Heavenly Father, I praise You for today and for all that You have done for my family and me. I praise You for helping me grow in wisdom and experience through trials and tribulations, and for learning from Your Word. Help me to take control of my day, renew my thoughts, and shake all evil out of my day and expose it to Your light so that I can continue to be obedient to You.
Holy Spirit, the Psalmist said, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You attend to him? [Psalm 8:3-4] I have often wondered why You put up with me and with mankind in general. We complain, sin, whine, are disobedient, bull-headed, and think we are all that at times, yet You love us, desire for us to know You. Christ came, lived, and died for us, and then rose again so that we can have an eternity with You. I will never fully understand. Considering where I work and the lowest of society that I have to deal with every day, I have a hard time seeing what You see in all of us. I try, and I am learning to see the way You see, but probably not till I get to heaven will I ever fully understand.
Grace and peace will be multiplied to me through the wisdom and knowledge I gain and retain of God and of Jesus. He has given to me the ability to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness through this knowledge I am learning of Him and how He sees me and the world around me so that I can learn to strive for perfection and righteousness as seen in His own glory and excellence, and through this I am learning of the blessings and precious promises He has bestowed upon me for learning and knowing. This way I can abide and partake in being a child of His and to avoid and not be influenced by this world through lust, envy, pride, rebellion, or bitterness. I will make every effort to increase virtue in my faith and that virtue to the kind of knowledge that leads to self-control. This self-control will teach me patient endurance that I need to endure this evil world and the hate of godliness. From the virtue I add to my knowledge and endurance, I will learn to demonstrate and exhibit brotherly kindness and ultimately the love of God through every part of my being. All of this growing in the knowledge of God will lead to me being useful and fruitful as I fulfill the purpose God created me for and the drive of my will to serve God and help build the kingdom. I will not forget that for this reason I was cleansed from my sins by the blood of Christ, and I am a new creation that needs to grow and be productive while I continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge of God. This will help me know when doubt attacks that I am God’s child and that I am doing His will so that I do not stumble and fail. For I know that God provides for me enough to live life fully and with a joy that can not be stolen, and that one day I will enter into heaven, my eternal home. May Jesus be praised and glorified for my salvation. Amen. [2 Peter 1:2-11, paraphrased to align within me]