Father God, Creator of the Universe, King of all Kings, 

        We bow before you, thanking you for the gift of your Son Jesus who saves us and offers eternal life to anyone who chooses to accept the gift. Thank you for creating the world through Jesus, the Word who spoke the seas and skies into existence. Thank you for giving us your written Word, the living document that showcases and proves not only your majesty and power, but your love for each of us. 

We are amazed at the treasures hidden in the pages of your love letter to us.

• If we diligently search out your gems, we find comfort when we’re feeling desperate, promises that assure us of hope and a future.

• Opening ourselves to your Word allows your Spirit to flow through us and heal us, to give us peace in the midst of affliction.

• When we’re confused, the wisdom in your Word seems to address the very thing we couldn’t quite sort out. Your Word can clarify the problem and show us where to step.

• Your Word reveals our deepest flaws and urges us to changes, shows us how to turn all our failings over to you.

• Your Word assures us of forgiveness.

Thank you, Lord. We love you. We’re so thankful for your mercy; so thankful for your Word. Call us to seek you, pursue you fervently just as you pursue us fervently. We want to know you more and more. Please place your Word in our minds, write it on our hearts and reveal yourself to us. Amen

Supporting verses: (all italics mine) 

“And God said, “Let there be light . . .” Gen. 1:3

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3

“But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Hebrews 1:2
 

“The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12,13

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength. . . . And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:15

“I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. . . .for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:10 -12

O Awesome God in Heaven,

            We thank you for the people we are allowed / assigned to love. Help us overlook and forgive others when they hurt us. Banish our self-pity and show us how to offer our suffering as a gift to you, willingly enduring pain in your name so that you will be glorified.

Help us remember the way you suffered on the cross for us and how you continue to forgive us daily when we grieve you. Remind us that Peter exhorted the new Christians of his time to think of the living hope they had in Christ whom God raised from the dead. Remind us how Peter encouraged them to understand that the trials  they endured “for a little while” would test the genuineness of their faith and result in praise, glory and honor at Christ’s return.  He said all those things to the early Christians despite the horrifying realities of the persecution and tortures they were suffering under the emperor Nero. Peter’s instruction to them was to quietly do good, knowing that God was guarding them through faith and would give them an imperishable inheritance in heaven.

Help us to follow Peter's instruction. Open our eyes to the smallness of our problems next to theirs, Jesus, yet comfort us with the knowledge that you see our difficulties and feel our pain right along with us. You don’t diminish our pain because since you live in us you are right there with us when acquaintances and loved ones abuse us, when we can’t find a job, when the diagnosis of cancer comes.

Teach us to visualize Jesus standing with us. Enduring with us. Holding us up. Smoothing our brow. Because the Truth is you never leave us to face anything alone. And you love us desperately. Thank you. We pray this in the name of your Son Christ Jesus.

Supporting verses:

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perished though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:3 – 7

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