Heavenly Father, I praise You for today. I praise You for helping us navigate a very broken, sinful, dark world. I praise You for being a just God. I praise You for mercy, grace, and salvation, and for how You forgive us when we sincerely ask. Help me today to take command of my morning and shake all the evil from it.
Holy Spirit, God told Isaiah, and I feel this is true for us in our time also: Do not remember the former things of old. See, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not be aware of it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. [Isaiah 43:18-19] Even though our past experiences have shaped us and molded us to some extent in who we are now, our focus needs to be on what is in front of us. Scars and wounds usually heal over time and become marks of what was our past, but they do not define our future. I was a sinner, now I am washed and made whole by asking God for forgiveness and accepting the gift of salvation in my life. I now take each day to do my best to abide in Christ while He abides within me. I do my best to
live as a living sacrifice for God and as a living temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell within. My sight is set on reaching eternity and knowing I did all I could to follow, serve, talk to, and emulate Christ. I want to be embraced and hear the words Well done, my good and faithful servant Come and join me for eternity. I seek to eventually live the life I was expected and created to live to its fullest. I start this journey every day I wake up, and that is why I can not let the past take me captive, put anchors or guilt upon me. I can not go back and change the past, I can only stand on that foundation to help me do better in how I handle the future. Let me be present right now in this time and to live, truly live Christ within me.
Let me continually offer the sacrifice of praise to You, oh God, that is, the fruit of my lips, giving thanks to Your name. Help me not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices, You are well pleased. I will do my best to obey those who rule over me, and be submissive, for they watch out for my soul, and they will give account for how they lead. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that
would be unprofitable for me. For I am confident that I have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. But I especially am urged to do this. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make me complete in every good work to do His will, working in me what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:14-21)