Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” - Psalm 55:22 Lord, it’s a new year.  Most of us are already losing steam in New Years resolutions that we promised ourselves that we would finally keep.  We are trying to undo the damage we did over Thanksgiving and Christmas - to regain control of the appetites we indulged in an effort to make it, “the most wonderful time of the year.”   Lord, we are all trying to comfort ourselves from something painful - a loss, a wound, embarrassment or disappointment.  We are trying to take the edge off of the tension or distract ourselves from pain.  Our self-medication offers only fleeting relief and often leaves us in worse shape than before. Father, by the Blood of the Lamb we enter Your throne room.  I lift my friend before You.  We lift their cares and burdens - those thing...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “A wife of noble character is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.”  - Proverbs 12:4 Lord, having lost a husband to cancer, this verse shook me up to say the least.  The thought of being a cancer to my husband’s bones feels like getting hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer.  Here, disgraceful means:  to disappoint, to bring shame, cause to become confused or pale.  I suspect this may go the other way around as well, about husbands with wives, and even in relationship with families.   Father, I lift my friend.  I lift us both.  We don’t want to be like a cancer to those positioned closest to us in life.  Help us to use words that bring honor and blessing instead of dishonor, humiliation or shame.  If we are reaching out to the Body of Christ for help with a situation, help us to use discretion in our words, that we can share our ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” - 2 Timothy 1:7 Lord, we come before You this morning.  We struggle with self-discipline.  Another translation of this verse replaces the words “self-discipline” with “sound mind.”  Sound mind speaks of a healthy mind or sanity.  There may be certain aspects of our lives that are clearly disciplined, even militaristic in our staunch adherence to a set of rules, but there are others that are in disarray, because we lack self control.  We are not programmed robotically to perfectly perform endless tasks without thought.  You created us as sentient beings with feelings, endowed with the gift of choice.  While You have given us choice, You remind me of 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by an...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam.”  The man went and washed—and saw.” - John 9:6-7 MSG   Lord, this morning I lift my friend to You.  Their heart aches from carrying burdens, hurts and wounds.  They have fears for the future and areas of brokenness begging for healing.  They have come before You time and again, bringing their requests before You, and their cries for help remain unanswered.   This morning You bring to mind the story of the blind man who was healed by Jesus.  To date I have always focused on the power and authority of Jesus to bring about a miracle and the intensity of the joy and relief the miracle must have brought to this man and his family. This morning You shine a different light on this story than I have seen before.  You ask me, ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV) Father, we are so grateful to have found You.  What a comfort and security to know that every failure is covered in forgiveness.  What a joy it is to be used by You in the building of Your kingdom, to be offered the extension of Your scepter, granting entrance into Your presence by the Blood of the Lamb.  What a relief to see fleshly tendencies falling away, releasing chains to our past and lightening our steps. Father, I lift my friend before You.  Mixed with these blessings and the glorious hope of our salvation is a thin vein of sorrow.  As Your children, we are so grateful to be claimed as Your own, but along with ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” - Psalms 23:1-4   Lord, the images in this passage of scripture are truly lovely.  They depict serenity, peace, safety, provision and security.  We know that these verses are there to comfort us and are an example of Your care for us, but I realize that so often our lives don’t feel or look anything like this.  Adjectives more accurate to how we see our lives sometimes would be:  hectic, scant, anxious, fearful and seemingly hopeless.  I’ve been mulling this over for a couple of days when I finally asked You why, if You are the Good Shepherd and we...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9 Lord, I lift my friend before You.  There are mountainous challenges on their horizon, and there is a temptation to throw up their hands in defeat, even before they have even tried.  Reveal to them if a portion of their current feelings of being overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed might actually be fear of the future in disguise.  When they are discouraged, teach them to be strong and unafraid.  Bring to mind the countless times in the past when You have been faithful and come to their rescue (Isaiah 35:4).  May those life landmarks serve as hand and footholds for scaling the steep slopes ahead.  May the discouragement and fear that weigh them down and slow their steps, be replaced by exhilarating hope and faith that propel t...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands.” - Psalm 16:5 Lord, we crawl up on Your lap this morning, admittedly as messes.  We are doing our best, but if we have our health in control, our home is a mess.  If our home is in good shape, our To-Do list runneth over.  If our To-Do list is well in hand, our family or friends have not received our best.  And if our To-Do list, home life, friends and family are all well cared for, our health is suffering.  We can’t ever seem to do it all.  It feels like we are a plate spinner on one of the old variety shows.  We can only spin so many plates before it becomes unmanageable and something comes crashing down. Father, I lift up my friend.  Together, we acknowledge we can’t do it all.  Show them which things take highest priority and which can wait.  Give them wisdom and self control ove...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” - Psalm 27:4 Lord, I lift my friend before You.  Thank You for the work of healing that You are doing in them, both what they can see and what they cannot.  It’s at times when they are most desperate that they draw close to You.  Then, when the desperation eases, they tend to relax their grip and hold You less tightly.  Today, help them to keep a firm hold on You, regardless of their level of drama.  May their desperation remain as a desperation for You.  In that intentional pursuit, show them the truths and wonders reserved for those who linger in Your presence in the good times - the breathtaking wonders their eyes and hearts overlook when, in panic, they search only for rescue.   Today we bring t...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” - Psalm 27:13-14 Lord, we are not good at waiting - whether it is at the DMV, an amusement park or for an answer to prayer.  We are like infants who, at the first pang of hunger, cry out and don’t stop crying until their needs are met.  Infants on their own will grab whatever they can reach and put it in their mouths, trying to satisfy their hunger, even if the thing they put in their mouth has no capacity to satisfy them and may even harm them. You gave Abraham and Sarah the promise of a son.  The wait for fulfillment of the promise was a long one, and they decided to take matters into their own hands.  To this day, we still bear consequences of their unwillingness to wait (Gen 16).  So it is with us all, Lord.  We hate waiti...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!  “Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.” - Psalm 119:133 Lord, I lift my friend before You.  This morning we submit to You our attitudes and responses.  We ask that the busyness of this life, the drama in our world and even the symptoms in our bodies that cry out demanding a response, would all be met with attitudes, words and actions befitting a child of God.  We bow down before You and ask You to be Lord of every part of us.  We declare Your sovereignty, that nothing in us would be left unsubmitted.  We cannot do it on our own, or we would have long ago.  We rely on You to do a supernatural work within us.  Have Your way in us, Lord!  Show us how to partner with You, that we might enjoy the taste of victory over sin.  Alert us to the temptation to indulge in anger, so we won’t give the enemy a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.” - Exodus 12:7 Father, something has been weighing on my heart the past few days - so much that it keeps bobbing to the surface of my mind.  Recently, I saw a photograph of a yellow road sign with an arrow indicating that there was a sharp right turn ahead.  The sign was riddled with holes from having been shot at by several different calibers of bullet.  Beneath it was a caption that read, “Keep right and get shot.”  Thinly-veiled threats of violence, cloaked as clever humor, were attempting to intimidate and silence those of differing opinion.   You remind me of the children of Israel who were told to put the blood of a perfect, sacrificial lamb on the outside of their doorposts and lintel, as a public sign and declaration of their faith that You would triump...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) It’s a new day and a new year.  Hallelujah!  We praise You, Father, for Your Word that proclaims Your mercy.  Like the aroma of freshly baked muffins from the ovens of Heaven, Your mercy and forgiveness arrive faithfully on our doorstep every morning.  We take You at Your Word, that by the gift of Your only begotten son, our every fault and frailty have been forever erased.  They are as if they never happened. Lord, we have stepped into a new year saturated with hope.  Father, we leave behind our mistakes from the past to move into Your newness.  Show us where we are being held back and restrained from moving forward.  Reveal to us our errant beliefs, truths that we have taken out of context, lack of faith and ha...