Morning Prayer

“I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.” -Isaiah 42:8-9

Father, have we been so blind as to forget that You are God alone and that You rightly deserve all glory and praise? Have we forgotten Your goodness to us, Your many kindnesses and mercies? Have we forgotten the days where we've seen Your glory in powerful ways? No, I will not forget YHWH my God who has done many great things and who is worthy of all of me, all my love and devotion and obedience and adoraction. I will magnify my God yet again because my life doesn't matter except that I know my God and please Him. Let nothing come before the love I have for the One who has loved me with an everlasting love. Let no idol steal my affections. Let me place no evil before me. But let me live out my days simply doing my best to surrender to the great I AM. He is my everything that I could ever need or hope or desire. He is God my righteousness, my salvation, my deliverer, my healer, my teacher and guide, my comforter and restorer.

I know You're not done with me, I know there is more You have me to do, more You desire to show me, deeper I can go in knowing You. But don't let my days turn stagnant. But let me ever be growing in You in knowledge and character, in the fruits of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. But above all, just let me experience You and know Your presence every day. Even when my days are hectic, even when disappointments arise and life isnt perfect, I know You are my refuge and I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings. Even if its just a moment, I want to run to YOU before I run to anything or anyone else. Because I look to You from where comes my help, YHWH, the Maker of heaven and earth. I know You are near and I will call on You often. And in the busyness of this life, I know You are there and you see it all, so whether I 'feel' anything or not, let my life be pleasing to You and let my life give You glory in the big things and in the little things. In the consistancies of life and the surprises and changes too.

It's time to start my day, but go before me and be my God in this day and in every day.

It must go back to this one truth...

No matter what we try to do or who we try to be, we in and of ourselves are not enough to 'make it' in the Christian life. I keep coming back to this one simple truth - it's He who completes us. It is HE who started the good work and it is HE who will continue and finish it. The other verse that keeps coming back to me is 'He will perfect all that concerns me'. It always goes back to him, the story always goes back to HIm because He is the creator of my being, the Initiator of this love relationship with mankind. No matter how much I try, I soon stumble and become dry. I keep forgetting that all nourishment and energy and power must come from the Source. It's like Y'shua said in John 15 I think it is, "I am the vine, you are the branches". I pretty much have to cling to Him for my everything in this life, from my daily bread, to carrying out His plan and purposes in my life, to living a righteous life. It has to flow from Him, from knowing Him and from coming to Him and calling on His name.

And not only do I need Him for my everything; I need Him to BE my everything! It's called a life surrendered and it's a daily moment by moment thing.

It's like someone in a hospital on life support, they are completely dependent upon it to live and function. From a medical standpoint, they will die without it. Am I this desperate to be connected to my Source? From a spiritual standpoint, my being fails within me and I dont realize it, but Im gasping for life anew. I think its why the Psalmist David says 'Do not take your Holy Spirit from me!'. It was a cry of desperation. I am crying out for the Living God. Because I know without His presence and power in my life, I am like a dead man and I am nothing. But it is in Him, I desire to live and to move and to have my being. It must go back to this one truth - Have Your way in me; I surrender my whole being to the Living God.

Let's talk about Issues!

With all the news going on about this criminal and that criminal, it would seem that our society if filled with issues! The world obviously has issues, but what about me? What about you? What about us who are called by His name? Alls I know is we each have our struggles and temptations. I cant say my issues are any less than the next person or that his/hers are worse than mine. Issues are issues. Anything that pulls us away from Him is major, majorly bad! A trap is a trap no matter what it looks like. Sin is sin and it entangles us and weighs us down. We really have to be careful when we talk gossip about other people’s mistakes, sins, and addictions because we wouldn’t want to be so puffed up lest we become weak and blind, falling into temptation. Each person has to deal with his own sin issues. It certainly isn’t smart to use other people’s conduct as the measuring rod for our own conduct, but rather the word of God is the measuring rod or ‘plumbline’ as the Scriptures call it.

And another thing in the topic of our own sin and that of others. I learned a long time ago not to hold a forgiven person to their past, unless of course the past is still with them. We all need to be free in Him, that’s why we need salvation. I’m so thankful that I am saved from eternal damnation and separation from God to eternal life with Him. But I know I need to be ‘saved’ or rescued from the mistakes I make, especially those mistakes that seem to entangle over and over and over again.

My post looks rather preachy and not very coherent. It’s been a long day and I’m rather tired. I guess what I’m mostly trying to say is that we shouldn’t be worrying about the issues of the world so much as we do our own. But it is from knowing that we ARE dealing with our own issues that we can then have the ability to lead others to repentance. But first, let’s be right with God before trying to present God to the world.