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A sense of abundance and fullness

True and living God,

  • Your works go before you and proclaim your glory. In Christ we see your love and goodness, the justice brought to man. You are worthy of praise.
  • We love you, and desire that you dwell in our hearts. Come to us, for we have come to the Rock that shelters us above all tempests.
  • Forgive us of the sin of anxiousness, O Lord, that inner turmoil over our many responsibilities or dread concerning current events.
  • Give us, Father, a sense of abundance and fullness, that come from the bounty of your goodness.
  • We are thankful for technology that permits us to do more, be more efficient in our work, have greater contact with loved ones and friends, share the gospel with the lost.
  • Father, bless the work of the Good News in Argentina. May the brethren there be strong in faith. Send more workers into that field.
  • Uphold the work of Colin and Lisa Graham in Bangor, North Ireland, and give them fruit from their labors.
  • Bless parents as they rear their children in the fear of your Name, transmit to them the joy of serving Christ, and instill in them love in its purest form.
  • Thank you, Lord, for reconciliation, to give us peace with you and in ourselves, for peacemaking as our objective.
  • Thank you for the recorded history, in Scripture, of your work to save mankind, for your patience with the stubbornness of Israel and with the recalcitrance of the church.

What a wonderful God you are to love and save us!

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The virtue of acceptance

Our Father in Heaven,

  • The universe sings your praise. The world declares your glory. The heavens sing about your splendor. Honor belongs to you.
  • Be ever more present in our lives. May your holy Spirit inhabit us. We desire the Lord Jesus dwell within us.
  • Protect us from the sin of anger, that we might not destroy relationships and prevent love from developing.
  • Develop in us the virtue of acceptance, that we might embrace our situations, live contentedly in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, and learn from the sufferings and challenges that we face.
  • We are thankful for sleep, which allows us to rest and be refreshed for the next day. We are grateful that you are in charge of this world and its affairs, so we can lay our heads on our pillows and at night and find comfort in your charge.
  • We ask on behalf of the people of Aruba, that the gospel might reach every soul in such a way that they may respond to the message and be faithful in its practice.
  • Bless the life and efforts of our missionary friends Mike and Brenda Brooks, as they serve in Nepal and Bangladesh, sharing the gospel and training servants in the Word.
  • We ask for our children that they might know you, grow in grace, serve with their gifts, be mature in their faith, show faithfulness in their relationships and to the truth.
  • Thank you for salvation in Christ. Thank you that the truth has come to us. We are grateful to share with you the mission of reaching always outward to the lost.
  • Thank you for the Bible. May we give it due respect, as it truly is — a word from you and not the word of man.

What a privilege is prayer, O Father!

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Put Our Hope in the Living God

Most work hard for a paycheck, but if the company can no longer give us money for our work, we no longer show up.  We have a certain amount of loyalty but largely are not intrinsically invested in our jobs.  This is just the opposite of our walk with Christ–and good thing!  We must obey God, but heaven is not given to us because of our obedience.  We cannot work for our salvation; it is a gift.  In some ways, this seeming disconnect makes it harder for Christians to persevere and be faithful unto death if we must rely on grace through Jesus’ work on the cross that has nothing to do with us.

This is why we are left with one of the three big gifts (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)–hope!

I. Hebrews 6:17-20.  Hope is our motivator.  God, who never lies, confirmed eternity for us with an oath, so we might flee our old life of sin and selfishness and take hold of the only thing that can save us–His unchangeable promise of heaven!  It was this hope or the “joy set before him” that got Jesus through the cross to motivate us to throw off hindrances and sin and not grow weary in the Christian walk (Hebrews 12:1-3).

II. 1 Timothy 4:7-10.  We labor and strive because of hope in the living God.  When asked if he wanted to leave Him too, Peter replied that there was no one else to turn to (John 6:66-69).  Before the Sanhedrin, he declared that salvation was found in no one else (Acts 4:8-12).  But, the very nature of hope is that it is always just out of reach, and it is so hard to wait (Romans 8:23-25).  Yes, it is!

III. Mark 14:66-72.  There was a time when Peter had let go of hope.  It was Thursday through his talk with the resurrected Christ while eating some fish (John 21:15-19).  Having denied Jesus, the very thing he swore he would not do, Peter slunk back to huddle with those who had deserted their Master while Jesus was crucified and buried.  On the resurrection Sunday, the omniscient God calls him out when He, through the angel, tells the women at the tomb to tell “his disciples and Peter” (Mark 16:7).

When we sin, we let go of the hope that we have taken hold of to return to that which we have fled from.  We become like Peter, even pretending to fit in with His disciples today at church.  We must repent and re-grasp this great gift of hope, letting it be our motivator to walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6).

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Beautiful Promise

What beautiful promise you make in Scripture, O God!
What scenes of joy, serene peace and glory!
You draw the heart’s desire and strengthen the will,
You call us to yourself, to come be filled,
You make the dry mouth water for higher purpose.
Bring to pass in me that single hope.
O God, transform us now by Christ’s appearing!

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For These I Seek You

To know and love, to be accepted
For who I am; to put rejection
Far away; for transformation —
A new soul and heart and mind:
For these I seek you, Lord, humbly,
Thirsty on the desert sand.

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With Love Let Nothing Interfere

Father, make me clean this day,
That I might stand before you;
Take all my sin and shame away,
I urgently implore you.

With love let nothing interfere,
Let Satan not derail me;
On earth let glorious News appear,
Your power never fail me.

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What should I learn today?

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  • What should I learn today?
  • What should I be reading today?
  • Whom can I help today?
  • How can I serve today?
  • What truth ought I practice today?
  • What prayer ought I pray today?
  • How can I grow closer to you?
  • What joys are mine today?
  • When will peace rule in me today?
  • Where should the focus of my energies be today?

Show me the way, O Lord.

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The Best and Purest Soul

Holy Father, praise is yours from all
creation, and from those on earth you call
to love and service. You, O Lord, are blessed,
who sends from heaven the Holy One, the best
and purest soul, to save us by his death —
Breathe in us the Holy Spirit’s breath!

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Unable to Trap Him

Satan lays all kinds of traps for us, preying on our weaknesses and sinful natures.  Sometimes, he comes to us in what seems an impossible situation–like David found himself in facing Goliath!  But, the secret is to know who is the real giant!

I. Luke 20:1-19.  Satan talks big (Luke 4:5-7), but because of Jesus’ work on the cross, He’s the true one in authority (Matthew 28:18).  The Goliaths of Jesus’ day roared their challenges to Him, but His stones easily knocked them down.  Jesus knew that those who believed themselves in power were afraid of the people.

II. Luke 20:20-40.  Like a cat pouncing on a red laser dot, those who believed themselves in power tried futilely to trap Jesus.  They did not realize that He was the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14) or that the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom or weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength (1 Corinthians 1:25).  The result of this mismatched battle was that all fell silent and did not dare to challenge Him further.

III.  1 John 5:3-5.  Those who believed they were in power in Jesus’ day were like Goliath in David’s.  So today, the world, for all of its bluster and threats, is not really the true giant when it comes up against those who are in Christ Jesus and have overcome the world through our faith.  In Jesus, we stand before the intimidating champion of the Philistines armed with God’s wisdom and strength.

… if we could only realize it!

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Help Us Think

O God, the evil one will do us harm,
And yet we wander from your powerful arm!
Draw us near, and help us move with speed
Beneath your shadow, to live and always feed
Upon your Word, to drink that spiritual drink,
To thrive, in Christ, in his love and single work!
And when our faith is weak, help us think
That from the cross our Lord refused to shirk.