THE LORD REIGNS

Today’s Text: Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. (1 Chronicles 16:31)

Today’s Thoughts: If there’s one thing to rejoice and be glad about it’s that our God reigns. Yes Satan causes turmoil in our lives, but even though we chose him as prince of this world when we sinned, God is still in control and has the highest authority. Satan can do nothing without God’s consent. Some people think that because God allows bad things to happen to His people He is not a totally fair and loving God, but knowing that we often still choose Satan as the guiding voice in our lives and sin, all I can say is that I’m thankful that God does not leave us to reap the consequences of choosing Satan as our prince. We should be in a far worse condition, but God intervenes. He loves us. God knows all things; He knows what is best. He will work all things out for good when we trust Him, even though it may not always seem that way to us. God really does care about us.

Today’s Testimony: People often have questions like, “If God is a loving God then why does He allow us to suffer so much?” “Where is God?” “If God is real then why doesn’t He intervene?” People seem to get so confused. I think those people have totally forgotten that Satan is still very much alive and active to hurt us and to turn us away from God. Satan wants God to get the blame for his evil acts, and so many people believe his lie. I wrote this song to try to give a better perspective to the whole topic. But one thing that I know – I’ve seen God’s hand blessing me far too many times to believe that He is not real and does not love me. I know that He is real and loves me – no question about it.

God Is Alive

Why is there so much corruption?
Why is there so much pain?
Why do we death and destruction?
And when we look for the sun, why does it always rain?

Why is there so much beauty?
Why is there so much joy?
Why do we see growth and victory?
And people living by faith that none can ever destroy?

Why so much contrast, when we look at this life?
Why do we see peace mingled with strife?
For the prince of this world, the prince of darkness
Is not left to rain at his will
There’s a God of love, who in the midst of the storm
Can come and simply say, “Peace, be still.”

God is alive and well and He’s reigning on the throne
Tenderly caring for his own
God is alive and well and He’s reigning on the throne
Tenderly caring for his own

Just take a look and you will clearly see
The reason we’re alive today could only be
Because God is real and He loves us with infinite love
He provides for and protects us from His throne up above

God is alive and well and He’s reigning on the throne
Tenderly caring for his own
God is alive and well and He’s reigning on the throne
Tenderly caring for his own

God is alive, O He’s alive
And reigning in love

Today’s Task: As the founder of 3ABN (a Christian satellite broadcasting network), Danny Shelton (This song was inspired by his words), always says, “God is alive and well and on the throne.” – believe it! The Lord is God and He loves us. He will never forsake His people. Trust His goodness and rest in His peace. Ask Him to reign in your life. God is good – always good, and only good! Don’t ever forget that. Praise Him for His love and care right now.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You are good. I thank You that You look after Your people. Please help us to remember that all evil comes from Satan. Help us to remember that we can trust You to work all things out for our good. I thank You that You reign. Please reign in our hearts. I thank You that You love us so much. We love You too. Amen.

GOD WILL GUIDE

Today’s Text: For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. (Psalm 31:3)

Today’s Thoughts: God is our rock and our fortress. We can lean on Him and hide in Him. We have chosen Him as our God and for that reason He will lead us and guide us. Our God is great and every great deed that He does brings honour and glory to His name. God can intervene no matter what our problems are – we can lean on Him, hide in Him and follow Him. We serve a great and loving God!

Today’s Testimony: I’m studying Psychological Counselling. The modules were all pretty straight forward and from the start all I had to decide on was what to choose as my major. Then this year things changed. I have to do a module on African Language and this year they added two pre-requisites that I have to do first. I decided to register for the first pre-requisite for the first semester this year. But there was a mistake and I couldn’t register online for that module, so I left it and took something else instead.
That wasn’t such a big problem, but the bigger problem I had was that the major I had been doing (General Education) had been dropped and I had to select an alternative. I phoned to find out if those who were already doing that as a major could continue and was told that I had to choose something else. I decided to leave it and try a different major and then if that didn’t work I’d phone a bit more. The new major (Public Administration) was definitely not for me. I cannot see myself ever working in that field. On top of the subject not appealing to me, the exam was horrific. I left it all in God’s hands.
This semester I tried registering for the same African Language module I’d battled to register for last time and the registration went through. I didn’t know what to do about my major and was weighing up my options. I decided to email my former General Education lecturer and ask about it, but I couldn’t find the address. Finally the Lord led me to look at the list of subjects for registration. General Education had been placed back!!! I chose my modules and submitted. First my registration was unsuccessful, but then after submitting it for inspection it was successful.
God is so good! He solved all the registration problems and then led me to check the list and to try again to register for the problem modules. God can guide us in any of our problems. He can clear the way, and then He can guide us down the path He cleared. I’ve chosen the Lord as my Guide – have you?

Today’s Task: Ask the Lord to be your Guide – then follow His leading. Trust Him to open doors for you. God knows what you need. Lean on Him; hide in Him and follow Him. God loves you – love Him back!

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You care about us so much. I thank You that You lead and guide us. I thank You that You intervene in our lives. Please help us to trust You more. I thank You that You can clear the way before us and then guide us down that path. We love You and we praise You. Amen.

CLOTHED WITH HUMILITY

Today’s Text: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

Today’s Thoughts: The human heart is proud. We naturally want attention and honour. We want to be important and we often think of ourselves first. But God wants us to think of others before ourselves. He wants us to be humble servants of His who know that we are all that we are only because of Him. We need to always look at ourselves in comparison to our mighty God, not in comparison to those around us. Yet at the same time, we need to see our worth in knowing that that same God values us. But in spite of what God or anyone else thinks of us, may we remain humble and clothed with humility. Let us love others and place them first.

Today’s Testimony: Today I’m going to share another song. This one was written in 2006. Whenever we face the threat of becoming proud we need to run to the Lord and ask Him to humble us. Christ humbled Himself more than we could ever really comprehend when He came to this earth to live and die for us – surely we can follow in His steps even though it be in a far smaller degree.

Lord Humble Me

Lord humble me
Clothe me with humility
Lord change my heart
So that my mind from You won’t depart
Lord may You be able to say I’ve died
To self and my pride
Out of Your love and tender mercy
O Lord humble me

So many times I look at who I am
And feel that on my own I can stand
But then I look again and clearly see
That there is nothing good in me
So when I’m threatened by my pride
I run to my Saviour’s side
And plead with Him earnestly
Asking Him to humble me

Lord humble me
Clothe me with humility
Lord change my heart
So that my mind from You won’t depart
Lord may You be able to say I’ve died
To self and my pride
Out of Your love and tender mercy
O Lord humble me

Today’s Task: Ask the Lord to humble you and keep you humble. Ask Him to clothe you with humility. Ask Him to help you to be a powerful witness for Him through your humble life. Thank the Lord that He was willing to humble himself enough to live and die for you. God values you – praise Him.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You love and care about us so much. I thank You that You humbled Yourself for us. Please help us to become humble servants of Yours. Lord clothe us with humility. Help us to remain humble and show the world a glimpse of the loving God we serve. We love You Lord. Amen.

GOD IS MERCIFUL

Today’s Text: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1)

Today’s Thoughts: In this text David was asking God to have mercy on him. Notice that he did not give anything that he had done as a reason for the Lord to forgive him – he knew that his only hope was God’s loving-kindness and His tender mercies. We never have anything in and of ourselves that enables us to claim God’s mercy, His mercy is free to all who ask for it, and it’s available simply because our God is merciful and loving. We do not deserve His mercy, but He graciously bestows it on us. What would we do without God’s mercy?!

Today’s Testimony: For my first exam for this last semester there were no past-papers available online. We were told which sections to study, and we had the assignment questions as a guide. It was a multiple-choice exam, which is my favourite type of exam, but without the past-papers as a guide it was a bit more complicated to prepare.
On top of that, I had been busy with all sorts of other things and hadn’t devoted sufficient time into studying for that exam. I knew it would be my fault if I didn’t pass, but asked the Lord to forgive me and prayed that He would intervene.
The morning of my exam I read the text I shared today. I asked the Lord to be merciful to me. I felt a sense of peace and trust. I knew I wasn’t totally prepared for the exam, but I knew the Lord could help me. On the way to the exam the Lord and I chatted about the subject of His mercy a little bit more. I knew I didn’t deserve His mercy, but He gave me peace and trust that He would intervene regardless of my failure to thoroughly prepare for the exam.
I went into the exam with an amazing sense of peace which lasted almost the whole two hours. When the last half-hour came around I started panicking that I wouldn’t finish on time. I did finish and still had time to double-check a few of my answers.
God is good! I was sure I’d passed. I did pass – but it’s only because God was merciful to me and also gave me peace. I praise the Lord for His loving-kindness and His tender mercy!

Today’s Task: Praise the Lord that He is merciful, but do not take advantage of His mercy. God’s heart is saddened when we live how we want expecting Him to have mercy on us when we ask Him for it. Live your life for the Lord now. Make the Lord smile. Know that his mercy is available to every repentant sinner. I invite you to turn to Him today and plead for His mercy. We do not deserve it, but we need it and God wants us to have it. God’s mercy is available to you – don’t wait until it’s too late.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You forgive us if we truly repent. I thank You that You have mercy on us when we could never earn or deserve it. I thank You for Your loving-kindness and tender mercy. Lord please help us to turn to You but also to never take advantage of Your mercy. I thank You that You are our God and that we serve a God who cares and is merciful. Lord help us to be merciful to others remembering that You have shown us far more mercy than we could ever give to anyone else. We thank You and we love You Lord. Amen.

GOD KNOWS US INSIDE OUT

Today’s Text: Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. (Psalm 139:2)

Today’s Thoughts: God knows everything about us. He knows our characters, our thoughts, our past, present and future. The blessing in having a God that knows everything about us is that He therefore knows what is best for each of us individually. He knows what to do in order to get each of us to work for Him and He knows what work is best for us to do. He knows how to bless each of us. He knows what we need. He knows how to intervene for each of us individually. God knows us inside out. I’m grateful. Are you?

Today’s Testimony: I’ve started writing many books before, but none of them really got very far. I’m the kind of person who needs quite a bit of motivation in order to continue with a project.
At one stage I started writing an autobiography in order to share how the Lord has blessed me throughout my life. But I soon lost interest in that and left it to complete at a later stage. A while later I decided to share all the testimonies of what the Lord has done for me by compiling a personal devotional book. I thought that this way it would be far easier and I could focus on just one day at a time. But that also soon took a standstill.
God wanted the testimonies that I have to share to reach the world, and He therefore had a better idea. God knows me inside out – He knew that in order for Lindy Catherine Dearham to finish a book sharing the stories of the amazing ways He has blessed her, she would have to be “forced” to work on it every day. The Lord therefore gave me this ministry – Today’s T’s. I’ve shared the story of how Today’s T’s came about once before (Today’s T’s Day 57). The Lord told me He wanted me to start this ministry and that He would provide everything I’d need, and I said, “Yes.”
The Lord got me to commit to sending out a testimony every day because He knew that if I didn’t have some form of pressure, my book would never happen. God knows me inside out, and I’m glad. I hope you’re glad too.

Today’s Task: Praise the Lord that He knows you inside out. He can intervene in your life because He knows what your needs are. Lay your life and your plans before His feet – He will do what’s best for you. God loves you. Don’t ever forget that.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You know me inside out. I praise You that You know us all inside out. I thank You that You will intervene in our lives in whatever way You need to – please do. I thank You that You care about us. I thank You that You are patient with us. We love You Lord. Amen.

THE LORD CAN CHANGE US

Today’s Text: And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (Jeremiah 18:4)

Today’s Thoughts: Jeremiah was told to watch the potter and then the Lord said that the clay represented His people and the potter represented Him. God created us as perfect beings, but we chose to sin and therefore became “marred vessels” in His hands. But God did not leave us to continue in the path of destruction – if we allow Him to be our Potter he will remould us and change us, making us more and more like Him. He wants to change each of our lives – all we need to do is ask Him to intervene and surrender our lives fully into His hands to be reformed. The Lord can change us – will we let Him?

Today’s Testimony: Three years ago I wrote a song to sing during the youth week-of-prayer that I presented at my church. Today I’d like to share the words to that song. These words were true in my life. Sometimes we don’t realize that the Lord requires better of us. We think we are ok. I know that I still need the Lord to work miracles in my life. I still need Him to change me and make me more and more like Him. How about you?

Lord Make Me More Like You

I thought that I could be who I wanted to be
And still be able to live eternally
But I soon found out I was wrong
There were some things in my life I needed to work on
I needed to
Allow You
To come and change my self-centred heart
And love and peace impart

Lord make me more and more like You
Lord break me; do whatever You know You must do
Lord take me and mould me for eternity
Lord wake me up to the reality
That if I do not surrender and place my life in Your hands
Then when You come in the clouds I will not be able to stand
Lord make me more and more like You
Lord break me; do whatever You know You must do

Mould my character Lord, so that I can be like You

Today’s Task: Ask the Lord to forgive you for the past and to change you right now. He longs to have your permission to work in your life. Please allow Him to enter your heart and make you more like Him. There’s just no time to live for ourselves. Ask the Lord to do whatever it takes to change you. Please surrender. And then allow Him to continue to work in your life.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You are a loving Potter and did not throw your marred pieces of clay away. You have been patient with us and we thank You. You are ready to remould us into Your image. Please help us to surrender our lives to You. Lord make us more and more like You. We love You Lord. Amen.

CHOOSE THE LORD

Today’s Text: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)

Today’s Thoughts: So many people don’t want to surrender to the Lord. They’ve simply never met Him. Joshua put it quite straight – in his mind, if you don’t accept the Lord, you obviously see choosing Him as evil. Once we meet the Lord for who He really is, we cannot help but choose Him as our King. Who or what is your god? Or do you serve the true and living God? If the Lord is not your God – please choose Him today – you will not regret it.

Today’s Testimony: Today I’d like to share the words to another song the Lord gave to me. This one was written in 2004. I know many people who either haven’t made a decision for Christ at all, or haven’t made a total surrender. There isn’t time to delay in making a full surrender to the Lord – tomorrow might be too late.

Choose The Lord

There have been choices from the beginning
Choices between evil and good
Some people have chosen sinning
But others have for the Lord stood

Will the choice that chooses your destination
Be a choice that brings you salvation
Will you choose the Lord
Because He loves you

Satan chose to leave the Father
But going alone he wasn’t going to do
One third of the angels chose to go with him
And now, he wants to know if you will go too

Will the choice that chooses your destination
Be a choice that brings you salvation
Will you choose the Lord
Because He loves you

But why did God give us choices
Why didn’t He just make no other way
For He doesn’t want to force us
He wants us, out of love, to obey

Will the choice that chooses your destination
Be a choice that brings you salvation
Will you choose the Lord
Because He loves you

We don’t serve a God of force
We serve a God of love
Out of love He gave us the power of choice
And right now He’s asking you to choose

Will the choice that chooses your destination
Be a choice that brings you salvation
Will you choose the Lord
Because He loves you

O please choose the Lord
Because He loves you

Today’s Task: Choose the Lord; and then encourage others to do the same. Surrender your life totally to the Lord. He loves you – don’t break God’s heart.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You gave us the power of choice so that we can serve You out of love not force. I thank You that You are a loving and caring God. Lord we don’t want to serve any other gods but You. Help us to choose You and surrender to You fully. Lord we need You. We thank You for Your love. Amen.