Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your Holy Spirit supplying wisdom and comfort to me. I praise You for being my Creator, Savior, and most of all, my friend. I praise You for giving me hope and purpose to be the foundation of my faith and my rock to rely on when I face trials, hard times, the lies of the enemy, and the chaos of this world. Help me today to take command of my day, control of my tongue, capture my thoughts, and shake all the evil out of today.
Holy Spirit, I praise You for the wisdom You give to me to find understanding so I can live and fully live this life. I know that in Genesis it says that God created man, and even created him in His image. I know in Psalm 139 that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know that in John that Jesus loved me enough that He went to the cross to die for my sins. I know that He took the keys of hell and defeated death. He became the example of our resurrection and that there is a heaven. I say all this to look at why people want to change themselves either cosmetically, gender wise, or try to make a way to be important on their own. Satan does
everything in his power to destroy anything righteous or holy. He is bent on defeating man in any way possible. Creating doubt about how we are made, if we have purpose, or that we are special, is his biggest achievement next to creating apathy towards You. I am a large man. I could use to lose weight, but other than that, I am comfortable with who I am. I accept God’s word to be true that I was uniquely made to be me. I look, grow, and use the talents I have to be who God intended me to be. I make mistakes, I have been foolish enough to sin some times, but for the last 43, almost 44 years, I have done my best to serve and know the Lord. I don’t think of myself as anyone of importance, and to be honest, I have learned, as Paul testified, to be content and to continue my race. I have done my best in life to avoid bitterness, envy, pride of one’s self-importance, and sin. I try to continue to walk through life with hope, joy, and a faith that knows that one day I will be given a new body that is complete and perfect in God’s sight. I will be known as I am to all who live in eternity with me. I have faced death more than once, and I no longer fear nor desire to make it come
before its time. Besides trying to keep my body healthy and lose the extra weight, I have no desire to change who I am. My hair is white for the most part, but I have hair. My height has shortened by an inch, but that just means I hit a few less things with my head. I am at peace right now, even though the enemy taunts me and tries very hard to make me feel depressed, lonely, angry, and envious of others who seem to have an easier life. I do my best to dwell on Your word, and to listen to Your voice and know that I am Yours, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the scars I carry tell stories of the life I have lived. I am forgiven and desired by God, and I need nothing else to ease my mind and help me run my race. God has blessed me with family, a wife of 35 years, children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces. I have a community of believers I worship and grow with each week, and I have a job that makes me feel worth it. Most of all, I have prayer and many prayer partners who help me find peace, which many people lack in this world. I still face troubles, storms, and occasionally walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but I no longer fear evil. For what can man truly do to me that will not draw me closer to God or get me to eternity. I will learn to be content with who I am and abide in God as much as I understand how to do it. I will listen for Your voice and do my best to follow.
The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:10-15&18