Put On Your Thinking Cap

 

And let us consider

how to stir up one another

   to love and good works,

not neglecting

            to meet together,

as is the habit of some,

but encouraging one another,

and all the more as you

  see the Day drawing near.

              Hebrews 10. 24-25

(The word consider comes from

the Old French meaning examine

or in the Greek, 

      to fix one's eyes upon.

As a daily challenge,

put on your thinking cap

for how can we personally

   stir up love in this situation

and bring good works

    into these circumstances.

It doesn't just happen.

Coming together is 

   not an option,

   but a source of strength

and covers all of us with

   a little more courage.)

O LORD,

Please help us to consider,

to think about, pray about,

   and respond to 

how we can approach this day

           differently.

Help us to not just

   think about ourselves,

but what we can intentionally

       bring to the table

for the well-being

       and nurturing of all.

Make us aware of opportunities

to give a little more courage

     to those around us,

simple words that change

the course of a day

    or trajectory of a life.

His Victory In Measurable Means

 

With God

we shall do valiantly.

It is He

who will tread down

             our foes.

         Psalm 108.13

(In the Psalms,

our foes or adversaries

are anything we fear,

  both real and imagined.

The Almighty God

  is distinguished

by what He does,

by who He is,

and by how He loves us

  through the difficulties.

We were never meant

      to face them alone.

When we walk with God,

  He brings the victory

  in a million different

          and unexpected ways.

Anxiety, worry, stress,

  and despair

  are not modern constructions,

but what results from

  trying to live and measure up

              without God.

That is why this verse begins

           With God.)

O LORD,

Help us to not just see

  this situation with different eyes,

but to realize You are here.

Let Your strength

    pour over

    and evaporate our fears.

Show us a new way in this

    not just how to deal with it,

but to know You more.

Reveal to us Your strength.

Bring to this struggle

    in some impossible way

             Your glory.

Impossible Is Not In God's Dictionary

 

For He shatters

   the doors of bronze

and cuts in two

   the bars of iron.

...He turns a desert

   into pools of water,

a parched land

   into springs of water.

            Psalm 107. 16, 35

(God specializes

   in impossible situations,

even these crazy ones

     we are facing today.

If they were not difficult,

   if we took care of them

   with one hand tied

          behind our back,

    would we even seek Him?

Would we give Him the credit?

Sometimes God unlocks a door.

Sometimes He airlifts us

             out of the swamp.

Sometimes He gives us new shoes

                or a new heart.

Sometimes God provides a path

  through an impenetrable forest,

a way impossible to see

  and pass through without Him.)

O LORD,

Give us x-ray vision

that we would see past

   the bars and locked doors.

Help us to see in the dark.

Guide us through the desert

  right to a source of water.

And know it is from You.

No matter our circumstances,

  help us to trust You in this.

Bring about Your glory here

  in our very own impossible

        location.

You have placed us here

           strategically

to write Your name over it.

No matter what happens,

       Your glory.

Not Just An Ordinary Day

...and keep My sabbaths holy

that they may be a sign

  between Me and you,

that you may know

that I am the LORD your God.

           Ezekiel 20. 20

(Sunday is not just about

       attending church

   or going to Target,

but recognizing that time

     as a sacred retreat,

not an ordinary day at all

     filled with ordinary things.

We would be embarrassed to

  realize with what we replace

  our opportunity to worship.

It is time to rest in Him,

  to be renewed, refreshed,

  and remember who God is.

Worshiping God changes us

   in unfathomable ways.

We approach and navigate

   the new week ahead

   differently

         because we worship.

And the trajectory of our lives

  is altered more than we know.)

O LORD,

It is not whether we have

           time to worship You,

but we cannot

               afford not to.

You are the LORD

            our God.

Everyone worships something.

May we worship You

   not just at our convenience,

but in life-altering ways.

www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

 

It Should Look Very Different

 

If a man is righteous

and does what is

  just and right....

         Ezekiel 18. 5

(As believers

and followers of Jesus,

our lives should look

 exceptional in what

            we choose,

a fresh and different heart,

a deeper strength,

an unusual joy,

an incredible blessing

  to everyone around us,

responsive to need,

gracious in

    volatile situations,

loving even those

   who do not love us.

It is not that circumstances

  will be different,

for we live in a broken world,

  but how we handle them,

how we approach and

how we navigate

        the journey through,

because we walk

              with Him.

It is not I,

      but Christ in me.)

O LORD,

Grant to us the courage

  to do what is good and right.

Help us this very day,

in the mess we are in,

in trouble, toil and snare,

to live distinctively

         as believers.

Please change our hearts

that we would bring

  unexpected grace

      and restoration to this.

And crack open the door

   for Your glory

   all over it.

Please empower us

   to live differently

      and in Your name

to point others to You.

Reveal what is extraordinary

                 in this day

   even in the ordinary.

Finding Help in Time of Need

 

Let us then with confidence

draw near to the

          throne of grace,

that we may receive mercy

and find grace to help

      in time of need.

       Hebrews 4. 16

(When we draw near to Jesus

and personally realize

     the grace that is there,

it does not just help

  ourselves in desperate times,

but opens up and unfolds

unfathomable resources,

bottomless reserves,

and awareness

         to help others.

We find grace to help

  in any kind of need.)

O LORD,

Thank You for Your mercy

    upon us

that we can know how to respond

   to those around us

who need Your grace too.

You do not just re-supply us

  but enlarge the scope

 of Your ministry through us.

Draw us near.

You are who we need.

Making the Dry Tree Flourish

 

...and make the dry tree

        flourish.

         Ezekiel 17. 24

(We all go through seasons

          of drought,

but these are not just

   times of dead and dread.

Even then,

God's hand is upon us,

God is redeeming

      the hard stuff.

God makes even the

  most unlikely and unexpected

  to bear fruit.

He is deepening our roots

  in preparation

  for the fruit to come.

We can never fully realize

    how God is using us,

       first person present tense.

God is transforming

             the landscape.

What we are going through,

    how we are growing,

how we respond,

  is a witness to others,

encouragement to the saints,

and a testimony of His grace.)

O LORD,

Help us to trust You

     in the dry seasons,

knowing that in even the

      hard stuff

      and barren fields,

You are profoundly

   working, nurturing

and bringing Your glory

   in impossible places.

Even in our hearts.