Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20. Lord, usually this verse is referenced when we are being encouraged to speak about something good we pray will come into existence.  Today you are highlighting belief and the tongue.  Just as we can partner with You in speaking wonderful thing into being, if we are believing the lies of the enemy for bad things, we can also speak them into existence. Your Word says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” - Matthew 12:36.  The tendency is to use far greater caution with our actions than with our words.  We can see the end product of actions, but we mistakenly believe that our words are just a vapor...

CONFESSION: Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” - Genesis 50:20 NIV Lord, this morning I was mulling over this scripture.  In retrospect, I can see many times in my life where this verse is on display - I can see the good that comes out of what appeared as bad, but other times I can’t see any good at all.  So, this morning I asked You why this is.  Your response to my heart was surprisingly swift, as if to say, “I am so glad you asked!”  Along with it came a bit of a sting.  You said,  “You cannot simultaneously play both the role of victim and victor.  You cannot both bemoan your plight and sing my praise.”   Forgive me, Lord!  Apparently, I have been holding on to the pain of victimhood. In so doing, I have unwittingly stayed Your hand from revealing to me the good from my circums...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him—  my father’s God, and I will exalt him!” - Exodus 15:2 Lord, I lift my friend before You.  We thank You that You love them with an everlasting, selfless love, and they are wanted, fully accepted and covered by the Blood of Jesus.  Put Your song on their heart this morning, that their garment of praise will dispel any spirit of heaviness (Is 61:3).  Lead Your beloved in Your good path today, away from danger and temptation.  Remind them that they are washed clean and covered in the fragrance and righteousness of Christ Jesus.  Give them eyes to seek You, for “Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. “ - Psalm 34:10b.  Help them to put on the full armor and prepare their heart with Your Word for what lies ahead, that they will meet questions with grace and wisdom-filled answers (I Pe...

Good morning, my friend !  Good morning, Father! “Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” - Psalm 103:1-5 Lord so many times we hear untruths spoken during the course of our day.  The mere repetition and familiarity of the phrases can cause us to begin to believe that what is being said is truth, even though it isn’t.  When we hear the lies more often than the truth, it is easy to become swayed and enticed down the wrong path - a path that leads us to where we really don’t want to go. Father, I lift my friend.  I ask that You would bless them with a renewed hunger for Your Word.  I pray that opening its pages and reading of its tr...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “He has sent me to provide for all those who grieve in Zion, to give them crowns instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of tears of grief, and clothes of praise instead of a spirit of weakness. They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, the Plantings of the LORD, so that he might display his glory.”- Isaiah 61:3 (GW ) Lord, I lift my friend to You.  Here in the wee hours of the morning, we seek You.  They have been through a difficult season.  They feel weary and discouraged.  Bless their eyes to see the countless tiny miracles that You sprinkle throughout their day.  Help them to relish the unexpected joys and kindnesses mixed with opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Help them to not focus so intently on their responsibilities that they overlook their purpose, or to be so dedicated to a task that they resent or ignore the interruptions that so often hold the seed of mirac...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next." - Ecclesiastes 7:14   Lord, when I read a book I would consider the book boring if only good things happened in the story.  It is the conflict and rollercoaster of events that makes the story interesting.  It makes for a great story to have all sorts of twists and turns and conflict.  In my own life, however, I just want smooth sailing every day...no drama...no trauma...no pain.  However, this life we are living is history..."His" Story"...the story written by You, the most amazing author.  You allows conflict and drama to allow us the opportunity to live a life that has the most potential for adventure and spiritual growth...if we choose it.  We are afforded the opportunity to learn about You and ourselves, and we have the ...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “He has sent me to provide for all those who grieve in Zion, to give them crowns instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of tears of grief, and clothes of praise instead of a spirit of weakness. They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, the Plantings of the LORD, so that he might display his glory.”- Isaiah 61:3 (GW ) Lord, I lift my friend You.  Here in the wee hours of the morning, we seek You.  Bless their eyes to see the countless tiny miracles that You sprinkle throughout their day.  Help them to relish the unexpected joys and kindnesses mixed with opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Help them to not focus so intently on their responsibilities that they overlook their purpose, or to be so dedicated to a task that they resent or ignore the interruptions that so often hold the seed of miracles.   Give them Your heart to love selflessly, live generously and forgive quickly...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Lord, today we bring to you our distractions and disappointments.  So many come by way of the enemy for the purpose of getting us off track and stagnating our progress.  Today we purpose to examine our thoughts to determine in believing those things if we are in agreement and partnering with You, or if we are saying “ Yes and amen” to the lies of the deceiver bent on our destruction.  Father, the enemy is devious and crafty.  Within the dung of his lies, he often weaves a glittering thread of truth that causes us to receive the entire dropping as truth.  Reveal the lies of the enemy for what they are, that we can know the truth and be free (John 8...

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR  “May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this.” - 2 Samuel 2:6 Kids break things.  If we were all completely honest, we would admit that they can also yell, scream, makes messes and absolutely melt our hearts.  Those adorable, little rascals can bring out both the best and worst in us. I am a stepmom.  Getting married so late in life didn’t afford me the opportunity of biological children of my own.  The Lord still blessed me, however.  Instead of giving birth to children from my body, I gave birth to them from my heart.  These four offspring of my heart have grown up into lovely adults that I am proud to call mine. It wasn’t always easy, however.  I was recounting to my eldest daughter this week how when she and her brother were young, I would often hear, the screaming associated with roughhousing that had gone a bit too far and the chara...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat:” - Luke 22:31 Lord, in this verse the word “you” is plural.  Satan wasn’t just asking to merely sift Simon Peter like wheat, but to sift all of the disciples, including us.  There is a lot of shaking going on all around us.  Things are shaking that we never would have imagined would even budge.  The enemy is intending to use circumstances in our lives to shake us up.  He wants to shake us violently, so our wheat (grace) becomes buried and the chaff (sin) lands on top, so our lives look like only chaff. Father, we know that the enemy is not allowed to touch even one hair on our heads without permission.  If You allow us to be sifted, You promise to work all things together for the good when we love You and are called, according to Your purposes (Rom 8:28).  So, while it is unpleasant and often painful, the sh...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8. Lord, the tension in high in our world.  We grow weary and look for an opportunity for a reprieve from the battle.  Weariness serves to make us more likely to make foolish decisions and fall prey to schemes of the enemy that target our death and destruction.  The enemy isn’t our old pal who spars with us and will similarly take a break when we do.  No, he looks for even subtle signs that we are weakening, so he can move in for the kill. Father, I lift my friend.  In the intensity of the battle, I ask that You would help them to keep their eyes precisely where they should be.  “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” - Psalm 119:37.  Commercials work so well, because the same images appear before our eyes, causing desire....

CONFESSION: Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” - Colossians 3:12 Lord, no matter where we go on this little, blue planet, every single person is broken.  For some of us our brokenness is glaring and easily seen at a great distance.  For others, it is hidden, until the magnitude of our brokenness becomes so great that it breaks through on the surface of our lives, to the surprise of all around.  When we are faced with the sins of others, the tendency is to compare their sins with ours.  The sins of other can make us feel “better than,” “less than,” angry, hurt or concerned.  With that judgment comes a temptation to give up on others, that in our estimation are broken beyond repair. Father, my heart is broken for the countless times we sinners, saved by grace, have deemed another struggling sin...

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:34 Lord, anxiety is a common struggle.  We look at circumstances and don’t see a way out.  We consider the future and feel a heavy weight.  We can’t see what the future holds, but we sit for the second and third showing of the terrifying movie that plays in our heads - the possible scenarios for how things will play out.  Interestingly, the movie in our heads rarely has a happy ending.  We convince ourselves that it is okay to mull these negative things over for hours on end, feeling somehow that it is responsible to do so.  In actuality, we have no clue how things will play out.  We are pre-visiting a traumatizing situation that may or may not ever come, without the grace You will provide at the time of actual need. Lord, You remind me that, “without faith i...