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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

1 John 1:5-10 / “In the Light” by dc Talk

20 Jul

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

Dear God, I came across this passage this morning, and it made me think of the song by dc Talk (written by Charlie Peacock), “In the Light.” Humility before you. Introspection before you. Repenting before you. Acknowledging exactly who I am before you. All of it can be very cathartic. Yes, I am sinful. Yes, I fall and fail. Yes, I do things that don’t hurt you as much as you get frustrated because they hurt me or those I love around me. The more I am in your light the more I am free.

I was texting with a friend yesterday who is reading through my series of these prayer journals I did on fathers of the Bible. One of his comments to me is that I am kind of hard on myself. I replied that when I start praying before you and bringing myself into relationship with you then some of this stuff starts pouring out. At the same time, I am experiencing your forgiveness as I put it into the light, and it is actually quite, well, as I said before, cathartic.

Some of the lines of this song I love:

I keep trying to find a light on my own apart from you — What foolishness!

What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior! — Echoes of Paul in Romans 7:15-20.

Every attempt on my behalf has failed to bring this sickness under control — Only you, Jesus. Only you.

Father, I have the opportunity today to live in the light. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. I have experienced evil this week. I have done evil this week. I am sorry. Help me to be totally in your light today and to then carry that light to others.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 20, 2024 in 1 John, Hymns and Songs

 

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Isaiah 41:8-10

19 Jul

8 “But as for you, Israel my servant,
    Jacob my chosen one,
    descended from Abraham my friend,
9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth,
    saying, ‘You are my servant.’
For I have chosen you
    and will not throw you away.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:8-10

Dear God, I had an interesting dream last night. Frankly, my wife puts more stock in my dreams than I do, but when I woke up I tried to remember it, and then I asked myself what it could me if it had a meaning at all.

Without going into too many details, I was traveling on the highway when I came upon heavy rain. I kept raining, but when I came over a rise I saw a bridge and at the bridge it had iced over and it was white with snow on the other side. I hit the brakes and safely skidded to a stop in the median. I was tucked safely away behind a barrier while cars crashed around me. Ultimately, I was able to see a live stream of the place where I was heading, and I saw that the sun was out and people were outside enjoying beautiful weather. The bad weather I was experiencing ultimately cleared, and I proceeded on. There are some other details involving my wife and I being physically separated from each other and me finding her before we moved on, but that was the gist of it. As I wondered what it could mean if you intended it to mean anything, what I thought about was how things might be dangerous ahead so stop and seek shelter. Things will crash around me, but then everything will clear up and I’ll be able to continue on my journey to a place that is good and peaceful.

So that almost sounds like the kind of thing I would draw up as a sermon illustration. You will take care of me here. Ultimately, the new earth you have for me is good. Don’t be afraid of the danger and chaos in the present. Stay as close to my wife as I can, even when we are not physically together. Okay. I’m good with that. That’s not to say that I think bad things can’t happen to me in this life or that I expect you to keep me from bad things. That would be haughty and arrogant of me to expect or ask. Who am I to not suffer compared to the wonderful people around me?

Then I read the Bible Gateway verse of the day this morning. Isaiah 41:10:

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

I don’t like taking Bible verses out of context–especially the middle of a prophecy. So I captured some of the verses before this one too, but this verse seemed to play into the narrative of the dream I had. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged. You are with me. You will strengthen me and help me. You will hold me up.

Father, I’m not claiming any of it. If you offer it, of course, I will accept, but I would never expect that my life should be better than the next person’s. There is no reason Ukrainians, Russians, Palestinians, or Israelis should suffer more than I do. There are good people all over the world suffering now. So I ask, for my life, that you help me to take the gifts you give me and use the for your glory. If it’s to be safe and secure, help me to not waste the time. If it’s to have sorrow and suffer, make it count for your glory. But I am yours either way. I love you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 19, 2024 in Isaiah

 

Matthew 11:28-30

18 Jul

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Dear God, I have a little confession here. I don’t think I’ve every really understood this passage. I can kind of get my head around laying down…hold it. Wait. I just realized something as I looked at these verses again. I’ve always read it that I’m supposed to lay down my burden and not carry it anymore, but carry your burden instead. But that’s not what this says! I just double checked a couple other translations as well. What it says is that I bring this burden to you, hook myself up to your yoke, and then, at least how I am reading this passage this morning, the act of bearing your yoke will help me to carry my burdens. My burdens are still there. My sorrows are still there. But now I am attached to your yoke. I’m typing on the computer, but if I were using emojis on my phone I would put the “mind blown” emoji right now. I’m a little stunned.

Oh, Father, how wrong am I every day? About my theology? About my opinions? Oh, how I was so smart and understood it all when I was younger. But the older I get the more humbled I am. I told someone yesterday that I’m convinced that the more dogmatic someone is about a certain opinion means they are actually afraid they are wrong about it. They don’t want you to challenge it because they aren’t convinced they can defend it. That might not be 100% true, but it feels generally true. As for me, I am getting more and more comfortable with the idea that I am wrong about a lot of things.

So back to this passage, if I’m reading this correctly (now), this is what reconciliation with you is all about. It’s not about me walking away from my burdens. It’s about sharing them with you. It’s about remembering to seek you in solving or resolving them. It’s about turning over the outcomes to you, trusting that you have a plan that is bigger than I can see. It’s about remembering that you are my everything.

Father, help me to hook up to your yoke today. Help me to walk in your joy. Help me to carry that yoke to others and invite them to join me in my journey. I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m grateful to understand maybe a little better why this passage never made sense to me and now it does. It’s interesting that chapter 12 starts with the disciples and Jesus breaking some Sabbath rules, and it actually links the stories with these words from Jesus by starting chapter 12 with “at that time.” Oh, Lord, be with me today in every moment.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2024 in Matthew

 

Psalm 94:3-11

17 Jul

3 How long shall the wicked, O Lord,
How long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.
5 They crush Your people, O Lord,
And afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger
And murder the orphans.
7 They have said, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”

8 Pay heed, you senseless among the people;
And when will you understand, stupid ones?
9 He who planted the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?
10 He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
That they are a mere breath.

Psalm 94:3-11

Dear God, I don’t know why, but I’m just kind of down today. I was yesterday too. Maybe it’s a residual of being around the difficult family dynamics over the weekend. Maybe it’s having some of my own sorrow stirred up. Yeah. Maybe that’s it. Right now, I just kind of want to curl up and recede for a little while. But I don’t have that choice. There is work to be done. I have responsibilities that must be met. What I need is you. What I need is your healing.

Frankly, I don’t know that any of this has to do with the psalm above. In the psalm, the psalmist is looking for retribution for the wicked. And I am all for some level of justice for those who are really wicked (human traffickers, people who commit violent crimes, people who steal from the vulnerable, etc.), but at some point the wicked line reaches me because I am certainly somewhere on the wicked scale. At what point am I asking for your retribution against me? Should I ask you to allow just a little evil so that I will be spared?

Father, I’m just in a funk right now. Help me to find my solace in you. My comfort in you. Help me to connect my branch to your vine so that I might feel held by you. Draw me into yourself as I make myself completely yours. Oh, how I want to be completely yours. Holy Spirit, walk with me and fill me. Jesus, teach me.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 17, 2024 in Psalms

 

Colossians 2:8-15

16 Jul

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Colossians 2:8-15

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning, my first thought was to beware of people that come along with theologies and teachings that are contrary to what I was taught about you all of my life. Some people call it deconstruction. Beware of deconstruction. But then I read it more closely and realized that I think Paul is actually saying quite the opposite. I think the people of whom he is telling the Colossians to beware is the people who will teach Judaism the way Judaism had been taught for a long time at that point.

But the truth is, I don’t know exactly what Paul is talking about. I went back and read the verses before. They didn’t give me much insight. No, Paul could very well be talking about deconstruction and its dangers. I guess this is where I am right now. I’m trying to know you more and more. I’m trying to cut through the layers of tradition that have been handed down (e.g. rapture theology and tribulation) and see what exactly it is you have for me. What I’m finding, the digger I deep, is that it actually gets really simple. My job as a lay Christian living in the world is to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then love my neighbor as myself. You haven’t asked me to understand how the four rivers flowing out of Eden formed the societies of the Bible. You haven’t asked me to understand how the earth was created and I ended up sitting here this morning. You haven’t asked me to understand how this all ends. What you asked me to do is love you, love others, and then follow your precepts so that I might live a life full of your fruit. Pretty simple.

Father, help me to do those things today. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help me to love everyone who comes across my path. Help me to love sacrificially. Help me to love in a way that draws people to you. And help me to encourage others to do the same.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 16, 2024 in Colossians

 

James 1:19-21

15 Jul

19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

James 1:19-21

Dear God, it is interesting that James prefaces the “filth and evil” with talking about anger. To just read verse 21 by itself, my mind might go to the things I watch, listen to, or read. But when I read more closely and check out the footnotes, it says the filth and evil is literally translated “abundance of malice.”

While I still have some malice in my life, I can feel the slow transformation in these areas. While I still am too quick to speak sometimes, I am getting so much better at listening and asking questions of others. The things I get angry about are fewer and fewer. Some Christians would say that I’m getting soft on sin or that I am not living in my convictions enough. I am too tolerant of others and I’m letting them die. But somehow it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like I am seeing people more and more with your eyes. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt more and more. And so while I might not be living into verse 21 in isolation, in the context of verses 19 and 20, maybe I am.

Father, I don’t want to miss you. I don’t want to miss when you do, indeed, want me to be righteously angry about something. But I don’t want to miss the opportunity to love someone who needs loved. I was with someone recently who is so unsettled. Their spirit is so unsettled. If I were closer to that person (both physically, we are separated by over 1,000 miles) and figuratively, I would love to be able to minister to them a little. But there are plenty of people within my sphere who are like them. So help me, Father, to love well, to see others with your eyes, and to be a minister of your presence.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 15, 2024 in James

 

John 15:1-17

14 Jul

15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.“

John 15:1-17

Dear God, this whole passage is beautiful. Just beautiful. Oh, how I want to be the fruitful person described here. I want to be so close to you that I just naturally bear the fruit Jesus references.

I hope I’ve been able to be a fruitful person for your kingdom over the last two days. I’ve been attending a funeral for a dear woman, and there are multiple layers of family conflict all over the place. I found myself trying to just be a loving, positive presence in the midst of it all. My wife and I both did. And then we heard something from one of our relatives. One of them told us a story from seven years ago. Apparently, at a previous family gathering, one of our nieces, who would have been about 12 at the time, was looking at my wife and me across the room and told another relative that we are “relationship goals.” That was so sweet to hear. I was so grateful to hear that. Not only because it complimented my wife and me, but because I know this child has witnessed a number of unhealthy relationships. To think that when this, now young adult woman, sees us she sees us as an example to consider is…well, it’s a relief. I’m so glad that, if nothing else, we could offer her that.

Even now, as I sit here, my wife is in another part of the house listening to Ashley Cleveland singing “Jesus” by Rich Mullins. She is connecting herself to your vine as we start our day. I am sitting on the sofa praying to you. Connecting to your vine. And I will make mistakes today. I will sin. There probably aren’t many of the 10 Commandments I won’t violate, including observe the Sabbath since I’ll be driving over 400 miles today to get home. But maybe I can start with making you my God and having no others gods before you. Then Jesus can take it from there. Redeem my failures. Somehow use them to touch others. Make be “fruity.” And do it for my good, the good of the world around me, and your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 14, 2024 in John

 

Philippians 2:5-11

13 Jul

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

Dear God, reading this passage this morning made me think of the people who are hostile, dismissive, or even just indifferent about Jesus. They might think, “He is the author of a faith that hurts people.” They might think, “Oh, it’s ridiculous to believe in Jesus and the things the Bible says about him.” Or they might think, “Yeah, Jesus was fine. But that’s just not for me.” I guess there’s a fourth category I just thought of that bothers me: “Jesus, you’re my God so you’re going to do what I want you to do.” That bothers me just as much as the others.

But one day, all of us will, in unison, understand exactly who Jesus is. There are some people I dearly love who are in all of these categories. Some are friends. Some are family. Some are our political leaders. It really doesn’t matter except that it is my job to represent you well to everyone. It is my job to teach reverence to you, worship of you, submission to you, and then to learn from you and live by your example. That I will worship you well. That I will try to only impact the world around me through prayer, service, persuasion, and suffering. That I will be gentle and forgiving. That I will be humble and repentant–to you and to those I harm.

Father, I literally do not know what today holds. I have no idea. I don’t know what challenges await me or my wife. I don’t even completely know who I’m going to come across as I move through this day. But what I can control is that I will do everything I know to do to carry your Holy Spirit with me. I will do everything I can to love everyone who comes across my path. I will do everything I can to represent you well. Guide me in every moment. Speak to me through your still, small voice and through loud booming voices, as appropriate. And I want to say a special pray for my wife today. She is speaking at her aunt’s funeral. Give her a hedge of protection. Show her everything you have for her today. Help her to feel your presence and your peace. Let your Holy Spirit flow into and out of her. And for all of the family gathered for this funeral, let it be a time of healing. Use this precious woman’s loss as a time of new beginnings for individuals and relationships.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 13, 2024 in Philippians

 

Matthew 7:7-11

12 Jul

7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Matthew 7:7-11

Dear God, I normally look to other sources to bring verses to pray about to me such as Bible Gateway’s verse of the day or the daily readings from different denominations such as the Catholic or Presbyterian Churches. But today, I want to focus on some intercessory prayer. There are four things, in particular, that are on my heart this morning. I want to ask you for these things. I want to knock on your door. I want to be your child and pray for good gifts for your children that I know. I want your best for my friends, family, and me.

For the mother I know who is having “spontaneous” (not through artificial methods) triplets today at 32.5 weeks, I pray your protection. I pray for your mercy. I pray for your power. I pray that your angels will be standing in that room, guarding, protecting, and guiding. I pray that you will bless this mother and father. I pray that you will guide all of them closer to yourself. For the mother, I pray that you will protect not only over her body, which is a given, but her spirit, mind, and heart. Love her well. Fill her with a sense of yourself. Care for her. Help her to feel loved by you, by her husband, by her 8-year-old daughter, her parents, and her friends. This is obviously a unique experience. Be there for every bit of it. As Nancy French put it when she described her in-laws praying for their son who spent time in the NICU in her book Ghosted: An American Story, I would like to put in a personnel request to your heavens and ask that you make some special assignments to that hospital room today. Holy Spirit, there is so much to pray for for them. Please fill in my pitiful prayer with your own groanings that are too deep for words.

For the friend whose wife is going through cancer treatment, I ask for your protection over her. For her healing. For her hope. For her energy. For her strength. For her spirit. For her mind. Help her to feel you and your presence. Again, I ask for some special angel attention over her. Love her. Guide her. Support her husband and her family. Give them strength. Give them hope. Give them a sense of who you are in this. I know they can’t see what you are doing in real-time or what is going on, but I pray that they will be at peace and really know what it means to rest in you.

For the friend who had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday, I ask that you will bring back a good report. He is a cancer survivor from several years ago. I pray that you will touch his body and keep it whole. Speak to him and his wife through this process. Help them to feel your love and support. Help them to feel your Holy Spirit speaking to them. Of the people I’ve prayed for this morning, I know this man and his wife the best. I pray that you will show my wife and me how to love them. Minister to them, Holy Spirit. Cover them. Help them to find you in an even deeper way through this concern.

Finally, there is a funeral in our family this weekend. People will come together over thousands of miles. Family who haven’t seen each other in a while. Some have broken relationships. Some won’t be there because of the broken relationships. I pray that this good woman’s death will count for your and your glory. Protect over each heart there. Make us vulnerable, gentle, and humble. Help us to submit to one another. Help my wife and me to carry your with us, and let the fruits of your Spirit that grow in us abound for such a time as this. And help those there be drawn closer to you through the death of this great lover of you.

Father, I pray for my normal concerns as well. My relative who is recovering from cancer. My coworker who is pregnant. My own relationships that are sources of sorrow for me. Protection for my wife and me as we travel, love each other, and support each other. That I might be exactly who you need me to be. And if personnel can spare an angel or two our way, we won’t turn them away. 🙂 We love you. I love you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 12, 2024 in Matthew

 

The Gospel According to Derwin Gray

11 Jul

Dear God, I was listening to the Holy Post Podcast yesterday when one of the hosts, Dr. Derwin Gray, made a remarkable, clear, concise presentation of the Gospel message. Here is an excerpt from it:

Most American pulpits are not communicating the greatest story there is. And the greatest story there is is not simply, “Jesus died so we can go to heaven when we die.” The story is, “There is a good and loving Father who wants his children to be his copartners in turning earth into a mini version of Israel called heaven. That story was disrupted, but God, who is the ultimate, decides to enter the story himself like a painter enters his own painting. So Jesus himself comes to do what? To live a sinless, beautiful life that we could never live–all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our sin, all of our failures are eclipsed by the sinless life he lives–he dies a substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross to forever forgive us. To reconcile us to his father, and then he raises from the dead so the tyranny of death is forever destroyed. And when he comes out of that tomb, we come out of that tomb with him now to walk and embody his grace, his mission, his mind, his heart, his love for the world.

There is more, but that’s the gist. To see it someone could go to this YouTube video at about the 28-minute mark. It made me think of growing up. So much of my upbringing was about getting my “fire insurance.” If I didn’t want to go to hell then I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was rarely pitched the beauty of relationship with you. I was rarely pitched reconciliation with you and how that would impact the life I live here. Yes, I would get a little of that. But mostly I was purchasing a service. My life now for rescuing me from hell and getting to go to heaven. As if I could bargain with you. As if I could use you like that. As if I could manipulate you into letting me get into heaven with you.

No, I am here because of this amazing opportunity to know you. You make me better. You make my life better. It’s like my relationship with my wife. I’m here because I want to be here. Joy is here. You are here.

I like P!nk’s music. I was listening to a song of hers this morning called “All I Know So Far.” It reminded me of the kind of song I would have leaned into 10 or 11 years ago. And it’s the kind of song I might need to lean into again one day. It’s a song about shaking off what is challenging you and facing it head on. That’s great. It’s missing something, though. It’s missing you. It’s missing the power Dr. Gray mentions in his soliloquy. Yes, I have been in tragic times in the past. You know that I have mentioned the constant source of sorrow that follows me around every moment. And I know things will be tragic again one day. I know that. But I will have you not only in relatively peaceful times like now, but in those moments too. But I don’t just use you for those moments. You are just my crutch. You are my joy and strength, even now.

Father, I guess all of this is just to say thank you. Thank you for making all of this possible. Thank you for showing Peter and the apostles they were wrong about Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for wanting me. Thank you for making your life available in me. Help me to make great room for your Holy Spirit. Oh, Holy Spirit, guide me today. Protect me from Satan’s plans for me. Jesus, thank you for who you are and that you loved me, love me, and showed me how to love. Help me to live into that opportunity.

I offer all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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