Can evil and light coexist?

Father, every sinner is as we have been and if it was not for the Light of Jesus within and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, we would all be in darkness, stumbling about in a sinful world.

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.

Let the person who has not sinned cast the first stone

Then You teach us that the scribes (lawyers) and Pharisees (religious leaders) are in the role of accusers. You did not say they accused falsely, Jesus, You said they too commit sins of various kinds and if any of them thought they were without sin, then step up and cast the first stone in the killing process.

We are heirs of salvation…we are family!

Father, it is sometimes difficult to admit it, but we were all once strangers and foreigners to You. That was our condition before we learned of Your grace to us and of salvation from Jesus. But now we are citizens of heaven with all of the other saints, we are members of Your household. We are family!

Fear God…an appropriate response but not if He knows you.

Father, indeed, we who love You with all our heart, mind and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves, are not appointed to Your wrath. We know that does not mean that we are protected from the wrath of mankind, where people are capable of heinous crime.

No more tears…eternal joy and comfort. Not here, but there…

Father, we know that the great tribulation will be a time of extreme testing. There are those who will endure the temptations to serve someone beside You, but here these saints, whose sins were washed away by the blood of Your perfect Lamb, Jesus, are depicted as an example of what You have in store for the faithful.

Is introspection all the inspection your heart needs?

How Father shall we adorn the temple? Does it matter if we take care to have the body that houses the temple be clean and presentable? What expectations do You have of us for taking care of the temple? Is body piercing and are tattoos alright? Are we too immodest at times? In what ways might we disappoint You as we present ourselves to the world?

Fidelity an option?

Father, it is clear that fidelity to You, the Holy Spirit in us, is of utmost importance. We were bought at a great price and if we say we love You, and in fact do love You, at least for a while, and then decide to kick You out of our lives, then we have committed the unpardonable sin which You defined in Hebrews 6:4-6.

Am I my brother’s keeper…yes, more than I thought.

You teach us that our conscience must be clear when we make choices about eating and drinking and that if our heart convicts us concerning such things, we should refrain. You also tell us that if we do not feel right about what we are doing and we go on doing it, we are sinning.