Trust

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him , and He will make your path straight." Wondrous Lord, please help me turn my will over to you. I insist on my way. I want to manipulate the circumstances of my future. I fight for my relevance in this world, when I have such a precious place in you.   I am the salt of your earth. I am the light of your world. Help me to trust that I am valuable because of You. Help me drop my cloak of useless thoughts and and beliefs. Erase my anxieties about the future by overpowering me with your love and presence today. You alone are mighty. You alone are the power. You are soverign. You are generous with your grace, and your love knows no end. Help me to rest in you, and trust in your provision for today and for every today in the future. Thank you, Father God.

Pressing on through Anxiety

"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." Phillipians 3:13b-14
Lord, this is my call.  And I thank you for Paul, who exemplifies what it is to live in you. His words guide us as we, like him, strive to live the Christ life.  His prison walls are mirrored in the prison of our minds, where worries and anxieties take hold.  Lord, with all of the blessings and joys that fall on me from You, why do anxieties have a foothold?  Day to day troubles that have no lasting damage, prayers of intercession that carry through the day, little relationship issues that bother...pile up and land in my stomach, run through my mind. I am so thankful to You, God for your Word, and there I head now.  I pray your words will inscribe themselves on my heart and mark my day.  Thank you, Father.

Giver of Life

"My World is filled with beautiful things that point to Me, reminders of my abiding Presence.  The earth still declares My Glory to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear."  Sara Young, Jesus Calling.
Psalm 105.4 "Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his Name; make known his deeds among the peoples." Lord, Thank you for this scripture and this reading, right on the heels of my seeing "The Tree of Life.." Your beauty is unfathomable, and the details of our life are so small, yet still under your Grace.  You treasure us as a parent adores a growing child.  I praise you for this life giving movie, which is a clear reflection of your abundance and benevolence.  We wrestle with you....our will against yours, our control against your grace, our anguish questioning  your sovereignty. Your love and grace cover all.  We stand amazed and humbled.  You have the saving plan. Thank you Father.

Blessed is Your Name

God of one power, but many names, hear my prayer...Elohim, The Creator; El Elyon, The God Most High; El Roi, God Who Sees; El Shaddai, The all-Suficient One; Adonai, Lord and Master; Yahweh, Lord; Jehovah-jireh, The Lord Will Provide; El Olam, The Everlasting God. Who can fathom your greatness?  Not I, Lord. I can feel your awesome power at times, yet at other times it seems so far away.  Lord, today I so fully feel your blessing on our family, and I have much to be thankful for.  We have  a new baby about to join us, great jobs, comfortable homes, wonderful families, rich faith, and a love for you and one another.  We have much to celebrate! Yet, Lord, several of my dear friends in Christ endure a time of suffering.  Blessed by you in so many ways, their circumstances of suffering are long and requiring extreme perseverence.  I thank you for the song you gave me to sing through my days, as I remember each of them:
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name"
by Matt Redmond

Sheep

“‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.'" Ezekiel 34:11-12 Father God, how I thank you for this promise. Thank you for bringing this scripture to my attention on the morning I awoke from disturbing dreams. How precious to know that you seek us out and you care for each one of us, like a shepherd his sheep. These are troubling days, Lord, and all I know to do is to stay fixed on you ... and to pray. So many people close to me need answers to prayer, so Lord I call on you, and wait for your answers for them, as well as for my own. You are trusted. You are holy. You are a caring God, and Lord I long to live in obedience to your will for my life. I praise your magnificent and powerful name. In Christ I pray!

Our Jars of Clay

2 Corinthians 4:6-7: "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
Precious Lord, Thank you for your amazing, lavish grace. Because of your love for me, I will boast of my wekanesses.  Where all the holes in my ability to be God's face show up, He, the face of Jesus, shines through.  Lord, use my holes, myu lapses and failing words as places you make yourself and your glory known to others. Let this idea guide me, be my dialogue with you, and my prayer.  Thank you, Father.

Holy Week

John 20:16 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Dear Lord, it is during this wondrous Holy Week, that we turn to you once again to have the blinders pulled off of our eyes. We see a vision of you, standing there in our midst, yet unrecognized by us. Unseen. You are patiently, gently, waiting for us to call out to you. And, how often we repeat this story! Lord this year, let your call resonate deep within us. Open our ears to hear you, our eyes to take in the majesty of your Holy light. Move us to kneel at your feet and reach out to touch your garment. Stir us into prayer and take over our daily lives. We are nothing without you, Lord. You are our breath and our provision. Teach us your ways, Oh Lord. "But now, this is what the Lord says - he who created you,....'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.'" Isaiah 43:1