Release Your Worries to Hear His Voice

Psalm 118:24 - This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

I Thessalonians 5:18 - ...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I Peter 5:6-7 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Dear God, one day at a time. One day at a time. Baby steps one day at a time. With surgery coming on Friday comes much anxiety, but if I want to hear Your voice, I need to release those anxieties into Your hand. So please take all my anxieties and what ifs and hold them captive. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Be Willing to Follow Wherever He Leads

Psalm 36:9 - For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Psalm 96:6 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the flight of life."

II Corinthians 5:6-7 - So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in. The body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

Dear God, where You lead me, I will follow. I do not know where this path and this journey ends, but it should be a relatively good one as long as I am following You wholeheartedly. Thank You for being on the path with me. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Joy Is Not Dependent on Your Circumstances

I Chronicles 16:27 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. 

Habakkuk 3:17-19 - Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. 

Dear God, finding joy in the midst of battling hate pages against autistics on Facebook seems impossible, but I would rather find joy than focus on the negativity of those hate pages. Ugh. They are sickening and disgusting and Facebook has yet to respond appropriately to them. We have several people and organizations on top of things now. God, thank You for joy that is not contingent upon circumstances. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

He Is the Creator of Heaven and Earth

Zechariah 4:6 - Then he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."

John 14:16-17 - "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

John 16:7 - "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."

Dear God, thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit as a helper in this life. Right now I ask for guidance and direction as I contemplate what the next couple of weeks will hold for me due to surgery and recent events. I also ask You to help every autistic and their families as we go through turmoil with hatred again due to another mass killing that has set some people off. I ask for You to heal the families of the victims and the heroes. I ask for You to intervene with the he lawmakers who have the power to change things in a positive light but have refused to do anything so far. I ask You to show people the error of their logic. God, if someone is placing more faith in a gun than in You, they have created an idol in that gun. Would I say I am a Christian if I was in that situation? Yes. Wholeheartedly and unashamed, I would say I am a Christian. I would pray for Your will to be done. No matter what. Would I be scared? Sure. But I will not deny You. Thank You for comfort, for rest, for wisdom, for love, for grace, for mercy, for hope, for peace, and for justice. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Trust Him When Things Seem to Be Going Wrong

Psalm 13:5 - But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

Ephesians 5:15-21 - Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Dear God, it is so hard to trust You in the midst of troubles. Troubles compiled upon troubles the other day. I was assaulted left and right. But the true test is what I choose to do in the face of the troubles, and right now, all I can do is trust You. Are the troubles fair? No. Are they right? No. But are they there? Yes. And at some point I have to trust You to help me face them. Thank You for steadfast love and salvation. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Never Take His Intimate Nearness for Granted

Luke 12:7 - "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."

John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Romans 10:13 - "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Dear God, thank You for knowing me, my innermost being, the real me, the essence of me. Why should I care whether I can meet someone who can get to know me the way I would like to be known when I have YOU? You know how many hairs are on my head. You value me. And that is the best value in the world. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Worship Him Only

Isaiah 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I Timothy 6:13-16 - I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time–he who is blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Revelation 2:4 - "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."

Dear God, thank You for grace. Thank You for rest. Thank You for having higher ways and thoughts than I can even comprehend. I had a rough day all around yesterday. I found out someone tried to ruin my life over something they likely misinterpreted and that they had called one of many volunteer places to try to smear my reputation. The slander is indeed very hurtful and very sad. To stoop so low like that. The plus side is that they did not get away with it as they chose to be anonymous with their claim. I am highly doubtful that it was a friend of mine though as all of my friends who know me well enough know that I have autism and that I sometimes lack social graces and conventions. They know they can ignore what I have said, clarify what I have said, or distance themselves from me. If it was a stranger, it was probably one I already blocked for being a bully on another media page. Some people seem to think that they have the right to an opinion but that no one else does. In my rising advocacy, I am going to run into people who will hate me. I read Matthew 10 yesterday after I cooled off a little from that report about what happened. I learned that if I will endure this, what that mentally sick person did to try to harm me and my livelihood, that I will be saved from the persecution. They may drag me through hell, but they will not win. I am out there in my community trying to THRIVE and trying to give back to my community which has blessed me beyond words despite of my autism, and the haters are going to hate, but they are NOT going to win. You are the good and kind and perfect judge. And I will leave that enemy that did that malicious thing to Your hands. Vengeance is YOURS. Not mine. If it was a friend, though, help me figure out who it was so I can remove them from my life. I do not need friends who try to destroy me or bring me down. God, help my love for You to never grow lukewarm. I want my love to always be real and genuine just like it is for my mom and my true friends. God, on another note that I need to turn over to You, I had the crushing notice that my really good insurance plan will be cancelled at the end of the year, right when we are finally getting some things figured out at that. It is not just an inconvenience, it is not right. It is an injustice. The third thing I need to turn over to You is the fact my doctor made a promise and then retracted on his promise to help me get the treatment I actually need. So I will pray that you will give my allergist/immunologist the ears to really truly hear my concerns about my immune system crashing and that You will give him the wisdom to consider a trial run of infusions for me for just a short time so we can see if they would help. I want my quality of life back. What little bit of life I may left. If not, may we see what our first and last vacation might be and then may You allow me dignity in the time I have remaining on this earth. I am scared, God. I am tired. I am tired of being sick all the time. I am exhausted. And I am turning everything over to You and putting everything into Your hands. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!