Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
May our Father bless you as you share the greatest story of all. May your role in that story and your passionate delivery of its details be rich … warm … sincere.
May your intimate relationship with Jesus catch someone by surprise … kindle a rich, golden glow in their dimly lit heart … open their eyes to spiritual possibilities that have seemed at best distant and unattainable.
May you bring warmth to a cold and weary world. May you light someone’s darkness.
May those who listen find themselves relaxed … relieved … filled with hope. May their souls be fully engaged … their ears hungry to hear more … their hearts eager to be introduced to the Son of Man … the Son of God … the forgiving Jesus … full of grace.
May they find themselves repeating every word and imitating every move of the One Who speaks through you. May you bring them into the healing presence of Jesus, and may He write His story on the pages of their hearts.
~s
Tags: eager hearts, grace, greatest story of all, hope, intimate friendship, Jesus, light, pages of their hearts, spiritual possibilities, the forgiving Jesus, warmth
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Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Father of divine transformations –
I’m waving the white flag, and I’m laying down my arms. I’m disabling my defense systems, and I’m letting down the drawbridge of my defeated heart. I surrender, Father.
I’m weary of holding up the facades … hiding behind the masks … and pretending that I am strong in hopes of deflecting the attention of others away from my wounded, insecure heart.
I’m collapsing at Your feet, Lord … not as one bearing expensive gifts and multiplied talents … but as a defeated soldier … a fallen star … a hunter caught in his own net.
I am naked … bare … and devastated. My kingdoms are destroyed … my high places are leveled. I come simply bringing a broken heart with a gaping hole … my perennial weakness. I am bankrupt of confidence … and ravaged by the lusts that vainly promise to fill the cavity and hide its ugliness … only to further the damage and intensify the pain.
Save me from the destruction of my soul and from the debilitating sin that controls me when I resist Your call and Your companionship. Forgive me, Father, and heal me. I need Your mercy. I need Your grace. I need Your Son to fill the Christ-shaped canyon in my heart. Complete me, Father, in Jesus.
Teach me to embrace my crumbled confidence so that in my weakness Your power may be perfected. Give me grace to resist the enticement of false confidence, and fill me with true confidence that flows only from You. As You convert me … as You make me new … create in me the attitude … the actions … and the words that will give courage to the wounded hearts I encounter each day. Through my weakness, please bless them with strength.
Father, please make my deepest weakness the source of my greatest ministry. I trust You with my complete transformation. I lift this prayer to You through Jesus. Please let these things be so. Amen.
~s
Tags: broken heart, confidence, defeated, Father, gaping hole, Jesus, strength, weakness, wounded
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
May Jesus be your only focus … the vision of every good thing that you desire to be. May you see your world … your family … yourself … through His caring, compassionate eyes.
May each of your days be expertly composed … perfectly exposed … beautifully framed … in the Creator’s gentle hands. May He smile as He observes them hanging in the gallery of the mansion that He has reserved just for you. May they fill Him with eager anticipation for the day that He will meet you face to face … His child … His masterpiece … the one and only … the original … the unique … the beautiful soul that is you.
Until then, may He call your heart to come and be more than you can even dream, and may there be no boundaries to your dreams.
~s
Tags: beautiful soul, beautifully framed, compassionate eyes, dreams, face to face, gallery, His masterpiece, Jesus, more than you can dream, vision, your only focus
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
May you give yourself a second chance today … an opportunity to be exactly who you are supposed to be … according to our Father … nothing less … and nothing more.
May your restless heart be tenderly reminded of the joy in the journey. May the child in your soul confidently claim today simply as the step … the single, faith-filled step … it is intended to be in your lifelong quest to become like Christ.
May you give yourself some elbow room … some space to breathe … some time to ponder the progress and the success that have befriended you along the way. May you put to good use the talents and gifts you’ve been given … and may you refuse to fret yourself with those responsibilities for which you have not yet been equipped.
May you willfully release the fast forward button on your life, and may you let Him who began a good work in you bring it to completion … in His time … on His schedule … at the great day of Jesus’ return.
May you be finished … when … and only when … He says you are finished. Until then, may you answer His call … may you hold His hand as He gently leads you … and may you walk in His steps … one day at a time.
Now … may you give someone else a second chance today … an opportunity to be exactly who they are supposed to be … according to our Father … nothing less … and nothing more.
~s
Tags: elbow room, great day of Jesus, Jesus, joy in the journey, nothing less, nothing more, second chance, soul, space to breathe, talents
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Tuesday, August 9, 2005
May the blessings that your friendship yields return to you thirty … sixty … one hundred fold. May those you bless honor the Christ … the King … Whom you love so deeply … Whom you emulate so effectively … Whom you imitate so consistently. May they find in Him amazing grace … abundant forgiveness … eternal life.
May you minister as one who has spent much time with the Master … the Savior … Jesus, the Son of God. May He be your satisfaction … your completion … the fulfillment of your every need. May your rich … intimate … personal relationship with Him be your greatest blessing of all.
~s
Tags: abundant forgiveness, amazing grace, Christ, eternal life, greatest blessing, His friendship, Jesus, king, personal relationship
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Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Master of all generations –
Thank You for creating mankind and every aspect of life. Thank You for creating me. Thank You for creating relationships. Father, I want to live in an intimate, deep relationship with You. I desire to live in a way that makes You happy that You created me.
Please teach me Your Word and Your Way so that I can master the sin that clings so closely to me.
I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength. I believe that! It’s not my strength, but His, and He can do anything! I praise You, Father, for sharing Your Son, Jesus Christ, with me. He is my Savior. He is my King. I want to walk with Him. I want to walk with Your Holy Spirit. I want to walk with You … only with You.
Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. Lead me in light, Father. Lead me in the light of Your Word. Lead on, oh King Eternal!
My heart loves You. My heart adores You. With my whole heart, I am praying to You through Jesus. Amen.
~s
Tags: adore, create, heart, Jesus, king, light, relationship, strength
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Just when you think you really know Jesus, may you return to the manger. May you quietly kneel beside His humble bed of hay and straw. May you inhale the same cool, nighttime air that He is breathing … dusty … thick with the aromas of cattle, donkeys and sheep.
May you lovingly smooth the soft hair scattered upon His brow … the very brow destined to be crowned with thorns for the sins of countless people … including your own. May your ears resonate with the sweet gurgles and coos from His tender lips … precursors to the greatest teachings the world will ever know.
May His tiny fingers gently grasp your finger as you reach to lift Him to your shoulder and hold Him warmly and securely … the way He has so often held you. May you feel the beat of His heart in unison with your own … pulsing with the precious, pure blood that will be shed to bring healing to a world gone mad.
As you place Him in His mother’s loving arms, may you gaze into the eyes of the One Who can see into your very soul … the One Who believed that the greatest story ever told would only be complete when you became part of it.
May you let yourself know Him like you’ve never known Him before. May you love Him in His vulnerability … in His humanity … in His journey to become just like you … so that you may become just like Him.
~s
Tags: crowned with thorns, greatest story, greatest teachings, Jesus, just like Him, just like you, know Him, may you return, quietly kneel, return to the manger, the beat of His heart
Posted in May You Return | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
May you be filled with wisdom … extending grace to those trapped in the web of sin … abandoning tolerance for the higher calling of love.
May you be humble … in attitude and in action … trusting the Living God to lift you higher than you could ever lift yourself.
May you be salt … lightly sprinkled … enhancing the flavor of life for everyone you encounter.
May you be light … soft and warm … illuminating the darkened paths of lost and lonely souls.
May you be like a child … innocent in evil ways … and quick to forgive.
May you be quick to listen … slow to speak … slow to anger.
May you become more like Jesus every day … with each step of faith … with each beat of your heart … with each breath of precious air.
May you discover your identity in His fathomless friendship and His truly amazing grace.
~s
Tags: abandoning tolerance, amazing grace, fathomless friendship, grace, higher calling of love, humble, innocent in evil, Jesus, light, may you be, quick to forgive, salt
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Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Unchanging God –
It has been a beautiful day. I thank You … I praise You … for giving me life, health and energy. I thank You for giving me things to do and people to encourage and love.
Thank You for filling me with purpose and value. My whole esteem flows from You … not from me … but from You. I am valuable. I am valuable because I am created and loved by You.
I’ll never get lost in the millions and billions of people on this planet, Lord. You love me, and nothing can separate me from Your steadfast love. Everywhere I can be, Your power is there.
Every gift … every talent I have comes from You. You have been very generous. Thank You!
You are changing me daily, and I know that I am everything I am because You love me. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for adopting me, Father.
You are God. You are the unchanging God. You are my God. I don’t want any other god. I’m praying through Jesus. Amen.
~s
Tags: adopt, encourage, esteem, giving, God, Jesus, purpose, unchanging, valuable, value
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Tuesday, May 24, 2005
May Jesus be your Best Friend when you don’t want a best friend. May He be your gentle, quiet companion when you want nothing but to retreat into your dark and lonely cave.
May He attend to your every need when you don’t have the energy or desire to attend to your own. May His grace abound when you need it most.
May He be willing … waiting … watching … for you … to come back home when your heart chooses to wander. May His kindness lead you to repentance … just as it was designed to do.
May the depth and the strength of your faith in Him make this blessing an unnecessary … meaningless … exercise of unneeded words.
May even your “downs” be “ups” in Him.
~s
Tags: best friend, faith, heart, Jesus, lonely cave, quiet companion, repentance, unneeded words
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