peace. You remember the draining factor of that time and how it impacted you. Let’s then be the ones who are always seeking peace. Maybe no one else is, but that shouldn’t mean we shouldn’t. Let’s be the ones in these lacking-of-peace situations actually searching out how to find peace in them. Be the one that forgives, welcomes back, listens, and cares when maybe no one else will. Never downplay what a person seeking out peace can do. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1348
Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war! Psalm 120:5-7 – First some context, then application. Meshech and Kedar were some very rough, even barbarous, people groups. While the psalmist may not have been literally dwelling with them, he is finding himself in the midst of unfriendly, hateful people. While he is open to seeking peace and living peacefully, even just a word from his mouth causes them to want to go to war with him. Have we ever found ourselves in a similar situation. Where the people we were with were just not kind people. Nothing you could say was every right but caused friction each time your spoke. The thought of peace with you wasn’t even an option for them even though you were desiring it. We too can find ourselves dwelling with the “Meshech and Kedar.” People who just are not for us, for our God, or for peace. In those seasons please keep close to heart the statement the psalmist spoke in verse one. “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.” While the people around you may not be seeking peace with you, God is. While the people around you may be hateful and hurtful, God is loving and kind with His followers. While the “Meshech and Kedar” may seem to be surrounding you know there is more with God than with them. Yes, we will find ourselves often in this life dwelling with people who have no heart for peace, but we are called by God to be peacemakers. Call on God, lean on God, and be ready to serve God even in the midst of those who don’t know God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2251
Chapter 121
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:3-4 – When reading these verses the image of some war movie comes to my mind. When night has fallen and they are having to take turns being the lookout. Yet why are they taking turns and not all being the lookout? So some of them can actually get the rest they so desperately need. Here God is telling you that He is going to be on lookout. Meaning we don’t have to stay up, constantly worried, constantly straining our eyes to look for the enemy. He’s taking care of that which means we can relax and actually find rest. Today, are you trusting Him to actually watch out for you and your future? Maybe you feel the opposite of restful when you think about what’s to come and life in general right now. Trust though if God really is on watch, He’ll make sure we’re awake when we need to move. In the remaining time, rest in Him. Your worry, staying up all night, impatience, and stress isn’t going to help, but allowing yourself to rest in God because you trust Him to deal with what’s to come, even if your not in control, will. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1349
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. Psalm 121:7 – Upfront let’s just make sure we understand what this psalm isn’t saying so you don’t move forward believing God is working in your life in a contrary way than He said He would. This is not saying we’ll need see evil within our life nor ever feel its wake. We live in a broken, sinful world where evil is present. Even if we shelter our eyes and our lives from the world, we still will encounter evil even in our own lives because we still have our fleshly, sinful nature to deal with. See even the example of Jesus. One who the Father loves and someone who was perfectly sinless, yet He still felt the sting of evil and the pain of other’s sin. So what is this passage saying then if it’s not meaning we’ll never see evil or feel its sting in life? I do believe one aspect of this is that any who follow the Lord will have His supernatural protection within life. We will yes still see evil and even feel the effects of other’s evil choices, but there is a strong protection over those who follow the Lord from evil. Yet I see this passage truly reminding us that as a result of following the Lord, the evil of Hell and death due to our sin is something the Lord is going to keep far from us. He will keep our life from the punishment of sin because of our choice to follow Him. Our life is held in the palms of the Father’s hand and no one is able to pluck us out of His hand and no enemy can have victory over us there. While in this world we’ll still see trouble, we do take heart because Jesus have overcome the world. Evil is not a force Jesus can’t withstand. He is strong, He is steady, and His is able to save your life from the evil of death and sin. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2252
Chapter 122
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Psalm 122:9 – The psalmist speaks of the city of Jerusalem. He’s saying that since the house of the Lord is within your walls Jerusalem, I will use all that I have to seek your good. I’ll use my talents, my resources, my time, and all my efforts to seek the good of where the Lord is worshipped and resides. So for us today, where in the temple of of our God? Where does the Spirit of our God reside? Within us. Within our fellow believers. Let’s seek then the good of our fellow believers like the psalmist said he’d seek the good of Jerusalem. Let’s exhaust our efforts, our talents, our time, our resources to seek out the good of our church family. Because within them is the Spirit of our God and they are carries of the light of the world. If we can help the stand and shine better, we should. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1350
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” Psalm 122:1 – Our psalmist recounts a time when he was heavy hearted and burdened by life. In that heaviness those around him encouraged him and reminded him to come to the Lord. Instead of turning to other things, instead of remaining settled in the burdened state, let’s together go to the Lord and find what we need. That invitation brought joy and gladness to his heart. Know there is power in your invitation. Those around us may be heavy hearted and burdened by life. While they should be turning to the Lord, so many of the other options in life to handle their burdens have become their choice instead. Yet, gladness and relief isn’t being found in those other options so they are still burden and now just more drained because the places they hoped would help didn’t. Our role is to point people to Jesus. Point the heavy hearted to Jesus to encourage them to give their heart fully over to Him to hold. Point the burdened by life to Jesus to help them see that at His feet we can lay so much of what we are carrying. Point the ones who have tried it all and found no rest to Jesus so they can find true peace in their story. Be the one inviting. You have been blessed with air in your lungs, the ability to speak, the knowledge of language, and the relationships with others. You have all the pieces needed to speak the invitation, “Let’s go together to God.” Let’s make it our aim to help every restless soul that God brings into our life know there is a Savior named Jesus that can help them. I love you, but Jesus loves you more….and let’s go together to God! – Mac – Daily DEVO 2253
Chapter 123
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Psalm 123:2 – Imagine you’re walking down a staircase and your foot slips. Immediately, without really even thinking about it, your hands reach for the handrails to catch yourself from falling. That’s the sort of image we need when we think about how quickly our reaction should be in going to God when trouble arises. Not eventually, but immediately. What would happen if you waited a few seconds to grab the handrail when falling? It would be too late and you’d already be down the staircase. What if you reached for something that truly couldn’t support your weight? You’d just keep on falling. Reach for God quickly and for God only. Make it your aim today, especially with the small stuff, to lean on God and reach for Him. Allow yourself to make good practice of reaching for Him so when the stumble comes your hands know right where to go. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1351
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Psalm 123:3 – To fully embrace this passage, we need to see where our psalmist is at as he writes these words. Imagine enemies coming at you filling your life with attacks and words of hate, you come to the Lord for help, and the help seems to be stalled. The enemy is still attacking and still speaking, filling you to your overflow of what you can take, yet the help still isn’t showing up. You continue to pray for relief and the enemy just keeps coming. At that place, we see our psalmist still proclaim boldly his eyes are on the Lord. Yes, the attacks are heavy and more than their souls can bear. Yes, the mercy of the Lord that he is praying for seems to be slow in it’s coming. Yet, even there, his eyes remain on the Lord for his help. I know it’s easy to let the appearance of a lack of God’s mercy in your struggle to convince you that you should be looking elsewhere for help. The attacks of your enemy can be constant and the words so hate-filled and no end of all this seems to be in sight. Turn though your eyes to the Lord in these times. He is your portion, and He is your shield. He will be your salvation and your life. He will not leave your nor forsake you. You can have confidence that the Lord is going to show His mercy on those who love Him and follow Him when they are in seasons of struggle. In the waiting for said mercy, choose to believe in His promises and rest in the goodness of His word. Find comfort in togetherness with other believers and never cease to pray for your mercy to come. Even in the deep struggles, God’s mercy is what you need, so be willing to wait upon the Lord. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2254
Chapter 124
…if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Psalm 124:2-5 – A perfect “if/then” example. If it was anyone or anything else that was on their side then their story would have ended much differently. They would have been swallowed alive and swept away. But, because it was God on their side, their story didn’t end that way. As we look at our story, if God isn’t for us then we too are going to be swallowed up by the enemy and swept away with the struggles that come in life. God though is on our side and we can expect a different ending to our story than that. One where we are protected and sheltered, just as with the people in our passage. Know God is for those who are for Him. He’ll provide the help you need in your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1352
Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:6-8 – “The snare is broken.” That short phrase in verse seven is what captured my heart this morning. Imagine enemies are coming and they have laid traps in our path. We find ourselves caught and tangled in the enemy’s traps and all looks as if we are about to meet our end. Yet, there in the moment of our deepest distress, that trap is broken as we are set free to escape. This is our story when it comes to death, sin, and our enemy. Sin and death had caught us in their trap and we were so entangled that there was no hope of escape on our own. The enemy’s hands were almost about to take us out, yet then Jesus broke the enemy’s snare. Jesus didn’t allow us to be found as the enemy’s prey but set us free so we could escape into the Father’s safe presence. If today you have placed your faith in Jesus know this is your story. Your snare is broken. You’re no longer caught in the trap of sin, you can walk freely out of that place. Don’t allow the enemy who can’t get his teeth around you deceive you into thinking you’re still in his snare. You’re not because you have been set free by Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2255
Chapter 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. Psalm 125:1 – How does hearing that hit you? That we who place our trust in the Lord won’t be moved. Like the mountains with which no earthly force can be picked up and moved so will those who trust in God not be moved. What else can give us that promise? That when we trust in it the struggles of life won’t knock our feet out from under us or push us back to where we just came from. Only God can fulfill that promise. So if you’re tired of moving backwards because guilt is overwhelming you again or tired of being swept away in worry again, begin placing your trust more heavily on the Lord. His promise is to keep those who trust in Him steady and unmoved. Lean into that promise to see the reality of it in your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1353
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong. Psalm 125:3 – This passage connects well with the passage we find in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Our passage speaks of the struggle and even oppression the faithful followers of God were facing. The promise was that God would never allow the faithful to sit under the oppression too long. For if the struggles remained too long the faithful may turn away from the Lord rather than endure like He was calling them to. What we see here is that our God knows our limits. He knows what we can bear and He knows when to lift up the weight. He provides means of escape from temptation and hope that the weight isn’t forever. We don’t have to turn to other things for help, for while yes the weight we’re dealing with today is heavy, it’s something God knows we can bear and is promising it’s not forever. Of course though the question that arises with messages like this is, “Why would God ever put such weight on His faithful followers to begin with?” Without going too deep, know a couple reasons are redirection and growth. Sometimes the struggle will course correct our life in the direction God truly wants us down and sometimes the weight is there to strengthen us for future callings God has for us. Whatever the weight is on your life right now know this…God is aware of it, God knows your strength, and God’s plan isn’t for that burden to be on your story for eternity. Yes, that may mean walking with this weight longer than you want or think you even can, but know God sees you and the weight and He’s not leaving you alone with it. Trust He knows what He’s doing even when we can’t understand. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2256
Chapter 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Psalm 126:1 – “Wow, I must be dreaming.” We’ve all said or though that at some point, but what caused that way of thinking? Something amazing must have happened and it was hard to believe that it was reality and not just some fantasy we wish about happening. That’s the image scripture is giving here about how the restoration God brought looked like to His people. It was so amazing that they had a hard time accepting it was reality and not just a dream. We must remember this is the level our God is capable of and works on. He has unlimited power and all things in creation are His to use as He wishes. So lean on Him and expect His coming through for you. When He does and it’s better than you could have imagined, know this is the reality God has led you into. Not some fantasy that is too distance to touch, but the reality that God created for you and led you into. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1354
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Psalm 126:1-3 – I love the wording in this passage! As they looked back at how the Lord had taken care of them out of their distress, the provision was like that of a dream. Their voices couldn’t help but praise the Lord after being caught up in His blessing. In verse two we see the world around them also was able to get a chance to witness all that God can do. The world looked and marveled and said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” How though did it get to such a point that even the non-followers of God around them were acknowledging the hand of the Lord in their life? Because those who received the blessing of the Lord proclaimed God’s goodness with shouts of joy and laughter. The world was able to see what God can do because those who were blessed by the Lord didn’t remain silent about it. We must remember, as verse three shares, the Lord has done great things for us as well. We are dwelling today in blessing. We have God’s word given to us, we have the salvation we need freely given to us, we have God listening to us and with us always. This doesn’t even begin to touch the overflow of worldly blessings we have received within our life and are enjoying even today. We too have been greatly blessed, the question is, are we silent about it? Would the non-followers of Jesus around us be able to declare God’s goodness because we shared with them the ways God has come through for us? Let’s make it our aim that silence isn’t our response to the blessings God has poured into our life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2257
Chapter 127
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2 – So is it pointless that we work hard? Is it pointless to build or stay on watch as we read in verse one? No, it’s not pointless, that’s not what this passage is saying. It’s reminding us that without God’s blessing on those efforts, our mere waking early and working hard won’t bring us the true peace and rest we need. For its God who brings the peace and rest, not our efforts or anything of this world. So yes, push hard and give what’s in front of you your best because that’s what God calls us to do. Just understand that it will be God bringing the peace, not your efforts. You can push and push and push, but if you’re pushing in a direction God’s not directing you don’t expect to find the peace He gives. So let Him direct your steps and be in what you’re doing. Then, and only then, will you find the peace and rest you need at the end of all your efforts. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1355
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1 – I found the following sentence in Benson’s Commentary this morning as I looked deeper into what this passage was saying. “The success of all our undertakings depends so entirely upon God’s blessing, that it is vain to attempt anything without it.” God has to be in, be behind, and be blessing what we are doing in order to find success. We can seek to build the best church here or the best outreach ministry or the best anything, yet, if God’s hand of blessing is not on it, it’s not going to succeed. Unless the Lord builds it, those who pour into it are pouring their everything into something that won’t succeed. Be sure then before every endeavor that you are seeking the Lord’s direction on it for it would be a waste to begin down a path He isn’t going to bless. Be sure then to invite God into every effort and give Him full control of how things move forward. Be content if a dream of yours isn’t in God’s plan, and despite every effort you make, it just doesn’t move forward. Be willing to celebrate with joy those around you who find their efforts succeeding even when you are continuing to see no movement forward. For if it’s God’s blessing that is the key ingredient to anything being built, let’s make sure we are taking the time upfront to seek out the Lord’s direction and wisdom on the efforts we desire to take. For while this passage does more lean on the side of warning that any effort that isn’t of God will fail, it also speaks to another truth. That if the endeavor is of the Lord, who can stop it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2258
Chapter 128
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! Psalm 128:1 – Everyone. What an amazingly important word. This tells us that it’s not only the elite, or the rich, or the talented that have the option of God’s blessing. It doesn’t say we have to of had a perfect past or never made a mistake to find His blessing. It says anyone who chooses today to fear the Lord is blessed by Him. So the only thing keeping you from experiencing God’s blessing is your choice to not fear Him; to respect and follow His ways. How beautiful is it today knowing that it’s not your past or where you’ve come from that determines if we qualify for God’s blessing. It’s your choice today to follow Him or not. Walk then in His ways today to find yourself moving closer to His blessing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1356
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. Psalm 128:3-4 – This entire psalm speaks of the blessings attached to those who fear and follow the Lord. What caught my attention today was the type of blessing that was considered a rich, full blessing of the Lord. It wasn’t riches beyond compare or land or enemies vanquished. The blessing was family. The blessing for the man was a fruitful wife and children around his table and being able to see his children’s children. How I’m not wanting us to take this is that if this isn’t your story that you aren’t blessed by the Lord. That if you don’t have a spouse or children or aren’t able to see the days of your grandchildren that you have missed the blessing of the Lord. What we see in this passage is that God understood what sort of gift was going to truly bless the ones who followed Him. Here it’s family. We do see in other scriptures God bless with money and land and the end of one’s enemies. He understands the needs of those who follow Him and blesses accordingly. What’s our need then today? First and foremost, a Savior, and that has been given to us. We also need forgiveness, God’s word, community with other believers, grace, and God’s love, all of which we have given to us by God. Today know God sees our faithfulness and He also recognizes our needs. Not only our spiritual needs but our physical ones to. How, when, and in what shape the blessing will come is something I can’t tell you, but I want to encourage you to remain faithful to the Lord daily. Trust how, when, and in what shape He chooses to bless is exactly what you need to continue serving Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2259
Chapter 129
Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. Psalm 129:2 – Here is a message so many of us need to be reminded of. That those of us who follow Jesus aren’t now somehow exempt from struggle. The next verse gives this image of someone plowing deep furrows onto their back. They had been pushed, beaten, and hurt. Yet, they had not prevailed. That’s the message. That struggle will come to even those who follow Jesus, but with Jesus the struggle won’t prevail over us. We can be hit hard but not toppled over and we can endure long lasting pain but not give up. This is the strength and support that is found when you have Jesus walking alongside you in your struggle. Today know you have the option of inviting God, and inviting all He brings with Him, into your struggle. Let Him be a part of your story even now so He can help you remaining standing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1357
May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up. Psalm 129:5-6 – I’m currently sitting in the backroom of our house where my wife has an assortment of her house plants. I’m imagining on a hot summer day here in Kansas taking one of those plants and placing it on the roof of our house for the whole of the afternoon. That plant would be a goner, and we’re not even experiencing heat like that of the middle east which would have been what was spoken of in our psalm. This is how scripture wants us to understand the future for our enemies. A goner. Yes, we will struggle with Satan, his forces, and his plans today. Many times we will feel the sting of his blows and see the horrors in our world he brings. That is a reality we sadly have to accept as we serve within this broken, lost world. But take heart knowing the future of our opposition. As that house plant would have withered on the rooftop so will our enemy wither under God’s power. While in the moment of struggle or standing in the wake of the enemy’s small victories it can seem like this truth of scripture is too distant to rely on. Yet, it’s our hope in the chaos and the sure promise we stand on. God will put an end to our enemy one day and our role today is to help as many people as possible come to know the love and salvation of Jesus. That will mean serving under attack and serving through opposition. Jesus never said this would be easy, just worth it. When then the enemy seems emboldened in our day, remind him what his future holds and keep serving with passion. I love you, but Jesus loves more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2260
Chapter 130
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 – If God were to not have a way for us to find forgiveness of our iniquities, of our sin and wrongdoing, we couldn’t possibly have any hopes of remaining standing. Those wrongdoings would crush us while we try to stand before God. If God were to focus on our sin, we wouldn’t have any hope of life. Yet with God there is forgiveness. He doesn’t look at the sin in the life of someone who chooses Him, He sees the precious blood of Jesus that took care of the debt sin gave us instead. Meaning we can stand unburdened in God’s presence, welcomed and invited into all that He is. Not because of anything we did, but all because of what Jesus did. If then today you’re a follower of Jesus yet still crippled by the shame of your past/present mistakes, know God isn’t focused on your mistakes like you are. He’s sees the blood of Jesus and as a result sees you as holy and precious in His sight. Stand up then and move forward. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1358
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6 – There are a few different ways the watchmen could be understood. Possibly it was referring to the temple worker that served the night shift at the temple and was waiting for the sun to shine and the day to break to begin the daily temple activities. This example of the watchmen though is more thought to be all those who have been sitting in darkness for too long. They have been crying out to the Lord and pleading for His aid. They are in the abyss of darkness with seemingly no change, but they are waiting for the moment for light to break. The psalmist then is encouraging his listeners, and himself, to wait upon the Lord a little longer. For our hope can be placed in the Lord. For with the Lord comes steadfast love and redemption and a healing from all our sin. The Lord is worth waiting for. Your situation may right now feel much like the watchmen in our psalm. Enveloped in darkness, no light to be seen, and no change in that is seeming to be around the corner for you. My heart encourages you to take in deeply the message of these psalms. The Lord is a safe and sure location to place your hope in when you are surrounded by the darkness. He will come to you and His light will break through the darkness of your story. Be willing to wait upon the Lord. Trust that His timing is true and His light can handle any level of darkness you have found yourself in. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2261
Chapter 131
…I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul… Psalm 131:1b-2a – I’m really glad this was our passage for the first Daily DEVO of the year. After 2020 it’s far too easy for me to get into a panic trying to plan for all the possible challenges and craziness that may ensue this new year. Yet what I believe God wants me to do is not occupy my mind with things I can’t change even with the grandest amount of worry I can give it. He wants me to quiet my soul and place my hope in Him for this next year. So as I sit and look out my window this morning and see the snow fall, I’m choosing to quiet my mind this year and trust in Him. Yes, 2021 may be even crazier than 2020, but God showed us He can provide and get us through one of the worst years our world has seen for awhile. I have confidence He can again. So enjoy the blessings of today, don’t occupy yourself with worries of things too great for you. Leave that in the hands of a God who’s proven He loves us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1495
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:1-2 – Humility is the message we are taught from this psalm. We have David acknowledging that words had been said of him that he was reaching for positions in Saul’s kingdom that weren’t right for him or that his eyes were ones of pride while he served the king. Now we see David’s response, that his ambitions were not after prideful things nor were his eyes filled with envy. He wasn’t allowing his thoughts to dwell on things they shouldn’t be. He also had chosen to calm and quiet his heart towards those saying such things about him. This psalm is a good heart check for us as we are moving forward in life. Is our heart beginning to find itself prideful about our position and God-given gifts? Is our eyes looking at others with envy, fueling our discontent? Are we choosing to quiet our heart when the anger or frustration with others begins to grow? Christ demonstrated the perfect example for us of what true humility looks like. He is all powerful but served even the outcast. He is given the throne of Heaven but sat with the lowly. He deserves the glory of Heaven but was born a baby in a manger. He bore the mockery and violence of sinful men and chose to die for them rather than reject them. Humility is not a natural direction our sin nature leans towards, but humility is a posture exemplified by Jesus and a posture followers of Jesus should seek to imitate. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2262
Chapter 132
I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob. Psalm 132:3-5 – This is what David said concerning the ark of the covenant. That he wouldn’t rest until he found a good, solid place for the ark to dwell. Yet how often do we take this much care to give the Lord a place in our day? Let’s settle to not rest until we’ve given God a dwelling spot within our day. Where at least at some point within our day we’ve spent time with Him in His Word or in prayer. Of course we should do both and more and more than just a tiny amount, but if your habit right now is God searching for a place to dwell with you in your day but finding none, then any small start is good. Where then will you give Him to dwell? What part of your day will you cut out so He can dwell with you and you with Him in it? Begin finding Him a spot in your day to dwell with you and see the difference having God in your day makes. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1496
The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne… Psalm 132:11 – It brings me such joy when I read passages like this in the Old Testament. Here we have the psalmist recounting to God a promise that was made to David. That if David’s sons would continue to follow after God like David had done, there would never fail to sit someone from his line on the throne. For our psalmist this was a promise that had yet to be fully fulfilled and was choosing to trust in the Lord’s goodness and holiness to not go back on His word. Yet today, far ahead in the future, we sit reading these scriptures knowing just how good the Lord is and just how holy He is because we can see how He kept faithful to His word. Not only has God kept someone from David’s line on the throne, He purposed and brought the Savior of the world to come from David’s line and our Savior is seated on the throne for all eternity. Take passages like this, where we are able to see just how faithful God was to His word in the lives of those before us in scripture, close to heart. As faithful as He was to His word then He will remain faithful to His word now. If God came through then, He’ll come through for you now. If He saved then, He’ll save now. If He provided then, He is able to provide now. The God we read about in scripture is the same God we pray to each day, worship with our church family on Sundays, and walk with through our hardships. Take heart knowing we serve a God that has proven Himself trustworthy and capable of what He says He’ll do. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2263
Chapter 133
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133:3 – For “there” the Lord has commanded the blessing of life forevermore. Where is “there?” In finding peace and unity with our brother. That the true blessing in life comes when reconciliation is found between those who are hurt and they are able to dwell together in unity. This then may be how God is seeking for you to grow this year. To find healing and unity with someone that the past has brought tension and distance with. Scripture tells us to seek peace with others as far as we can. If then there is someone who currently you aren’t at peace with is there a way to find healing there? With some people healing isn’t as possible and having some people back in your story isn’t safe. So of course be wise, but also don’t make excuses because you enjoy holding onto your anger and grudges. If peace is able to be found, let’s seek it out. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1497
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! Psalm 133:1-2 – When first reading over this psalm, I could grasp the meaning quickly of verse one. Of course, it’s beautiful and good when brothers come together in unity. If you’ve been listening to any of my sermons this past month, you know we’ve been talking about this very thing. Verse two though, when it speaks about the oil, confused me a little, yet after some studying this is what I believe is being spoken. When Aaron the high priest was anointed as the high priest they poured oil over his head just like we see recounted in the psalm. The meaning though behind this is important. It was to consecrate, to declare something sacred unto God, Aaron and bring the blessing and protection of the Lord over Aaron. Our passage then is saying that when there is togetherness and unity between brothers in Christ, this is something sacred and holy unto God and deeply pleasing to Him. This unity also invites the blessing and protection of the Lord over the brothers for they are in step with the commands of scripture and using a massive means God designed for the church to find support…each other. So finding reconciliation and unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ isn’t just the right thing you better do, it is a deeply pleasing act unto God and invites God’s blessing on your life. Be willing then to make whatever effort necessary you must in order to bring about togetherness with each of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Refuse to exist in an unblessed, unprotected, and unholy unto God manner with those you will be spending eternity with someday. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2264
Chapter 134
Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Psalm 134:1 – This psalm would have been addressed to the workers in the temple that kept watch over things at night. It says to them that they, even in the middle of serving God already, should come to give praise to God and lead others to do the same. For me this is a reminder to not ever settle and think I’ve given God what He deserves from me. Sure I went to church yesterday and even read my Bible and prayed today, but He deserves more than a morning or more than a moment. He deserves every second of every day and more. Always be seeking ways to fill your day with more time with Him. Time of getting to know Him better and lifting up praise to Him for the good He has done. If He is the One we’ll worship for all eternity in Heaven, let’s begin the praise today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1498
Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! Psalm 134:1-2 – “Be not content with praise, such as all his works render to him; but, as his saints, see that ye ‘bless’ him. He blesses you; therefore, be zealous to bless him.” (Spurgeon) When I came across this quote from Charles Spurgeon over this Psalm, it set in motion the way I’m now reading this psalm. I think about the passage in Luke 19 when some of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day tell Jesus to rebuke his followers for praising him like they were. Jesus’ response? He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40) Everything in creation is praising the Lord. The hills, the valleys, the stars, the animals, the whole of creation in its own way is praising the Lord. If our voices were to stop praising the Lord, the sounds of the stones would cry out to fill the gap of praise. This is just how worthy our Savior is of praise. Yet in this passage we are called to bless the Lord. Not it the manner of someone greater giving something to someone lesser, that could never be the case with us and God for God is eternally greater than us. We are though called to live a life that brings Him pleasure for that is a blessing to Him. For while we are called to praise Him like all the rest of creation, we who were made in His image have been given His promises, commands, and commission. We then are called to praise Him with our lips and go even further by blessing Him with our lives. Has then your lips been praising God? Has your life been a blessing to witness by the Lord? If the whole of creation sees God as worthy to be praised and if you have the wonderful gift of salvation as a part of your story, God deserves to be blessed by you today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2265
Chapter 135
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. Psalm 135:15-18 – Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. So while they may have mouths their words hold no worth. They may have eyes but they don’t see what they need to see. They may have ears but they don’t hear the words of life they need. When we begin to worship anything over God this is what can happen in our story as well. It’s not literal that we’ll suddenly not be able to speak or see, but things won’t work and be as they should. When we replace God as the focal point of our life with something else, everything else gets jumbled too. We won’t have the clarity to see what we need to because our eyes aren’t on Jesus anymore. Due to having a new focus off of God, His Words of joy and guidance will be drowned out by the noise of everything else. See this is more than just God being self-centered wanting all the focus on Him. It’s God telling us that when our focus isn’t on Him things aren’t going to flow in our life as they should be. Does God have priority in your story? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1499
For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Psalm 135:5 – Agreed. I too, like the psalmist, believe the Lord is great and our Lord is above any other thing that we may place as a god in our world. What stands out though in this passage is the declaration the psalmist makes at the start…I know. He knew the Lord was great and above all gods. How? Well we see the psalmist recount the ways he had seen the greatness of the Lord in nature and also how the Lord had taken care of past enemies for Israel. These were proof of God’s greatness for our psalmist. What then would be your proof? If like me you agreed with the psalmist that the Lord is great and above all gods, what’s been the things that the Lord has done to establish such a belief? For me, I’ve seen Him do wonderful things in the lives of the people I know and love. Things that can’t be explained without a supernatural influence being involved. I to have seen God’s greatness in nature. I’ve looked upon the Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains; I’ve also seen a devasting tornado with my own eyes. I’ve seen people who were addicted set free and people who were about to end it all choose life. This was because of Jesus. So yes, I agree, God is great and above any other god. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2266
Chapter 136
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 – When a word or phrase is repeated in a chapter of scripture usually that means it’s a focal point of the writer and one we should focus on to grasp the meaning behind the passage. So how much should we focus on the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever” when it’s used 26 times in the same psalm? Here we are called to give thanks to God because of His forever, steadfast love. Give thanks to the One who is over all gods, who made the heavens, who saved His people, and who remembers us even in our low estate. From the beginning, through the trials, in the dark valleys, and in the blessing God’s love has remained. It’s steadfast and will be a part of our story forever. Let’s take time then today to pause and say thank you for this amazing love God has, is, and always will show us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1500
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:26 – A helpful bible study tip I love to share is that if a word or phrase is repeated in a chapter or section of scripture, take note because that’s something the author was trying to get the reader to focus on. So how important do you think our psalmist must have believed us knowing God’s “steadfast love endures forever” is if he repeated it 26 times in one psalm? Every single verse has this phrase declaring the foreverness of God’s steadfast love. His love created all the wonders within the Heavens. His love took down the enemies of His people and set them free. His love saw His people when they were low and empty and lifted them high and filled them. A constant for them through every day, every season, every struggle, and every attack was the enduring, steadfast love of God. So is it with us today. Never will there a be day that God’s enduring, steadfast love is not with us. There will never be a struggle or attack from Satan or confusing situation or time of loss that we’ll have to walk through without the enduring, steadfast love of the Lord remaining with us. For His steadfast love endures forever. Praise the Lord that we have a Savior whose love endures all things and remains steadfast within our story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2267
Chapter 137
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Psalm 137:4 – This psalm is referring back to the time when God’s people were taken from their home and exiled to Babylon. Their invaders wanted them to play music to amuse them and we see the inner struggle here within God’s people to do so. Not only did they not want to use their songs of praise to God for their enemy’s amusement, but their heart wasn’t in it either. Being taken from their home and brought into enemy territory wasn’t the fuel they needed to truly worship well. This can happen in our story where the circumstances in our life fuel more of our silence than our praise. Maybe that’s where you’re at right now. If so, know God isn’t asking for a faked, forced worship. What He does desire is for us to realize the fuel behind our worship comes from more than just what’s in front us in life currently. Maybe life right now isn’t great, but God has been very good to us within our life as a whole and we have a promise of life eternal in Him. Here is our source of fuel for eternal praise to Him. So if life is good right now, use that as your fuel behind your worship. If not though, lean on the good of the past and the good to come to fuel your worship. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1501
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Psalm 137:5-6 – We see here the psalmist referring to a time where everything wasn’t going well for him and God’s people. They had been mocked, taken by enemies, and forced to live away from their homeland. Yet our psalmist chooses to do something beautiful in the time of captivity: he remembers Jerusalem. Meaning he choose to dwell on the Lord, God’s enduring goodness, and his own faithful walk with the Lord. Dwelling on the Lord was to be his highest joy, over any other thing. If he was to allow himself to forget the goodness of the Lord during his time of captivity, he’d rather his hands to lose their skill from being able to provide for him and his tongue to not be able to say a word. It wasn’t worth living if he forsook the Lord. Maybe your story might connect with the psalmist’s. Possibly not to the point of being taken captive into a foreign land, but maybe it looks like a struggle that has taken your life captive right now and its effected every part of your life. In that struggle, don’t forget Jerusalem. Don’t forget the goodness of God, the relationship we have with Him, and the provision He can make. Set Jesus has your highest joy, above anything else in all this world. While it’s so difficult to choose a path of thinking and living like this when your held down by the struggle, this is our path to joy in the pain and hope in the hopeless times. Allow Jesus to be what floods your heart and thoughts in every season, especially the ones that don’t foster such a focus on Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2268
Chapter 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise… Psalm 138:1 – Is there certain places or certain people that are more difficult for you be a follower of Jesus in front of? The psalmist here openly says he gives thanks to God with his entire heart yet not only in the easy places but in front of the other false gods their nation had all around. That meant following God in front of people who followed other things. I would bet there was times that caused some big problems for him. Can you imagine in today’s time people having different beliefs on things and someone being upset due to someone else displaying their opposing beliefs in front of them? (This would never happen in today’s time…) Yet with knowledge it may not go well, the psalmist stood fast and continued to praise God. So if there is anything in the world to stand firm for, in the midst of opposition, with the knowledge hate very well may be thrown at you, it’s your choice to follow Jesus. Just make sure in your standing you’re doing it in love, not giving them ammunition for their hate. When Jesus hung on the cross, in worship of the Father in the greatest of ways, even then He chose to love those around Him. We should too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1502
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Psalm 138:6 – As David writes this psalm I wonder if what was said concerning his anointing as king of Israel comes to his mind. In 1 Samuel 16:7 we see the truth that God looks at men differently than men look at each other. Men look at the outward appearances and make judgements accordingly, but God looks at the heart of the man. Here in this psalm we see that God sees all, the lowly and the prideful. God though sees them differently than the world of man sees them. Often it’s the lowly, the down and out, that get overlooked and thought of from afar, but the lofty, well-to-do people are regarded with much care and attention. God reveals His way is the opposite of man’s way. The lowly are seen and cared for yet those with prideful, boastful hearts are kept at an arm’s length. It’s important for us to know who the Lord’s eyes are falling upon and what sort of heart he looks down on with little regard. God sees and cares for the broken and hurting, so should we. A prideful heart is opposing to God, so should it be to us. If the Lord has a different way of seeing man than man sees man, then we should seek to see people as the Lord sees people. And finally remember when you are in that lowly spot, the Lord’s eyes are upon you and His loving hands are working for your good. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2269
Chapter 139
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18 – Here the psalmist dwells on how deep and how vast are the thoughts God has towards Him. He writes that if he were to sit and count them they’d number more than the grains of sand. I love this last part as well. Imagine him counting all the thoughts till it exhausted him and he crashes out only to wake realizing the whole time God never left and was only adding to the thoughts He had towards the psalmist. Today if you’re struggling to see your value, spend some extra time in this psalm, placing yourself in the spot of the psalmist. If God has given you more thought than there is sand on earth then you must have some incredible value. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1503
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Psalm 139:1-4 – While I hope you read the entire chapter every day with these devotionals, be sure to read this psalm in its fullness. We see in it such a marvelous and outstanding truth that should shake us to our core. God knows us and still loves us. This is beyond anything I can begin to fully comprehend when I look at my own story. According to this passage God knows my every thought, He knows my every path, and He even knows every word I’m going to say before I even say it. We see that the Lord is everywhere, seeing everything; there is no place we can find ourselves where we are away from the presence of the Lord and out of His sight. Yet despite seeing us fully and knowing us fully, even including all the really messed us parts, He still loves us and thinks of us more than we could ever know. How truly great is the love of our God! That He would look down on a people like us, know everything about our story, and still say of us, “Beloved son and daughter, you are forgiven.” I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2270
Chapter 140
Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah Psalm 140:4-5 – Who comes to mind first when you hear about men who are wicked, arrogant, and are setting hidden traps for you? As we navigate this crazy political climate it’s sad how focused we can get on the ones we call our “enemies” and solely fix our gaze on the work they are doing in our life. Yet in this psalm the writer does acknowledge the presence of his enemy, the focus is on God and His work in his life. Let’s seek to be like the psalmist within our story. Don’t let the enemy have your focus when God is doing much bigger and much better work than they ever could. Each day choose who you’re going place in your spotlight. Who’s your choice for today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1504
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Psalm 140:12 – As you read through the psalm, it’s clear that the psalmist David was under pressure from an enemy. Violence was on their hearts, evil was on their tongues, and their intentions was to take out David. Here we see David praying to the Lord within this season for help. He asked the Lord to remember him and to let the efforts and traps of those who are coming after him backfire on them. What I love about verse 12 is how after the prayers have been made, David is reminding himself of what he knows to be true about the Lord. That the Lord will stand up for those under attack and bring justice for the hurt that had been caused to them. Maybe right then, in that current season of his life, David wasn’t seeing that aspect of the Lord, but He knew what is true of the Lord and was resting on that for his help. We too may have to rest in what we know to be true about God even if in the current struggle we aren’t seeing that aspect of the Lord’s character play out. We can rest in knowing God provides even when we aren’t seeing that provision in front of us. We can rest in knowing God makes pathways for us even when right now all we see are brick walls in front of us. We can rest knowing God loves us even when life’s circumstances are telling you something different. Sometimes it’s going to take a faith in what we know to be true about God, yet don’t see currently, to be what moves us past the mess of today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2271
Chapter 141
Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies! Psalm 141:4 – I appreciate the realness from the psalmist here. He doesn’t play it off like he never struggles with temptations, he openly is asking for God’s help with the battle against them. He knows his heart could easily begin to lean towards the tempting things they are doing. Even in the last phrase he calls them delicacies. Not vile things, not disgusting to the eyes things, but things that are appealing yet all wrong for him. Realize if your are struggling with temptations, it’s normal. If you are seeking to follow God well but keep having to say no to appealing “delicacies” that it’s expected in your walk to have that happen. Your enemy wants nothing else but to get you off the right path so to do that do you really thing he’d use things that disgust you to tempt you or things that appeal to you? Until we breathe our last breath temptations will be in our story, just remember Jesus showed us it’s possible to say no and is helping us do so everyday. So don’t beat yourself down if the temptations still seem appealing, our enemy isn’t stupid. Just keep focused on how much more of a delicacy are the things of Jesus and incline your heart towards them. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1505
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds. Psalm 141:5 – Without much context, this is an interesting statement our psalmist would say. That it’s a kindness to have a righteous man strike me. If that’s all there was to the psalm, that would be a unique way to handle our church gatherings and greetings! What we see though is the psalmist recognizing the realness of the temptation around him to turn to sinful things. These temptations are present and he knows that his flesh longs for such things. If then he were to being to walk after such sinful things, he prays a faithful brother would stop him. That a strike from a brother, if meant to wake him up and keep him from the path of sin, is a kindness. A true brother won’t allow another follower in Christ to walk after sin without trying to stop him. Has a fellow believer in Christ ever “stuck” you before as you were beginning to say yes to the temptations around you? Have you ever “stuck” another believer to help them stay on the right path? While stepping in the way of another person in situation like this is never easy, it is the loving action to take. For sin will only steal, kill, and destroy their life. If we truly love our brothers and sisters, we’ll strike when needed and we’ll gladly accept the strike when needed in our story. I love you, but Jesus love you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2272
Chapter 142
When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Psalm 142:3 – Imagine being in a maze of mirrors and you’re seeking to escape. Yet every time you take a step you run into another wall. Over and over and over you keep getting nowhere until you exhaust yourself and have nothing else to give. Then suddenly a helping hand steps in to guide you easily through the maze till you’re out of it. This is the image given here from the psalmist. He recounts the time when due to the overwhelming pressures and struggles of life he was fainting with exhaustion, not knowing which way to go. Then God leaned in with a helping hand to guide him through. God did what no one else would, all others were setting traps for him to stay in the maze. Does life sometimes feel like a maze of mirrors? Know God sees you in that maze and knows the way through. He also is willing to step into the maze with you to guide you through it and over the traps others may set for you. We have a good, good Father who deeply loves us and wants us to be free. Take hold of the hand He is giving to you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1506
Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Psalm 142:4-5 – An easy place to find ourselves in any struggle is where David found himself in verse 4. He was looking around and feeling as if there was no one who was noticing his pain and no one around to care for him in his time of need. What a sinking feeling to have when you are already brought so low by the circumstances of life. Possibly a feeling you have experienced before, or maybe even feeling currently as you read this devotion. What I encourage you to do then is lean deeper than ever into verse 5. While man may not have given David any help, notice, or place to find refuge, God gave him all that and more. David was able to find what he was searching for from the world in the Lord. He found help in the Lord. He found someone looking upon his pain in the Lord. He found refuge in the storm in the Lord. He found salvation in the Lord. So can you. Our world and enemy makes a lot of offers to those in need, but never fulfills its promises. You will listen and follow the smooth sounding words of our enemy, yet when the pain of life hits and you will reach your hand out for help from the one you’ve been following and no helping hands will be seen from them. Yet the Lord is still there and still able to save. Know you can always find the help you need in the Lord. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2273
Chapter 143
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah Psalm 143:5-6 – Sometimes in our times with God we just aren’t feeling that urge to lift our hands in worship of Him. Whether that be while in a sanctuary being led by a worship team or while in your room during your quiet time, sometimes we just aren’t feeling too worshipful. Here the psalmist resonates with that feeling but chooses to remember something to help. He remembers the days in the past and all God did for Him in those days. He dwells on the works that God has done in his story. What’s the outcome of this? His soul begins to thirst again for God and His hands stretch out to the Father longing for Him again. Maybe today we too need to meditate and ponder on the things God has done in our past. Allow all that to remind you of His goodness and what it feels like to be overflowing with that goodness. Allow it to create in you a new thirst for what God gives. When we hunger and thirst for God like this, it’s not so difficult to lift our hands to Him in our times with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1507
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Psalm 143:5-6 – Remember, meditate, ponder, stretch, thirsts. Truly the pastor in me is already seeing a sermon with five points ready to go! We see here in the psalm five different actions taken by our psalmist. He’s choosing to “remember” all the seasons past in his life, the blessed ones and the heavy ones. He chooses to “meditate” on all that the Lord had done, in his own story and even in the whole of creation up to that moment. He “ponders” on the ways the Lord had worked, how He created all things and sustained the psalmist in every time of need. Having all that in mind he “stretched” out his hands to the Lord once again for help and provision because he had seen within his own story how God takes care of His own. Finally, he proclaims that he “thirsts” for the Lord and for what the Lord can only do in situations like the one he is finding himself in right now. Remember, meditate, ponder, stretch, thirst. When then we are in our own season of difficulty, following the psalmist’s example is wise. Choose to remember the days of your past and meditate on all that God has done in your story up to this point. Ponder on all the ways that it was God’s hands at work that made it possible for you to be where you are today. Allow then that time, and what is birthed out of it, cause you to lift your hands in need of the Lord and choose to find the quenching of your thirst in God alone. The heartbeat of the message is in your time of need, turn to the Lord for help. Sometimes though this isn’t the inclination of your heart to stretch out to the Lord and thirst for Him. This outline laid out by the psalmist is helpful then to prepare our hearts to thirst for the Lord’s help when such a thirst isn’t where we are at today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2274
Chapter 144
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. Psalm 144:1-2 – I love how this verse gives us more than just one way God helps us in our battles. First we see that God trains our hands for war. He shows us how to fight our battles well and how to come through them victorious. Yet He also remains a place for us to find refuge in when the battle is too big for us to handle. He is our shield to cover us from the attacks too large for us. What we see in this passage is God cares about us in our battles and how we come through them. He wants us to find our place safely on the other side, victorious in every battle, and is willingly offering His hand to see that happen. Know then you aren’t alone in your battles. God is an ever-present shelter for you and His Word gives us directions on how to battle sin and our enemy well. Take hold of the help He is giving, there’s no reason we should go into these battles alone when we have such help being offered to us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1508
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15 – Sometimes when I’m unsure of what to say in my prayers to the Lord, I begin saying to the Lord that I acknowledge that He is God. That He is the God who created all things. That He is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. That He is the God who caused the grand miracles to take place in the Old Testament like the red sea parting. He is the God of David and the God we read about in the psalms. He is the God who saved the world through death on a cross and a resurrection. Saying such things helps bring in perspective a couple things for me when I’m struggling to pray. First it reminds me who I’m talking to, and secondly, it reminds me that the God I proclaim as my God is the powerful God I see outlined in scripture. So yes, blessed are those who are the people of God and proclaim the God of scripture to be their Lord. Blessed where those who came before us and blessed are we today who follow the Lord. The God we pray to today is the same God of Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Jeremiah, Peter, James, John, and Paul. How we saw God blessing and taking care of them is the same way God can bless and take care of us. Those who follow Jesus are truly a blessed people for we have the eyes of the Lord upon our life and the resources of Heaven at His disposal to help. If then you follow Jesus, know today you truly are blessed. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2275
Chapter 145
You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:16 – What else in all creation can this be said of? A new president can’t satisfy the desire of every living thing. An old president can’t either. The temptations our enemy gives can’t satisfy the desire of every living thing, nor can the enemy himself do that. Change can’t satisfy the desires of every living thing nor can things staying the same. Holding on to your anger can’t satisfy your every desire nor can holding onto your grudges. The only one in all of existence that can take the role of “You” within our passage and still keep the passage true is Jesus. Jesus can satisfy the desire of every living thing. That means He can satisfy every desire you have too. When Jesus opens His hand to us, the outpouring of blessing that comes from it is far more than we could ever need or want. Why then look for the open hand of anything else when Jesus is freely opening His hand to us and within it is the satisfaction of every desire in life we have? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1509
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 – I love the message of this verse! Our psalmist gives us directions on how we should be speaking and pouring into those who come after us. That we should tell the generation after us of the works of the Lord and declare the mighty acts of the Lord to them. We shouldn’t keep what we know of the Lord and have experienced of the Lord to ourselves, but we are to share all that with the generation of the church beyond us. What then should we share with this next generation? As other parts in the psalm speaks of, share about how God satisfies the desires of every living thing. Share how the Lord is righteous in all His works. Share how the Lord is near to all who call on Him. Share how He hears the cries of those who fear Him and saves them. For if the previous generation is silent of these things, the next generation may never know what we know. They may see the troubles of the world and see a pursuit of God as not worth the trouble. They may never lean into the Lord for themselves to taste and see for themselves the Lord is good. We then, who have seen how good our God is, need to share what we have seen with those after us. Help them see God is bigger than the troubles of the world and is worth following. Let them see through you just how amazing the Lord is. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2276
Chapter 146
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. Psalm 146:5-9 – Why is he whose hope is in God considered blessed? Because the God they hope in is able to break every chain of the prisoners. The God they hope in can help those who have never seen anything see. He keeps safe the path of those moving ahead and those who have lost have a protector. He who places their hope in God is blessed because God is a blessing. What He brings to the relationship is everything they will ever need and more. As we read yesterday, when God opens His hand it satisfies the desire of every living thing. Today you’re asked to make a choice as to who you will lean on for help and who you will place your hope in. Remember how so many other things have failed you and compare what they gave you to the list scripture here gives on what God brings. Truly there is salvation in no other but God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1510
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Psalm 146:3-4 – The message within this psalm resonates with a massive piece of our teachings on Sundays within our church these past few weeks. That there is no salvation for our souls that can be offered by man. Leaders, princes, kings, presidents, emperors, teachers, nor pastors can offer a single person the salvation for their souls that they need. There is only one place where we can find such a salvation. There is only one person that can offer to all the salvation needed for our world and that’s Jesus. Sadly, we can listen to the soothing voices of the world assuring us that they can offer the help and life we need, yet instead of their voices please listen to the words of scripture. There is salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus. Don’t place your trust and life in leaders or people or things. Jesus alone can save us from our sins. If you have never experienced the salvation Jesus offer, please reach out to me for I’d love to share all about it with you. If you have experienced Jesus’ salvation, don’t be silent about the blessing you have been given. Share with others all about the life you’ve been blessed with. Take every opportunity given to you to share of the salvation that you have found and that can only be found in Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2277
Chapter 147
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:1-3 – It’s interesting that the psalmist follows the phrase “a song of praise is fitting” by the words he does here. If the hope is that the Lord will build them up then we’re talking to those who have be torn down before. If He gathers then we’re speaking to those who have been scattered. If He heals the wounds and the broken-hearted then we’re talking to those who have experienced both. Scripture tells us that’s it’s fitting for those who have tasted all that and more to have a song of praise to God on their lips. Why should those who have had to go through all that praise God? Because He can build up, gather, and heal…and He does. Yes, many of us have tasted the bitter side of this life, but God is here offering healing and peace. Praise then is fitting, praise that we no longer have to remain torn down, cast out, and damaged. We have a God who steps in and finds restoration of all that. That’s worth shouting praise over. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1511
He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. Psalm 147:16-18 – God is in control and has the power needed to do whatever He wills. Apparently the psalmist had experienced something that isn’t a common occurrence in the Palestine region, snow and hail. Here he shares how God is able to cover a ground with snow that rarely sees such weather. That God is able to bring hail to a place that rarely sees hail, like a someone easily tossing breadcrumbs to the ground. He also has the power in His words to melt all of it away the moment He no longer wills it to be there. Who else is like our God? Who else can cause the desert to be covered in snow? Who else can with a word of their mouth can cause the winds to change and the snow to be melted? Even with just the movements of nature we can see the sovereignty and power of our Lord, and yet He still does more within our lives to proclaim His greatness. If then you are in a season where you may never admit your doubting God’s greatness, but with how things are going in your life that greatness does seem to be the attribute of God you’re not really seeing, allow yourself today to sit and watch what the Lord does all around you. Pause, sit, and watch. See how the Lord rises and sets the sun. See how He cares for the birds of the air. See how the world is held together in space and you nor anyone else on Earth did anything this morning to keep it that way. God is here, God is in control, and God has the power to do anything He wills. If then He is able to bring snow in the desert and hold the Earth in space with ease, know He can bring refreshment to your desert too and can hold your world together with ease too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2278
Chapter 148
Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. Psalm 148:11-13 – I love how no one is excluded here from the list in who should praise the name of the Lord. Young, old, men, women, kings, and all the people together praising the name of the Lord. This psalm doesn’t even stop there. When you read it fully you see it tell the angels to praise the Lord. It tells the sun, the moon, the stars, the hills, the fruit trees, the birds, and beasts of the field to praise the Lord. What would praise like that look and feel like? Imagine literally everything in creation praising God at once. All people, all animals, every mountain, every star praising God in their special way. Imagine the volume of sound, it would be beyond deafening, yet still not even come close to the level of praise God deserves. That’s the God we’re in a relationship with and who loves us deeply. We truly are a blessed people. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1512
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Psalm 148:1 – As you read this psalm, it doesn’t take long to discover the predominant command given to God’s people within the passage. We are to praise the Lord. All of heaven, all the angels, all the creatures in the sea, all the beasts of the field, all the mountains and hill, and all the people are to praise the Lord. We then don’t have to walk away from this passage in a posture of confusion or wondering as to what God desires from us today. He desires our praise. How then are you praising the Lord today? Speaking of Him to others gives Him praise. Reading and meditating on His word gives Him praise. Lifting your voice in worship gives Him praise. Obeying His word within your life gives Him praise. How then are you going to praise the Lord today? Know the heart of the Lord is for all of creation to be praising Him today. While many people will not be praising the Lord today, let that not be said of us who have chosen to follow the Lord. With our voice and with our lives we will praise the Lord for He is worthy to be praised. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2279
Chapter 149
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:4 – God knew I needed to hear this verse today, maybe you do too. I needed this reminder that God actually takes pleasure in us. See maybe it was just the enemy working but all the ways I fail on my walk with God seemed to be in the spotlight. Like how I forget to pray or when in prayer I just run through the motions. How I get distracted so easily or take things for granted. How apathetic I can be sometimes toward the abundant harvest all around me and I’d rather choose to watch Netflix instead. When in other psalms we read things like why would God think of man like me, I feel that. Here though we see that God truly takes pleasure in us, despite all that. Know God take takes pleasure in you. Yes your story may be filled with mess ups, but God still loves you, wants you, and takes pleasure in you. Try to believe that today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1513
Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples… Psalm 149:6-7 – What was God’s command for the people of the day when this psalm was written? To give God deep praise with their voices and to execute Godly vengeance on the nations that were coming against God’s people. They were in seasons of attack from physical enemies and the command of the Lord then was to lift up their sword and fight. Today, we must understand how our situation is similar and how our situation is different than this. Similar: We too are to lift our voices in praise to the Lord and we too are to lift up our swords against the enemy of God’s people. Difference: According to scripture within the New Testament, our enemy isn’t flesh and blood like the people of the psalm, but the evils in the spiritual ream. And the sword we need to be wielding is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of the Lord. So yes, hold tight your blade against the enemy, but the enemy is not your annoying coworker! Satan and his forces are at play in our world, seeking to destroy the people of God and seeking to keep those who don’t know the message of Jesus blind and deaf to the gospel. So refuse to be silent with your voice and refuse to be indifferent towards the attacks of our enemy. Our mission today includes a fight, and while it looks different than the sort of fight we see portrayed in this psalm, it’s no less serious and no less dangerous. Stay steady with your time in the word so you can use it in the fight well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2280
Chapter 150
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Psalms 150:6 – What a great verse to end the year on and begin the next. If your story is anything like mine, 2018 has been a long year and I’m feeling pretty ready for the next to begin. We though must look back over the big picture of last year and see how God has walked with us and loved us. We have come a long way and it’s because of God. That’s why we must remember what this verse is telling us. All the time, everywhere, from everyone God deserves all our breath in praise to Him. This next year can be your year of praise to God. How? Invest time in your relationship with Him and follow His command to deeply love and share His love with everyone around you. If you’ll let me, I’d be happy to walk with you through another year of devotions to help you make this next year exactly that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 763
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 – Our breath has a purpose. Today is a big day in the United States as we watch the transition of presidents take place. My encouragement to my fellow followers of Jesus is to use your breath in the way God has designed it to be used. To give Him unending praise. Not to rep some other name. Not to trash some other name. Not to bring down those who see things differently than you. Not to champion your cause that God isn’t championing. Our breath is given to us to be used to share God’s greatness. The people that surround you today will know who you worship by how you use your breath. Use it wisely. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1514
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Psalm 150:3-5 – When finishing this psalm, and now the book of psalms with this chapter, I find myself reflecting on the state of my heart. All throughout the psalms we see this message of God’s goodness, sovereignty, and ability to provide for His own. We also see the psalmists over and over being caught up in praise of the Lord or choosing to praise the Lord even if their situations in life weren’t ideal. Now all of heaven and earth are to praise the Lord. Praise Him with loudness and praise Him with passion! For if our praise is seeking to mirror Heaven, there is one word we can be certain is not what worship looks like around the throne of God….quiet. How then is your praise being lifted to the Lord? Right now in our country we are seeing a lot of praise to the Lord being given, and a lot of arguments around it too. While it will be impossible for you to check the hearts of every person in our country to determine is their praise is legitimate, it’s very possible to check your own heart. Are you seeking first the kingdom of God? Are you loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Are you unashamed of the gospel and making disciples of all nations? Is the praise of your lips seeking to match the praise of all of creation around you? If God is worthy of praise to you, praise the Lord. I love you, but Jesus love you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2281
Daily DEVO 