No Matter Where We Are

 

And the name of the city

from that time on shall be,

The LORD Is There. 

            Ezekiel 48. 35

At the end of a long book

of suffering and affliction

and the consequences of 

      wrongdoing,

The LORD Is There

is written in all capital letters.

Look around.

Seek God.

Bless and serve Him.

Because wherever we are,

in whatever circumstances 

       God has placed us,

we can know

    The LORD Is Here.

And live differently

  because of that reality.

O LORD,

May we not be stuck on

why in the world

         am I here?

But to be faithful to You

  right where we are.

You are with us.

You sustain us.

We are not in this place

     on our own or randomly.

You have written Your Presence

   in all capital letters.

Help us not just to know that

    but live that way today,

even in the divine appointments

we don't yet recognize.

Find us faithful here.

Even here.

On The Road Again

...and I shall walk

      in a wide place,

for I have sought

     Your precepts.

         Psalms 119. 45

Follow Me.

Walk with Me.

Abide in Me.

We can see differently

and thereby

   walk differently

in the shadows, the dark,

the storms, the rocky,

narrow and confusing places.

God's Word guides us

                   through.

And even the journey

  reveals His Presence with us.

We are aware of other things.

We are aware of Him.

O LORD,

May Your Word infiltrate 

    our souls all the way

    through to our feet.

Guide us in Your way.

Help us to know that

when we spend time

        in Your Word,

we walk differently

even in difficult places.

 

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Incremental Choices

 

I have chosen the 

   way of faithfulness.

          Psalm 119. 30

We do not just stumble upon

   being faithful to God.

Faithful tomorrow

   requires faithful today,

an intentional decision made

          multiple times a day.

What does faithfulness look like

  in what we face today?

Sometimes an obvious choice.

Sometimes a harder 

      course of action.

But we choose

what we ultimately love,

desire and delight in.

And faithfulness changes 

    the trajectory of our lives.

"How we spend our days is,

of course, how we spend

our lives." --Annie Dillard

What do we choose?

O LORD,

Infiltrate our hearts,

invade our decisions,

guide us into faithfulness,

make Your way obvious,

and grant us the courage

      to follow You into it.

We make choices every day.

We choose You.

Create in us a new heart

and let faithfulness

   get all over 

   what we do today.

 

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Rewiring Our Minds

 

The prayer of a righteous person

has great power

as it is working.

  

           James 5. 16

That's how to pray.

Not if it works,

    but as it is 

           being completed. 

The power is not in us,

  but as God is working.

The great power is 

not just what God does

  with our circumstances,

  our apparent needs 

      or cries of our hearts.

But what God forms in us

  through the act of praying.

Praying rewires our minds.

And radically readjusts

             our loves.

Praying seeks and entreats God

       not in carefully scripted words

   but livestreaming our hearts

                before Him.

And God responds,

   I thought you'd never ask.

God grants far more

   than our meager requests

and most often in

          unexpected ways.

O LORD,

We come before You

   with needs and gaps

   and wounds and aching.

And You come before us

  with Your healing, strength

 and power we cannot imagine.

Praying empowers us

   not to get answers

or a package on our doorstep,

but to know You more.

As we see You differently,

     and pray differently,

we see others

    and circumstances differently,

and ultimately ourselves.

Rewire our minds

   even in this situation today.

Fill us with Your power

   not to handle it,

   or endure it,

but to bring You glory.

The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Is Not The Burnt Rolls

 

I will offer to You

  the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call on the name of the LORD.

           Psalm 116. 17

The sacrifice of thanksgiving

is thanking God

even before we know the outcome,

even on that hard rocky road,

and even if we don't understand.

The true sacrifice may be

   being faithful and 

doing what is right not in our eyes

            but in His.

Thanking Him in the midst

     of what is going on,

even if we can't quite yet

    thank Him for circumstances.

And that is when 

   calling on the LORD comes in.

When we are seeking Him,

  we see differently

               how to respond.

And that may really

          surprise us.

God resurrects.

God rewrites.

O LORD,

What are You forming

  in us through this?

Not perhaps to let go

or just put up with hard stuff,

      but let You change us.

Not telling You what to do,

justifying our actions,

grumbling and complaining,

but asking You

                to cover us.

We are grateful to You.

And we know that

   no sacrifice is ever ignored.

 

Wasting A Little Time With Jesus

 

Draw near to God,

and He will draw 

         near to you.

         James 4. 8

It's not as complicated 

  as we make it.

When we draw near to God,

we discover He does not

          just show up,

but God shows us

  He has been here all along,

      waiting on us.

He is not the one who moved.

Wherever we are

           is not too far.

How can we draw near

          to Him today?

Every careful loving act,

every intentional grace to others,

not filling up the day 

      with good works and words,

   but being faithful to Him.

And that may mean,

even in the midst of our busy-ness

             and business,

to spend long-term,

unhurried togetherness with Jesus.

We scroll through our phones.

What if we wasted a little time

                with Him instead?

His Presence changes everything

  when we realize He is already here.

O LORD,

Show us how to draw near to You

  even in this mess we are in,

even in the chaos,

even when time is rushing past.

Help us to be intentional,

   not in finding time to be with You,

but making time,

      running toward You.

No time with You

              is ever wasted.

You multiply it.

Bring It On

 

He said to me,

"This is the table

   that is before the LORD."

 

       Ezekiel 41. 22

What are we bringing

   before God today?

Immense difficulties,

impossible problems,

overwhelming and disappointing,

       even our failures.

God says,

       Bring it on.

 Bring it to Me.

    Whatever it is.

Drag it over to the altar.

Lay it here.

God does the heavy lifting.

Nothing too little.

       Never too big.

The Holy Spirit hovers over

whatever we have to give

  and does something with it.

And then we can go forth

        differently through it.

The difficulty may not disappear,

but we are no longer alone in it.

We bring our hard stuff.

   God gives us His strength.

O LORD,

Of all the things You created,

You made an altar

   that we may worship You,

even in our shortcomings

        and really hard stuff.

Help us to drag these hurts

   and heavy burdens

   to this table before You.

Even more,

help us to leave them there.

And let You not just lift them

            but lift us.

Grant to us Your healing

   and strength

not just to deal with it differently

but to be faithful to You.

We confess that 

we have been struggling with it

            without You.

Carry us now, Almighty One.