Today We Pray

Dear Lord, may our worship and our praise from our hearts surrendered to Your ways. May it be worthy offerings of love for all Your blessings from above. Help us to proclaim the good news of Your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to You.

Let Your love possess my whole being - my senses, my powers, my affections, my very life. Let Your love rule my labor and my rest, my going and my staying, and move me as it pleases. Let Your love disquiet or comfort me, humble or exalt me, and burn away all my faults.

O Sovereign and almighty Lord, bless all Your people, and all Your flock. Give Your peace, Your help, and Your love unto us Your servants, the sheep of Your fold. That we may be united in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one hope of our calling, in your divine and boundless love.

Amen

Today's Godly Reminder - Exodus 15:26

God's nature revealed is revealed in this verse. This is Jesus' ministry of healing for all, and an abundance of promises in the Word of God combined to convince that it's God's will to heal us physically. If you listen obediently to how God tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, there will be healing within you in His name. He will not let you suffer like the Egyptians in the time of Moses if you will just listen to His voice.

God wants to heal you physically, mentally, and spiritually. God can heal you. Understand that your healing in these areas is up to God. It is God who makes those decisions. Trust His plan. He is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord our Physician!

The Daily Grace - The Bread that Satisfies

I learned to recite the Lord's Prayer as a girl in primary school. Every time I said the line, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11), I couldn't help but think about the bread that we got only occasionally at home. Only when my father returned from his trip to town did we have a loaf of bread. So asking God to give us our daily bread was a relevant prayer to me.

How curious I was when years later I discovered the booklet Our Daily Bread. I knew the title came from the Lord's prayer, but I also knew it couldn't be talking about the loaf of bread from the baker's shop. I discovered as I read the booklet regularly that this "bread", full of Scripture portions and helpful notes, was spiritual food for the soul.

It was spiritual food that Mary chose when she sat at the feet of Jesus and listened attentively to His words (Luke 10:39). While Martha wearied herself with concern about physical food, Mary was taking time to be near their guest, the Lord Jesus, and to listen to Him. May we take that time as well. He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and He feeds our hearts with spiritual food. He is the Bread that satisfies.

Today We Pray

Dear Jesus, Your death on the cross has set me free. I can live joyously and freely without fear of death. Your mercy knows no bounds.

I bless You for the day You have made. I pray that I may spend this day rejoicing in Your creation. And, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to fill me with the joy of my salvation, so that Your light may shine through me into the world, that Your honor and glory may be known to all people.

Let me not forget You as I go forth into the world this day, blessed Lord. May my every word be a prayer, and my every act be testimony to Your love and truth. And, may I know Your presence every second of this day.

Amen

Today's Godly Reminder - Luke 1:38

This was the words of Mary when she met the angel that told her that she will about to give birth to a baby. We all know her story. She's not been married to Joseph and yet, she is about to give birth. But, she followed the will of God for her life and she entrusted it to Him alone. And now, her son, Jesus, is famous in the world because He is our Savior, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Mary's born child Jesus Christ is a blessing to the nations from generation to generation.

Like Mary, if you don't know what's happening in your life, trust in the Lord. He has better plans for your life even if you don't know His ways. Remember, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Let go and let God. Let His will be done according to His Words. Uphold His promises to your lives.

The Daily Grace - Time to Grow

In Debbie's new home, she discovered an abandoned plant in a dark corner of the kitchen. The dusty and ragged leaves looked like those of a moth orchid, and she imagined how pretty the plant would look once it had sent up new bloom-bearing stems. She moved the pot into a spot by the window, cut off the dead leaves, and watered it thoroughly. She bought plant food and applied it to the roots. Week after week she inspected the plant, but no new shoots appeared. "I'll give it another month", she told her husband, "and if nothing has happened by then, out it goes". When decision day came, she could hardly believe her eyes. Two small stems were poking out from among the leaves! The plant she'd almost given up was still alive.

Do you ever get discouraged by your apparent lack of spiritual growth? Perhaps you frequently lose your temper or enjoy that spicy piece of gossip you just can't resist passing on. Or perhaps you get up too late to pray and read your Bible, in spite of resolving to set the alarm earlier. Why not tell a trusted friend about the areas of your life in which you want to grow spiritually and ask that person to pray for and encourage you to be accountable? Be patient. You will grow as you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you. Each small step of faith is a giant step of growth.

Today We Pray

Dear God, who has been the refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my refuge today in every time and circumstance of need. Be my guide through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my guard against all that threatens my spirit's welfare.

Be my strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Your peace. Let me be the thing I meant.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time.

Amen