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It is a time of
celebrating new beginnings as we remember that God will one day judge each of
us. But even while we remember the coming judgement, we also remember the
atonement that Christ accomplished for us, and that one day, we will leave this
earth and go to our home in Heaven.
~Week 1~
Monday, September 10, 2018 | Tishrei 1, 5779
Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
“On the first day of the seventh month you
are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet
blasts.” – Leviticus 23:24
Lord,
You commanded the Israelites to celebrate in worship as their new year began.
Give me a spirit of celebration so that I can worship You for all that You’ve
done in my life.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 | Tishrei 2, 5779 – Rosh Hashanah (New
Year)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth.” – Genesis 1:1
Creator
God, just as You created something new out of nothing, I believe that You can
make something new out of my life this year. Work my heart like clay, form the
very thoughts of my mind, and create a more loving, victorious spirit within
me.
Wednesday, September 12, 2018 | Tishrei 3, 5779
“Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in
righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.” – Psalm 96:13
Lord of All, help me to
examine my life – my thoughts, my words, my actions – so that I can rejoice,
rather than fear, the coming judgment when You will remake Your creation as it
should be.
Thursday, September 13, 2018 | Tishrei 4, 5779
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who
was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there
was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead
were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” –
Revelation 20:11-12
My Father, My King, You
are the only one worthy to judge. You are the only one wise enough and
righteous enough. You are also the only merciful enough. May I always remember
to reverently fear You as I thank You that Christ through Christ, You have
written my name in your book of life.
Friday, September 14, 2018 | Tishrei 5, 5779
“Anyone whose name was not found written in
the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” – Revelation 20:15
My God, You are a
righteous judge. But I know Your heart. You don’t want to punish anyone. Use me
to reach out to others in the name of Your Son so that You can spare them this
judgement.
Saturday, September 15, 2018 | Tishrei 6, 5779
“The one who is victorious will, like them,
be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the
book of life, but will acknowledge that name before My Father and His angels.”
– Revelation 3:5
Jesus, make me pure as
I continue to grow closer to You. Dress me in white and never let me go out of
Your Presence. Help me to be victorious in Your so that can delight to call me
Your own.
~Week 2~
Sunday, September 16, 2018 | Tishrei 7, 5779
“Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will
anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are
written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27
Jesus, I want to be
with You. I want to be where You are. Purify me and make me holy so that I can
walk with You forever in Your new creation.
Monday, September 17, 2018 | Tishrei 8, 5779
“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
means anything; what counts is the new creation.” – Galatians 6:15
Father, I thank You
that You do not judge me based on outward works, but on the transformation Your
Spirit has made in my heart. Continue to shape me and form me into Your vision
of what I can be. I want to be a new creation in You.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 | Tishrei 9, 5779
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new
creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2nd
Corinthians 5:17
Father, thank You for
changing me! I look back on my life and am amazed at both the sudden and
gradual ways You have shaped me to be Your own. I know that it’s all because of
what Jesus has done for me and how Your Holy Spirit is working in me.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 | Tishrei 10, 5779
Yom Kippur
“The tenth day of this seventh month is the
Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a
food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that
day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before
the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 23:27-28
Father, as the
Israelites, presented a gift of food to celebrate their temporary atonement at
the cost of an animal sacrifice, I give You the gift of myself. My forever
atonement came at the cost of Jesus’ life, and so my life given to You is the
only reasonable response. Take it and help me to make it a pleasing offering to
You.
Thursday, September 20, 2018 | Tishrei 11, 5779
“Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on
its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin
offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord.” – Exodus 30:10
Father, help me to
recognize how serious my sin is. It’s something I can brush off as if doesn’t
matter. You require blood to cover it. Through all generations, as the
Scripture says, the only way to atone for my sin is through the death of
another. Help me not to forget that.
Friday, September 21, 2018 | Tishrei 12, 5779
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he
saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it
as a burnt offering instead of his son.” - Genesis 22:13
Gracious God, as I blow
the horns and the trumpets this month of Tishrei, help me to remember this ram
who was caught by its horns. By providing this sacrifice to take the place of
Isaac, You were showing me that You would one day provide Your son as the
atoning sacrifice in my place.
Saturday, September 22, 2018 | Tishrei 13, 5779
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of
atonement, through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith.” – Romans
3:25
Father, You are both my
judge and my defender. You presented the sacrifice for my sins on my behalf and
granted me forgiveness. Help me to have faith in You – to trust in You and to
trust in the sacrifice Your Son made for me.
~Week 3~
Sunday, September 23, 2018 | Tishrei 14, 5779
“He had to be made like them, fully human in
every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.” –
Hebrews 2:17
Jesus, You humbled
Yourself in every way with the one goal of becoming my forever sacrifice of
atonement. I cannot understand the depth of Your love for me. I only ask that
You accept my worship.
Monday, September 24, 2018 | Tishrei 15, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the
firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn
of the year.” – Exodus 34:22
Father, every good
thing comes from You. Even the food that I need to live and the air that I need
to breathe comes from You. Thank You for Your creation and thank You for the
harvests You faithfully provide every year.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018 | Tishrei 16, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Live in temporary shelters for seven days:
All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will
know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them
out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 23:43-43
Oh, Lord my God, just
as the Israelites lived in temporary homes on their way to the Promised Land,
help me to remember that this fallen world is only temporary. I’m not home
until I’m with You in the Promised Land of Your new creation.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 | Tishrei 17, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and
exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” – 1
Peter 2:11
Holy Spirit, this world
is not my home. I’m a stranger here. Help me not to give in to the local
customs of sin. Help me to stand strong in You as I wait for something better.
Thursday, September 27, 2018 | Tishrei 18, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“All these people were still living by faith when they
died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed
them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth.” – Hebrews 11:13
Jesus, I’ve seen what
the people of the Old Testament didn’t. I’ve seen what life is like in You.
I’ve seen what it’s like to be forgiven and made new. But I know that You still
have more for me. Help me to accept this world for the gift that it is, but to
look forward to the time when You will make the world new again.
Friday, September 28, 2018 | Tishrei 19, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“For we know that if the earthly
tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in
heaven, not built by human hands.” – 2nd Corinthians 5:1
Father, just as this
world is only temporary home, so is my body. Help me not to fear what happens
to me here. The body You are preparing for me is eternal.
Saturday, September 29, 2018 | Tishrei 20, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Meanwhile we groan, longing to be
clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we
will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are
burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with
our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” – 2nd
Corinthians 5:2-4
Father, I thank You for
this life. But I also know that this is a fallen world and I am in a sin-cursed
body. I am vulnerable and burdened here. I long for the day when I become a
truly new creation in my eternal life with You.
~Week 4~
Sunday, September 30, 2018 | Tishrei 21, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Now the one who has fashioned us
for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.” – 2nd Corinthians 5:5
Holy Spirit, how could
I live in this world without You? You are my strength and my hope of what is to
come. Help me rest in and rely on You. Help me to draw from Your life, Your
love, and Your power as I wait for my eternal home.
Monday, October 1, 2018 | Tishrei 22, 5779
The Feast of Booths / Tabernacles / Ingathering
“Therefore we are always confident
and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
For we live by faith, not by sight.” – 2nd Corinthians 5:6-7
Father, give me the
faith to stay confident in You. Give me the faith not to cling to this body and
this world but to look forward to when I will be with You forever in the
creation of Your new world.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 | Tishrei 23, 5779
“We are confident, I say, and would
prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” – 2nd
Corinthians 5:8
Jesus, help me to
prefer to be with You. Help me not to worry about what I want to accomplish
here or about who I’ll leave behind. Give me the faith to carry out Your will
here, but to willingly go and look forward to the time when I will be fully
united to You.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 | Tishrei 24, 5779
“So we make it our goal to please
Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” – 2nd
Corinthians 5:9
Yes, Holy Spirit, make
it my goal to please You! Make it my goal to please You whatever I’m doing,
wherever I am. Help me to be so in love with You and so devoted to You that
pleasing You is my first and all-encompassing priority. Help me to make
pleasing You a habit so that it becomes my way of life, and eventually my way
of death.
Thursday, October 4, 2018 | Tishrei 25, 5779
“For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the
things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” – 2nd
Corinthians 5:11
Jesus, as Your new
creation whose only goal is to please You as I wait for our eternal home where
we will be together forever, I only ask that You show me what good You want me
to do here and keep me from the bad that I could do here by the power of Your
Holy Spirit living in me.
Friday, October 5, 2018 | Tishrei 26, 5779
“With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s
horn shout for joy before the Lord, the King.” – Psalm 98:6
My Lord and my King,
during these last days of Tishrei, help me celebrate the hope that I have in
You: hope for the new creation and hope for Your continued work in my life.
Saturday, October 6, 2018 | Tishrei 27, 5779
“For the Lord Himself will come down from
heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the
trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” – 1 Thessalonians
4:16
What a glorious day
that will be when the world sees You returning and those who trusted in Your
atonement will awake to new life. May every day be a trumpet call to awaken my
spirit to new life in You so that I won’t miss Your coming.
~Week 5~
Sunday, October 7, 2018 | Tishrei 28, 5779
“And He will send His angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end
of the heavens to the other.” – Matthew 24:31
Jesus, Your disciples
are all over the world. Help me to remember to pray for them and unite with
them in Your work as we all wait for the trumpets to sound and for You gather
us to Yourself.
Monday, October 8, 2018 | Tishrei 29, 5779
“The trumpet will sound, the dead will be
raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” – 1st Corinthians
15:52
Holy Spirit, just as
You will one day change my body, give me a taste of the new creation now.
Change the attitudes of my spirit. Change the way that I think. Change my heart
to be more open and loving and patient toward others.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018 | Tishrei 30, 5779
“So God created mankind in His own image, in
the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” – Genesis
1:27
God, I
thank You for life. I thank You for humanity. I thank You that You will make me
more and more like You as I continue to walk with You this year.