In Quietness and Trust Is Your Strength

28 Monday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 46

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.Psalm 46_10

Reading: Psalm 46:8-11

LORD God,
alter me at the foot of the cross.
I need you to change my heart,
my life, my attitude.
Help me be still before you
as I contemplate your love—
love I don’t deserve—
love that I have not earned.
But Jesus, you offered yourself freely.
Thank you.
Amen.

— — —

This is what the Sovereign LORD,
the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.

You said,
‘No, we will flee on horses.’
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
(Isaiah 30:15-16), NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

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God’s Call to Stillness and Reflection

28 Monday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 46:8-11
Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress (NIV).

be-still-800x675

Reflection
As I sit to write this, it’s Holy Week—a week of contemplation leading to Good Friday—leading to our Savior’s death on the cross. The opening line of this reading from Psalm 46 grabs me: Come and see what the LORD has done.

Yes. Come and see what the LORD has done! Come and see what has happened to God’s son. Come and see the desolations he has brought on the earth—the desolations He has brought on the dust-formed bundle of flesh that at birth was laid in a manager. Now he is laid on a cross. He is not wrapped in swaddling clothes. He is stripped naked; arms pried wide open and nailed to a cross.

Come and see what has happened to him. This is the LORD’s doing. This is the Father’s will. This is the Son’s willing obedience. Now hear the Spirit’s beckoning call, “Come and see what the LORD has done!”

This is what love looks like—not our love for God, but God’s love for man. Love looks like Jesus on the cross. Love looks like a bloody sacrifice, engineered by God, inflicted on God, God come-in-the-flesh. Love looks painful. It looks painful because it gives to the last drop. It calls us near to the last breath. “Come and see what the LORD has done!”

And when you come be still. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (v. 10).

This is not the time to rush on by. Eve reached for the forbidden fruit. Adam rushed after her. Rushing has brought us this mess—this messed up world—this mess on the cross. Self-centered rushing hurtles us into sin with no thought for tomorrow—no thought for the man on a cross. Instead, today, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (v. 10)

Be still. Be still before the cross. He is God. The man on the cross is God. Love has a price, always has a price. It’s written in blood—the Savior’s blood.

Response: LORD God, alter me at the foot of the cross. I need you to change my heart, my life, my attitude. Help me be still before you as I contemplate your love—love I don’t deserve—that I have not earned. But Jesus, you offered yourself freely. Thank you. Amen.

Your Turn: Has your life been altered by the cross? How has a journey to the cross changed how you live your daily life?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, 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.

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Be Glad and Rejoice before God

27 Sunday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 68

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I will praise the LORD!

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Photo by David Kitz

Reading: Psalm 68:1-6

For the director of music. Of David.
A psalm. A song.

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
    may his foes flee before him.
May you blow them away like smoke—
    as wax melts before the fire,
    may the wicked perish before God.
But may the righteous be glad
    and rejoice before God;
    may they be happy and joyful.
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
    extol him who rides on the clouds;
    rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
    is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
    he leads out the prisoners with singing;
    but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. *

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

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What Others Say about “The Elisha Code & the Coming Revival

26 Saturday Oct 2024

Posted by in Books by David Kitz

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Wow! This is terrific. Reading The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival is like walking the road to Emmaus with the resurrected Jesus and two of his twenty-first century disciples—Ed Hird and David Kitz. Share their excitement as Jesus opens their minds to the Old Testament prophecies about Himself. With the added benefit of New Testament insights and lessons from history, we see the Holy Spirit preparing to ignite fresh revival fires in our day.

Don Hutchinson, pastor, lawyer, and author of
Church in Society: First Century Citizenship Lessons for Twenty-First Century Christians

I found The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival by David Kitz & Dr. Ed Hird to be a rollercoaster-thrill-read from beginning to end … I could not put it down! The authors take you on an adventure of discovery—seeking bold faith—in readiness for the revival to come.

— Alan Kearns, Devotional Treasures blogger, Glenrothes, Scotland


The Elisha Code and the Coming Revival unpacks an intriguing and thought-provoking case for Jesus being the New Testament Elisha, thus carrying out His role as Prophet (along with Priest and King)—not abolishing the Law and the Prophets but fulfilling them. As was needed in the time of both Elisha and Jesus, the book also points us toward spiritual renewal in our increasingly evil world, but with sure and certain hope, and with the promise that, in Jesus, there is true healing and salvation.

Laverne Hautz, Emeritus Lutheran Pastor

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May God Bless Us Still

26 Saturday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 67, Psalms

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I will praise the LORD!
beacfd30a932bc0a5192413786d2451bb

Reading: Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments.
A psalm. A song.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us—
so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest;
    God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still,
    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him. *

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

A gripping read from David Kitz
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Wholehearted Trust in the LORD

25 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 46

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.
Psalm 461

Reading: Psalm 46:1-7

LORD God,
I put my trust in you.
In times of trouble,
you have been my help and my strength.
I turn to you in confidence
because you are with me and for me.
You are my Savior and my God.
Amen.

— — —

Trust in the LORD
with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.
(Proverbs 3:5-6), NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
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When the Ground Shakes, God is Our Rock

25 Friday Oct 2024

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Reading: Psalm 46:1-7
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress (NIV).

Refuge

Reflection
Why are you confident? Confidence is a key ingredient in the life of any child of God. If we lack confidence, we lack faith. In fact, the word confidence is rooted in faith. Confidence is derived from the Latin word fide, which means faith. It is etymologically linked to words like fidelity and fiduciary—words that stand for trust and true faithfulness. But this faithfulness, fidelity and confidence come as a result of a relationship.

If we have no relationship with someone, how can we trust them? How can we have confidence in them or their actions if we don’t know them?

Here in Psalm 46, the psalmist expresses his complete confidence in God. He expresses confidence despite the evidence around him. Hear his confident assertion: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging (v. 1-3).

There is nothing quite as unnerving as an earthquake. I know this from personal experience. When the solid ground beneath one’s feet suddenly gives way and rolls and buckles, nerves begin to fray. But the psalmist remains confident because he knows the One who is in control—the One who remains unmoved and unshakable. In times of trouble, we can turn to Him.

But we should not turn to God simply as a last resort. He is the God who is with us. Our confidence grows as we live with Him day by day, in good times and bad. Our confidence grows as we experience Him as our rock of refuge and our shelter in the storm. Then we can say, “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v. 7).

Response: LORD God, I put my trust in you. In times of trouble, you have been my help and my strength. I turn to you in confidence because you are with me. You are my Savior and my God. Amen.

Your Turn: Has your confidence been shaken recently? Where have you turned for help?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

New from David Kitz
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Rejoicing over His Bride

24 Thursday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 45, Psalms

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.
Psalm 45_10-17

Reading: Psalm 45:10-17

LORD God,
I want to be beautiful for Jesus.
I make it my aim to please you today
in all I say, think and do. I
am forever grateful for your love
and daily provision.
Amen.

— — —

No longer will they call you Deserted,
    or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,[a]
    and your land Beulah[b];
for the LORD will take delight in you,
    and your land will be married.
As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you.
(Isaiah 62:4-5), NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

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Jesus, Our Gallant Lover

24 Thursday Oct 2024

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Reading: Psalm 45:10-17
Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.
The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
people of wealth will seek your favor.
All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.
Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.
Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.
I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever (NIV).

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Reflection
If we interpret Psalm 45 as a messianic psalm, as most Bible scholars do, then it logically follows that Jesus is the royal bridegroom and the church is his chosen bride. For reasons we cannot fathom, the King has fallen in love with us. Now this would make sense if we possessed some godly characteristic or showed some inclination to holiness. But the scripture declares while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

I am reminded of some romance novel, where the gallant lover takes off his coat and lays it in the mud so his lady love can step across a puddle without soiling her shoes. Jesus is that gallant lover. But he did more than lay down his coat. He lay down his life that we might cross from death to life. Now that’s true romance! Jesus has romanced us into his kingdom, and I for one, am forever grateful.

Listen to the psalmist’s advice, “Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house. Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord” (v. 10-11).

If you have bowed your knees at the foot of the cross, He is your Lord. Be beautiful for Him; you are his betrothed. The apostle Paul reminds us of this truth with these words of admonition: I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Having been redeemed by Christ, it’s now time to make yourself presentable before Him, the eternal Lover of your soul.

Response: LORD God, I want to be beautiful for Jesus. I make it my aim to please you today in all I say, think and do. I am forever grateful for your love. Amen.

Your Turn: In what ways can you make yourself beautiful for the King? What character qualities do you think Jesus would appreciate most?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

New from David Kitz
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

Anointed with the Oil of Joy

23 Wednesday Oct 2024

Posted by in Psalm 45, Psalms

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.
Psalm 45_7

Reading: Psalm 45:1-9

LORD God,
help me to love what you love
and hate what you hate.
Anoint me with your joy
as I seek to follow you
in every aspect of my life.
I pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

— — —

But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God,
will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
(Hebrews 1:8-9), NIV)*

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

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

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.

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.