Anything and Everything

So, little children, guard yourselves from worshiping anything but Him. 

1st John 5:21 TPT

We live in a society of opinions and influencers and haters and idols and selfies and binge-watching and then wonder why we can't hear from Heaven. Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].
1st John 5:21 The Amplified Bible

They say we've earned the right to serve our own needs first, that we should provide for our four and no more, to basically hoard instead of share under the guise and lies of keeping ourselves safe. Dear children, be on guard against all clever facsimiles. 1st John 5:21 The Message. Romans 12:2 in The Passion Translation tells us to Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.

God's Word tells us we are to serve OTHERS, that if we see someone with a need we should meet it, that we are to love as He loved and lay down our lives for others just as He did for us all. The New Living Translation writes our promise for today this way, Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. 

Prayer:

Father,

           Help us to guard our hearts and minds against everything that the world throws at us. According to Your Word in Ephesians 6, we will actively put on our armor to fight against all the wiles of the enemy of our souls. We submit ourselves to You. Open our eyes to see anything and everything that would seek to take Your place in our hearts. Root out those things that should have no place in us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

How Do You Spell LOVE?

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
1st John 3:18 NLT

God is serious about love - that's because He doesn't just love us. He IS love. Of the 10 Commandments, six of them address how we are to be in our relationships with other people. The other four? Our relationship with God Himself.

If you've ever fallen in love, you know that the only thing you want is to be with that person. You can't wait to get out of work or school, chores are done in record time so that nothing interferes with being with that person.

How do you spell LOVE?  W-O-R-K? M-O-N-E-Y? M-O-R-E M-O-N-E-Y?

Are we guilty of trying to squeeze love and our relationships into our busy schedules? That should be a BIG hint.

How do you spell LOVE? T-I-M-E

Pr. Warren writes, "The most desired gift of love is...focused attention...Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love." He finishes that truth with these three statements.

"The best use of life is love.
The best expression of love is time.
The best time to love is now."

So...what are we waiting for?

Prayer:

Father,
           Help us to see what is MOST important in life is not work, tasks, projects, things, but people. Imperfect people, at that. Teach us to love as You love - holy and wholly. And to give of ourselves as You did and do. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Score Keeper

 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

1st John 3:16a NIV

I've lived long enough to know and understand the rules of good sportsmanship, but I'll just tell you... I don't like to lose. When I play, I play to win. I don't go into a game to lose. 

As much I dislike losing, I absolutely HATE it if someone lets me win. Where's the challenge in that? In my opinion, a win I didn't earn is a bigger loss than actually losing. But the challenge in all of that is Christ. I can't earn my salvation and yet, that's the biggest win of all.

Have you ever found yourself keeping score on your life? I have. If you know me personally, you've heard me say something like, "I should get points for not smacking that person (when I really want to...)" "I should get points for not saying ___________(something smart alecky, I'm sure)." "I want points for not ripping their wagging tongue right outta their mouth and hanging them with it."   

In all reality, that's like keeping score on the sin in my life. The more I keep score, the more I realize, it's a heart issue. And then I think, if Jesus laid down His life for us and that's how we know what love is (according to our text for today), then, in return, I should lay down my life for Him, right? After all, He died to save me. Sure, I can lay my life down for Him.  Sounds good...okay...but it's not Scriptural. We're instructed to lay down our lives for others... 

The entire verse of 1st John 3:16 reads, This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Mark 12:28-31 reads, One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  John 15:13 tells us, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 

You wanna keep score? yeah...me, neither...

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for sending Your Son to die on the Cross for the remission of our sins. Help us to grow in love and when we are faced with those opportunities to love the unloveable, please help us to see them for what they are. An opportunity to show Your love through us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

An Evening Prayer - Psalm 141

Please, Lord, come close and come quickly to help me! Listen to my prayer as I call out to you. Let my prayer be as the evening sacrifice that burns like fragrant incense, rising as my offering to you as I lift up my hands in surrendered worship!

God, give me grace to guard my lips from speaking what is wrong. Guide me away from temptation and doing evil. Save me from sinful habits and from keeping company with those who are experts in evil. Help me not to share in their sin in any way!

When one of your godly ones corrects me or one of your faithful ones rebukes me, I will accept it like an honor I cannot refuse. It will be as healing medicine that I swallow without an offended heart. Even if they are mistaken, I will continue to pray. When the leaders and judges are condemned, falling upon the rocks of justice, then they’ll know my words to them were true!

Like an earthquake splits open the earth, so the world of hell will open its mouth to swallow their scattered bones. But you are my Lord and my God; I only have eyes for you! I hide myself in you, so don’t leave me defenseless. Protect me! Keep me from the traps of wickedness they set for me. Let them all stumble into their own traps while I escape without a scratch!

Psalm 141:1-10 TPT

Raise the Standard

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

1st John 2:6 NLT

We need something to motivate us. Something that will cause us to reach up. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that without a vision, the people perish. I want to make Heaven. That's my goal. How do I get there? First, I must accept that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, that He died to pay for my sins, and that He rose from the dead on the third day. But if I want to live in God, I'm supposed to live my life as Jesus did.

So, how DID Jesus live? Specifically speaking? He was prayerful and full of the Holy Spirit. He was loving and forgiving, unselfish and giving, and He was purposeful and destined. Every day.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I might be able to manage to be most of those on a given day, with reminders. However, the Word of God states that we are to DAILY pick up our cross and follow Him. I cannot do that by myself.

We cannot live a Christian life by our own standard - it has to be God's standard. You see, when God raised His standard - Jesus, His Son - then He raised our standard, too.

Prayer:

Father,
Your Word tells us when the enemy comes in like a flood, You will lift the standard against him. You are righteous and holy. Let Your Truth prevail in our lives, as we endeavor to live by Your standard. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Determined

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.
Isaiah 50:7 NLT

I have come to the conclusion that I really can do nothing apart from God. Any skill I have, He gave me. Any ability to learn and to be proficient, He supplied. So why would I try to tackle the wiles of the enemy on my own? What would make me think that apart from God I had any power at all to overcome an onslaught?

Scripture declares we are overcomers by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The Blood was shed at Calvary - that part's done - and here's the word of my testimony. I have set my face like a stone... determined to do His will. I will not be moved by what I see or hear or feel if it is the opposite of what I find to be the Truth of God's Word.

Prayer:

Father,
           I don't care what the facts are. I know Your Truth. Your Word declares the Truth over and above facts. As Jesus proclaimed, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. And it is by Your Truth that we are set free. Help us to walk in these Truths. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Not Random

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1st Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

Do we trust God in all things or only the good things? Do we pay Him lip service or do we praise Him with grateful hearts that are spilling over with His goodness toward us no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in? Do we believe the Word of God to be our absolute Truth? Do we hasten to do His bidding? Are we truly trusting Him Who sees the end from the beginning?

God doesn't do anything randomly. He always has a plan. It may not seem like it sometimes, but that's because His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours. And it is because of these truths that we CAN be thankful in all circumstances. Like they say, "If God brings us to it, He will get us through it" and in the course of getting us through, He will work some Christ-like character deep into our hearts or cross our paths with someone who needs to hear our story or we need to hear theirs. Remember, God works ALL things for our good and we should be grateful.

Prayer:

Father,
             Thank You for Your goodness and grace, Your faithfulness and favor, for loving us enough to trust us to walk with You through the valleys, however dark they may seem. We offer our thanks, our love and our trust in You knowing it is Your Will for us. Help us to remain focused. Gvie us clean hands and purify our hearts, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Great Provider

He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
1st Samuel 17:40 NLT

You know the story. The whole of Israel's army would not volunteer to fight Goliath - including King Saul - who (according to 1st Samuel 9) stood head and shoulders above any man in Israel. But David, a teenaged shepherd boy armed only with his shepherd staff and a sling and 5 smooth stones, faced Goliath a giant of Gath. Why 5?

There's a lot of conjecture about why a certain number of stones and none of them proven or specifically spelled out. The two that make the most sense to me are 5 being the number to represent grace and that there were 4 other giants related to Goliath for a total of 5 giants. 

Let's face it - to defeat Goliath would require the unparalleled grace of God for any one fully grown soldier, let alone a teenaged boy untried in military battle. However, truly David walked in faith and favor and God's grace. That we DO know. We also know that later when David was king, he and his warriors killed the remaining 4 giants. He didn't do it again with a sling and a stone but to me, it seems as though God was already making the promise of provision for victory from the beginning.

God's provision is clear through every situation. He calls us to it, then gives us what we need in order to accomplish what He has called us to do, and then He sends us to do it. What excuse can we possibly use when He has made every provision for victory from the beginning?

Prayer:

Father, 

           Forgive us for thinking we have ever accomplished anything good in our own power and might. Everything - EVERYTHING is by Your Spirit working in us. Thank You for the plans and provision You have made for our lives. We want to fulfill Your plan and purpose for us. Help us, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Today's Timeless Task by David Jackson

David Jackson is one of the most Godly men I've ever had the honor and privilege to know. About once a month or so, he sends out an email of encouragement. I needed this reminder and encouragement today. You may, too.

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“I have finished the work which You have given me to do.” John 17.4b

When I think about the massive Messianic task that constituted Jesus’ divine calling, His short lifespan (not to mention the even briefer period of full-time ministry), and the limited number of people He engaged (not to mention the few He actually discipled), I marvel at this comment in His conversation with God. His work is finished? Really? The work to redeem a broken, lost world enslaved by evil? The work to establish a worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace? How could His work be finished? Yet this enigmatic phrase provides us with clues for living a life fully pleasing to God, with Jesus as our pattern. Jesus was task-focused and time-conscious. You can hear that in His conversations, including such statements as: “you go up to this feast, I am not yet going…for My time has not yet fully come” (John 7.8). He was fully aware of the tasks given to Him by the Father and of the time allotted to accomplish those tasks during His first coming.

We, too, have been equipped by God with a specific calling and a timeframe. We must be careful to avoid an unhealthy focus on the overwhelming needs of a fallen world or the swift seconds ticking off the moments of our brief lives. The world is a huge mess. It needs a major overhaul at virtually every level of individual and community existence. We can’t begin to comprehend, never mind accomplish, the work required to move humanity toward the healing it so desperately needs. Jesus referred to us as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. But when I consider my life, it is at best a single grain of salt that has been dropped into a vast vat of corruption. It is a single candle immersed in a deep sea of darkness. My potential impact seems so minuscule as to be completely irrelevant.

It is the mysterious and miraculous nature of God’s ways that He somehow accomplishes His eternal will through temporal vessels. His power to heal a seriously sinful world flows through small, sinful people. His everlasting kingdom comes in moment-by-moment increments, using frail, inadequate individuals. The information technology that provides an ever-open window into the local, national and global evils in our world can easily overwhelm us with the impossibility of our redemptive calling. Yet Jesus shows us by practice and parable that saving the world is done one little task at a time. Our job is to know and do that next task, which is typically right in front of us and not that hard to discern. This truth seems apparent in Jesus’ reference to Elijah’s ministry when He reminds us that of the thousands of widows in Israel who needed help in the days of Elijah, the roving prophet was tasked with helping just one of them. This appears to be Elijah’s chief focus for over a year…a year in a period of ministry that rivaled Jesus’ for brevity. Perhaps one of the key lessons gleaned from this snippet of Elijah’s life is that we each need to focus on that individual we are tasked with helping today. Despite the frequent message in many superhero movies, no one person can save the world. But you may be able to save the spiritual, emotional or even physical life of a needy person God has sovereignly placed in your path today.

At the conclusion of Jesus’ three-and-a-half-year ministry, He had but 12 men discipled and equipped as leaders for carrying on the work of the Kingdom. By almost any standard of measure, a first-century historian would have had a hard time finding evidence that the kingdom of God had indeed arrived. But the parables Jesus left us provide insightful clues as to the nature of the kingdom. It’s like a crop: you plant a few seeds, add water, nutrition and time, and you can reap a bountiful harvest. You put a little leaven in the dough and, given the allotted time, the whole lump is leavened. It can be debilitating to focus on the number of people in the world that need to be fed. But planting a single seed in the soil under your feet and tending the resulting plant as it grows is a simple, do-able assignment. I don’t have to fret about whether or not the seed will multiply as it should, for Scripture assures me that it is God who makes it grow (1 Corinthians 3.7). The growth, the final crop and the harvest are in His sovereign hands. My job is to take the seed He provided me, plant it in that portion of the ground where He placed me, water it from His inexhaustible watering source that wells up within me, pull the threatening weeds with the strength He gives me, and then watch the miracle of growth take place.

Jesus planted the seed of the gospel into the hearts of 12 disciples at His first coming and then empowered them to go into the world bearing that precious seed. Before He left, He gave them a key sign signaling His second coming: “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24.14). From twelve humble men to the four corners of the earth. Given the tools of communication and the means of travel in their first-century world, was there ever a more impossible task assigned to a handful of fishermen and tax collectors? But this is how the Kingdom works: cell by cell, task by task, using the seemingly magical method of relational multiplication. His promise to return ripens into reality when those initial 12 bits of leaven expand to penetrate the whole doughy globe. Given the penetrating extent of the leaven in our current generation, we should be watching the skies with joyous anticipation!

The question you must ask yourself as you are confronted each morning with the staggering needs of our world, is simply “which need do I tend to today?” Out of 7 billion hurting people on the planet, which person do I weep with today? In the vast sea of sickness before me, where do I throw my net today? On which wound do I apply the healing balm of God’s love and truth today? To find the work He gave YOU to do TODAY, you don’t need to look far. As previously mentioned, our ability to know what’s going on in virtually every nation of the world at any given moment easily overwhelms our sense of mission. But the soil where your seed needs to be planted is typically right underneath your feet. Your calling is within earshot. Your task is on the whiteboard hanging in your home or office. As it was with Jesus, your work is to do the will of the Father and His will is wrapped up in a unique time and place package that is delivered to your doorstep each new day. It is best unwrapped in your early time alone with Him through prayer and meditation on His Word. As you prayerfully ponder and perform each assignment, you’ll eventually begin to perceive His Spirit working out His will through your life, expanding His kingdom one stone, one task, one day at a time. And when your time is through, you should be able to say, “I finished the work You gave me to do”, in anticipation of His response “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

YES!

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Zechariah 13:9 KJV

[God speaking] “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Isaiah 43:1b-3a

Would we ask to be burned, boiled or pressed beyond our endurance? No! Yet, it is in the fire that steel is forged. It is in the fire that impurities are burned out. It is in the heat of the rolling boil that the water becomes purified. It is in the intense, sustained pressure that the simple, ugly lump of coal becomes a diamond.

Do we want to be strong? Do we desire to have the garbage burned out of our lives? Do we want to be purified? Do we want to be one of the jewels He comes to gather? Yes, yes, yes, and yes!

Prayer:

Father,
You never said we could or would be able to do it alone. Forgive us for the times we try to do so. You promised to walk with us every step of the way. We cannot do it without You. Stick closer than a brother, according to Your Word. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

My Daughter-in-Love Said

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 18:2-4 NLT

My daughter-in-love, Donna, wrote this devotion:

When you are at a restaurant, you can expect to overhear conversations about what is good or not so good on the menu. When you are at church, you can expect to overhear conversations about how someone has been blessed or how you can pray for someone. When you are at a football game, you can expect to overhear conversations about how the defense is doing or what call the refs missed. What you don’t expect to overhear when you’re yelling “DEFENSE!” is someone nearby asking “Are you a Christian?” or “Do you know God loves you?”

Wait. What? Who’d she just ask that? Or better yet. Why didn’t I think to ask that?

God has instructed us as Christians to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. (Mark‬ ‭16:15‬). So I shouldn’t be surprised when nearly every conversation my daughter has with a stranger includes “Do you believe in God?” Instead, I should be encouraged and challenged to do likewise. 

My dad modeled the same mission before me. “Go and make disciples of all the nations..." (Matthew‬ ‭28:19). What would start as a simple “Hey there!” or “How’re you doing?” usually ended with “Do you know God as your Savior?” and “How can I pray for you today?” At a restaurant, at church, at a football game, in a grocery store, at the park, the setting didn’t matter. What mattered was that before walking away from the conversation a sharing of God’s love for that person happened. 

Too often I hang back and listen as people talk or I share a smile or a wave as I continue on my way to finish my to-do list, but there’s something more important than my to-do list. God has called us to a purpose - to go and share His love and salvation with others. May my conversations include His purpose. May I make another’s soul a priority to me and be the one who asks “Are you a Christian?”

God has given each of us the greatest gift we could ever receive - salvation. May we each share His gift in the conversations we have with others.

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for sending Your Son to die on the cross for our salvation. Thank You for a daughter-in-love whose heart is after You and together with her husband is raising their child in the nurture and admonition of You, Lord. We pray for continued opportunities to share the Good News. Let us be bold in bringing Your Gospel to a lost and dying world. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

When In Doubt

How I love you, Lord! You are my defender.  The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 18:1-3 Good News Translation

The enemy of our souls is always trying to defeat us, demean us, distract us, trying to get us to be disappointed in God our Lord. And when we try to be strong, fighting in our own strength, we lose. And when we lose, it just seems to reaffirm satan's lies. 

We've talked before about what standards we use to conduct ourselves. For Christians, the ultimate standard IS the Word of God, the Bible. It is applicable for every situation, every circumstance, in other words, for EVERYTHING.

If you find yourself in tough circumstances right now, you can praise your way out of them by praying His Word back to Him. Isaiah 61:3 tells us to put on the garment of praise to overcome the spirit of heaviness. Charge the atmosphere proclaiming His goodness to you and for you. A plethora of declarations is readily available in David's psalms. Avail yourself of them. His Truth wins out every time.

Prayer:

Father,
           I will sing to You as long as I live; I will sing praise to You while I have my being. I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings, I sing for joy. You, Lord, are my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in You, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song, I shall thank You and lift You higher. In Jesus' Name

Requested - A Bout with Doubt

I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works.In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger, remember your mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2 NLT

The Book of Habakkuk is about the questions of man and the answers of God. This prophet is the one who asked why the wicked prosper when the righteous stand to lose it all, and God basically tells him to just wait... Habakkuk was a prophet and yet he questioned God.

Zechariah - who was he? Luke 1:5-7 tells us, When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. He was a priest and both he and his wife were righteous in God's eyes! But when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah to tell him that they would have a son, Zechariah doubted him.

Zechariah's son, John, cousin to Jesus, chosen forerunner of the Messiah, sent to prepare the way of the Lord, suffered a bout with doubt. The only prophet to actually see the Messiah in the flesh, and yet when overwhelmed with the circumstances of life, he questioned Christ. Read Luke 7:19, "Are you the one..."

We all have times when we struggle with the overwhelming odds of life. The times where it feels like God is not doing what He said, or not answering our prayers. However, the Truth is that God's time is not measured the same as ours. Don't be discouraged. Don't turn away from God in your most desperate times. The common thread in these mighty men of God is they ran TO God, not away from Him. And THAT is how to win the bout with doubt.

Prayer:

Father,
We thank You for including examples of human frailty in Your Word - to teach us, to encourage us, to get us through. You have truly provided for our every need. What an amazing God You are! Help us to see You and trust You for who You truly are. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Words of Hope

Words straight from His Word to reaffirm and build your hope, to give a solid place on which to stand...

Psalm 71:5-6, 14
5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. 

14 As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.

Psalm 62:5-6
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 33:18, 20-22
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. 

20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 5:1-3
1 Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

Psalm 143:8
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

Psalm 42:5
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 39:7
7 But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

Psalm 9:18
18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Psalm 30:5
5 Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 130:7
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Psalm 31:24
24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Psalm 126:5-6
5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Psalm 119:49-50
49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. 50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Prayer:

Father,

          Let Your Word come alive in us this night. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen