The Lord does provide

Abba FATHER, I come this morning with a heaviness of heart, an uncertainty, a sadness that I can’t explain. I would much rather rejoice in You. On the Jewish calendar this is a season of mourning that culminates on Tuesday. A number of tragic events occurred on that date, two being the destruction of both the 1st and 2nd Temple. Today, there’s the economy and the sad shape the world seems to be in, the unrest and anxiety that seems so pervasive. In my own little world, there are the car problems, which in the scheme of things is rather insignificant. Within me, there is restlessness, a feeling that I should be doing more, and a kind of discontentment and loneliness. I think some of it, this heaviness, is because I’m too focused on me, rather than others.

FATHER, please change my heart and my attitude. I choose to trust You and believe You will provide whatever and whenever there is a need in my life. Show me, FATHER, what I need to know, what I need to do, to honor You, to please You. I don’t want to miss You because I’m too focused on me. I want my life to have meaning, to count for something, to have significance as a witness to You. I know I will never accomplish “big” things, but please, FATHER, let those things I do be things that will last. Let me live each moment as a sacrifice of praise to You, with a heart that is full and overflowing with love and gratitude to You, the lover of my soul. Keep me, LORD, in the center of Your will, under Your wing and close to Your heart. I need You so much.

A morning prayer

Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure. (Isa 58:3)

FATHER, my reading in Isaiah (54-57), so much beauty, such amazing words of comfort and assurance, how blessed I am to be Your servant. But I must confess, it reading the above, I found a pang of guilt or conviction – that I seek to much my own pleasure rather than seeking to meet the needs of “others”.

Not that we want bad things, but that we want things to badly.

It is a matter of perspective, and I need You to change mine. You have blessed my life way more than I deserve, perhaps more than I can handle – Please FATHER, create in me that attitude of gratitude and heart for others. More of You, Lord and less of me.

Remembering

I remember a time when I was very young in the Lord. I was out of school, living on my own, and between jobs. I was in a small home Bible-study group and they had prayed for me to get a "job". Well, as it turns out my landlady had decided to paint the outside of the garage apartment I was living in. Because I was home, I ended up befriending the painter and his helper, so much so that he offered me a "job" to help him paint the building. It only lasted two days, but I saw it as God answering my prayer, in a somewhat humorous way.

Around lunch time on the second day I offered to drive to the nearest Burger King and get some burgers. My boss said that would be great, he gave me some money and off I went in my little VW bug. As I was driving I looked over and in the passenger seat, to my amazement, there sat Jesus. Now all I saw were His feet and the bottom portion of His robes, but I knew it was Him and I heard Him say - "I am with you always."

I’ll never forget that moment. I can still remember it as if it had just happened. Over the years since I have been through a lot and He has always kept His promise. I’ve know His presence in the trials, when He was all I had or when I felt I couldn’t go on. And I’ve known His presence in the good times, when my life was so full I felt I would just explode from the joy. He’s always with me, my constant companion and friend, my Lord and Savior, my Jesus.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psa 147:10-11)

FATHER my desire is that You would take pleasure in me as I have found so much pleasure in You, in being Your child, Your beloved. To the human ear hearing that pleasure is to be found in “fear” and “hope” seems contradictory, yet to the spiritual ear it brings joy and peace. You are Who You are, and by Your word have called all things into being. You are awesome because of Who You are – worthy of all honor and praise. You are also good and merciful and just and because of Your amazing attributes we can place our hope in You because You are steadfast and unchanging in Your love. And so I can rejoice in my fear of You and have peace in knowing that my hope is more than just a wish but a knowing that my life is secure in Your hands.

A small lesson about confession. . .

FATHER I had to apologize to several people yesterday at the bank where I do business. And while it was difficult, because of my own pride and wanting to “just let it go”, I went because I felt You were calling me to and because I needed to make amends for my angry reactions from the day before. Thank You for their gracious response but mostly for the freedom that comes in the process of admitting our offenses and in the receiving of forgiveness.

I was also impressed with the serious nature of sin, how easily it can surface and how deceptive it can be. . . and how very offensive it is to You. Thank You for Your Spirit’s revealing my sin and thank You for Your Son’s paying for my sin. There really are no words to adequately express how absolutely and completely amazing You are.

The wisest of women builds her house . . . Prov 14:1

One commentary talked about how the world tends to down play those who are “just” housewives or keepers of the home. It got me thinking about how we define who we are. I’m a (fill in the blank). There seems to be this need to “be” something. I remember as a child, “and what do you want to be when you grow up?” I never really had an answer, still don’t. I think what I want to define me is the kind of person I am, my character and how I live my life. It’s not about what I do, but who I am on the inside. I’ve also come to know that I don’t want the world to tell me who I am, but to become the one my FATHER says that I am. It’s HIS nature I want to define me because I am HIS child.

Broken relationships

Father, there are so many broken relationships among family and within Your Body, the church. Bring Your healing touch and provide ways and means that one may be reconciled with another. You say "if possible" we are to live at peace with one another - sometimes it isn't possible, but so often it's just a matter of letting go of some offense, allowing for forgiveness and for Your redemption to take place.

We are a broken people and we need Your healing grace to restore us. May it begin with me, Lord. Amen.