Holy God

Friday, March 8, 2013 (8:25 EST)

Dania, FL

Holy God,

I've already packed my 'go-to' Bible. I'm relying on BibleGateway.com and The Gideons' from the hotel. Several verses seem appropriate. Let's see where we go together. “You lead, I'll follow!”

First off, it's Revelation 15:4 (NKJV) I bring to You. “Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.” Yes. Yes. And YES!!!

“For You alone art holy”. I throw the word 'holy' around far too casually. I use it to describe things that are anything but holy. Forgive me, I pray. Change this in me I ask.

From here I go right back to what made me laugh out loud just earlier. Proverbs 30:3a. It was the phrasing used by Eugene Peterson in The Message that shocked me into attention, “I flunked 'wisdom'.” That's me. Thankfully the follow up to that is no longer true in my case. “I see no evidence of a holy God.” Not true! Absolutely not true! We have evidences of Your holiness all around us. It's utilizing that evidence, that TRUTH, where I fall short.

Father, I want, I'm asking that You temper my language to represent the fact that You alone art holy. I wish to no longer casually use the word 'holy' in describing anything but You! You are good. You are faithful. You are loving. And kind. And most of, You are holy.

Thank You for the blessings You are continuing to provide us. Let us represent You well this day, the remainder of this current trip, all the days of our lives. We love You so much. We ask You to work wonderfully in and through each of us that we will serve You well. We truly long to love You with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) fully knowing, believing, trusting that “the Lord our God is the one and only Lord” (v.29). Holy. Holy God.

Thank You Father. We love You. And we ask You all this in Your Son's most holy name. Amen.

(364 words ~ 9:11 a.m.)

extremes

Thursday, March 7, 2013 (7:35 a.m. EST)

Dania, FL

Loving Father,

Thank You! I was in the midst of an adventure yesterday (airboats, gators and crocs, oh my!) and speaking with You was what I most wanted to do.

♫Word of God speak♫ I noticed myself singing that in the middle of the Everglades. Chin lifted, eyes closed and truly not a care in the world I wanted only to be in Your presence. What an experience! Something I had always thought I would never want to do. Thank You for surprising me.

And surprise me You do! Thank You for turning my mind, in the very midst of an exciting experience, from what was going on around me to You and Your Word. I was in the middle of sawgrass in Florida and thinking of Moses, as a baby, being placed in a little boat made of papyrus reeds and set “afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile” (Exodus 2:1-3). Thank You Father.

You take such incredible care of Your creation. Last night there was time and conversation somehow turned to having a good death. Stories were told of loved ones seemingly fine one minute and being gone the next. There were those who had suffered greatly and rallied to the point of anticipated recovery. You were fully acknowledged as having a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Thank You Father.

Thank You that as we (You and I) sit here together I again get to turn in Your Word. Through the years I've come to use the words “never” and “always” sparingly. Just now I found a verse (Psalm 145:13) that I won't have to hesitate in using such extremes.

“Your Kingdom is a kingdom eternal; You never get voted out of office. God always does what He says, and is gracious in everything He does.” You are the epitome of extremes!

The Life Recovery Bible comments, that 'You shower us with Your gifts, holding back the judgment we deserve. Even though You hate our sin, You don't react to it out of anger. Instead, You show us great compassion. Someday all creation will recognize what God has done and will praise Him.'

That said, I just remembered another never worth repeating. “His compassion never ends” (Lamentations 3:22a). Father, as we go into this day, make me ever mindful of the extremes to which You love us. Your compassion never ends and You are ALWAYS good! Extremes, yes. You are one extremely good God. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(429 words ~ 9:15 a.m.)

unmerited favor

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 (8:57 a.m. EST)

Dania, FL

Awesome God of Glory,

And grace. Mm, yes. Grace. Speak to me this morning about Your grace.

(10:57 a.m.)

Grace. Unmerited favor. Yes. That is what this current trip represents. We have done nothing to warrant or deserve this present experience, yet here we are. Able to “enjoy, smile, relax, renew and smile more”. Wise words shared with me by a dear friend.

Father, thank You! Thank You for Your gifts. The gift of Your Son. His sacrifice on our behalf. His willingness to go to His own excruciatingly painful death. All for Your love of us.

I can't even begin to comprehend that kind of selflessness. Jesus, thank You for this unmerited favor You have so freely bestowed on us. It is free to us. And came at such a great price for You. “GRACE – God's Riches At Christ's Expense”!

You gave us this day. This current opportunity. Let us use them well. To Your good and Your glory. We love You so very much. Make it show clearly through our dependence on and trust in You, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds (Mark 12:30). Use them all to glorify You.

The Illustrated Bible Handbook says this about grace, “Grace is, as it is often defined, the 'unmerited favor of God.' But most importantly, it is God acting powerfully to do for you and me all those things which we could never do for ourselves.” Oh, “AMEN” to that!!!

Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(262 words ~ 8:22 a.m.)

another trip

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 (5-ish a.m.)

Be with us Father,

We're taking another trip. We need You to go within, before, behind, beneath and above us. I'm taking the Truth found in Psalm 23:6 with us. 

Use us this day, this trip to Your good and Your glory. We love You and we thank You. With so much love we pray. Thank You. Amen.

(57 words)

sweet soil

Monday, March 4, 2013 (6:51 a.m.)

Most Dear and Blessed Father God,

How very much I love You! How I thank and praise You. How I ask You to speak with me this morning. Two words came to me while it was still dark outside. “Sweet soil”. I have little idea what they may mean. I did some internet searching and although I think it can be a good thing for growing, I'm looking to You who created it all.

Father, thank You for the care You took in making everything out of nothing (Genesis 1). Peace settles deep into my being as I read both Your Word and the Illustrated Bible Handbook. Nothing got past Your attention. We are so blessed to be loved by a God such as Yourself! The One, the Only God in Three Persons who is intimately involved in not only our creation, but also in our well-being.

Father, thank You. Thank You for setting it all into motion. Thank You for taking nothing and creating life. Father I want to use well this life You have provided us. I want the soil You are growing me in to be sweet. Good for growing. Healthy.

I remember where the thought of soil came from! In not getting right to sleep last night, I recalled Your blessing me through Your Word three years ago. Before knowing I would have need of Its Truth the very next day (March 14), I read and prayed on Paul's words to the believers at Colosse.

He wrote this letter “to show us that Christ is the only real source of power in our life.” (The Life Recovery Bible – The Bottom Line). Father, thank You that even here You were in charge of growing us.

Colossians 2:6-7, “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him, too, for each day's problems; live in vital union with Him. Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the Truth that you were taught. Let you lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done.”

Sweet Soil! Jesus thank You for all You have done in growing and nourishing me. Use me this day as You wish in representing Your goodness and Your glory. I love You so very much. And I thank You deeply. Grow me. Nourish me. In Your sweet soil. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(421 words ~ 8:40 a.m.)

first things

Saturday, March 2, 2013 (7:40 a.m.)

Most Holy Father God,

Thank You. Your Word teaches us to “Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Father, I've been trying to do exactly that.

You are so good. You are kind. You are patient. And You keep giving us opportunities to practice being better. Thank You.

This past week, You helped us stay focused on taking care of one task at a time. We were not only successful at identifying 'first things' we actually took care of them first! That's You Father. Working in and through each of us. Thank You God.

We've had a lot of decisions to make. And we worked together surprisingly well in organizing our chaos. You get the glory for it all. Here is where I ask You to continue working in me.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us, “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” I confess Dearest God, this is not usually my first thing. My typical modus operandi is fretting and stewing, debating outcomes, second guessing.

I want very much to get to the place where You see cheerfulness and thanksgiving in my heart. I don't want to merely give You lip service. I want my very countenance to represent You. Your peace. Your joy. Your love. Your generousity.

Father, You are so very good to us. You bring amazing people and opportunities into our lives. As I consider our first things for today I ask You to make me ever aware of the presence and guidance of Your Holy Spirit. Let me be a willing, obedient partcipant in Your good plan for us this day.

I love You. I thank You. And I truly ask You to enable me to “give thanks in every situation”. Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(336 words ~ 9:30 a.m.)

♫I thank You♫

Friday, March 1, 2013 (6:11 a.m.)

Awesome Father God,

Thank You that we have You to turn to. Thank You that in the middle of the dark when a song came to mind, I immediately turned it toward You and Your Son. After looking up the lyrics just now, again I realize I'm reaching but there is much comfort in singing ♫You didn't have to love me like You did But You did, but You did and I thank You♫

I'm not at all sure what brought this song to mind but I am so grateful to be singing it You right now. Looking up “I thank You” in Your Word, I am led to such promising Scripture verses that I don't know which to place my focus on. Guide me here I pray Dear Lord.

Psalm 86:11-12, “Train me, God, to walk straight; then I'll follow Your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank You, dear Lord”. I do Father. I do thank You for the love You didn't have to give to me.

There truly is no greater love (John 15:3) than that which You gave this world in the sacrifice of Your Son (John 3:16). Thank You Father for loving each of us so perfectly.

There is much to be done around here these next several days. Father, it is Your love for each of us I am depending on to see us through it all.

The Life Recovery comment for Psalm 86:11-17 says, “We only know God's will as we seek to know Him through prayer and the study of His Word. The more we know about God, the more we know of what He expects of us. And as we get to know God better, we will discover that He not only gives us direction, but also gives us the strength and encouragement we need to walk down the pathway He chooses for us.” That is exactly what I am depending on Dearest Father.

Thank You for reminding me that ♫You didn't have to love me like You did But You did, but You did♫ and Father I truly thank You. Empower me to share that love with others this day. Be with us as we work together to accomplish a LOT! In Your Son's most precious name I pray. Amen.

(403 words ~ 6:57 a.m.)