Psalm 71

My dear friends,

When were you last awakened by our God and found alive in His presence?

I have been burdened to pen my deep devotion with my God to you, so that you too can be awakened and found alive in His presence all the time. As I turned a year older this past summer, for the first time in my life I would say that I realized that I'm getting very old, my bones were achy, my body felt my age and the reality of being with the Lord forever has been on my mind.

As always, as I come before Him daily, one of the things my Lord reminds me of is what He has done for me because I easily forget. One of the events that He reminded me of is that which happened to me in 2007, when I woke up after my second sinus surgery to remove a benign tumor that had grown back. I remember vividly my very first words I uttered from my lips when I opened my eyes in the recovery bed. It was "Lord, until my last breath on this earth, I will give praises to Your Name". This reminder drew me to Psalm 71 and my soul utters and prays to my Lord the Words found in Psalm 71.

When I'm awakened by Him in bed or during the day, the very first words my soul utters to my God is "You are still with me".

What promises have you or will you uttered to our God until your last breath on this earth? What are the very first words you utter to our Lord when you are awakened by Him?

Spend time in Psalm 71 and join me in praising our Lord God, this is my prayer:

O Lord, You are my God! I wake up each morning to find You first, and You are still with me. When You awake me, I'm still with You. What is in Your heart concerning me? Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high and I cannot attain it. How can I stop praising You, when I know who You are? How Great are You, O Lord my God!

You are in Good Hands,

David Cannon

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Psalm 71

New King James Version (NKJV)

God the Rock of Salvation

¹ In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
² Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
³ Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
⁵ For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.
⁶ By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

⁷ I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
⁸ Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.

⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
¹¹ Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

¹² O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me! ¹³ Let them be confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.

¹⁴ But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
¹⁶ I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

¹⁷ O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
¹⁸ Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.

¹⁹ Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?
²⁰ You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
²¹ You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.

²² Also with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴ My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.

Man's All

Please keep the following Word deeply rooted in your heart so that you will be ready to remember, meditate and observe:

Ecclesiastes 12:12-14 (New King James Version)

12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

1 John 5:1-3 (New King James Version)

1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

God bless,

David

Psalm 27

My dear friends,

What is your greatest daily desire for your life? Are you daily seeking the face of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Is being in God's presence your greatest desire?

I have been meditating on Psalm 27 for sometime (it is now part of my prayer life). After meditating and observing this Psalm, my Lord brought back many memories of my initial personal relationship with Him today. My prayer used to be on Jeremiah 29:12-14 "you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD". I have found Him! He is true to His Word. I'm constantly reminded by His presence that He never fails. I tell my God, When have you failed me, O God? I can search and search eternity over and over again, and find that You have not failed me, O God, but I have failed You. How can You stop me from praising You when I know who You are, O Lord my God!

When you have time, will you please meditate and observe Psalm 27 daily for the next week, and allow Him to speak to you.

You are in Good Hand,

David

Psalm 27 (New King James Version)

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
² When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I 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 inquire in His temple.
⁵ For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Mark 6:31-52

Hi Prayer Warriors,

I have have been meditating and observing Mark 6:31-52 daily for about one week. I don't know how to describe the state of my heart after reading His Word, but in short, I'm rebuked by Mark 6:51-52 verse because I'm like the disciples have hardened (insensitive or unyielding) my heart towards God in many areas of my life. I'm spiritually blind in many areas of my life because of my hardened heart. I'm always trying to perceive with natural senses instead of perceiving spiritually the supernatural work and power of God that He has done and continues to do.

The good news is that He is continuing to work in my life and comforming me to the image of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Will you imitate me when it comes to daily walking and communing with our Lord? Will you meditate and observe on Mark 6:31-52 daily for the next week (or months), and allow Him to speak to you?

You are in Good Hands,

David

Humbled

My dear Christian friends,

Do you have a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth? If yes, what is He speaking to you today?

Two weeks before my first child was born, my wife who had been in hospital on bed rest for 10 weeks due to pre-term labor, was miraculously able to go home still pregnant. That day God spoke to the both of us through Deuteronomy 8, and I was humbled and rebuked by my Lord, even to this day.

As always, it is the Lord my God who is raising me, and He always keeps His Word and promises to me. All He want me to do is to trust Him and wait on Him because He never fails. I'm told to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of my Lord, He showed me what was in my heart and whether I kept His Word during the entire time. I confess to you there were times I didn't trust God or my heart was away from my Lord trying to do things using my own understanding (which was/is ultimately worthless).

As I'm growing in the Lord with you, I realize that His Word such as "remember the LORD your God", "do not forget the LORD your God", and "keep the commandments of the LORD your God" are worthless in my life if they are simply for my intellect and acquiring knowledge -- His Word should bring transformation and change in behaviour within me when I observe and obey His Word.

When you have time, please meditate and observe on Deuteronomy 8, and allow Him to speak to you.

God bless,

David Cannon

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Deuteronomy 8 (New King James Version)

1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to

observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the

land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember

that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the

wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your

heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled

you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not

know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man

shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that

proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your garments did not wear out

on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know

in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God

chastens you.

6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to

walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing

you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and

springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and

barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil

and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in

which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of

whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full,

then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has

given you.

11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His

commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you

today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built

beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your

flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all

that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you

forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and

terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and

thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out

of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which

your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might

test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart,

‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives

you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He

swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you

by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and

serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you

shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before

you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the

voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 8 and Luke 12

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been speaking to me through His Word Deuteronomy 8 for some time and recently through Luke 12. As always, He needs me to carefully observe all His Word. I know that He is waiting to speak to you through His Word Deuteronomy 8 and Luke 12. When you have time, please meditate and observe Deuteronomy 8 and Luke 12, and allow Him to speak to you.

God bless,

David

Luke 12:28-31

²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Genesis 39

My dear friends,

Do others (or your bosses) see the difference our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ makes in your life by the work you do? Do others see that our Lord is with you?

Please meditate on Genesis 39 and allow Him to speak to you.

I'm constantly drawn to Genesis 39. Why? Because He reminds me that if I claim that I know Him and if I claim that He is in me, then I must really know and fear Him for who He is, and as a result it should be easier for me to obey Him all the time.

God bless,

David Cannon

Genesis 39 (New King James Version)

¹ Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ² The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

¹⁰ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹² that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.