Kristi Burchfiel

Why do we sing? Why do we raise our voices and lift up our hands? We sing because God is God and he is worthy of or praise. Read Psalm 47. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm. Psalms 47:7 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.47.7.NASB God is king of all the earth. He is lord over absolutely everything and as a result, he is worthy of all the praise and glory that we give him. He’s actually worth more than we can give him, but we can start with what we can give. Will we take time today to praise God for all that he…

Been in a tug of war battle lately? Many times we actually can spend or time in a tug of war battle with God overt who is going to be in control. Read psalm 46 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.46.10.NASB God reminds us that we need to stop getting so worked up about things. Stop striving. Stop fighting against him. Stop trying to take control. He is God. Do we allow him to be the one in charge and to do all the things that we typically anticipate that…

Do we love righteousness? I mean, do we really? We all know the right answer and feel obligated to give it when we get asked by people, but do we really love righteousness and desire it above everything? Or do we just know that is what we are supposed to want, but secretly desire sin instead? The psalmist reminds us that God loves righteousness in Psalm 45 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. Psalms 45:7 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.45.7.NASB God loves righteousness and desires it above all things. He also hates wickedness. If we truly did…

Who gets the credit? When something goes well or if it goes wrong, who do you give credit or blame to? Typically, if it goes well we take the credit and if it goes badly, we try to identify someone or something else that was the cause. Still, see what psalm 44 says. For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them. Psalms 44:3 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.44.3.NASB God was reminding the people that they had not been the ones who had done all the…

What guides us? How do we know what to follow as we go through our day and make choices? Psalm 43 has answers. O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. Psalms 43:3 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.43.3.NASB We are to follow the light and the truth. Jesus Christ is these for us as he says in John 14:6. God’s word is the truth that we need to know how to love our lives daily. Jesus Christ and God’s Word, together with the guidance of the Holy Spirit are what brings us more toward God’s holiness…

He is with us. We’ve heard this statement, probably even said this statement, but do we believe this statement and act like it is true? See Psalm 42. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. Psalms 42:8 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.42.8.NASB He commands his lovingkindness in the daytime and his song at night. The Lord showers us with all that He is because He knows that we need Him. He is the God of our life and without Him, we don’t have a life. Do we rest in His lovingkindness and rejoice…

Ever been let down? How about betrayed? Had people turn against you?  We have all experienced this at some time or another in our lives. It hurts. A lot. David knew all about that feeling too and writes about it in Psalm 41. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your presence forever. Psalms 41:9‭, ‬12 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.41.9-12.NASB Often we try to get even with those who are against us and have wronged us. We spend our time trying to justify ourselves to each…

Made new. When we start looking at all the things we have messed up in our lives, the idea that we can be made new is exciting and sometimes unbelievable. Yet that is exactly what psalm 40 talks about. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. Psalms 40:2 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.40.2.NASB God knows us. He knows that we are a mess and that we have problems and sin that surrounds us and has affected us. Yet, God still combed and provides a way of forgiveness and mercy that includes restoration. He…

News flash, we’re not perfect. I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect.  The sooner we all come to terms with that, the better off we will be. When we do mess up, we need to ask for forgiveness. See Psalm 39. “Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish. Psalms 39:8 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.39.8.NASB Why is forgiveness so important? Besides the obvious answer that it restores our relationship and fellowship with God, we all have people who watch us. They know what we say we believe and they want to know if it is real for us in every situation, the good and the bad. Is…

We all mess up from time to time. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who are just waiting to see us fall. David knew what that felt like and wrote about it in Psalm chapter 38. For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.” For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me. For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin. Psalms 38:16‭-‬18 NASB https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.38.16-18.NASB His prayer to God asks that others would not rejoice in his sins or praise his wrongdoings. Doing something wrong is bad enough,…