Heavenly Father, I praise You for being a God who loves, who cares, but is just. I praise You that Your thoughts are way above my thoughts and that You see in time, past time, and outside of time. I praise You for being a God who does not know sin and abhors it. Help me today to take command of my day and shake the evil out of it and away from me and my family.
Your word records: And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before…Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. [Job 42:10&12] Job is a person that many point to as a righteous man who suffered severely but stayed true to his faith in You. I have faced hardship and trauma in my life, but I can’t say to the degree Job did. As a historian, I know many suffered in the holocaust, as prisoners of war, under extreme leaders like the early leaders of the USSR. I know Christians were used and fire lamps in the streets of Rome or fed to lions for sport. Many Christians have suffered a martyr’s death through the
years. Many did not see their reward on this side of eternity, but their faith would change lives and further Your kingdom. Help me to be faithful to pray for my family, my friends, my community, and whether I am blessed now or when I reach eternity is fully up to Your will and how it will do the best for building Your kingdom. I offer up each morning my life as a living sacrifice and a living temple for Your Holy Spirit to reside and use. I do my best to renew my mind so that I can walk the path You have shown me to walk. I can only offer up praise for all You have and will do in my life. Knowing that I will face trials, adversity, pain, and sadness, but I will also know love, joy, and Your undivided attention. I give You all the glory I can, in Jesus’ name, amen.