Father, You require that we come to you in humility, not proud of ourselves. Help us Father to be joyful as we seek to serve without having our joy turn to self-serving pride.
Eat, drink, work, play…as unto the Lord.
Help us, today, to take care of the body you have given us and to be an effective witness, one that presents ourselves as a Temple of God. Give us, we pray, the self-discipline, buoyed by the power of the Holy Spirit to be as You Jesus, full of joy, humility and love.
I keep myself in great shape. In God’s eyes, that’s a good thing; right?
We want to be righteous in Your sight yet we know that any righteousness we might have is not ours at all. Only as we take on Your mantle can we experience Holiness and then only for too short a moment, it seems. We pray for more consistency.
My anguish is such that I actually cry out…who cares?
Father, we too live in a time of many false gods and many are simply without any faith in any god. O’God, help us this day to show men who You are by our faith and obedience to You. We know You care. Give Your strength to Your servant…
Pride, the subtle, but terribly effective, tool of Satan
Father, is there any sin more likely to be in our lives than pride? It seems not as we observe the actions of some of your most committed people. Help us notice how pride can creep into our lives. Show us how to convert prideful tendencies into joy in Your presence, joy in victories made possible by You. We are so tempted to “seek the best seat” but here you teach us how embarrassed, before You, we will be when we are asked to yield that seat to another.
Wisdom/Perfection…are they linked?
Give us more than wisdom alone O’God. Give us discernment Father wherein we can utilize the power of the Holy Spirit to understand the full meaning of Your hope for us. Let us never flatter, to gain advantage, nor lack humility as we seek to serve You and our fellow man.
The vanity of vanities, all is vanity…
Father, thank you for teaching us that life is not about three score and 10 years but instead showing us that it is a “proving ground” where we are able to be tested by You and where You will help us overcome evil spirits, spirits which are as real as you are Father and which we can not overcome by ourselves. It is in Your strength that we endure.
From innocence to guilt; growing up is hard to do.
We thank You Father for the simplicity of the Gospel. Help us, this day to humbly enter into Your Holy presence with a faith that is like a child’s faith.
Must I be humble and contrite to be blessed?
Father, we do “works” in Your name of all kinds and we feel proud, at times. Thank You for teaching us that our heart must be right with You for our works to be blessed. You teach us that humility and contrition must precede our efforts to please You.
Sorrow sets the stage for repentance and eternal life
Father, You have taught us that humility and contrition precede repentance and now we see that it is accompanied by sorrow, genuine sorrow for our sins. This sorrow is not the sort of sorrow the world feels about having made mistakes but it is sorrow leading to repentance and to the joy of a changed heart.
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