God Wants You to Be All His

Psalm 100:4 - Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Matthew 28:18 - And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." 

Dear God, thank You for giving me the freedom to choose to trust You as opposed to forcing me to trust You. You do have all the power, but You also have the wisdom to know that we humans do better to grow in our trust in You as opposed to feeling forced to trust in You. I pray for those who do not have any trust in You at all though. They need the light. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

God Is All Around You

Luke 12:22-31 - And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If you then are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Fathe to owe that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you."

John 16:33 - "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Dear God, thank You for wrapping me in Your living arms even when I cannot always feel You as strongly. I turn over my worries and anxieties though I have them for good reasons to You. Give me the strength and the guidance I need to handle them or the knowledge I need to let them go into Your hands and timing. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Seek God's Face

Psalm 19:1-2 - The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 

Psalm 105:4 - Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Isaiah 60:2 - For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arose upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 

Dear God, thank You for beautiful things that reveal glimpses of You. Thank You for choosing me to allow Your presence to shine in this dark world. Continue to give me the strength, the power, and the courage that I need to continue to show Your light to the world. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Remember You Live in a Fallen World

Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before me."

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Dear God, so much talk about how broken this world truly is. On the one hand, there is the Duggar family and a mishandling of a terrible situation that makes their oldest son a child predator. On the other hand, there are disabled people faced with the potential loss of access to services they need in order to either become more independent or to have care they need. On the one hand, you have a broken economy with politicians more fixated on protecting the rich. On the other hand, you have a poor child who just starved because his school lunch was inadequate because he ran 20 cents shy on his lunch account. On the one hand, you have churches doing missions overseas to countries that might not otherwise hear about You. But on the other hand, you have the families of special needs children and special needs adults right here on the home front who are not able to go to church either because they tried and got bullied or abused or because church is inaccessible for them for a plethora of other reasons. This world is definitely broken and fallen. God, I ask You to mend it and to right it. Raise up the men and women who will be the game changers that can make things right. For now anyway. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Welcome Challenging Times as Opportunities to Trust God

Isaiah 26:3 - You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

James 1:2-3 -  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 

Dear God, I need You to keep a good grip on my hand right now. I am facing a challenging day with some unknowns in it because of my mouth and throat having become red and inflamed looking. I am not sure what the doctor will do. I am sure there are also other challenges that I do not even know about yet as well. Thank You for being with me through them all though. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

God Wants to Be Central in Your Entire Being

II Thessalonians 3:16 - Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 

I John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Dear God, I desire right here and right now to turn over all of my worries, which are perfectly reasonable worries, over to You so that I can experience Your peace and Your light in this troubled time. In doing so, I need to trust in Your sovereignty more now than ever. Be it with health situations, financial situations, or even the persistent desire to make peace with Tom which is a good desire as a believer, but will only happen when You feel it is time and that we are both ready, You are sovereign over all things and all circumstances. I would rather live in peace than live in worry and anxiety. Thank You for that exchange being possible. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Relax in God's Healing

Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

I John 3:2 - Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall him as he is.

Dear God, be still and know that You are God. This has to be the best advise throughout the whole entire scripture. And not really advise so much as command. Be still. Stillness is not something that people adhere to easily. Constant media bombardment. GOP obstructionism and hypocrisy. Rules, rules, and more rules. Enslavement. Entrapment. Ugh. Be still and know that You are God. Help me to practice the art of stillness. It definitely has more perks to it than trying to win by performance. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!