Strength Training Program

 

He chose David his servant

and took him from the sheepfolds,

from following the nursing ewes.

He brought him to shepherd

     Jacob his people,   

     Israel his inheritance.

             Psalm 78. 70-71

(God's training ground

            in faithfulness

is not always obvious,

   nor where we want to be.

But what is God

   forming in us through this?

What purpose is there

    in this mundane work?

Eternal ones

     we cannot yet see.

God is equipping us,

  beyond what we can

  ever do on our own.

What is God doing with this?

    Strength training.)

O LORD,

Help us to trust Your

     training program,

in what You have

    put on our plates,

where You have placed us,

 and among the people

          on this path.

Complete Your work in us

and help us to serve You

   even right where we are.

Help us to grow into

      faithfulness,

present and future tense.

 

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Ready, Willing and Faithful

 

Stay dressed for action

and keep your lamps burning....

           Luke 12. 35

(Shoes double-knotted,

dressed in layers,

lunch packed,

fresh batteries in our headlamp,

ready, willing

           and faithful

for whatever God places

   before us today

or whomever is on our path.)

O LORD,

It is not that we lay our day

           before You,

but we ask that You lay

   Your day before us.

Help us to listen to You,

be attentive,

and responsive to Your nudges

and Your purposes.

Where You guide,

            You provide.

Align our hearts with Yours.

And fill our pockets with

     more grace than

     we think we need.

 

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Because We Don't Have To Be Afraid

 

Be strong and courageous.

Do not fear

   or be in dread of them,

for it is the LORD your God

    who goes with you.

He will not leave you

          or forsake you.

     Deuteronomy 31. 6

(In whatever we face,

wherever we go,

     God is with us,

and God is in this.

How does that change

how we go forth today?

Worry deflates all the tires.

Fear blocks out

        all available light.

Trust Me in this.

Always a different journey

    when we walk with Him.)

O LORD,

Hold onto us tight.

And help us to

  not just believe,

  but to know,

that You are with us.

Guide us in Your way.

Fulfill Your glory

       even in this place.

Pour Your strength over us

   and give us Your courage.

We need not fear.

We don't have to.

Peace In Unlikely Places

 

...but those who plan peace

            have joy.

                Proverbs 12. 20

(Peace does not just happen

    without some kind of effort

    on our part.

How can we approach, plan,

equip ourselves, and navigate

differently this brokenness

      before us?

As much  as it is up to you,

 live peaceably with all.

                -- Romans 12. 18

Not a matter of wishing

     the conflict away,

but preparing our hearts

    by planning what to do,

what to say,

and snapping in place

           a loving attitude.

Peace is not 

      the absence of conflict,

but realizing and grasping

    the Presence of God

    right in the middle of strife.

Realizing our need for Him

   is what makes peace possible

   in unlikely places.

Yet not I,

    but Christ in me.)

 

O LORD,

Infiltrate our hearts with Your peace

that we may be peacemakers

   wherever You place us.

Help us to love others

             right to You,

even those who stir up strife,

those we may not even like,

    or who do not like us.

Fill our pockets

           and hearts

with Your grace and love

that we may instead

seize this opportunity

    to serve up peace.

Show us Your way through

  to pave peace in this situation

  today.

 

Enlarging My Vocabulary

 

There is one

whose rash words are

like sword thrusts,

but the tongue of the wise

        brings healing.

             Proverbs 12. 18

(What is the intent

        of my words,

  and what is the effect?

The wise choose carefully,

because they know.

words are final sale

      and not returnable.

What am I bringing

     to this conversation?

Bring healing to it.

Kind words

      are never forgotten.)

O LORD,

Enlarge our vocabulary

     and our hearts

to turn conversations around

    in unexpected situations,

    among unlikely people,

and bring Your

steadfast love, grace

and goodness

     that changes lives.

And surprise everyone.

Our Comings and Goings

 

Now as they went on their way,

Jesus entered a village.

And a woman named Martha

welcomed Him into her house.

 

                 Luke 10. 38

(Martha had no idea how

this simple invitation

and kindness

would literally change

  the course of her days

and even her brother's life

     would hinge on it.

When we invite Jesus

into whatever is before us,

or what we struggle with,

or even our everydayness,

   He changes everything

   in our comings and goings.

Jesus grants us awareness

    of the needs around us.

And He bestows

      strength and courage

to be a faithful witness

even in unusual places.)

O LORD,

Help us to live out

the love You have given us

by loving others,

those we know

and those we don't know yet.

Help us to realize

that You have placed them

on our path,

along our ways,

on our front porch,

or the next cubicle

            at work.

May we extend warmth

    and kindness

with Your name on it.

Divine appointments,

sacred encounters,

  

Face Lift

 

And as He was praying,

the appearance of His face

was altered,

and His clothing became

     dazzling white.

            Luke 9. 29

(Praying does not just

   change a situation or outcome,

but through it,

        God changes us.

Our hearts are refitted, reformed,

remodeled to see,

       respond differently,

  and realigned by God Himself.

God alters us spiritually

   and even physically by prayer,

so much so that others

  can observe a change in us

--in our responses,

   attitudes, and countenance.

Our facial expressions

  are attached to our hearts.)

O LORD,

Help us to realize

    how You change us

by spending time with You.

Guide us in what to pray,

how to pray,

        and for whom.

Change our being.

Align our hearts with Yours.

When we pray, 

may others not just see

         a difference in us

but that we also see

    a difference in us.

Saying No Means Saying Yes

 

But as for you,

the LORD your God

has not allowed you

            to do this.

      Deuteronomy 18. 14

(Don't go there.

When God says no,

   He means exactly that.

There are profound

      and intensely personal

      reasons for it.

God knows what enslaves us.

God knows what trips us up

       and rips us apart.

But as for you.....

         Not for me.

Choosing to be faithful to God,

  by saying no to something,

means having the opportunity,

    awareness, strength and heart

                       to say yes

  to something eternally better.

We can justify just about anything

   or choose to follow God in this.

And what we opt to do

  directly influences generations

  after us.

 Faithfulness sticks.)

O LORD,

Grant us the strength and courage

to turn away from anything

that pulls us away from You.

Help us not to play with fire,

  wade into the rip-tide,

  or gaze at the greenness

     on the other side of the fence.

But empower us to be energized

   by faithfulness to You.

And be greatly aware and amazed

   by what You urge us to pursue.

Don't Calculate Without Him

 

Nevertheless,

I am continually with You.

You hold my right hand...

My flesh and my heart

                may fail,

but God is the strength

         of my heart

and my portion forever.

              Psalm 73. 23, 26

(God is holding me through this.

        He never lets me go.

Nothing more reassuring than that.

God does not hand out

   an impersonal print-out

                of instructions.

He walks with us, talks with us,

guides, provides, sustains,

and lifts us up,

  even out of potholes

              of our own making.

But God....

His Presence changes everything.

Don't calculate without Him.)

O LORD,

Thank You for being

       right here with us.

Help us to not just

   see another way through

or even just to get through,

     but to see You

and recognize Your wonders

          all around us.

Help us not just to feel Your hand

          holding ours,

but to know You more.

Align our steps

    and our hearts with Yours.

We are not alone.

And this place is not random

  but stock-full of Your

  eternal purposes

               and strength.

But What If We Don't?

 

Now it happened

that as He was praying alone....

           Luke 9. 18

(Something monumental

always happens when we pray,

  sometimes the visible,

  more often the profound,

working its way to the surface

    and into our very being.

What if

   we prayed about this dire situation?

What if 

   we prayed about this impossible person?

What if

    we prayed our way through

        outrageous circumstances?

But what if

              we don't?

What does praying about this

                    make possible?

What is praying saying YES to?

Prayer makes us aware.

God opens our hearts to His.

And that changes everything.)

O LORD,

Please help us to not take

     prayer lightly.

May we come to You

   as our first response,

   not our last resort.

Align our hearts with Yours.

Help us to know

   that You are the God

of the visible and invisible.

And we can come to You.

It is not about an answer.

     It is all about You.

You help us to see differently.

You empower us to

       live differently

in the strange

    and in the ordinary.