THANKFUL

Friday, August 23, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Forgive us, Lord, for getting sidetracked by things that don’t matter. If we’re not careful to stay close to you, the events happening in the world steer our focus on the latest crisis or cause us to fret over what-ifs that could happen. All these things are out of our control. What we can control is our time with you, telling you what’s on our hearts, the fears we face, the difficulties attacking our faith in this fallen world. Lord, you know all about this already. You just want us to trust you more and keep our focus on you. We can stand on your promise that brother Isaiah recorded, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you” (26:3). Brother Paul, who knew trials and woes, lived by this promise when he urged his Philippian friends to keep their thoughts on “whatever is true, noble, right, whatever is pure, love or admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things . . . and the peace of God will keep you” (4:8,9). Help our minds to be focused on you and not the madness dividing our country and the world today. We must remember that in your sovereignty, you are in control. And while we are mediating on your goodness, open our eyes to see that more things unite us as believers than divide us. Help our obedience. As our love for you increases so does our love for one another.

Thinking about the good things in our lives, Lord Jesus, amen.