Daily Devotionals
These daily devotionals are brought to you by EXW Contributor Terri Pettyjohn.
He Is Good
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - June 27, 2009
| | Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good. His love continues forever.”
What is your conception of God? Does He remind you of an angry father waiting to punish His wayward children for the slightest infraction? Is it a cookies and milk kind of relationship that you share with the Creator of the Universe? I’m just curious, because to each of us God means something different. We read the same Bible, but we have a different visual picture than our neighbor. For most of us, our conception of God has something to do with our relationship wi...read more |
A Bowed Body
By Donna Patrick - Devotionals - June 23, 2009
| | O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
For he is our God;. . . (Psalm 95:6, 7(a)) (KJ)
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God. (Rev. 7:11( KJ)
This is the seventh in a seven-part series entitled The Worshiper's Position. One of the most challenging, yet rewarding postures of worship I have experienced is bowing low before God's presence. We serve a God who is more worthy than our human imagina...read more |
Let Judah Go Up First
By Donna Patrick - Devotionals - June 18, 2009
| | Now the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, "Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?" Then the Lord said, "Judah shall go up first." Judges 20:18 (NASB)
We know from Genesis chapter 29 that Leah named her 4th son Judah because with the birth of this son, she chose to praise the Lord. She knew that Jacob did not love her, but at some point between the 3rd and 4th son, she decided, “this time I will praise the Lord”(Gen. 29:35 NASB). It is from this passage that we derive the meaning of...read more |
The Wounded Worshiper
By Donna Patrick - Devotionals - June 15, 2009
| | So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. (II Samuel 12:20a) (NASB)
King David loved the Lord with all of his heart. But he messed up. When David sinned with Bathsheba it may seem for a moment that He had no conscience, But when the child born from his sin died, David was deeply wounded. No one around him could console him. He was a broken man with a secret; the secret was he knew where to go for healing.
How many of us are walking around with a woun...read more |
Rescued to Praise
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - June 12, 2009
| | Psalms 36:9 “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
There is no sight like the sight of one who has just had their sins washed away. The sky has never looked bluer or the stars shone brighter than for one whose sins are no more. I never knew light or true love until I glimpsed it upon the Cross hanging for me. In contrast, I had never realized the darkness of my sins until I could see them nailing Him to the Cross. It was his love for me that kept Him upon the tree until every sin had been paid for. No tear of remorse woul...read more |
Wait
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - June 09, 2009
| | Psalm 40: 1-3 “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our god. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”
Can you say that you wait patiently for the Lord, or are you like me when I ask and expect an immediate answer? This is the generation of fast food, ATM’s, and instant gratification. To wait patiently is not exactly how I would character...read more |
What's the Cost?
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - June 04, 2009
| | 1 Chronicles 21:24 “But King David replied to Aranuah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
If you only read this verse, it really has no meaning. It’s a nice phrase, but no depth. David had ordered a counting of all his fighting men. The interesting thing is that no reason is given why it was offensive to God for him to do that. But, not only was it offensive, God was angered. He gave David a choice of three punishments and David chose three days of...read more |
Clap It Out
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - June 01, 2009
| | Psalm 47:1, 5--6 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” God has
ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God,
sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.”
Does that sound like quiet, subdued worship to you? I’m thinking that if the nations were
all clapping their hands to God, combined with shouting, that it would be just a tad noisy, and
dare we say it - joyful? ...read more |
Get All Excited
By Terri Pettyjohn - Devotionals - May 29, 2009
| | Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
If you can’t think of any reason to fall to your knees before Christ, this verse should make you want to jump for joy, dance a jig, and fall to your knees to gratefully thank the One who made it possible to eradicate your sins. Strange thing, I haven’t seen anybody do that…. ever. Not in one church service can I ever recall seeing a Christian react that way to havi...read more |
Repentance
By Donna Patrick - Devotionals - May 26, 2009
| | For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. . .
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:3-4;10
This will be the first in a series of devotionals dealing with the various "positions" or attitudes that the true worshiper must take in order for our worship to God to be effective. The first position we'll deal with is repentance. When we come before God in worship, one of the things we sometimes forget to do is repent....read more |
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.