Nobody Can Count That High

 

Then Peter came up

   and said to Him,

"Lord, how often will

my brother sin against me,

     and I forgive him?

  As many as seven times?"

Jesus said to him,

"I do not say to you

       seven times,

but seventy times seven."

              Matthew 18. 21-22

(In Judaic tradition,

   three times was sufficient

   to reveal a forgiving spirit.

Jesus says, "Stop counting."

If we forgave so much

    that we lost count,

we would be

   far different people.

We cannot help

      but be changed radically

   by forgiving.

And realizing His mercy is more.

What is so hard about forgiving

  is realizing our own need for it.

We are not perfect either.)

Love you out there.

Praying for you

        the courage to forgive.

O LORD,

We ask for You

   to change our triggers,

soften our hearts,

and alter our responses.

May Your mercy

    cover both our wounds

    and our brokenness.

Help us to be not just

      quick with forgiveness

   but deep with it.

Turn our hearts

       right side up.

Fill our pockets with

      forgiveness and sincerity.

Because that is how

     we love one another.

Because that is how

         You love us.

One forgiveness comes

   layered on another.

Help us to realize

 forgiveness is

         never insignificant,

only profoundly life changing.

And nobody can

          count that high.

Something We Would Not Have Chosen

 

Why did You

    ever send me?

         Exodus 5. 22

(Just because the task is hard

     and seems impossible to do

does not mean it is not

      entrenched

in the very center of God's will.

His purposes span

             across eternity.

We just cannot see them yet.

God does not empower us

to necessarily see ourselves

    --or these circumstances--

with new eyes and hearts,

but to realize even more

         who He is.

Why did He ever send us here?

       To be faithful.)

O LORD,

You know the difficulty

           that we are facing,

something that we

  would never have chosen

  or attempted,

           if not for You.

We pray that You will use us

   for spreading Your glory

   all over this adversity

and that You are redeeming it

for the good of many people.

Grant us the courage we need.

And help us

    to walk with You through it.

Who Moved?

 

Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

          Psalm 22.11

(Who moved?

       God hasn't.

God is faithfully with us.

How we seek God,

trust Him, walk with Him,

and spend time with Him

   in the everydays

increases our strength

in the extraordinary

            and overwhelming,

   when it comes about.

"If we do not do the running

steadily in the little ways,

we shall do nothing

                  in the crisis."

--Oswald Chambers

   My Utmost for His Highest)

O LORD,

We cry for You to be near.

Please help us.

It is in these times of hardship

   and troubles,

that we realize

      how much we need You.

Help us to run with You

   in the familiar and unfamiliar.

Engrave the reality of Your Presence

        on our hearts.

You are right here to help us,

         not far at all.

And Carry A Big Net

 

...go to the sea

and cast a hook

and take the first fish

   that comes up,

and when you

          open its mouth,

you will find a shekel.

          Matthew 17. 27

(When we follow God

   into a situation,

and seek Him about it,

when we

   allow ourselves to be led,

God reveals Himself

in the most incredible ways.

Finding a coin

  in the mouth of a fish

            is only a glimpse.

And far from a coincidence.

God means not just

  to show us a miracle,

but life everlasting.)

O LORD,

We come before You,

not to tell You what to do,

but to

allow ourselves to be led.

It's not about our glory,

           but Yours.

Help us to trust You

as You guide us

into Your marvels.

Thanks for the fish

and the shekels

   You send

    to encourage us.

Help us to not miss

  the wonders of Your world.

May our awe be

   a call to worship You

wherever we are.

The Extraordinary Dirt Under Our Feet

 

Take the sandals

        off your feet,

for the place on which

     you are standing

is holy ground.

             Exodus 3. 5

(Wherever we are today,

wherever God leads,

we are divinely appointed,

strategically placed,

sacredly called,

            even here,

   to be faithful to God.

Even in this situation,

    God abides with us,

no matter the wilderness

        or our kitchen.

How differently would we see

   this place

   or even ourselves,

if we remembered

the sacredness of this moment

     or square foot of holy ground.

Even right here in the ordinary

     or way-out-there extraordinary,

   He is with us.

God is doing a mighty work

of which we are 

            mostly unaware.)

O LORD,

Help us to honor You

wherever You place us today.

Help us to pay attention

to where we are standing

  and the sacredness of

  this time and place

  and divine encounters.

Nothing is random in it at all.

Even the wilderness

   is full of wonders

           bursting forth.

Grant us the eyes to see,

ears to listen,

   and the heart to respond.

But Jesus Only

 

And when they lifted up

       their eyes,

they saw no one

   but Jesus only.

        Matthew 17. 8

(When we pray,

when we lift up our eyes

  from these circumstances,

we can see

       Jesus over everything.

Through the act of praying,

God reorients our hearts,

refines our vision,

and reveals His Presence,

       already here with us.

And so, as believers,

we can approach and navigate

   this situation differently.)

O LORD,

We come to You

with joys and concerns,

with sorrows and

        deep asks,

but mostly we come

because You are God,

     and we are not.

We need You.

Help us to see You

    over everything.

You have situated us

for Your greater good

     and Your glory.

May we seek You

  and not just Your hand.

Oh, So That's Why!

Do not be afraid

  to go down to Egypt,

for there

I will make you

         into a great nation.

I Myself will go down

    with you to Egypt...

          Genesis 46. 3-4

(Sometimes God guides us

to unusual, unlikely,

     strange places  

    and odd situations

that we never would have

   chosen on our own.

But He promises

       to go with us

   for His deeper purposes.

The for there

    may even be right here.

We need not know why,

   but just to be faithful

              in the doing.

God is forming something new

                     in us

and His glory gets all over it.

And someday, we just might realize

    "Oh, so that's why!")

O LORD,

Help us to be sensitive

    and responsive

            to Your leading,

even to foreign lands,

even on our familiar

            patch of ground.

Please aid us

   not just to see this place

          with new eyes,

but to trust You

    with a different heart.

Wherever we are,

   You bring Your glory to it.

Wherever we are,

  You abide with us there.

Dissolve our fear of the unknown,

knowing that it is

         not unknown to You.

You turn our questions

   into exclamation points!