Heavenly Father, I praise You for today and for helping me grow in wisdom. I praise You for teaching me how to walk through the valley, the fire, the shadows, the storms of life, and still occasionally stand on the mountaintop and see what lies before me and from where I have come. Help me today to take command of my day, shake the evil and temptations from it and firmly hold Your hand as I walk forward, even if it is just one step and one breath at a time.
Holy Spirit You inspired the writer in Proverbs to write: Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors. Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you. [Proverbs 22:28; Proverbs 23:10] I have learned through life that my ancestors have set up spiritual markers as they journeyed through life. Those markers became the pillars of faith that my family has learned to use as reminders as we found our own salvation and picked up the mantle like Elijah and continued to walk forward and serve the Lord, leaving our
sinful past behind us. Help me to use these memories to comfort and inspire me as I move on in my journey. My grandparents from my father’s side were saved at a revival by Billy Sunday, a key figure who helped pass the prohibition amendment to save families from alcoholism that was very common in their lifetime. I also had a grandmother known for her prayer life and cooking out of the miraculous abundance supplied only by You. These spiritual boundary stones remind me that faith in the impossible and changing the world are not impossible with God. I just need to be faithful to pray and to do my part when called upon. To stand and be accountable.
God, life has kicked me and those I love in the teeth these last few weeks; help us to remember and be strengthened to continue to believe, to trust, and to take a step forward especially when it is the last thing we feel like doing. Let us lean heavily on the Comforter and put our burdens on Your shoulders while we weep tears of grief, frustration, and emptiness.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 5:6-11