The Living Word
A devotional by Glynis Becker
“The Law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.”
–Psalm 37:31 (NASB)
In lieu of resolutions, many people choose a word or phrase to live into for the coming year.
In late 2019, I bought a planner, hoping it would make me more organized—which it did not—but it encouraged prayerfully choosing a scripture verse to use for the year.
I’m embarrassed that I had never thought of that myself, so I chose Psalm 23. It was a perfect choice for a year of sorrow. In 2021, I felt like I needed hope, so I chose Psalm 27:13 (NASB), “I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Keeping that verse in mind during the challenges of last year was so much better than if I had chosen a random, inspirational word from the English dictionary. This was the Living Word.
As Christians, we believe in the power of God’s Word to guide, heal, transform, and carry us through both the hardships and joys we face. I’ve decided this year not to focus on one verse, but to memorize all fourteen verses of Psalm 27.
I’ve highlighted a few pieces of wisdom from this chapter and what they mean to me right now. All verses are from the New American Standard (NASB) translation.
Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?” What a beautiful reminder that God is with me here on my journey! He is my Light. Why do I spend so much time worrying about everything? God is ahead, beside, and behind me. I have nothing to fear.
Psalm 27:3 says, “If an army encamps against me, my heart will not fear; If war arises against me, in spite of this I am confident.” While David, who wrote this psalm, was a king and military leader who probably had a lot more control over war and politics than I do, he was confident that God would protect him, if not physically, then spiritually. I can have the same confidence in my place in the chaos around me because He is the same God He always was.
Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Every day I choose to decide that dwelling in the Lord’s presence is what I want more than anything else. Once that happens, the rest of my day–and year and life–will fall into place.
Psalm 27:10 says, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.” No mortal has the ability to be there for us like God can. While we need to love each other and be there for each other while our loved ones are here, we should not put our complete trust and confidence in ourselves or other people. Only the Lord can lift us up.
Psalm 27:11 says, “Teach me Your way, Lord…”. We allow the world, which does not know God, to teach us things that are often the exact opposite of God’s ways. We need to be able to tell the world’s lies from God’s Truth and we can only do that by allowing the Spirit to speak to us, lead us, and direct our path.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage.” This means I should wait in expectation, watching for what the Lord is doing in the world, so I can step in where He asks me to go.
Memorizing Scripture can be hard, but if we can remember TV jingles from our childhood and tons of music lyrics, then we can do this too!
Let’s Pray: Father God, Your Word is life to us. Allow us to soak it in and make it part of us. Let it be in our minds to transform our thoughts and in our mouths to speak truth and love to others. You are the only One who can truly guide us in the way we should go. Thank you. In Jesus’s Name, I pray. Amen.
~*~
Note from Alexis: The message in this devotional by Glynis reminds me of Fred Hammond’s song “You Are the Living Word”. Listen to it here.
~*~
Author Bio:
Glynis Becker writes devotions and inspirational fiction, hoping someday to have a published novel on her resume.
She has co-written several screenplays, including the film Sinking Sand, available on DVD and digital streaming.
Glynis, whose childhood was spent all over the country as an Air Force brat, has called South Dakota home for many years, along with her husband and two college-age children.
When she’s not writing or reading, she is watching more television than she should and crocheting.
~*~
Connect with Glynis:
Website: www.glynisbecker.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckerglynis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlynisBecker7
Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?” What a beautiful reminder that God is with me here on my journey! He is my Light. Why do I spend so much time worrying about everything? God is ahead, beside, and behind me. I have nothing to fear.
Psalm 27:3 says, “If an army encamps against me, my heart will not fear; If war arises against me, in spite of this I am confident.” While David, who wrote this psalm, was a king and military leader who probably had a lot more control over war and politics than I do, he was confident that God would protect him, if not physically, then spiritually. I can have the same confidence in my place in the chaos around me because He is the same God He always was.
Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Every day I choose to decide that dwelling in the Lord’s presence is what I want more than anything else. Once that happens, the rest of my day–and year and life–will fall into place.
Psalm 27:10 says, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.” No mortal has the ability to be there for us like God can. While we need to love each other and be there for each other while our loved ones are here, we should not put our complete trust and confidence in ourselves or other people. Only the Lord can lift us up.
Psalm 27:11 says, “Teach me Your way, Lord…”. We allow the world, which does not know God, to teach us things that are often the exact opposite of God’s ways. We need to be able to tell the world’s lies from God’s Truth and we can only do that by allowing the Spirit to speak to us, lead us, and direct our path.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage.” This means I should wait in expectation, watching for what the Lord is doing in the world, so I can step in where He asks me to go.
Memorizing Scripture can be hard, but if we can remember TV jingles from our childhood and tons of music lyrics, then we can do this too!
Let’s Pray: Father God, Your Word is life to us. Allow us to soak it in and make it part of us. Let it be in our minds to transform our thoughts and in our mouths to speak truth and love to others. You are the only One who can truly guide us in the way we should go. Thank you. In Jesus’s Name, I pray. Amen.
~*~
Note from Alexis: The message in this devotional by Glynis reminds me of Fred Hammond’s song “You Are the Living Word”. Listen to it here.
~*~
Author Bio:
Glynis Becker writes devotions and inspirational fiction, hoping someday to have a published novel on her resume.
Glynis, whose childhood was spent all over the country as an Air Force brat, has called South Dakota home for many years, along with her husband and two college-age children.
When she’s not writing or reading, she is watching more television than she should and crocheting.
~*~
Connect with Glynis:
Website: www.glynisbecker.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckerglynis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlynisBecker7
I'm with you in the Psalms lately -- they seem to fit a lot of our current circumstances and are a great comfort when all around seems to be chaos.
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