...for God is at work in you.

                  Philippians 2. 13

(More than you can know.

Even in this.

Don't miss it).

I want you to know, brethren,

that what has happened to me

has really served

    to advance the gospel....

...knowing that I am put here

for the defense of the gospel.

                  Philippians 1. 12, 16

(God has strategically placed you

       right where you are. 

Even here.

Work with all excellence,

pray for those around you,

bring the love of Jesus there.

There is nothing random in this,

   only God's deeper purposes).

For My thoughts 

  are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways

    My ways, says the LORD.

For as the heavens 

   are higher than the earth,

so are My ways

        higher than your ways,

and My thoughts 

        than your thoughts.

                      Isaiah 55. 8-9

(Not just "have a good attitude,"

not just "take the high road,"

but what is the mind of Christ 

                            in this?

Even in this).

...and will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the garden of the LORD...

                       Isaiah 51. 3

(God reveals His way,

    He bears His fruit

in impossible situations.

Help me to see this place

       with Your vision, O LORD).

O God,

       You know my folly;

the wrongs I have done

    are not hidden from You.

                      Psalm 69. 5

(I am not just sorry.

 I did not just make a mistake.

                      I was wrong.

And that is why You sent Jesus.

Because of Your forgiveness,

     I am no longer defined by my sin,

but marked by Your redemption.

I was broken,

       but now I am redeemed.

You, O God, do not just forgive 

             each individual wrongdoing;

      You have forgiven me.

Help me to live forgiven

        and practice resurrection).

 ...to lead a life

           worthy of the calling

to which you have been called...

                    Ephesians 4. 1

(You have not been called 

       to an occupation,

but occupied by Christ.

In you,

through you,

all around you,

wherever,

in whatever,

among whomever,

however that may look today).

           

Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth,

do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness 

    and rivers in the desert.

                    Isaiah 43. 18-19

(God has brought you here,

      even to what only appears

      as a barren place,

for His profound purposes).

Fear not,

for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name,

         you are Mine.

When you pass through the waters,

        I will be with you;

and through the rivers,

       they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire

       you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the LORD your God,

   the Holy One of Israel,

                         your Savior.

                      Isaiah 43. 1-3

(Do. Not. Fear.

God knows all about this,

His purposes all over it.

     "Follow Me.")

A voice cries,

"In the wilderness 

       prepare the way of the LORD,

make straight in the desert

       a highway for our God."

                             Isaiah 40. 3

(Wherever God places me today)

...and Hezekiah went up

     to the house of the LORD,

and spread it 

         before the LORD.

                        Isaiah 37. 14

(First response in crisis,

first action for any day.

"What is Your way in this, O LORD?"

I am too busy

        not to pray first.

May God Almighty manifest Himself to you

today

         in unexpected ways)).

For waters shall break forth

      in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert...

                Isaiah 35. 5-6

(Now just watch

what God does 

with this impossible situation,

far profound 

  than I can ever know).

...in quietness

       and in trust

shall be your strength.

               Isaiah 30.15

(Trust Me in this).

...the work of My hands

                in his midst....

                 Isaiah 29. 23

(Even that which we cannot yet see,

because it is the profound hand of God,

that which only He can do,

        thick layers of wonder upon wonder.

Watch for Him.

Am I seeking God in this?)

You keep him

     in perfect peace 

whose mind is stayed on You,

because he trusts in You.

Trust in the LORD forever,

for the LORD GOD 

     is an everlasting rock.

                     Isaiah 26. 3-4

(I can stake my life on You.

Peace is not just an outcropping,

but the indwelling 

            of trusting God.

On whom, on what

      is my mind stuck on?

Seek out the Rock in this).

I am crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, 

but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now

           live in the flesh

I live by faith 

        in the Son of God,

who loved me 

and gave Himself for me.

            Galatians 2. 20

("But Christ 

           who lives in me."

That should look very different 

in my ways,

habits,

choices,

words,

attitudes,

and how I love others).

...a blessing in the midst

               of the earth.

              Isaiah 19. 24

(God has placed you

  strategically).

...and is swift

      to do righteousness.

                       Isaiah 1. 5

(Wherever I am,

among whom God has placed me,

His glory

    in every good endeavor,

    in every detail,

    in every dimension of my day.

I can't do everything,

    but I can do something 

to tear away a corner of darkness

and bring the love of Jesus there).

Examine yourselves,

to see whether 

you are holding 

            to your faith.

Test yourselves.

Do you not realize

  that Jesus Christ

               is in you?

       2 Corinthians 13. 5

(And that changes everything).

When I am afraid,

I put my trust in You.

In God,

Whose word I praise,

      in God I trust

without a fear.

What can flesh do to me?

                 Psalm 56. 3-4

(In God I trust.

Not just imprinted on our coins,

        but engraved on our hearts.)

...but He said to me,

"My grace is sufficient for you,

for My power is made

       perfect in weakness."

I will all the more 

gladly boast of my weaknesses,

that the power of Christ

        may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ, then,

I am content with weaknesses,

insults,

hardships,

persecutions,

calamities;

for when I am weak,

           then I am strong.

              2 Corinthians 12. 8-10

(Letting the power of Christ

     come to the visible surface,

for His sake

and for His purposes,

which always extends

               beyond you).

Behold,

       God is my helper;

the LORD is

   the upholder of my life.

                   Psalm 54. 4

(I am not alone).

...your thoughts will be led astray

from a sincere and pure devotion 

                     to Christ.

                    2 Corinthians 11. 3

(What is distracting you?

Something new and shiny?

Or an old habit

    with its heels dug in?

Or a favorite grievance who is

     a full time resident in your heart,

words or actions held for ammunition,

someone held hostage

          from being forgiven?

Take every thought captive 

                     for Christ.

What sort of person do I want to be?

                 His).

....take every thought captive

           to obey Christ.

                  2 Corinthians 10. 5

(Even this?

Especially that.

Not just how can I think differently,

    but how can I 

    bear the mind of Christ in this?)

And God is able

to provide you with every 

         blessings in abundance,

so that

you may always have 

    enough of everything 

and may provide in abundance

             for every good work.

                   2 Corinthians 9. 8

(Seeking the blessings

 makes you only a glutton.

Seeking God first

    opens up the incredible.

Where God guides your heart,

God provides for every good work.

And spiritual wellbeing 

is always the biggest piece of the pie).

...and call upon Me

            in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you,

and you shall glorify Me.

                  Psalm 50. 15

(First response,

             not last resort.

Seek God in this hard thing.

His profound purposes 

     are intricately embedded.

God did not promise

a life of ease,

but that

       "I am with you.")

In the morning sow your seed,

and at evening 

      withhold not your hand,

for you do not know

             which will prosper,

this or that,

or whether both alike

      will be good.

             Ecclesiastes 11. 6

(What has God placed on your path,

on your radar,

on your heart today?

Even in what is totally unexpected,

             God is using you.

You have no clue how deeply

     He is at work in you

     and through you.

God always works

      in a million different layers,

even that we may never see).

...but we were afflicted 

  at every turn

--fighting without 

            and fear within.

But God...

           2 Corinthians 7. 5-6

("But God" changes everything.

Because there is God

     --because God is --

every detail of my life

has profound purpose

     and intricate design.

Live in the reality of God.

Even in this.

God redeems every inch).

Be still,

and know that 

           I am God.

              Psalm 46.10

(Right now,

even in this stressful situation,

this impossible season,

and among these imperfect people,

      me the foremost among them,

wait, be still and listen.

God is still God,

    and I am not).

I know

that You can do all things,

and that no purpose of Yours

              can be thwarted.

                   Job 42. 2

(God reveals His faithfulness 

through our experience,

that we may KNOW Him

      and not just believe.

There is not just

     "a reason for this,"

but God's divine purposes 

    and intricate designs.

"Random" is 

  never in God's vocabulary.

Only His 

     profound appointments).