More & More Devotionals

Our devotion this week comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was written and provided by Elevation Church. We’ll spend some time this week in a few songs written by Elevation, and looking at the Scripture background of these songs.

Yours

Take a moment and look up Yours by Elevation Worship on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube. Listen the whole way through, and then continue reading below.

“Glory and praise
Power and strength
Worthy is the Lamb of God
Hallelujah.”

One of the greatest purposes of our worship is re-orientation. As we go about our day and fulfill our earthly duties, it’s easy to overlook our heavenly ones. Since the moment sin entered creation, our natural bend hasn’t been upward; it’s been inward. And as a natural result, we tend to fix our eyes not on where our help comes from, but on where our problems come from.

Worship has the power to change that. It can take your eyes off the petty and, within a matter of minutes, change your perspective and provide a window through which to see God’s ability, God’s power, and God’s provision.

That’s why when we use our voices in worship to declare God’s promises and ascribe to Him His glory — we’re not performing, we’re practicing. It’s an intentional effort to make our lives about more than ourselves.

Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God, was slain not so we could live a life based on our preferences, but so we could live a life built upon His promises.

Read Revelation 5:12.

¹² In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

Whatever you might be going through right now, remember the power of your worship. Allow it to shift your perspective and remind you that there is only one who belongs on the throne — and it isn’t us.

Our devotion this week comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was written and provided by Elevation Church. We’ll spend some time this week in a few songs written by Elevation, and looking at the Scripture background of these songs.

Do It Again – Part 2

Take a moment and look up Do It Again by Elevation Worship on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube. Listen the whole way through, and then continue reading below.

“I’ve seen you move
You move the mountains
And I believe
I’ll see you do it again.”

As Joshua rounded the walls for the seventh time on the seventh day, it’s hard to imagine the nervousness he felt — and perhaps even the confusion. He had spent seven days following instructions that involved walking around a city wall leading an entire nation of people. And if that wasn’t enough, the final instructions for obtaining victory was for his people to blow trumpets and give a loud shout.

Why did they have to walk around a city wall? Why seven laps? Why seven days? And how was shouting supposed to cause a structurally sound wall to collapse?

A lot of it didn’t make sense, but when it comes to faith — that isn’t that unusual. In fact, rarely do the instructions of faith make sense.

Faith will tell you to have patience when everything else is telling you to panic.

Faith will tell you to hold on when everything else is telling you to let go.

Faith will tell you to push forward when everything else is telling you to pull back.

Read Joshua 6:15-20.

¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostituteand all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
²⁰ When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

You may not be facing a monstrous wall like Joshua was, but you are facing something. And even if the way forward doesn’t make sense, the good news is it doesn’t have to.

Having faith isn’t about making sense; it’s about making your heart open and available to the voice of God.

Our devotion this week comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was written and provided by Elevation Church. We’ll spend some time this week in a few songs written by Elevation, and looking at the Scripture background of these songs.

Do It Again – Part 1

Take a moment and look up Do It Again by Elevation Worship on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube. Listen the whole way through, and then continue reading below.

“Walking around these walls
I thought by now they’d fall
But you have never failed me yet
Waiting for change to come
Knowing the battle’s won
For you have never failed me yet.”

Born in Egypt as a slave and then chosen as the assistant and successor to Moses, Joshua would’ve had a front row seat to all the miracles God performed during the Exodus. The Red Sea parting, manna falling from Heaven, water pouring from a rock — Joshua had seen his fair share of God doing the seemingly impossible. But just as time can prove God’s faithfulness, it can also put your faith to the test.

Joshua had witnessed Moses’ obedience over and over again, but as he faced the impenetrable walls of Jericho, this time the obedience was up to him. Joshua was instructed by God to lead his people around the city for seven days. This meant he had to lay his head down six nights in a row with the realization that the walls he had been walking around still stood tall and strong.

There aren’t many details recorded of what went through Joshua’s mind during those seven days, but what is recorded is his steadfast obedience. Surely he fought doubt, but with each day that passed Joshua continued to lead his people around a wall that showed no evidence of falling.

Read Joshua 6:2-5.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

Like Joshua, will you keep walking even though it doesn’t seem to be working? Will you keep believing that God is moving even when the wall isn’t?

Time may be putting your faith to the test, but don’t focus on what hasn’t happened — focus on what has happened. If you’ve seen God do it before, He can do it again. Obedience is your responsibility; the outcome is God’s.

Our devotion this week comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was written and provided by Elevation Church. We’ll spend some time this week in a few songs written by Elevation, and looking at the Scripture background of these songs.

Fullness – Part 2

Take a moment and look up Fullness by Elevation Worship on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube. Listen the whole way through, and then continue reading below.

“Now the world awaits your presence
And this power is within us
We will rise to be your witness
Spirit come, Spirit come.”

The events in Acts 2 signify a moment that would forever change the life of Jesus’ followers and their mission on this earth. The promised Holy Spirit had come and a supernatural filling had occurred. In a moment, the supernatural interrupted the natural and they began speaking in other languages to the amazement of all who witnessed.

This filling was the presence of God making its home in the believers. But it wasn’t just God’s presence that made its home in them, it was also His power. And it’s this power that Jesus referred to as He prepared to ascend to Heaven and tasked them with spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

This was no simple mission. In fact, it was impossible naturally speaking. Facing intense persecution, God’s Word and God’s love were the only two weapons they were given. But in spite of all the odds, the Gospel spread and followers of Christ were multiplied.

Thousands of years later, we’re still witnessing this multiplication. But we’re not invited to just witness it; we’re invited to participate in it. As a believer in Christ, you’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, not as an accessory or add-on, but as the operating system for your life.

Read Acts 2:2-4.

² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

As you begin today, remind yourself of this fact: You’re not alone. God’s presence is with you and so is His power.