Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 New International Version (NIV) Fulfill Your Vow to God 5 a]">[a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.  2 Do not be quick with your mouth,     do not be hasty in your heart     to utter anything before God. God is in heaven     and you are on earth,     so let your words be few. 3 A dream comes when there are many cares,     and many words mark the speech of a fool.  4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

The Daily Practice: a devotional tool from Platt Park Church for developing the habit of daily time with God

Learning to love God takes practice. Just like exercising a muscle, our hearts are trained to love from the bottom up, through the formation of our habits and practices. Discipleship is about curating our hearts to love God and the things that God loves. Forces of our culture train us to love things other than God all the time, but spiritual practices help us to be attentive and intentional about what my heart really loves and desires. Following Jesus is more a matter of hungering and thirsting than of knowing and believing and it is our habit forming practices that form our desires over time. May this daily practice tune your heart to sing His praise.

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Ezekiel 18:1-4 New International Version (NIV)  The One Who Sins Will Die 18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:  “‘The parents eat sour grapes,     and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?  3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:25-32 New International Version (NIV)  25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!  

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Psalm 18:24-50 New International Version (NIV)   24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,     according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.   25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,     to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 26 to the pure you show yourself pure,     but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 27 You save the humble     but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. 28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;     my God turns my darkness into light. 29 With your help I can advance against a troopa]">[a];      with my God I can scale a wall.   30 As for God, his way is perfect:     The Lord’s word is flawless;     he shields all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the Lord?     And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength     and keeps my way secure. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;     he causes me to stand on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle;     my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You make your saving help my shield,     and your right hand sustains me;     your help has made me great. 36 You provide a broad path for my feet,     so that my ankles do not give way.   37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;     I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;     they fell beneath my feet. 39 You armed me with strength for battle;     you humbled my adversaries before me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,     and I destroyed my foes. 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—     to the Lord, but he did not answer. 42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust;     I trampled themb]">[b] like mud in the streets. 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;     you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, 44     foreigners cower before me;     as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. 45 They all lose heart;     they come trembling from their strongholds.   46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!     Exalted be God my Savior! 47 He is the God who avenges me,     who subdues nations under me, 48     who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes;     from a violent man you rescued me. 49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;     I will sing the praises of your name.   50 He gives his king great victories;     he shows unfailing love to his anointed,     to David and to his descendants forever.  

Psalm 18:24-50

John 17:1-8 New International Version (NIV)  Jesus Prays to Be Glorified 17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:  “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.  Jesus Prays for His Disciples  6 “I have revealed youa]">[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  

John 17:1-8

Philippians 3:12-21 New International Version (NIV)  12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Following Paul’s Example 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 

Philippians 3:12-21

Habakkuk 3:1-18 New International Version (NIV)  Habakkuk’s Prayer 3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.a]">[a]  2 Lord, I have heard of your fame;     I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day,     in our time make them known;     in wrath remember mercy.   3 God came from Teman,     the Holy One from Mount Paran.b]">[b]  His glory covered the heavens     and his praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was like the sunrise;     rays flashed from his hand,     where his power was hidden. 5 Plague went before him;     pestilence followed his steps. 6 He stood, and shook the earth;     he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled     and the age-old hills collapsed—     but he marches on forever. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,     the dwellings of Midian in anguish.   8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?     Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea     when you rode your horses     and your chariots to victory? 9 You uncovered your bow,     you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; 10     the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by;     the deep roared     and lifted its waves on high.   11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens     at the glint of your flying arrows,     at the lightning of your flashing spear. 12 In wrath you strode through the earth     and in anger you threshed the nations. 13 You came out to deliver your people,     to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,     you stripped him from head to foot. 14 With his own spear you pierced his head     when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour     the wretched who were in hiding. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses,     churning the great waters.   16 I heard and my heart pounded,     my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones,     and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity     to come on the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud     and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails     and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen     and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,     I will be joyful in God my Savior.  

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

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