Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7 Father, most of us have probably read these verses a thousand times.  This passage has become so familiar that there is a temptation to discount the value of its truth and wisdom.  With familiarity we tend overlook it as we would old wallpaper that we have seen so many times that we no longer “see” it. Lord, I lift my friends.  Their hearts are in distress.  So many burdens, concerns and problems steal their peace.  Their joy has become submerged and finally has drowned in their anxieties.  Their reserve of hope has been tapped dry and they feel the ache of loneliness in a room of thousands, all of whom have eyes that look bu...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,” - Ephesians 6:18 Lord, I lift my friend.  We thank You for another day on planet Earth.  We submit every minute to You.  May their choices align with Your perfect will, and the decisions made today make them glad tomorrow.  I ask for breakthrough in communication and renewal of forgiveness in their heart for those 70x7 offenses (Matthew 18:22).  When they are convinced they have depleted their ability to deny their flesh, extend one more ounce of grace or take another step in that same seemingly-endless direction, rush in with a flood of courage and strength to prove them wrong.  When the pain feels too much to bear and their well of hope has run dry, Father, carry them.  Spirit of God rush in and fill the void.  Bubble up w...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.” - Luke 6:31-34   Father, it is relatively easy to get along with people that are like us.  We can understand how they think and live.  But when people are unlike us, we hold one another at arms length and look at each other with a jaundiced eye, because we are afraid. When we are tempted to only see the differences, remind us of the things we have in common.  We all hurt.  We all have needs.  We all have people we love who love us.  We all suffer di...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.” - Isaiah 45:8 Lord, it’s still very early.  The first blush of morning is still hours away.  I can hear the gentle tap of rain on the window and it’s sound brings with it peace.  Fires have devastated so much.  The rain is truly a shower of blessing.  Lord, devastation affects all of our lives, whether it is the literal burning of all we own, a death, the figurative burning of a relational bridge or devastation to bodies, hopes or dreams.   Lord, I lift my friend this morning.  We bring the landscape of their life before You.  Some places show evidence of burn scars from long ago.  Others smolder, while there still may be areas in full blaze.  Father, we ask for an end to t...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   Lord, I lift my friend.  Even if their tummy is still full from yesterday, give them a holy hunger this morning.  Draw them into the satisfaction, comfort and peace of Your presence.  Invite them to feast on Your Word so their heart and mind would be prepared for the hours ahead, and be aligned with, and strengthened by, Your Holy Spirit.  Teach them how to discern Your voice above all others.  Quicken them, so the scripture hidden in their heart would come to mind at the right moment, providing answers for life’s questions.  Give them eyes to see evidence of Your fingerprints and the depth of Your love unrolling before them like a beautiful tapestry.   Because they have been in Your presence, may choices be met with wisdom, turmoil with peace, disappointment with hope and brokenness with healing.  May they meet their challenges with boldness, their hurts with forgiveness and th...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” - 1 Peter 1:17 Many years ago I worked for a large company.  With the cliques and drama, it was work to not allow myself to get sucked into the gossip, or buckle under the pressure of what often felt like a battlefield.  It is interesting how things changed the day I decided I was going to go back to school.  Suddenly, the same things were going on around me, but I felt insulated from being drawn into the vortex.  I still took deadlines seriously, but they didn’t stress me as they had in the past.  I continued to work for several months, and gave them my best, but I had emotionally already cut the ties with the stress and drama.  I didn’t belong there, because that job wasn’t my destiny or home.  Knowing my home was elsewhere gave me new perspective that insulated ...

CONFESSION: Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” - Hebrews 11:6 Lord, Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  You are unchanging, but our level of faith, and what we truly believe, can be all over the map.  It’s the middle of the night and this thought refuses to leave me.  It’s the thought that our deepest convictions about what we believe about You are revealed in our choices and how we treat one another. When we are mistreated and we respond in kind, we are declaring our belief that You will not defend us, and we must avenge ourselves.  When we are stressed and reach for food, alcohol or some other drug, we are saying that we do not believe that You will comfort us, so we must comfort ourselves.  When finances are tight and we are ...

Good morning, my friend.  Good morning, Father. “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” - Matthew 10:16 Lord, I just had a series of circumstances happen that left me feeling embarrassed due to another person’s mistake.  There is a battle inside me, because my flesh wants to push the embarrassment back on to the person it belongs to.  However, my spirit tells me that this is a test, and my initial gut reaction isn’t the right answer.  I can go with my flesh and then have uncomfortable feelings every time I encounter that person, or I can humble myself, extend kindness and grace and leave a mark for the kingdom. Father, Jesus carried our shame for us.  He didn’t deserve the penalty and humiliation He endured for our mistakes.  He was wholly innocent, yet didn’t try to push the shame back onto those to whom it belonged.  He took it upon Himself to carry it for us.  You re...

CONFESSION: Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.” - “Exodus 20:4-6 Father, You are so gracious to us.  This morning You are bringing my sin to my attention.  Yet in Your love and mercy, You whisper Your rebuke instead of shouting it.  You show me where I have chosen to worship according to my likings, not according to Your commands.  I pick and choose which commands I will obey according to convenience and my comfort.  I wo...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” — Hebrews 10:35-36 Father, I don’t know how many times I have been in a season of testing, and I get to a point that it all feels like too much and I give up, or have an emotional explosion- an indulgence of bad attitude that I feel I have earned the right to entertain.  It seems like such a short time that passes after that and the test passes, or the break through I had been praying for comes.  In its arrival, the anticipated joy and overwhelming relief are stunted by the regret over not making it to the end of the test with my faith and attitude intact.  Father, thank You for Your kindness to forgive every meltdown for the mere asking.  The offense is forgiven in its entirety, but I am still left with less blessing than You had planned ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” - Ephesians 6:12 Father, our tendency is to label the person who lied about us, stepped on us on their way up the corporate ladder, or has become our proverbial “thorn in the flesh,” as our “enemy”.  Your Word reminds us that those people are merely pawns for our true enemy.  The enemy hides behind his pawns, hoping we won’t recognize him, and will attack them instead. When we do, he remains unscathed and can continue to kill, steal and destroy.  Our enemy isn’t the guy who humiliated us in a meeting or who makes snarky comments behind our back - it isn’t our uncaring spouse, the intrusive in-laws, annoying relative or lazy co-worker.  Our enemy is the devil and the powers of darkness.  The sooner we recognize who our t...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.” - Exodus 34:21. Father, Your children are tired. We work tirelessly and are so well-intentioned. We want to do so much for Your kingdom.  I came upon this verse today.  You also drew me to Exodus 29:12-24.  In it You say that the children of Israel disobeyed You in the desert and “greatly profaned the Sabbath”.  As a result, You were angry and swore that You would not bring them into the land You had given them.  Of the millions who trekked across the desert, only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land. Lord, Exodus 34:21 says that we are not to do as we please, (Is 58:13), but to honor and rest on the Sabbath day - whether it is a convenient time to rest or not.  Father, we don’t want to profane the Sabbath.  We desire to obey You not from legalism, but out of love. ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” - Psalm 100:4 Lord, we don’t want to wait until dinner to offer thanks.  We don’t want to wait for something monumental to happen before we purpose in our hearts to praise and thank You.  Your Word says that You are enthroned on the praises of Your people (Psalm 22:3).  I lift my friend before You. We invite Your presence with praise.  This morning we thank You for Your big blessings and those things we consider little blessings, that in actuality are enormous, but taken for granted.   We thank You for gravity that not only keeps our feet planted and our breathable atmosphere held down to the ground, but also gives us our bearings.  We thank You for the core of our planet that provides protection from harmful cosmic rays and provides direction to our compass and shows the birds the d...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." - Matthew 4:19 Father, how I thank You that we don’t to have all the knowledge, skills and talents before we can be used of You.  When we follow You, You transform us and train us to become who we were originally created to be.  “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:10.  So many times we look at ourselves, our faults and long history of mistakes, and we discount the good we are capable of doing.  You are outside of time and space.  You see the beginning and the end, all at the same time.  Thank You that You know better than we do what can be accomplished if we simply trust and obey. Father, I lift my friend.  With the tips of their toes just over the line into this new day, equip them for what lies ahead.  Brin...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” - Genesis 3:8 Lord, my heart jumps in my chest at the thought of seeing You face to face.  Adam and Eve heard You walking in the garden, not because You needed to stretch Your legs and clear Your head, but because You wanted to be with them.   Thank You for being mindful of us, and for not seeing us like annoying flies buzzing around Your head while You struggle to figure out how to fix the problems of mankind.  You don’t fret, pace or sit bewildered with Your head in Your hands.  You are Lord of all and remain at perfect peace.   Father, I lift my friend before You.  You don’t just endure their visits or fidget and check Your watch, waiting for them to stop talking so You can get on with more urgent matte...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   Lord, I lift my friend before You.  We bless Your name and thank You for Your Word.  This morning, I pray my Ragamuffin paraphrase of the wisdom and blessing of Proverbs 3:1-12 over them. “Father, please help my friend to not forget all You have taught them, and to give Your commands a home in their heart.  In so doing, may Your commands help them to live a long, long time and a life lived full and well. Strengthen their grip so they don’t lose their hold on Love and Loyalty, but instead to tie them around their neck and carve them on their heart. Teach them to earn a reputation for living well in Your eyes and the eyes of others. Help them to trust You from the bottom of their heart, so they don't feel driven to try to figure out everything all on their own. Give them attentive ears tuned to the sound of Your voice, so that everywhere they go they will be right on track and right on time.  Remind ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” - Psalm 34:17-19 Father, we all go through times of frustration, grief and discouragement.  Even Jesus, when in the garden, was in such extreme anguish that His sweat was like drops of blood.  You are not unfamiliar with our agony and sorrow. You understand the grief of ultimate betrayal, humiliation and abandonment.  Jesus wrestled with disappointment, discouragement and loss, exactly as we do.  He even bore the consequences for sin and failure, but not consequences for His sin and failure.  It was our consequences that He bore. Father, I lift my friend.  Today they bear the weight of human emotions.  Whether grief, anguish, discour...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” - Psalm 34:15 Father, our eyes perceive the world and our circumstances.  We see the surface and draw conclusions about both people and things, and we allow those conclusions to dictate to our hearts how we should feel. We see a quick clip of someone’s life and determine they are bad, or see a hard circumstance and determine that it is beyond hope.  Your Word says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2.  We are to walk by faith and not by sight, and we are to relate to the world through the mind of Christ Jesus.   Father, I lift my friend.  Give them Your eyes with which to see others - eyes that see beyond the surface to the very heart.  Plant seeds of...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by laws that bring freedom. No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:12-13   Lord, my heart is grieved by the condition of the hearts of Your people, myself included.  The bitterness, anger and resentment are pervasive.  Images and sound bytes of brutality and cruelty flood the airwaves.  It may make for sensational news ratings, but what a deplorable commentary on the condition of our hearts.  Everyone believes their position is the right one.  There are stories, statistics and opinions to support just about every opinion.  The debates in the media are excuses to transform what should be civil discourse into a spectator sport of insult, insinuation and intolerance.  The greater the verbal beatings, the higher the ratings.  It is like modern gladiator games, where people...