This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
Friday Friends’ Favorite:
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Lord, give us strength. Strength for the days when we want to give up, strength for the days when we are weary, strength for the days when we’d rather just be lazy and selfish. Help us keep our eyes on the harvest. Thank you for all the ways you encourage us and provide us what we need.
Mercy and forgiveness must be free and unmerited to the wrongdoer. If the wrongdoer has to do something to merit it, then it isn’t mercy, but forgiveness always comes at a cost to the one granting the forgiveness.
— Tim Keller
Our God Restores
“Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.” Psalm 51:8
My heart breaks for our country. It’s broken, divided along political lines, along racial lines. Angry hearts, pointing fingers, violence and divisiveness separate us. Broken bones. Broken hearts.
God of restoration, heal our land, knit together those broken bones, those broken hearts.
Heal our hands to do good works and comfort one another. Heal us, forgive us, restore us.
Heal our eyes, that they may see your beauty in every skin tone: black, white, brown, red, yellow. Heal our eyes to enable us to see the beauty in both red and blue, colors of our political beliefs.
Heal our spirits; may we rejoice that only You save us, not our beliefs or our political heroes.
Heal our hearts, that they may bleed empathy for the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden. Teach us to love those who don’t look like us, talk like us, vote like us, or pray like us.
Thank you, God of restoration, for shaking us up and putting us through difficult times. Let our impurities rise to the top so we can confess them to You. Allow Your process of restoration to heal the broken bones of our hearts and heal our land.
Praise the Lord! Maker of heaven and earth, He is faithful, He is just, He is wisdom, He is love. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness, for His creation, from majestic mountains to dselicate flowers, to the oce
Praise the Lord! Praise God, for He is wisdom, He is just, He is love. Praise Him for His faithfulness. Praise Him for His creation: from majestic mountains to delicate flowers and crashing waves upon the shores. Praise Him for the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, for creating each of us in His image, and for sending His Son to save us. Praise the Lord!
In what ways are you praising God today?
“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
― St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, it’s so easy to talk about peace, to give it lip service. Teach me to harbor your peace deep within my heart, to speak it, to live it, to share it with others.
I’m sitting on my couch, leg rest up, legs stretched out. Sipping a cup of hot tea and savoring some zesty orange dark chocolate, I’m relaxing and easing away the cares of a long day. Ahhh!
After a busy day, both emotionally and physically, the tea and chocolate are hitting all my pleasure buttons and bringing me comfort and peace.
As I enjoy my respite from a busy day, I wonder: why do I turn to a hot drink and, more importantly, some chocolate to make everything right in my world? I do confess I’m a bit (actually a whole lot!) addicted to chocolate, and letting it melt in my mouth is certainly a stress reliever.
But, why, I wonder, do I turn to chocolate when I’m tired or stressed? Why, instead, do I not turn to my Savior? Why don’t I turn the pages of His word instead of consuming chocolate? Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with chocolate. God did, after all, create this delicious treat.
What I question is my priorities. Do I put the pleasure of chocolate ahead of pleasure with my God? Do I rely more on the calming and pleasurable effects of chocolate than on time spent with Him?
This is certainly a topic I need to discuss with Him in prayer. He will show me how to get and keep my priorities straight.
What about you? Are there things or people that you value more than God?
As I reflect on my own priorities, I echo the prayers of the psalmists. “Create in me a pure heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me” (Psalm 51:10). And, “Teach me your way, Lord that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11).
It’s Friday, so it’s time for something new: Friday Friends’ Favorites.
If you have a favorite verse that you’d like to see on my blog or Facebook page, just type the reference in the comments, and I will share it on a Friday. Here’s the first.
Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Lord, when I am afraid, help me remember that You are mightier than even the majestic mountains. I need not fear. When I have self-doubts, remind me that You love me, you delight in me, and You rejoice over me with singing. I am indeed blessed.
God of salvation, thank you for your saving grace. When I tremble in fear, take my hand and remind me that You, not me, are the strength I need.
Growing Our Faith Together 