I humbly declare I am not proud; never have been.
Father, we know that to be like Jesus is our goal and we also know that our lower nature, our flesh, often causes us to act more like a goof ball than a saint. Give us the humility we pray to allow You to overcome that which is present in all of us. You promised to do so if we but ask.
Your Presence surrounds us. We are never alone.
Keep us from valuing anything or anyone more than our relationship with You. You are the constant, unchanging Presence. Jesus, You alone are our Judge and our Redeemer. Strengthen our fidelity to You.
Judged individually? I thought it was a group membership deal.
Father, Your law reveals Your will for us. When we stand within Your law we stand in liberty. Forgive us O’God when we sin. Deliver us from temptation, constantly, because it is ever upon us. As we proclaim our faith, help us to do good works that verify our words.
Your thoughts toward us exceed number…and ours towards You?
Father, Your omnipresence in our lives and world is beyond our comprehension. We know you have none of the boundaries of the flesh and that You created each of us. Now You teach us that You search us, You know when we arise and lay down, You know the words on our tongues and the thoughts of our hearts. You encompass us, Your thoughts toward us [...]
Lord, lunatic or liar, a true trilemma…(C.S.Lewis)
Father, The beloved apostle John was a disciple, witness and friend of Jesus. John saw Jesus, listened to Him speak and touched Him. Here we learn again that Jesus was with You in the beginning and that He was a manifestation of You to us. Father, we know that Jesus said, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father". Thank You Father for provid [...]
Our eternal High Priest, Jesus, is our advocate…perfect!
Father, we stand before You all day, every day, completely exposed. We have no secret thoughts or actions and You tell us here that we must give an account for our decisions.
Suffer patiently? How is that possible…
Jesus, our objective is to be like You. We will need a lot of help not to return evil for evil. If people are critical of us, to take such criticism without angrily giving it back to them, doubly for some of us, requires Your Spirit in us.
God’s word can never be stamped void. It invades your space
Father, we thank You for Paul’s ministry. He taught us how to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, who he refers to as saints. We do pray for each other, perhaps not as fervently or constantly as we should, but we know that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. You hear the prayers of those that love You so we never speak in vain [...]
Will mercy triumph over judgment? I pray it does…
Jesus, here we have Your half brother, James, clarifying that sin is sin and that there is no hierarchy of sin. Whether we have committed relatively small sins or grievous sins, we are all in the same place. We need Your forgiveness and cleansing and we need to show mercy to others as You have shown mercy to us.