THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Lord, during this Easter season, during this Holy Week, You are asking me to do something I find difficult. You call me to pray for others, but not just any “others.” You are talking about those who mock You and ridicule the workings of Your Spirit. They are so unlikeable, vulgar in all their anti-God rants. They lie about Your followers, stir up strife, chaos, and discord. They suppress the Truth of who You are, portraying You as hateful, angry, ready to send people to Hell over the slightest offense. This is so not You. To me, these people seem irredeemable, and I just don’t feel like praying for them. If I were You, God, I would have wiped them out years ago. Their sins must repudiate You. They certainly do me.

But this is my natural, carnal me ranting, not the forgiven, redeemed, and born-again me speaking.

Forgive me, Lord, I need Your Spirit to pray through me for these lost souls trapped in a delusion that they can live without You. Remind me of my former state before I came to You. Without Your grace, I am just like them. I may not be a mass killer, or a politician on the take, or a charlatan using the Gospel for personal gain. Worst of all, I may be one who thinks they are so good, that by my own efforts of doing good, there is no reason why I should be denied entrance into Heaven.

I can’t point any fingers. Without Your grace, I have the potential to be and do the same. I am a sinner, saved by grace by the Lamb of God of Easter. May I never forget that.

Highest Hosannas, Jesus. Amen.