THANKFUL

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

We’re thankful, Lord, that You are forgetful. If You chose to remember everything we did, where would we be? Up that well-known creek, not only without a paddle, but worse, without hope! King David knew the extent of Your grace when he penned his heartfelt song of redemption—If You, Lord, kept a record of [our] sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve You (Psalm 130:3–4). Thank You for Your forgiveness time and again. Your grace has transformed our hearts and we belong to You forever. But we are stuck in this broken world, and our soul still struggles with those sins that remain after we come to You for salvation. Help us yield in obedience to the leading of Your Spirit, so that these stubborn sins, one by one, will fall away. By Your power, keep us strong in our faith, knowing Your help is always on the way in our times of weakness. Our prayer is to be useful in the kingdom of God as we follow You here. Since Your grace has given us a new, clean record, show us how to reach others in our world for You.

Living by grace with a clean record, Jesus. Amen.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, we’ve all been there at one time. Living in this fallen world with imperfect people, such as myself, we reach a point where all we have is You, Jesus. We may or may not lose our material possessions, the fame, a meaningful relationship, societal status, or temporary things we think we cannot live without, but in our brokenness of spirit, we reach the point where all we have is You, Jesus. But then, we find having You is more than enough. It is when we have been broken, either by our poor life choices or the actions of others, that we experience Your healing grace for our souls. We discover the closeness with our heavenly Father’s love to be the truth of 1 Peter 5:7—Give all your worries and cares to God, because He cares of you. In our contriteness, You give an inner peace that cannot be explained by human words. All who experience this peace know it is a treasure of hope from our heavenly Father. This oneness with You, Lord Jesus, rekindles the joy of our salvation and gives us strength to carry on through our darkest hours. Our hearts will sing Your praises again.

In our brokenness, our peace and hope is found in You, Lord God.

In Your Son Jesus’ name, Amen.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

For those who have placed their faith in You, Lord Jesus, we are faced with one of two choices every day. We can either trust you, or choose to go our own way, doing our own thing. May we always choose to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit who lives within each Christ-follower. Your Spirit guides our paths, discerns our motives, and convicts us when we do something dumb. Thankfully, Your Spirit does not condemn, but instead, corrects us to get back on track. You’ve proven time and again that when we order our lives according to Your Word, life goes much better. We’re free from the nagging weight of guilt when we stubbornly refuse to repent of some senseless sin that we thought wasn’t a big deal. All sin is a big deal to You, Lord God. It costs Your Son Jesus his life on the cross.

Today, we claim the promise of Your Word found in Psalm 125:4 Oh, Lord, You’ve promised to do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with Your heart. Open our heart to know Your heart, Lord God, as we choose to follow You today. Awe us with new revelations of Your character and give us a desire to be more like You in every way.

Choosing You today, Jesus. Amen.

Friday, April 26, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

When You do something, Lord, You do it right. Nothing is left half-complete. According to Your Word in Hebrews 7:23–25, all who place their faith in Jesus are saved completely! It’s finished! Once for all. Permanently. This comforting truth of Your Word assures us You will never kick us to the curb when we stray, but Your Spirit will always draw us back to You. May we never take lightly the price of our salvation: Your precious, sinless blood is the only sacrifice that could cover our sins. Then to prove to the world that You were who You said You were, God the Father raised You from the dead on Easter Sunday! (The skeptics of Your divinity are left baffled, grasping for any rebuttal to the truth.) And Your love still acts on our behalf. In Heaven, You’re pulling for us, praying constantly for us to remain faithful, knowing that after our earthly journey is completed, we will be forever with You. May our changed lives be a witness of Your transforming grace to those in our world, who are looking for their purpose, but that purpose continually evades them. Grow our desire to know You, so that our hearts will beat as one with Your heart. Open our spiritual eyes to see others as You see them. May our actions be pleasing to You since we represent Your Kingdom here on Earth.

Comfort the sick and hurting. Heal each one at the point of their need. Flood the minds those whose memories bring pain with Your soothing love and inexplainable peace. For many, even after coming to You, past mistakes still haunt them, leaving them feeling unworthy of forgiveness. But incredibly above our paygrade, Lord God, You saw our hopeless, sinful state as worth the sinless blood of Your only Son Jesus. The devil tries to download guilt on all Your followers, that our past leaves us beyond redemption. But . . . God’s grace covers all sins. Dear Lord God, we’re not powerful enough to sin beyond what Your grace cannot forgive. Hallelujah! Praise You Lord Jesus.

Rejoicing in our salvation in You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Thank You, Lord, that when we come to You in repentance, accept Your forgiveness for our sins and follow You, not only do You save us for eternity, You come to live within us, never to leave us alone. In Your love, You do not leave us as we were. Thank You for that! Most who come to You are good, decent moral people. Others, like me, tend to be real stinkers. After You opened our spiritual eyes, good or bad, we’re startled to see how lost we were without You. Your Spirit guides our lives, revealing who You are. You are our hope, not only in this fallen world, but also in the glories to come when our earthly race is finished. In the meantime, Your Holy Spirit works overtime to transform us more into Your image, so that others in our world can see the changes You’ve made in us on the inside. We will stumble in our faith. We all do. We admit our sin that made us stumble, You pick us up, and we carry on.

As we grow in faith, may our joy overflow in trials, our peace subdue our fears, our patience endure so we do not lose heart. Let Your kindness be seen in everything we do (Galatians 5:22 The Passion Translation).

Guide us by Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

We come to You this morning, Lord Jesus, acknowledging You are the Light of the world. You came to save us, not condemn us. We’re saved only by Your grace and not by our good deeds (John 3:16 – 17).

Your Word reveals there are two kinds of people—unrepentant sinners and repentant sinners (Romans 3:23). Thank You, Lord, for not casting us aside when we sin. We’re grateful for Your faithful Holy Spirit, who urges us to repent and not give up and keep following You. Guard us when temptations bombard us, trying to draw us away from You. By Your grace, identify any “idols” we may have that steal our affection for you and place our efforts on temporary things that crowd You out. Show us how to keep You at the center of our lives, so we may do Your will. Give us a stronger desire to know You. Open our understanding to know Your heart when we study Your Word. Teach us how to put the truths of Your Word into practice, so our changed lives reflect Your love and grace to an unbelieving world. May we live Proverbs 28:14, to always revere You and not be stubborn and unrepentant, thus bringing worlds of trouble upon us.

Search our inner man, Lord, and reveal any thing that displeases You, so that we may always have a repentant heart.

In Your love and grace, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Today, we call upon Your grace to continue Your comfort for those affected by the bloodshed in Sri Lanka over the weekend. Guide the authorities to bring those who perpetrated these attacks to justice. We pray the Christian communities around the world will unite in prayer for the families who lost loved ones or were wounded in the attacks, not only in Sri Lanka but also the recent attacks in Africa and the Middle East. In Your mercy, bring physical, emotional and spiritual healing for all who witnessed the carnage or the remnants. We know You have not abandoned this world, but You give comfort and grace when tragedies happen. Make us aware of the dangers around us. You are out strength in times of troubles, as You so clearly stated in John 16:33, just hours before You went to the cross. You sacrificed Your holy life for the sins of the world—the sins of the victims of the attacks, the sins of the attackers, even though You knew fully well most who practice such evil will reject You. Lord, as only You can, use these attacks to strengthen Your followers and add to the number who will come into Your Kingdom. Help us do Your will. May our lives reflect the truths of Your Word that Paul described in Romans 12:9—Let your love be sincere. Hate what (not who) is evil, cling to what is good. We look to You for strength to live in this fallen world, Lord God.

Help us to love as You love and cling to what is good. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Oh, Lord. I am shaking with angry! Yes, I’m mad! My soul rages against a people consumed with inexpressible evil that they would slaughter innocent Christians, worshipping on Resurrection Sunday, celebrating Your victory over sin and rejoicing in Your offering eternal life for all who believed in Your sacrifice for sin on Good Friday. But, Lord, I know this attitude is not from You. You showed us how Your will is first and foremost pure, the peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17). My natural, carnal attitude is anything but what You say Your will is. May our anger be righteous anger, aimed against the evil that rages against all that is good, wholesome and right. The devil, Satan, drives these people to do horrific acts of terror. He is our true enemy. May the perpetrators be brought to justice, and if they are beyond redemption, then destroy them in Your righteous judgment. We pray for peace, but Lord, You never told us to be a doormat, to let evil walk all over us. We pray for our enemies, but they must be held accountable for their actions. We pray for the right, Christlike attitude, so we may do Your will when evil raises its ugly head and kills the innocent. We pray You will deal with them accordingly, Lord God, as the blood of the innocents cry out to You. Comfort those families and the survivors as only You can, Lord God. Give them peace even though insanity seems to rule unabated.

Help us be merciful and gracious. Let Your righteous judgment reign. Forgive our sins. Heal our attitudes so we may show Your grace and love. Amen.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Your guidance as how to know and follow Your will has been clearly revealed in Your Word, Lord God. But the wisdom from above is first and foremost pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17).

Living in Your will demands that I deny my carnal desires that harbor false, impartial impression of others. Flippantly judging others without knowing what You are trying to do in their lives hinders me from doing Your will. My judgmental attitude blocks what You want to do in me and keeps me stumbling in my walk of faith. And I wonder why I make the same mistakes repeatedly. You’re faithful to pick me up, dust me off, straighten my cap and tell me to pay attention! Help me be willing to allow Your Spirit to purge any un-Christlike attitudes or behaviors from my soul so that I will be impartial when interacting with others. May my love for You and others be sincere, as Your love is. My prayer is all my motives are pure, that I honor You by my actions and attitude. Let my life point others to Your gospel of redemption from sin through Your Son Jesus’ sacrifice, burial and resurrection.

Praying we will love sincerely and impartially.

In Jesus’ name, amen

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

Thank You, Lord, for giving Your Holy Spirit to live within us, guiding us on our life’s journey. Your Spirit enables us to live for You as we follow Your wisdom guidelines in James 3:17—But the wisdom from above is first and foremost pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit[godliness] . . . Living in Your will leaves no room for taking unjust advantage from those less fortunate or who find themselves in desperate circumstances. Instead, Your Spirit motivates us to help those in need, to show Your compassion. We will feed the hungry, cloth those in rags, put shoes on their feet, minister to their physical and spiritual needs. Skeptics who mock You and Your followers watch everything we do, looking for anything they can label as hypocrisy. Help us to always do the right thing no matter the circumstances. May our motives be found to be pure, without deception, when our actions are questioned, and as Your followers, may we truly demonstrate Your love and compassion for all people. We know we will face opposition in our efforts to do what Your Word directs, but we pray these trials develop more Christlikeness in us. May we be slow to anger and quick to forgive, to bless and not curse. We can depend on Your power in us, Lord God, to fulfill these godly mandates.

Fill us to overflowing with Your power, Lord God, so we may do Your will and so honor You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.