Scripture Prayer

Praise the Lord, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! I praise You, O Lord! I thank You that Your lovingkindness has prevailed over me and Your faithfulness is perfect and everlasting. Praise the Lord.[1]

Father I present to You my body, soul, and spirit (the totality of my being) as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to You, which is my spiritual act of worship.[2] I recognize that I belong to You. I am Your bond-slave – a slave to live righteously[3] and I make a conscious decision of faith to not be conformed to this world, but I choose to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. And I believe that I will demonstrate Your good, acceptable, and perfect will.[4] I recognize that I am a new creation in Christ with my old ways passed away and His new ways have come into my experience.[5] I acknowledge that You chose me before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before You and have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.[6]

I thank You, Father, for making Him who no sin to be sin on my behalf that I might become the righteousness of God in Jesus. Thank You for giving me your righteousness.[7] Thank You for multiplying to me grace and peace in the knowledge of God and Jesus my Lord. Thank You for giving me Your divine power which empowers me to live a godly life through the revelation of Him who called me. I thank You that you have made me a partaker of Your divine nature through Your precious and magnificent promises.[8] Thank You that I am no longer a slave to sin, that sin no longer reigns in my mortal body.[9] I acknowledge and appropriate by faith the crucifixion of Christ – I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I live in this body I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.[10]

Father grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation that I might know Jesus better. Open the eyes of my heart so that I will know what is the hope of Your calling, the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of Your power toward me as I believe.[11] Father I thank You that I am Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which You have prepared for me to walk in today.[12] May Your kingdom come. Your will be done, in my life as it is in heaven.[13] Father, I recognize that this is the day You have made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.[14] Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve me.[15] Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.[16] Be glorified in me and demonstrate Your kingdom through me. You have established Your throne in the heavens, and Your kingdom rules over all.[17]
[1] Ps. 117
[2] Rom. 12: 1
[3] Rom. 6: 18 & 22
[4] Rom. 12:2
[5] II Cor. 5:17
[6] Eph. 1:3-4
[7] II Cor. 5:21
[8] II Pet. 1:2-4
[9] Rom. 6: 6 & 12
[10] Gal. 2:20
[11] Eph. 1:17-19
[12] Eph. 2:10
[13] Matt. 6:10
[14] Ps. 118:24
[15] Ps. 61:7
[16] Ps. 63:3-4
[17] Ps. 103:19

I am filled with power and energy!

Acts 17:28 – For in Him we live and move and have our being. . .

I thank You, Father, for filling me with Your power and energy.
You give me strength to fulfill Your will today.
I have life! I have energy! I have strength!
I have the ability to accomplish God’s will!

The Laws of Mancala

1. Slow down
2. Look at your options
3. Consider the consequences
4. Protect yourself
5. Learn from your mistakes

Me and J have been playing mancala quite a bit lately. He’s really good. I’ve been teaching him the laws of mancala as application to regular daily life. Maybe if I instill these in him now, he will be able to apply them more effectively as he grows.

Recently, I’ve been teaching him how to play chess. He’s not bad for a 7 year old. I’m teaching him on the chess set my dad taught me on.

Return

Our Father which art in heaven, we Thy children are often troubled in mind, hearing within us at once the affirmations of faith and the accusations of conscience. We are sure that there is in us nothing that could attract the love of One as holy and as just as Thou art. Yet Thou hast declared Thine unchanging love for us in Christ Jesus. If nothing in us can win Thy love, nothing in the universe can prevent Thee from loving us. Thy love is uncaused and undeserved. Thou art Thyself the reason for the love wherewith we are loved. Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us. Then love will cast out fear; and our troubled hearts will be at peace, trusting not in what we are but in what Thou hast declared Thyself to be. Amen.

A.W. Tozer

Return, O wanderer, now return,
And seek thy Father’s face;
Those new desires which in thee burn
Were kindled by His grace.

Return, O wanderer, now return,
And wipe the falling tear:
Thy Father calls,-no longer mourn;
‘Tis love invites thee near.

William Benco Collyer

I stumbled over these quotes in A.W. Tozer’s book “The Knowledge of the Holy.” What impressed me was the phrase, “Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us.” It reminds me of Psalm 117:2, “For His lovingkindness is great toward us.” It literally means, that His love prevails over us. Father is constantly pursuing us. It is His grace that causes us to hear His calling voice. It is His love that removes the fear that causes us to hide from God and others. It is fear that prevents us from being intimate, being real with God and others. His love is in the process of eliminating this fear from us. Perfect love casts out fears. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of power (ability), of love, and of a sound mind.

Being busy is an insufficient excuse for my long absence. So much has happened and so much has passed through my mind that I’ve thought of writing about. I’ve journaled but not here. It’s been like watching a merry-go-round spinning and wanting to jump on but not sure where, when, and how. So I just jumped on. I don’t have a lot of time to write but do enjoy the process. My apologies to the masses that hang on my every word.

I have wanted to write more, but particularly, I’ve wanted to write letters to my sons and wife on a regular basis. I would like to have regular family devotions. I would like to exercise regularly. I would like to improve my eating habits. I would like to pursue those I love with a passion. I would like to validate those closest to me as to how important they are to me. I would like to value what God values. I would like to be perfect. Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” I believe this to mean that I will receive the ability to do all and be all that Father has in mind for me. I need to be at peace with that. I need to allow the process and time that the Spirit uses to take effect and be content with where I am all the while craving more of Him.

Peace.

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