More Precious: A Worship Devotional

More Precious: A Worship Devotional

by | Mar 12, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Lord, you are, more precious than silver.
Lord, you are, more costly than gold.
Lord, you are, more beautiful than diamonds,
And nothing I desire compares with you.”

Lord You Are More Precious Than Silver, Oasis Worship

“5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,””

1 Peter 2:5-7:

What could we ever give – what could we ever do – to really show our gratitude to the One who gave it all for us?

Just like Peter, Paul admonishes us to offer up acceptable spiritual sacrifices. (Romans 12)

In both cases we see a call to repentance and holy living. Peter asks us to set aside malice and evil, the carnal life – and to trade the lusts of the flesh for a craving of pure spiritual milk – so that we may grow in our salvation. Paul, likewise, calls us to hate what is evil, to crucify the flesh and pursue the renewing of our minds and transformation of our lives through our submission to the Word and Will of God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus tells us to store up TREASURES in Heaven.

True prosperity has got nothing to do with silver or with gold.

The Psalmist says: “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” (Psalm 119:72).

Jesus is the law made flesh – the Word incarnate and in our midst.

More precious than silver and gold, He promises true prosperity. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding, a joy unspeakable and full of glory – a life of abundance saturated with the milk and honey of His grace and mercy.

Nothing in all of the universe can compare to His love poured out – the Bread of His body broken for us, and the cup of His blood shed for our souls.

What then is a worthy response? How then should we as the recipients of this gift of grace respond?

We respond in kind. In giving our lives – our bodies, hearts and minds – to the One who gave it all for us.

We respond in kind by getting on the altar of His lovingkindness.

We respond in kind by becoming His hands and feet.

More precious than diamonds, He is the stone the builders rejected – but to those of us who believe He has become precious – the cornerstone and foundation of who we are.

And so we devote our lives to the pursuit of Him – more of Him. And as we find Him we find His will is for us to seek the lost on His behalf.

Our desire for Him and delight in Him transforms us – not only does He become our desire, but His desires become ours as well.

His purpose becomes our purpose.

We lay aside our will and our ways for His.

Prayer: Lord, come and take over. Today I give all of my desires and trade them for delight in You. Lord, let Your desires become my desires. Let my heart be set upon Your ways. Let Your ways be set within my heart. Let the fire ignited by Your love burn in me – all consuming – let it be a hunger that cannot be satisfied. Help me see the ways in which I can pursue You today Lord – turn mere minutes into Manna as I take every opportunity to pray, to praise, to worship You. As I take every opportunity to seek You today. In Jesus Name. Amen.

So Will I

So Will I

by | Mar 8, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapour of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship, so will I”

               So Will I (100 billion x), Hillsong

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

               Psalm 96:11-13:

I remember watching a documentary on television years ago. It had a very famous host who would go around to universities talking about the wonders of the natural world – its flora and fauna – and how beautiful and intricately put together nature is. I remember being confused when he claimed to be an atheist.

I thought to myself – this is impossible!

And this confusion has continued.

It has bothered me for a very long time. How can you look around you at the vast beauty of creation and yet deny the existence of the Creator? 

As a child I tried to count the stars, laying in our backyard and staring up at the sky.

In ages gone past people worshipped the heavens. They fed their children to rivers and volcanoes. They bowed down before rocks and trees.

And there are many still today who are involved in these kinds of pagan belief systems.

Just as we have a multitude of people who look at creation and are too blind to look beyond – blinded by the arrogant belief that they are the be all and end all of their own story – there are those who look at creation and recognize a sort of divinity in it – the divine spark of the One who spoke and brought it all into being.

You see, the fingerprint of God is upon His work.

We were created to worship. 

But often we are confused. 

We worship creation instead of worshipping with creation.

In the Psalms especially we see this idea of nature created as a testimony to the glory of God – all of creation points towards the Creator. (EG. Psalms 148, 104, 19, 8, 96). 

Are there situations in our lives where we have created idols out of creation instead of looking to the Creator?

Have we created idols out of things, people and places? Our work? Our ministry? Our hobbies? Our relationships? 

Some of us look at the creation around us and fall in love with some aspect thereof. Like our forefathers who found joy in the moon and worshipped her for her beauty, or saw the lightning and bowed down in awe and trembling – we bow down to the things we love and fear.

Others still are like the documentarian I mentioned in the first few sentences of this devotional. Some of us have created idols out of ourselves.

The knowledge that we are meant to worship is built into us – into the very core of human nature. We cannot escape it, just as we cannot be rid of our need for food and drink – it is as natural to us as eating and drinking, maybe even breathing. We all worship something.

Paul writes in his second epistle to the Corinthians: 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor 4:4).

The god of this age – the adversary, Satan – has blinded the minds of unbelievers and often even good Christian folk, tricked us into either mistaking the fingerprint of God on creation as random chance or even into missing it all together.

Jesus, again and again, points us to nature to explain the Kingdom. From the mustard seed to the vine and the lily. He shows us in His parables that there is much to learn  from observing the natural world around us – not just about the thing itself – but about the underlying reality of God and His Kingdom. Jesus shows us, gives us a look behind the curtain, in the hopes that we will see God’s fingerprints in everything around us.

The Psalmists and the Prophets also try to teach us to see God in the everyday – to see His majesty in the mundane. 

All of creation was created to point us towards the Creator. So that we may revel in the beauty of the works of His hands. 

That we may consider the lily and the sparrow and become aware of His nature – so that we may become aware and familiar with His nature through observing nature around us.

Colossians 1:15-17:

“15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. “

We too were created to point others towards the Creator. We too have been made to worship.

For from Him, through Him and for Him are all things. (Romans 11:36, Revelation 4).

The stars were made to worship – and boy do they worship – shining so bright in the depths of the night, ascribing beauty and splendor and glory to God!

The stars were made to worship. So will I.

Prayer: Lord, today help me see Your fingerprints all around me. Help me see Your mark on the things You have made. And as I consider the natural world around me – the beauty, the splendor, the grace and strength – the majesty hidden in the mundane – let me ascribe all honor and glory to You. As I look up at the clouds, at the stars, at the beauty that surrounds me – let it be a call to worship You. Help me see You in others Lord. Help me see You in me and in the smaller details of my life. Let the scales fall from my eyes and let me see You everywhere I look. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Back to Life

Back to Life

by | Mar 8, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“No longer I who live, but Christ in me
For I’ve been born again, my heart is free
The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind
Hallelujah, You brought me back to life”

                        Back to Life, Zahriya Zachary

“20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

                        Galatians 2:20:


‘Back to Life’ by Bethel is one of Kailie’s favourite songs. I often hear her singing in the kitchen, or while doing the laundry, or just walking down the hall: “Just like Lazarus, You brought me back to life!”

And it is one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. Not only because it is the sweet songbird voice of my wife, but because of the content itself – HE BRINGS US BACK TO LIFE.

I was very much dead but Jesus brought me back to life.

Christianity is not so much about the handing out of an ultimatum. I’ve been involved with evangelism for a very long time, and one of the most frequent objections I’ve heard is in regards to the sort of ‘turn or burn’ preaching that happens at some of these events. 

“How can a loving God be so cruel? Why would a God that is so full of love and compassion judge and condemn the sinner? It seems unfair to say “choose Me or go to hell…”

This is the fruit of us preaching ultimatums. 

I unashamedly preach repentance and holiness – heaven and hell – I unashamedly preach fire and brimstone, but at no point do I believe that God is issuing threats or ultimatums. 

We are already dead. We are, in a lot of ways, already in hell.

Jesus does not offer us the opportunity to choose where we go next – as if this life is some sort of neutral ground – He does not offer an ultimatum. Instead Jesus offers, through His sacrifice upon the Cross, a solution. He offers us a way out of our current situation.

Jesus very much is the Right Hand of God reaching out to pull us up and out of the grave and into newness and freshness of life. 

A victorious life where we do not have to be ruled by sin and fear – but where we can prosper as children of our Father who loves us.

In the story of Lazarus his sisters were discouraged when Jesus did not come immediately. They call on Jesus when their brother falls ill, but He knows and tells His disciples: “This sickness will not end in death.”

Two things come to mind. Some of us are Mary’s and Matha’s and we have been praying – calling on Jesus – in regards to our family or our friends that they might encounter Him and be set free. We have been making intercession for a sibling, a parent, a spouse, maybe our children – and we have become discouraged. Why isn’t He showing up?

Don’t stop praying, and don’t stop loving!

A friend’s mother told me how she had prayed, sometimes through the night, for her son to be saved. He was a drug addict. Her pillow would sometimes be soaked with tears as she cried out to the Lord. 

Today he helps many drug addicts break free and recover from the chains of addiction. 

It took more than a decade – but at the right time God stepped in. And when she tells the story you can’t help but marvel at the goodness of God – when you hear his side of things it becomes even more of a miracle.

Some of us are a little bit more like Lazarus. I was a Lazarus.

I was dead. All seemed lost. It had reached a point where I felt it was too late for me. 

Hope had run out.

I was suicidal, I had no will to live. I knew I had strayed from the path God had had in mind for me and could see no way back. All I had was darkness eating away at my heart and soul. 

The enemy thought he had me… but Jesus said: “YOU ARE MINE!”

And the moment I realised that, the moment I truly encountered the boundless, unconditional love and resurrection power of Jesus my whole life changed.

He called me out of that grave. And I have never looked back. I stepped from death to life. From the darkness I stepped into the light of His grace and mercy. I stepped from chaos into His peace. 

God does not give us ultimatums – He offers us a solution. He offers us salvation.

It’s not about choosing where we go when this life is over – rather it is about staying where we are, dead and hopeless, or taking His hand and coming out of the grave.

I chose to take His hand and come out of the grave. And in doing so I chose to serve Him. To live a life worthy of the Life He Gave. I serve Him by becoming the echo of His call to me – “Lazarus! Come out of that grave!” 

Prayer: Today, Lord, I choose life. I choose to hear Your voice calling out to me. I will get up and step out of death and into life. Lord, forgive me, come and cleanse me – come and make me clean. I throw myself upon Your mercy and ask that You might drench me to the bone in Your love and clothe my nakedness with You grace. And as I renounce the things that have kept me separated from You, oh Lord, draw near to me. Come alive in me so that I, like Paul, might be able to say “It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me.” Let everyone I encounter and interact with today see You, feel You and hear You as I become an echo of Your call to me. Let others come to Christ through my coming to Christ. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Highlands: Worship Devotional

Highlands: Worship Devotional

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“In the highlands and the heartache
You’re neither more or less inclined
I would search and stop at nothing
You’re just not that hard to find…”
Highlands: Song of Ascents, Hillsong

”7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

                                     James 4:7-10:

Over and over we hear this promise in the Bible – scattered throughout scripture – and apt in every season: IF YOU SEEK ME YOU SHALL FIND ME.

It is easy for us to think of God as a ‘far-away’ God – like a Wizard of Oz type character sitting behind a curtain pulling levers and pushing buttons. I mean, for much of the Old Testament that is exactly what Israel understood – that God was behind the curtain.

Inaccessible to us. Off limits.

But the reality is that God is the God of nearby and all-around.

We see Him revealed in Creation all around us. Richard Rohr goes as far as to call Creation the first incarnation – God revealing Himself to us in a physical form. We see God in the strength of the mountains, the roar of the ocean and the splendour of the lilies.

We hear His praise in the singing of the trees of the forest and the whisper of the wind. (Psalm 96).

He is all around us – if only we were to open our eyes and look. If only we were to listen. If only we were to consider the lilies.

The reality is that God is the God of nearby and all-around.

His desire from the very beginning has been to dwell in our midst – to walk with us in the Garden, to be a part of our lives.

We see this over and over again in Scripture. This pattern – but for some reason humanity struggles to grasp it. We struggle to take a hold of it.

God wants to be God on the mountain and in the valley. He wants to sit with you under the fig tree and walk with you on the water.

God wants to be involved in the everyday nitty gritty of our lives. He wants to saturate and soak every fiber of our being, our coming and our going with His presence. His blueprint is and has always been relationship.

As humans we have a built in need for relationship. We are made in the image of our Father – He longs for relationship with us.

But every relationship is a two-way street.

In the story of the Prodigal Son we see that when the son once lost returned home his Father was waiting. Standing there – looking out.

The Father is waiting for His children to come home. He is already there. It is time that we show up.

God is not a God of far away. He is not an absent Father. He is the God of nearby and all around.

We are the ones who are far away. We distance ourselves from God.

It is time that we come home. It is time that we show up.

And it starts with us today resolving to do so. It starts with that decision to seek the Lord. It starts with taking the first step out of our situation of separation towards God.

“If you seek Me you will find me.” (Deut. 4:29, Jer 29:13, Matt 7:7, Isa 55:6-7).

The Lord calls us to desire relationship with Him and pursue it. He says: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

The irony is that the moment we become willing to climb every mountain and ford every stream – the moment we become willing to cross every river – the moment we become willing to step out of our boat to find Him, taking that first step of faith – we will find that He has been right in front of us all along.

Prayer: Lord, as I draw near in my brokenness today, draw near to me with Your wholeness. As I draw near in my mourning, Lord, draw near with Your joy. As I draw near, imperfect and hungry, come and flood me with Your perfect love. I repent today and renounce the things that have kept me distant from You. Through Your Holy Spirit, Lord, draw me deeper into Your Word. Call me to prayer. Set a fire here in my soul. Awaken a hunger that cannot be satisfied – a longing after You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Indescribable: Worship Devotional

Indescribable: Worship Devotional

by | Mar 5, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God” 

                               Indescribable, Chris Tomlin

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
    with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.

                               Job 38:1-3:  

Much of the Old Testament is about wrestling with God. It is about the struggle of getting to grips with and trying to understand God.

I often tell people that doubt is not the opposite or the absence of faith. Moses had his doubts, so did Jeremiah – Joshua had so much doubt that God had to tell him 3 times in the span of just 4 verses to be strong and courageous. 

Doubt is not the same as unbelief. When we doubt we are engaging in a questioning of our faith – and this can often lead us deeper into the heart of God. Doubt becomes a lens through which we often go searching for God. 

It is when we leave our doubts unaddressed and let them fester that it becomes unbelief.

J.D. Greear said the following: ‘Faith is not the absence of doubt; it is continuing to follow Jesus in the midst of doubt.’

Having questions and having doubts is a thing we all have to contend with. But faith means enduring, pushing through and taking those doubts to God.

In the book of Job we see a man going through some very real ‘stuff’. 

Job is described as a Godly man – a man of faith and justice. A good man. 

In fact, he is such a good man that the devil challenges God in regards to the purity of his faith. “Job only trusts You and worships You because You have favoured him.”

God permits Satan to tempt Job – and so his tribulations start. Job loses his wealth, his family and his health – he loses everything. Even his wife tries to convince him to denounce God – to give up and die. Job refuses and endures.

Poetically Job’s questioning of his life and faith are expressed. His doubts and concerns speak loud. So loud that God challenges Job.

God asks Job in chapter 38:4-7:

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?”

God continues to question Job – and this goes on for quite a few chapters. Hard questions. Questions with answers that only God has.

In all of this Job is confronted with his own lack of understanding – the constraints of his own wisdom and knowledge – but also comforted by the revelation of God’s limitlessness and infinite power.

God tells Job – just like He told Joshua – to be strong. There is a caveat to this though – we can only be strong in Him.

I’ve gone through situations where I couldn’t share what I was going through. I didn’t know where to begin to tell what was wrong, I was unable to put it into words, and even if I had the words my courage would fail me and I would stay silent. 

Sometimes our troubles, our trials and our tribulations are too big for us to even describe. They seem gigantic – like a Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) or a Leviathan (41:1-11) – but God…

God pierces the nose of Behemoth and makes it a pet, and pulls Leviathan out with a fishhook and makes it beg for mercy.

Job accepts his own lack of understanding – he takes his doubts and gives them to God.

And in doing that God answers. 

The Pharisees in the New Testament had ‘no doubts’. They believed they had God figured out. 

Those who didn’t have it all figured out found Jesus. 

It’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out today. It’s okay to have doubts, fear and uncertainties – in fact, as the book of Job demonstrates – actually, as much of the Old Testament demonstrates – God welcomes those who have questions. 

Because the answer is always God.

Share your doubts and questions with mature Christians, trusted elders and servant-leaders – and it will become the path towards growth and maturity in your own faith. 

Share your doubts with God. 

I’ve gone through situations where I would lay awake at night crying “why God?” 

And He always answered.

He will always answer.

The God who hung every star in the sky – who knows each one by name – knows YOU by name.

He sees you. 

He knows you.

He loves you.

Ask today and He will answer.

Job called out. He asked. God answered – God restored.

He will do the same for you.

Prayer: Lord, today I come with all of my questions, my doubts, my fears and insecurities – the things that I struggle to put into words, those niggly things that gnaw away at my resolve to follow you – and I lay them all down. I lay them down at Your feet. I might not know what to do next, I might not know where to go – and in those moments I will choose to go to You. When I don’t understand the things I am going through I will trust in the fact that You do. I will come to You with my questions and believe that You will answer. Give me the strength to endure and the patience to wait upon Your Word. Let my doubts and fears becoming stepping stones towards a deeper faith in You. Give me peace in the midst of my storm. And when I look up at the stars in the night sky, Lord, remind me of Your great love for me. In Jesus name. Amen.