♫Hallelujah, Hallelujah♫

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 (7:06 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You! Bless You. Praise You. Three hours of hearing the strains ♫Hallelujah, Hallelujah♫ singing deep within my soul and here I sit “ruminating on the nature of existence”.

Mm, Blessed God, thank You. Thank You for the peace that these chords and lyrics bring to my heart and mind. There is such opposition going on deeply inside of me. “But what about... ?” flies back and forth between my warring thoughts.

Thank You that You are so much bigger than all of my fears combined. For every doubt I concoct, You offer Truth. Every fear? Faith.

You alone are good (Mark 10:18).

(8:23 a.m.)

And in Your goodness, You invite us to come back to You. Holy God, how I thank You. As I read of Your unending love in Hosea and Your warnings, grace and mercy in Joel (2:12-14) I nod and shake my head simultaneously.

♫You're a Good, Good Father It's Who You are, it's Who You are♫. Even this I am hearing to the tune of ♫Hallelujah♫.

I know You to be True. Straight. Plumb. It's my understanding that is off. I focus on circumstances instead of You. My hope is in outcomes to my liking, not in Faith.

How I ask You to work in me Blessed God. “Hope in Faith (The Life Recovery Bible) Hebrews 11:1-10... Step Two [of 12] is often referred to as 'the hope step.' ” Teach me to hope in You, Blessed God. You have so much for me to learn.

“How can we be confident that something we want is going to happen, especially if all of our hopes have been dashed? How can we risk believing that the life we hope for is waiting for us around the bend?” Yes, Lord. Hear my echo in this Step 2 devotional.

“The Bible tells us that the key is in the nature of the higher Power we look to. We are told that 'anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him' (Hebrews 11:6). If we see God as One who is reaching out to help us, we will be more eager to look for Him.”

And right here I see myself as either one of the preschoolers with whom I spent last evening. One moment repeatedly gushing, “I love you”s and the very next wildly pushing all the limits. I do this with You Dear Lord. I want all I want as I want it. On my terms. Asking Your stamp of blessing.

Do all You must to change my childish, immature approach to following You. I want my singing of ♫Hallelujah, Hallelujah♫ to truly be music to Your ears. Pure. Holy. Faithful. Hopeful. True.

I love You Lord. Grow me in trusting, believing, depending on YOU; not my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). You know my needs. You know my hope. Align them with Your perfect will. Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(512 words ~ 9:25 a.m.)