June 12 Thank You

“O Lord, hear my voice.  Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 

If You, Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 

But with You there is forgiveness.”

Thank You Lord, that You hear my voice and my prayer.  Thank You that one of Your qualities is omnipresence: You can be everywhere at once.

I never have to worry that You are too busy, or that I have to wait on the other people in the world for You to be listening and responding to me.  Thank You that in the quietness of my heart, I can turn to You anytime and You are there.

Thank You that when I turn from my sin and ask for forgiveness, You remove my sin from me and never bring it up again.

People remind me of my failures and mistakes, some more than others.  But with You, there is never a backhanded comment, or dredging up my past faults.   When You forgive, it is over and done with.

Thank You for knowing that no one can stand when compared to Your standard and example of perfection without Your covering of mercy and righteousness.  And thank You for providing exactly that in the blood You shed on the cross.   It completely pays the penalty my sins deserve.

“In Your Word I put my hope.”  Its promises are true.  Its instruction is sure.   Father, bring my loved ones to put their hope in You too.   In You, they will find unfailing love and full redemption.  Turn their hearts back to You.  Open their eyes to Your truth.

Pull back the veil of lies and deceit they have believed.  Rip away the evil one’s trickery and schemes that have drawn them away from You.  Help them see that You alone can redeem them.  I wait in anticipation of their deliverance and salvation.  Amen

Psalm 130:1-8

June 12 Thank You

“O Lord, hear my voice.  Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.  If You, Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness.”

Thank You Lord, that You hear my voice and my prayer.  Thank You that one of Your qualities is omnipresence: You can be everywhere at once.

I never have to worry that You are too busy, or that I have to wait on the other people in the world for You to be listening and responding to me.  Thank You that in the quietness of my heart, I can turn to You anytime and You are there.

Thank You that when I turn from my sin and ask for forgiveness, You remove my sin from me and never bring it up again.

People remind me of my failures and mistakes, some more than others.  But with You, there is never a backhanded comment, or dredging up my past faults.   When You forgive, it is over and done with.

Thank You for knowing that no one can stand when compared to Your standard and example of perfection without Your covering of mercy and righteousness.  And thank You for providing exactly that in the blood You shed on the cross.   It completely pays the penalty my sins deserve.

“In Your Word I put my hope.”  Its promises are true.  Its instruction is sure.   Father, bring my loved ones to put their hope in You too.   In You, they will find unfailing love and full redemption.  Turn their hearts back to You.  Open their eyes to Your truth.

Pull back the veil of lies and deceit they have believed.  Rip away the evil one’s trickery and schemes that have drawn them away from You.  Help them see that You alone can redeem them.  I wait in anticipation of their deliverance and salvation.  Amen

Psalm 130:1-8

Jan 29 Omnipresence

Father, I truly believe that You created the heavens and the earth. And that everything in it belongs to You.

It especially blows my mind when I’m at a stoplight.

I sit there in my car and marvel that no matter where I am, You are there with me.

And You have a specific awareness of who I am, where I am going, what I am thinking, the condition of my heart, spirit, and all that concerns me. You even know the number of hairs on my head.

Then I look up and realize You are also with every other person there at that intersection – knowing who they are, where they are going, what is happening in their lives, the condition of their hearts and their spirits.

It’s Your quality of omnipresence.

Not only there at my intersection, but also everyone at every intersection up the road, and in my town. Beyond that, You are present with every person at every intersection in other towns, and in other states, in every country, every hemisphere, around the entire world! And that’s just people in their cars!

There are billions of people on this planet, and at any given moment, You are aware of each of them, and are present with them. Each one, every second of every day! It is so far beyond my ability to comprehend, it blows my mind!

Father, I love that You are omnipresent.  When I think of Your ability to be everywhere at the same time, I get a general sense of the great power You have, and think, “Of course, God is everywhere.”

But when I can actually picture specifics, like the number of people at my intersection, cars I can see, faces I can discern, and begin to multiply that by other familiar intersections, other towns; it quickly grows from proportions that I can quantify as impressive to numbers that are unimaginably mind-boggling.

And this is only one of Your amazing, immeasurable characteristics! No wonder Jesus said to his disciples, “with God all things are possible.”

“You are the King of glory. You are strong and mighty. You are mighty in battle. You are the Lord God Almighty.” And I am in awe of You.

Thank You for drawing near to me. Thank You that in Your power, You care for and love each one of Your creations.

I praise You that in Your unfathomable greatness reaching across the galaxy, You are a personal Father who leans down know me intimately. I am amazed by You.

Matthew 19:26; Psalm 24:1-10

Jun 12 Thank You

“O Lord, hear my voice.  Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.  If You, Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness.”

Thank You Lord, that You hear my voice and my prayer.  Thank You that one of Your qualities is omnipresence: You can be everywhere at once.

I never have to worry that You are too busy, or that I have to wait on the other people in the world for You to be listening and responding to me.  Thank You that in the quietness of my heart, I can turn to You anytime and You are there.

Thank You that when I turn from my sin and ask for forgiveness, You remove my sin from me and never bring it up again.  People remind me of my failures and mistakes, some more than others.  But with You, there is never a backhanded comment, or dredging up my past faults.   When You forgive, it is over and done with.

Thank You for knowing that no one can stand when compared to Your standard and example of perfection without Your covering of mercy and righteousness.  And thank You for providing exactly that in the blood You shed on the cross.   It completely pays the penalty my sins deserve.

“In Your Word I put my hope.”  Its promises are true.  Its instruction is sure.   Father, bring my loved ones to put their hope in You too.   In You, they will find unfailing love and full redemption.  Turn their hearts back to You.  Open their eyes to Your truth.

Pull back the veil of lies and deceit they have believed.  Rip away the evil one’s trickery and schemes that have drawn them away from You.  Help them see that You alone can redeem them.  I wait in anticipation of their deliverance and salvation.  Amen

Psalm 130:1-8

May 5 to save You reach around the world

Lord God, You amaze me at how You use simple, ordinary people, men and women, to accomplish Your purpose. You sent believers all the way to Moab, at least sixty miles across the desert during a famine to reach Your faithful servant Ruth.   She made the famous statement, “Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay, your people will be my people and your God my God” to her mother-in-law Naomi. Her faith and trust in You led her to be part of Your amazing plan of salvation, as she was in the lineage You were born into.

Here in the flesh You stopped in a Samaritan town and spoke to an immoral woman, something a respectable Jew would not have done. And in doing so, brought her the message of Your salvation. Through her, You saved many Samaritans that day.

You chose for me to be born into a believing family. Wherever I was, You were there with me, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey, France, Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, Virginia, Colorado. All through those formative years, You made Your presence known to me. Even though everything else about my life changed: house, school, church, community, friends; You were always there.

There are so many who still do not believe You are who You are – Creator, Savior, King of Kings, Master, Wonderful Counselor, the One True God. But I know that You will move heaven and earth to reach them. You can use natural and divine events, travel across continents, reach into unrespectable communities, to make Yourself known. You can speak through a hurricane or a whisper, reveal Yourself in a majestic mountain or a delicate flower.   I trust You can bring my loved ones who I pray for to a saving knowledge of You.

Help me do my part. I can pray for them. I will let them see me praise You in good times and in bad. I will love them, and do my best to give them godly assistance and direction.   Show me when to speak and when to hold my tongue. Show me how to behave in a way that will draw them to You. Help me remove any stumbling block that would keep them from coming to You. Lord I thank You and praise You in advance for the celebration in heaven when they come to know You as Savior and live to glorify Your Name! Amen

Ruth 1:1-22; John 4:4-42

Dec 14 I am so Jonah!

Father, what wonderful lessons I’ve learned from Jonah!  About Jonah and about You.  He is so human…  And You are so God…

You spoke to Jonah, giving him a view of Your plan for him and specific directions using the gifts and talents You placed in him.   And You speak to Your people today.  You have given each of us gifts and talents to use in accordance with Your plan.   Help me hear Your voice clearly when You speak.  Give me direction and a view of Your purpose for my gifts.

Jonah thought he could get away with being disobedient.  He thought he could hide from You.  Silly man.  And silly me!  There have been times when I did not follow Your direction.  I never ended up in the belly of a great fish, but I did miss out on some wonderful opportunities.  Remind me of that when I consider disobedience in the future.

You have everything under Your control!  Not only did You see where Jonah went, meaning there in no place to hide from You; but You were in control of everything around him.  The weather?  You brought the storm!  And calmed it.  A large fish?  You brought it to swallow Jonah, and it obeyed Your command to vomit him onto dry land.  The same thing is true of the events and circumstances, relationships and opportunities in my life.  Remind me that You see me wherever I am.  And that there is nowhere I can go away from You.  And nothing beyond Your power.

Jonah called out to You, “In [his] distress…”.  Even when he thought his life was over, and knowing he had been disobedient, he prayed to You.  There is no circumstance where I cannot call on You.  It is never too late, I can never be too bad, I am never too far-gone.

You answered!  Even in the bowels of death and disobedience, You heard and answered Jonah’s prayer and rescued him.  You are a God of second chances!  And third and fourth…  You want Your people to be obedient.  You coach them to win, giving them every opportunity to do so.  And I am one of Your people.  Thank You for giving me second chances and more.  Thank You for always hearing my prayer and answering me.

Jonah obeyed eventually.  What I take from this is:  obey the first time – it will save me a lot of grief!

Thank You for this view into Jonah’s life.  It is a view into my own.  And into Your greatness.  Because You are so God…  And I am so human…  Amen

Jonah 1:1-4:11