Author Archives: davidkitz

I Remain Confident of This

14 Sunday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 27, Psalms

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I will praise the LORD!

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Sunrise on Petrie Island — photo by David Kitz

Reading: Psalm 27:11-14

Teach me your way, LORD;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.
I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the LORD
    in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the LORD. *

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Faith Today Magazine Interviews David Kitz

13 Saturday Jan 2024

Posted by in Books by David Kitz

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Faith Today PXL_2024-01-13FT (Faith Today): You’re a retired schoolteacher and ordained Foursquare minister who writes a daily blog on the Psalms (davidkitz.blog) and performs one-man Bible dramas. Why prioritize those things?

DK (David Kitz): These priorities come out of my objective and motto which is “Bringing God’s Word to life and lives to God’s Word.” If we want to see real change in people’s lives, we need to connect them with the living Word of God. Jesus is the living Word, and in knowing him I have discovered love, peace, and joy. Writing and drama are two vehicles I use to bring the living Word to others.

FT: Congrats on the Word Alive Press award you and your co-author Ed Hird got for your manuscript The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival. What’s the book about and when does it come out?

DK: The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival explores the relationship between the Old TestamentTheElishaCodeCVR5 prophetic dynamic duo of Elijah and Elisha, and their New Testament counterpart, the duo of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Jesus identified John as “the Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11:14). An examination of Elisha’s miracles reveals that they run parallel to the miracles of Christ in a most remarkable way. Furthermore, this has implications for believers today as we live in anticipation of seeing even greater works (John14:12) in days of spiritual revival ahead. The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival is available now.

FT: You’re chair of the board at The Word Guild, a national association for Christians in writing and publishing. How does that group benefit the church community?

DK: Writers change the world, and they have been shaping the world we live in for thousands of years. Our goal at The Word Guild is to encourage, equip, and strengthen Canadian Christian writers so they can impact our society at every level. God uses Christian writers to inform and inspire the church community. We can all agree the written living Word needs to be present and active in Canada.

FT: Tell us a bit more about yourself anf your development as an author.

DK: I’m a farmboy born and raised in Saskatchewan but now living with my wife Karen in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. We have two adult sons and a daughterinlaw.
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My first book, a novel, was published in 2003. God has blessed my efforts, and over the years I have won multiple awards across several literary genres. Prior to The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival, my most recent publication was a three book devotional series entitled Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer by Elk Lake Publishing.

In all this my goal contunues to be “Bringing God’s Word to life and lives to God’s Word.”

For a direct link to David’s website click here.

Seeking the Face of God

13 Saturday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 27, Psalms

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I will praise the LORD!

5006[2692] D Adam

Photo courtesy of Donald Adam

Reading: Psalm 27:7-10

Hear my voice when I call, LORD;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the LORD will receive me. *

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A Display of Love and Power

12 Friday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 114

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.Psalm 114_7-8 (1)

Reading: Psalm 114

Father God,
thank you for going all out to save me
through the death and resurrection
of your Son, Jesus.
What a display of your love and power!
Help me to love, fear, and trust you
always.
Amen.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

The Power of God

12 Friday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 114

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Reading: Psalm 114
When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
the mountains leaped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water (NIV). *

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Niagara Falls — photo by David Kitz

Reflection
“Why?” A four-year-old’s favourite question is, “Why?” Here in Psalm 114, the psalmist has some why questions as well. “Why did the sea flee? Why did the Jordan River turn back? Why did those mountains and hills seem to skip and dance? Why?”

The answer of course is because of the jaw-dropping, eye-popping, heart-stopping power of God. God caused the sea to flee. He caused the Jordan to turn back. He caused mountains and hills to skip about and frolic like yearling lambs set free from the stall. What an awesome display! What an awesome God!

Psalm 114 is all about the overwhelming power of God. It is a grand portrayal of the pivotal event in the Old Testament Scriptures. Here within a few short verses, we catch a panoramic view of God’s might on display, starting with Israel’s escape from Egypt to their arrival in the Promised Land.

Why did the miracle-working LORD make the sea flee? Was it simply to display His awe-inducing power? Was it simply to create excitement among the million or more mortals, who were eyewitnesses to this divine wonder? In the Exodus account, the reason for this miraculous intervention is stated clearly: That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant (Exodus 14:30-31).

This power display had one primary purpose. That purpose was salvation. The LORD wanted to save people—His covenant people—from the vicious clutches of oppression and a tyranny. In short, the LORD works wonders so He can save people—so He can bring them into His Kingdom—so they can escape the sin systems of this world and come under His loving rule.

Response: Father God, thank you for going all out to save me through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. What a display of your love and power! Help me to love, fear and trust you. Amen.

Your Turn: Why did God save you? Is there a reason for His mercy?

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Beyond Comprehension

11 Thursday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 113

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.Psalm 113 -365

Reading: Psalm 113

LORD God,
your love is beyond comprehension.
Thank you for stooping down
and involving yourself in my life.
When I reach out to you, Father God,
you lift me up.
I praise and thank you,
Lord Jesus.
Amen.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Treasures in the Human Trash

11 Thursday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 113

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Reading: Psalm 113
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, you his servants;
praise the name of the LORD.
Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.
He settles the childless woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD (NIV). *

silhouette of a person under the beautiful northern lights

Photo by Pat Whelen on Pexels.com

Reflection
In today’s reading the psalmist has a question for you and here it is: Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

Who indeed? Why would the exalted One, the enthroned One, stoop down? How undignified! Doesn’t the LORD know kings and potentates don’t bend over or stoop down? They certainly don’t do that sort of thing in public—not where they can be seen by others. Rulers rule from the seat of authority. They sit; they don’t stoop down. But our God stoops down. If the truth be told, it’s even worse than that.

The LORD gets His hands dirty. Actually, He has been getting His hands dirty from the very beginning. The LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). Now that was a failed experiment if there ever was one. Those living, breathing human dust bags showed no gratitude. They disobeyed God at the first opportunity and down through the generations, humanity has continued that pattern of disobedience and ingratitude.

Now in this psalm we read this: He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. Why would God show such affection for fallen humanity—humans who keep plunging deeper into the mire? There is no greater mystery. Our God keeps finding treasures in the trash—the human trash.

Yet I keep wondering why anyone would stoop so low. Why would the One, who sits enthroned on high, stoop so low—low enough to die a criminal’s death on a cross? Why did the Lord stoop to rescue me?

Response: Father God, your love is beyond comprehension. Thank you for stooping down and involving yourself in my life. When I reach out to you, Father God, you lift me up. I praise you, LORD. Amen.

Your Turn: When did the LORD lifted you from the ash heaps of this life? How did that make you feel?

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Light Dawns for the Upright

10 Wednesday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 112

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.Psalm 112_4

Reading: Psalm 112

Father God,
I thank you for every blessing
that comes from fearing you and living uprightly.
When my way seems dark,
shine your light on me.
Lead me forward in the way of Christ
my Savior.
Amen.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Positive Consequences for Fearing God

10 Wednesday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 112

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Reading: Psalm 112
Praise the LORD.
Blessed are those who fear the LORD,
who find great delight in his commands.
Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.
They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn will be lifted high in honor.
The wicked will see and be vexed,
they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing (NIV). *

woman and three children playing water

Photo by Yulianto Poitier on Pexels.com

Reflection
Is there a blessing to be had for those who fear the LORD? Absolutely yes, according to Psalm 112! When we put the LORD first in our lives and honor Him in all we say and do, He takes note. Blessings come from the LORD. Those blessings can come in various forms.

The psalmist begins by speaking of the blessing that flows to our children. A home where the love of God reigns is blessed indeed. Children grow up in a secure environment with loving role models and that sets the stage for their advancement as adults in society. The psalmist asserts the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Are you finding great delight in the LORD’s commands? There are positive consequences for that. You may be blessed with wealth as a result. Fearing God brings a reward, but that reward must be used wisely in the service of God and others. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.

But this psalm does not promise us a trouble-free life. Though bad news may come, those who fear God will trust in Him and overcome adversity. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Response: Father God, I thank you for every blessing that comes from fearing you and living uprightly. When my way seems dark, shine your light on me. Lead me forward in the way of Christ. Amen.

Your Turn: In what ways have you experienced God’s blessing? Which blessings do you value most?

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord.TheElishaCodeCVR5To purchase or for a closer look click here.

A Dose of Prevention

09 Tuesday Jan 2024

Posted by in Psalm 111

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.Psalm 111 -365

Reading: Psalm 111

LORD God,
help me see your love
for me in your commandments.
In love,
you correct me when I stray.
Grant me understanding that comes through a healthy fear
and love for you,
and your holy ways.
Amen.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

BGBG_v4.3_150[1818]

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.