A Song in Your Heart

A Song in Your Heart

READ: 1 CHRONICLES 16:31-33; PSALM 59:16; ISAIAH 49:13 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20CHRONICLES%2016%3A31-33%3B%20PSALM%2059%3A16%3B%20ISAIAH%2049%3A13&version=CSB] Today may be a day you woke up and looked out at the world around you and wanted no more of it. Life could feel crushing, unfair, as though it’s falling apart. You may think you’re completely alone. But take heart, you’re not alone. People may have failed you, or they may not know how to give you what you need, but God has given you a song. He has given all of His creation a song of hope, even the trees, the hills, and the mountains. In fact, the Bible uses the word sing over four hundred times—and God commands us to sing. Why? Because once you’re in Christ, then even in your darkest moments…deep, deep inside of you a song waits for you to give it life. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a good voice or if you don’t know what to sing. You can go to God’s Word and find truths to sing—the deep truths of the good news of Jesus. Run to Him, the one who is true, who gives freedom and restoration from sin and death. If your faith is in Him, He has given you a song of salvation that He sang over you first…and sings over you even now. So, like a crumbling dam, let the words break you open, fall from your mouth like a river, spill the emotions in a rush. Cry. Scream. But sing. As you do, you will find that joy goes hand-in-hand with the song of salvation. In Psalm 59:16, God is called a stronghold. Singing your song to God, you are surrounded with comfort, peace, and joy. He is your fortress (Psalm 91:2). Song reminds your soul that you belong to God—that you are loved, special, chosen (Psalms 42:5, 11; 103:1-2, 22). The only one who knows your heart better than you do, is God. He knows your pain, your fears, your hopelessness. He wants to carry it all for you. So raise your voice in song, child of God! He will give you the words to sing as He completes the work of restoration He has already begun in you (Philippians 1:6). • Sara DeBord • If God has given the trees, hills, and mountains a song, how much more will He provide us—His children—with a song to sing! Why is the song of God’s people (and of creation) rooted in salvation through Jesus? • If you want to dig deeper, read Psalms 65:13; 96:12; 98:7-8; 118:14; 147:1; Isaiah 55:12; Zephaniah 3:17; John 14:6; Acts 4:11-12; Romans 1:16; 8:18-30; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 1 John 4:19. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and they will trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3 (CSB)

What Is Communion?

READ: EXODUS 12:17; 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26; REVELATION 19:6-9 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20EXODUS%2012%3A17%3B%201%20CORINTHIANS%2011%3A23-26%3B%20REVELATION%2019%3A6-9%20&version=NLT] Communion (also called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist) is deeply meaningful for Christians. This simple act of eating bread and drinking wine or juice reminds us of how God loves us so much that He has worked over and over again to bring us to Himself. And in Communion, we anticipate how that work will ultimately be fulfilled when Jesus returns. Communion points us back to Passover (Exodus 12). During the first Passover thousands of years ago, God freed His people from slavery in Egypt, leading them out to the desert where they could worship Him. Through His miracles, He brought them to Himself, and He established Passover to be a yearly reminder of their freedom. Then, in the Gospels, the disciples were celebrating that freedom with Jesus during Passover when He established the first Communion on the night before He went to the cross (Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:1-20). Much like Passover, Communion reminds us of the freedom we have in Jesus. It points us back to the day Jesus took our sins upon Himself, was crucified on the cross to take the Father’s just wrath against sin, and rose from the dead, securing our resurrection when He returns. He did all of this because God wanted to remove the barrier between us and Him—our sin. Communion reminds us that we are no longer defined by our sins—we are defined by Jesus, our Savior who has forgiven us. And because we are in Jesus, we get to dwell with God forever. As believers, we can know Jesus is with us, right now, through the Holy Spirit. At the same time, Jesus reigns on the throne in heaven, but His kingdom is not yet here in all its fullness. When we take Communion, we look forward to the day He will return to resurrect us from the dead. On that day, we will sit around the table with Him, feasting at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, fully enjoying the presence of God and all His forgiven people for all eternity. And that, my friends, is true communion. • Taylor Eising • Why do we need regular reminders about who Jesus is and what He has done for us? What happens when we forget these truths? And how does God show us mercy when we do forget? • Different churches practice Communion in different ways, and that’s okay! What questions do you have about how your church practices Communion and why? Who is a trusted Christian in your life you can talk to about these questions? They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. Acts 2:46 (NLT)

Pure Milk

READ: PSALM 119:97-104; JOHN 1:1-5; 20:31; 1 PETER 2:2-3 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=PSALM%20119%3A97-104%3B%20JOHN%201%3A1-5%3B%2020%3A31%3B%201%20PETER%202%3A2-3&version=CSB] I love milk. A tall, cold glass of milk when I’m thirsty…a bowl of cereal…ice cream, cheese, yogurt. I’m in love with all of it. So I thought I understood 1 Peter 2:2: “Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation.” I wanted to love God’s Word as much as I love milk. But recently I had a baby, and I realized I didn’t understand anything about loving milk. This girl longs for pure milk. It’s the only thing she consumes. It provides all the nutrients she needs, and she desires it very strongly. She drinks milk about six times a day, and when she starts to get hungry, everyone knows. Her cute little face scrunches up and she screams until she’s bright red. When she’s really hungry, there’s almost no way to stop her crying other than to give her milk. She needs it to live, and when she feels the pain of hunger, she knows she must have it! Once she starts drinking her milk, all of her focus is on that task. If I interrupt her for any reason, including to make dinner, she instantly cries out again. When she’s done drinking, she leans back, closes her eyes, and rests. She’s totally satisfied. God’s Word (a term used for the Bible and for Jesus Himself) gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Through the Bible we learn the story of Jesus! I know His Word is valuable, but watching my daughter I wonder, “Do I really desire God’s Word like a newborn baby? May we be as hungry for God’s Word as my daughter is for milk. And when we get it, may we find ourselves satisfied. • Amy Glendinning • What do you love about God’s Word? • Newborn babies are designed to cry out insistently for what they need from their parents. As God’s children, we are designed to cry out to Him for all our needs. He is always attentive to our cries, and He wants to give us satisfaction in His life-giving presence. How could remembering that God is a loving Father help us cry out to Him? What do you need today? (Matthew 7:9-11) Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation. 1 Peter 2:2 (CSB)

Hamster Wheel Grind

READ: MATTHEW 6:9-13; 28:19-20; ROMANS 12:2; 1 JOHN 2:17 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%206%3A9-13%3B%2028%3A19-20%3B%20ROMANS%2012%3A2%3B%201%20JOHN%202%3A17&version=NIV] Rat race. Hamster wheel. Grind. Eat, sleep, work, Repeat. This is on my mind. Lost in the mundane. Stuck in the chaos. A purpose will I find? Empty. Hollow. In frustration, I sigh. Your light. Your leading. Into the daily, it shines. Your will, Your way, My life, forever entwined. It’s easy to get caught up in the relentlessness of the grind. In everyday life, all the stress and minutia can make us lose sight of a more eternal purpose. “Soccer practice! Homework! Mom’s yelling! Should I go to college?! Why are my friends acting weird?!” In the midst of all this, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). As God the Son, He came into our broken world—experiencing the same difficult, mundane, painful things we do—so we could “have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Jesus empathizes with our struggles, and He died and rose again so we could be in relationship with the God of the universe, which is what we were made for! Once we know Jesus, God our Father invites us to be part of His good kingdom work (Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:9; 2:10; Philippians 2:13). As we walk with Him through the everyday, we can rest in His love and hold on to His eternal purpose, continuing to pray in the words of our Savior, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10; 26:39). • Dominique E. Miller • In what ways has your life felt hollow? How does Jesus free us from chasing after the things the world prioritizes? What are we free to pursue instead? (Matthew 6:25-34; 11:28-30) [Jesus said,] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

Following the One Who Heals

READ: JOHN 5:1-11; ACTS 5:29 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%205%3A1-11%3B%20ACTS%205%3A29&version=NIV] “Stop. You can’t do that.” “Don’t do that, you’re embarrassing yourself.” “Come on, it’ll be fine.” We’ve all heard messages like these at some point. The people around us often have an idea of how they think we should be living. So who should we listen to? In John 5, Jesus takes the time to heal a man who was unable to walk. After giving the man the ability to get up, Jesus tells him to take his mat and go. The man stands up with his mat but is immediately met by those who accuse him of doing wrong. They tell him that he shouldn’t be carrying his mat on the Sabbath. What does the man do? Does he drop his mat and apologize? The man responds to his accusers by letting them know that he is going to listen to the one who healed him, rather than to them. God has done so much for us. Will we listen to Him or those around us? Will we listen to the one who healed us, who died for us, who has promised us eternal life? Or will we listen to those who tell us we need to act a certain way, do what the crowd is doing, or live a life free of embarrassment? May we all live like the man with the mat, listening first and foremost to the one who can heal, the one who has saved us. • Emily Acker • When someone tells you that you should be living a certain way—whether it’s a person you know, a speaker, an author, or someone online—how does it make you feel? • When we’re feeling pressured to do things we know aren’t good—whether that pressure is coming from Christians or non-Christians—Jesus invites us to come to Him for help. How might remembering that He loves us, more than anyone else ever could, help us follow Him? • Jesus calls us to listen to Him first and foremost, and yet one of the ways He often guides us and helps us grow is through advice from trustworthy people. In addition to talking to Jesus, who are trusted Christian friends and mentors you could talk to—people who can listen with compassion, offer wisdom and encouragement and prayer, and potentially help you get out of tricky situations? • If you want to dig deeper, read Proverbs 1:5; 9:9; 12:15; 15:31; Matthew 11:25–12:28; 17:1-9; Acts 3–5; James 1:19-27; 3:13-18. But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” John 5:11 (NIV)