Revelation 22:20

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

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Coming soon!  How those words have been anticipated by your followers for thousands of years Lord. Your disciples thought it would be in their lifetime Lord and yet here we are still waiting.  Only thanks can be given for the delay, you want all of your children to be saved.  Another example of your many mercies God.  Lord, I pray to take your "coming soon" prophecy at face value.  I must work tirelessly to further your kingdom each day.  Please Lord impart your feeling of urgency on my heart.  I know that I must love on those who don't know you as much as possible for time is running short.

At the same time we as your people have become obsessed with when you will come again.  Lord, you have said that one day is like a thousand years to you.  Please help us to accept that you have decided some things are not for us to know.  Help us to stop cults from forming or liars from tricking the vulnerable into following them.

Instead, Lord I pray to rejoice in the knowledge that you are returning to us.  I ask that you push me to use each day you give me to work for you and love on others.  I thank you that you will return to set the world right again and marvel at the loving patience you display by giving us even one more day.  Let me not be discouraged that your soon is not my soon.  I put my complete trust and faith in you.

John 14:2-3

"In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

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O Jesus we praise you for your sacrifice and our salvation!  We look forward to the day when you will come again and take us to be with you.  How blessed we are to know you will take us to live with you in a place where there will be so much joy.  And we are so thankful that you have brought salvation to everyone if they choose!

Lord, as you prepare a place for me, help me to prepare myself here on Earth.  Give me wisdom and kindness, so that I may assist you in bringing people the Truth.  Lord, I want to store up treasures at your palace.  Show me tangible ways I can do this.  I know that part of it is giving financially to you, but what else?  Show me opportunities to minister to or help your children.  Guide my actions and my tongue so that you may be glorified.  I want my room in your house to overflow with treasure!

Lord, give us the discipline and desire to give back to you.  We know that all we have is from you so don't let us think it is ours to do with as we please.  It is so hard to give away what we have, but with your Spirit changing our hearts it will not be a burden but a blessing.  Keep working on us in this aspect Lord.  We do not want to be the rich man unable to sell our possessions to follow you.

Please Lord help us to prepare here on Earth as you prepare for us in Heaven.  Thank you for giving your earthly life and thus building enough rooms for even me.  May our hearts and actions be pleasing to you always.  I anticipate the day I will see you and pray you will say "well done."

John 1:12

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...

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"The right to become children of God."  What a powerful word.  We as believers have a right to our inheritance, all because your Son died for us.  Lord, we are so grateful that you have made it so easy for us.  There are no steps to follow, no list of tasks to complete, simply believe in His name and receive the Holy Spirit.  If that is not the biggest sign of you being a loving and gracious God what is?  Lord, your Son came to Earth and boldly yet humbly set everything on its head.  We praise you for fulfilling the old law with his sacrifice.  Let us always remember, as we work for you, Jesus' example.  We pray to be as revolutionary, loving, and driven as Christ.

I ask you Lord to reveal the simplicity of Christianity to the world.  Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord  If more people would simply do that first; the truth about the rest, the parts people struggle with, would be revealed by getting to know you.

In the meantime Lord, fill me up with your spirit.  Help people get to know  you through me Lord.  Work through me Lord so others can see your love and in time want to claim their own right to be called your child.  Lord, I thank you so much for how far I have come since you saved me.  You have continued to call me to you everyday and knowing you better is changing everything.  But, it all started so simply.  I have been your child this whole ride; a disobedient and obstinant child most of the time but you have blessed me nonetheless.  Now Lord, let me be a blessing to others.

2 Corinthians 4:16

So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

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How hard it is to be faced with our own mortality each day.  Lord, without you what a strange and purposeless life this would be.  To toil for a lifetime, be beaten down by misfortune and then to die.  We are so grateful that instead we have victory over death through you Son!  We know that this life does matter and there is so much more than the sorrow of this world.  So let us not lose heart Father.  Instead, speak to us and give us our purposed for the time we spend here.

Lord, I am finding that the more time I spend getting to know you the better prepared for battle I am each day.  Your words bring such a feeling of triumph into my life.  Please continue to fan this flame inside me.  I know now that if I neglect this relationship with you I begin to feel like I am adrift at sea.  Lord I thank you for being my anchor.

Lord my sincere prayer is that you conquer my fear of mortality.  At times I lie awake at night contemplating the darkness of death filled with fear, but I know you have the ultimate victory.  Lord, show me your power, rid me of my fear, fill me so full with your spirit that I can look on the day I will see your face with joy and anticipation!

I have witnessed your renewal in so may parts of my life.  From my career to my marriage you have blessed me continually with new life.  Now Lord I ask for a renewal in my mind about death.  Let me face it triumphantly so that I can be free of worry and anxiety.  I know those spirits are not from you.  I thank you Lord for the freedom that I know you will grant me.  With this freedom I pray to focus on growing in you and helping others to see that, despite a physical end, what we do here matters.  For our work for you will bless our spirits for eternity.

Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

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My Lord, worry and anxiety attack your people constantly.  Help us to see that these spirits do not come from you.  You Lord are a loving God who knows each bird in the sky.  How then could you not know your children and their needs?  Worry cannot add one day to our lives so help us to give up our need for control.

Lord I worry about my next job, my health, my family, but you told me to make my desires known to you and that you will take care of me.  As my father you only want what is best for me, never to harm me.  Why then do I worry about what is to come?  Please Lord help me to trust in your power and might.  Free me from worrying about everything for it is under your control.

Help us Lord to know that any storm on the horizon, seen or unseen, is directed by you.  Even if the storm tosses us about, give us the strength to know that we are growing in you as we endure it.  Keep us mindful of Christ who knew what horrific things lay ahead of him and yet was never crippled with fear.  Why then should we be worried about our own future?

Lord, I pray to be completely guided by you, so that I may have faith that my journey is a righteous one.  Free my mind from other concerns, for I trust you to take care of me.  Lord, I praise you for your love.  There have been bad times, even devastation, in my life and you have lifted me up with your love and grace every time!  Why then should I worry?  You always have and will continue to triumph!  All praise to you!  Thank you for what you have done and will do.  Let me be anxious for nothing as you always walk beside me.  Let that knowledge and your Holy Spirit keep me encouraged.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

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What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness Lord?   I pray you reveal its true meaning to me.  So often on this path to righteousness we get caught up in legalism.  Lord show me the difference between the two.

Lord I thank you that as I get to know your love and grace that righteousness becomes a gift I can give to you and not a burden.  I love that you considered David a man after your own heart, yet he often sinned.  Please Lord increase my desire for righteousness, but also grant me an even better appreciation of grace.  For I will always fall short.

Often times righteousness is such a struggle for us Lord.  We want to do right by you, but we find it too hard and cry out in frustration.  Please hear our cries Lord and change our hearts for we can do nothing from our own will.

As I continue to grow in you Lord I thank you for increasing my hunger for righteousness and yet decreasing my feelings of guilt and failure.  Knowing your grace has saved my life Lord!  What a true blessing to be called to serve you.

Psalm 30:2

Psalm 30:2
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

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O Lord, I thank you for your healing word and touch.  Not over my body, but over my heart and spirit. How many times have I cried out to you in emotional anguish?  We are a world of broken people dealing with  each other and often hurting one another.  Yet, you Lord have shown your face to me.  Your healing has not always come immediately but as I learn more about you I know that you have set my path right.  No sin against me can harm me.

Lord, thank you for loving me.  Your love God has shown me that I am your precious cared for child.  I can no longer allow the world to tell me otherwise.  Please Lord  as I continue to live this life of continual rejection and mistreatment, show me how to push onward.  Let me represent you even in my darkest hour.

We need you Lord.  To remind us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  We need you Lord to use your spirit to guide us away from hurtful situations.  We need your son Lord to declare our freedom from old sins that try to belittle us and make us feel worthless.  Do not let us be fooled into these thoughts Lord.  If we are loved by you then we are truly more precious than gold.

Please Lord, come into our lives and heal us with your Love.  Hear our cries in the dark and speak to us.  Let us suffer for you to make us stronger, but never let us lose sight of your face.  All praise to you for sending your son to die as the ultimate gift of love.  Let us remember that victory has lifted us beyond our past and present.

O God, I thank you for healing me from where I've been.  You have shown me grace when I deserved one.  Praise to you my counselor, make me whole and healed in you.

Ash Wednesday

Rather than give something up for Lent this year I have decided to do forty days of my own thoughts on the Word of the Lord.  I hope this lifts up someone.