with all my heart

 Wednesday, October 21, 2020 (7:31 a.m.)

Holy God,

I have words I want to use more: Yes. Absolutely. Sure. Indeed. Okay. Why not? They are so much more positive than the ones usually found in my head.

Again I affirm You as the good God that You are. Thank You Father that we can come before You exactly as we are. Flawed. Broken. In need.

This morning I am seeking Your Word on healthy interdependent relationships. I remember reading of them before in The Life Recovery Bible footnotes. And here I search.

COLOSSIANS RECOVERY THEMES Healthy Relationships

The PURPOSE for this book? “To show us that Christ is the only real source of power in our life.” Amen!

PROVERBS RECOVERY THEMES Building Healthy Relationships

Footnotes for:

1 John 5:16-19

1 Corinthians 14:26-39

1 Corinthians 10:23-33, see Psalm 24:1

1 Kings 14:1-11 

Most Dear and Holy God, I read so much of what has been written about the dangers of codependent relationships. And I want all the more to practice building healthy relationships. Guide me Lord.

(9:05 a.m.)

Sitting. Reading. Asking. Hoping. And taking in another full breath. Father, once more I ask that You would lead and guide us in the way You would have us go.

Digging into Your Word I arrive again at Proverbs 3:5. Being exhorted in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition. Father how I ask You to continue Your work in making me obedient to Your Word. Your will. Your way.

Do all You must that I will truly, ‘Lean on, trust in, and be confident in You Lord with all my heart and mind and not rely on my own insight or understanding.’

Yes Father! Do all You must. I love You. I need You. I want You. And I ask You, ♪Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me♪ as only You know is best. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(333 words ~ 9:22 a.m.)

"Teach me"

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 (7:29 a.m.)

Holy, Holy God,

Thank You that we get to come to You. Thank You for who and all You are. Thank You that You are good. And I love you.

♪You are good Your are good When there’s nothing good in me…♪

Again I say thank You God! Thank You for the opportunity to compare the texts of various Bibles. Thank You that in reading of Your goodness (Psalm 119:65) I find only two that say, “Teach me” differently.

The Message uses “train me in Your goodness” while The Living Bible says, “make me follow Your lead.” Oh most good and holy God, how deeply I long to follow Your lead to goodness.

There are so many things wrong with my thinking. “O LORD, the earth is full of Your unfailing love; teach me Your principles. You have done many good things for me, LORD, just as You promised. I believe in Your commands; now teach me good judgment and knowledge. I used to wander off until You disciplined me; but now I closely follow Your Word. You are good and do only good; teach me Your principles” (Palm 119:64-68).

Oh yes Dearest God. Teach me Your principles! Other renditions say: Your statutes, laws, demands [ordinances, requirements], commands, orders, decrees. The Passion Translation says it all quite eloquently.

“Give me more revelation of Your ways, for I see Your love and tender care everywhere. My True Treasure Your extravagant kindness to me makes me want to follow Your words even more! Teach me how to make good decisions, and give me revelation-light, for I believe in Your commands. Before I was humbled I used to wander astray, but now I see the wisdom of Your words. Everything You do is beautiful, flowing from Your goodness; teach me the power of Your wonderful words!”

Oh yes Blessed God. Teach me to make good decisions by the power of Your wonderful words!

This is NOT what I had planned to speak with You about today. Perhaps tomorrow we can delve into developing health interdependent relationships? I love You Father.

Thank You for providing me the very easy find to the song we sang in church on Sunday. ♪You are good You are good When there’s nothing good in me You are love, You are love On display for all to see You are light, You are light (1 John 1:5) When the darkness closes in You are hope, You are hope You have covered all my sin You are peace, You are peace When my fear is crippling You are true, You are true Even in my wandering You are joy, You are joy You’re the reason that I sing You are life, You are life In You death has lost its sting…♪

Dearest Lord, the more I sing the greater my desire for You grows. ♪I’m running to Your arms I’m running to Your arms The riches of Your love Will always be enough Nothing compares To Your embrace Light of the world Forever Reign You are more, You are more Than my words will ever say You are Lord, You are Lord All creation will proclaim You are here, You are here In Your presence I’m made whole You are God, You are God Of all else I’m letting go My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus♪

Mm yes! ♪Jesus, Jesus♪ My heart cries out to You Dearest Lord, “Teach me.” I love You. Amen.

(585 words ~ 8:31 a.m.)

our only hope

Monday, October 19, 2020 (7:13 a.m.)

Holy God,

I’m here asking You Dear Lord to change my attitude. Please, please, please. Change my attitude. I confess to You, it stinks! Bordering on despair. You truly are our only hope.

Yes Father. You are our only hope!

Isaiah 33:2-4 (The Message)

Jeremiah 14:7-9

Daniel 9:9-12

Lamentations 5:21 (The Living Bible)

1 Timothy 1:1

John 6:68 (Amplified Bible)

The more I read in Your Word the greater is my resolve to follow You. On my own I become increasingly fearful. Distressed. Hopeless.

Turning to You in truth and honesty, I find hope. Looking at circumstances is overwhelmingly negative. Choosing to place all trust in You, my heart is lightened.

Father God I love You. I absolutely need You to right my wrong thinking. Thank You that I get to be completely honest with You. I can’t change myself. You can! I am asking You to do all You must. Change my attitude. All I think. What I want.

You are good. You are holy. It’s a new day. And I’m asking for the new attitude that will honor and glorify You.

Singing a new to me song from yesterday’s worship service, I beseech You Father ♪Do It Again♪ Yes Lord! You are good. You are able. You are our only hope!

♪Walking around these walls I thought by now they’d fall… Waiting for change to come Knowing the battle’s won♪ And the overwhelmingly Truth filled line? ♪For You have never failed me yet♪ So true Dear God!

♪Your promise still stands Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness I’m still in Your hands This is my confidence, You’ve never failed me yet I know the night won’t last Your Word will come to pass My heart will sing Your praise again Jesus You’re still enough Keep me within Your love My heart will sing Your praise again♪

So here I am. Sitting up straighter. Willing to get started with another day. Wanting desperately to BE the woman You created. Straighten my thinking every single time it starts getting wonky.

I don’t want to keep trying to be all You want of me. I’m asking You to do all You must that I will truly become the new person Paul talks about in Ephesians. The one with “a spiritual renewal of thoughts and attitude” (4:23). 

Yes Father. I want to ‘display a new nature because I am a new person, created in Your likeness - righteous, holy and true’ (v. 24). Not just pretending and trying to be all I think You want of and for me.

I’m asking You to make me real, Father. Authentic. Genuine.

♪I’ve seen You move, You move the mountains And I believe, I’ll see You do it again You made a way, where there was no way And I believe, I’ll see You do it again… Your promise still stands… You never failed me yet I never will forget♪

Father I ask all this change in Your Son’s precious name. I love You. Thank You. Amen.

(514 words ~ 8:45 a.m.)

be constant

Sunday, October 18, 2020 (6:39 a.m.)

Holy God,

(7:44 a.m.)

I’m confessing to feeling fickle and wanting desperately to be constant. Yes Lord. I long to be constant!

Ephesians 4:23. Living as Children of Light. The New Self; 4:17-25 (The Life Recovery Bible. Illustrated Bible Handbook).

(1:21 p.m.)

A church service. Readings of several past prayers. A phone call. And finally back with You. Father, thank You that even while doing other things we are never far away from Your protective care.

Beginning here with Paul’s urging the believers in Ephesus to “put off the old self” (v. 22 ) and “to take a fresh breath and to let God renew your attitude and spirit” (v. 23 The Voice). Oh yes Blessed God. A fresh breath, with renewed attitude and spirit! Yes. Please.

The Living Bible tells us, “Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better. Yes, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature” (vs. 23-24).

Yes please Father! Do all You must in, with, by, through and for me that I would truly become the new and different person that You would have me be. Constantly changing for the better.

I love You Lord. I can do none of this without You. I need You to do all that I am unable on my own. Everything that You know is best. Thank You God. I need You. Praise You. Amen.

(254 words ~ 1:50 p.m.)

conversion

 Saturday, October 17, 2020 (7:22 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You. Teach me I ask.

The war in my head continues. One moment grateful. The next? Filled with regret. Doubt. Numerous degrees of negativity.

Father, it’s to You I turn. Asking. Seeking. Knocking. Only You know what is best. You know Your plan. Your will. Your way.

Having used the football term conversion earlier I bring it to Your Word. Reading in Romans. Taking heart in being reminded that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It’s not just me. Thank You God.

Revisiting the apostle Paul’s greetings to the church at Rome I settle in. Breathing deeper. Allowing myself to be comforted by Your Truth.

He wrote this letter to Your “beloved chosen ones”. Those who had “been divinely summoned to be holy” in Your eyes (Romans 1:7). Oh that I would truly fill Your bill Lord! I long to live this day believing myself to be beloved, chosen, divinely summoned and holy in Your eyes.

Paul gave “thanks to God for all of you, because it’s through your conversion to Jesus Christ, that the testimony of your strong, persistent faith is spreading throughout the world” (v. 8). The Passion Translation footnote for this verse tells us, “It was Paul’s constant habit to thank God for any grace he found within any believer.”

I want to be known for doing that Lord! Thanking You for any grace I find in any believer. Even myself God. Any and every grace. Convert my eyes to seeing Your grace. Clearly.

I love You Father. Do all You must with me this day. In, through, by and for me that I would indeed give You the glory You so rightly deserve. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(302 words ~ 8:51 a.m.)

restorative justice

 Friday, October 16, 2020 (6:40 a.m.)

Holy God,

It’s windy. There are more fires. We love You. And I ask You to right all that is so wrong.

This morning Lord I am more keenly aware of mistakes I’ve made. Goofs. Faux pas. Errors. Blunders. And I am looking to You for forgiveness.

Yes. Forgive me Father for I have sinned. I turn to You for reconciliation. Your restorative justice. Your righteousness Dearest God. The news Paul was “most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: ‘The person in right standing before God by trusting Him really lives’” (Romans 1:17; Habakkuk 2:4 The Message).

I long to really live Lord! By trusting You.

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition. “For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.”

Oh Blessed God. Righteousness springing from and leading to faith. Do all You must Dearest Lord.

(10:04 a.m.)

An expected visit. And unexpected plant trimming. Here I am back with You. Reading in Romans Theme Stated; 1:16,17 (Illustrated Bible Handbook) I am reminded, “Paul has experienced the power of the gospel at work in himself and in others. He shares it then with full confidence, sure he will never be embarrassed.”

Father God I have experienced and observed Your work in myself and others. Continue clarifying and refining me Lord. Removing all that does not serve You well.

I love You. I need You. And I ask You Lord, do all You must. In, with, by, through and for me. Be glorified through You restorative justice Dearest God. Thank You. Amen.

(339 words ~ 10:18 a.m.)

hyper-intercession

 Thursday, October 15, 2020 (5:33 a.m.)

Holy God,

We need You. Very badly. It’s a different day. With a different problem.

Father, I confess to You right now. I don’t even know how or what to pray.

And here I follow Your lead to Romans 8:25-27, The Passion Translation. Blessed God, how I thank You for the love You have for each and every single one of us. Thank You that You are good. You are holy. You are everything we need.

Thank You for the sliver of the moon that is rising in the east. Just before the sun. Odd. I’ve never been aware of this before.

Thank You Father that You continue giving us things for which to be grateful. Oddities. Unexpected twists. None of it without Your awareness.

“So because our hope is set on what is yet to be seen, we patiently keep on waiting for its fulfillment. And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness” (vs. 25-26a). Oh yes please Lord!

“For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for” (v. 26b). Yes!

“But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words” (26c). My trust and belief right now.

“God, the Searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet He also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, His holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny.” Oh yes please Dearest Father.

Looking to the footnotes of this translation, I read “The Greek word huperentugkhano is best translated ‘super [or hyper]-intercede for us.’ We can only imagine how many blessings have poured into our lives because of the hyper-intercession of the Holy Spirit for us!” Oh yes Lord. We can only imagine!

Continuing in the commentary I read of You as also “God, the heart-searcher.” What comfort that allows. “God searches our hearts not just to uncover what is wrong, but to fulfill the true desire of our hearts to be fully His. Grace triumphs over judgment.”

And therein lies my prayer for this day. Your grace to triumph over judgment Lord. We as a society are in such a sorry state. We absolutely need Your grace to triumph over judgment.

I look to Your Holy Spirit and the power of hyper-intercession to pray all that needs to be prayed right now. All the love and acceptance that is needed that we as dear brothers and sisters would truly “fix [our] thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 New Living Translation).

Oh that we would truly ‘keep putting into practice all we have learned and received - everything we have heard and seen’ from following Paul’s teachings that You, our “God of peace” would be with us (Philippians 4:9).

We need You Lord. Desperately. It’s in Your Son’s most holy name that we pray. Asking. Seeking. Knocking. Your will. Your way. Your best. Amen.

(551 words ~ 6:53 a.m.)