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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 Thessalonians 4:13-18

31 May

13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Dear God, there have been a few tragic deaths in our community over the last few weeks. The one of the 10-year-old boy about 11 days ago was particularly tragic. I don’t know if there is any comfort to be had for his parents and all of the family involved, but if there is, please give it to them. For the children who lost their mother to suicide about three weeks ago, please protect them and minister to them.

I’ve always wondered how Paul knew all of this. Where did he get this information? Did he continue to directly commune and communicated with Jesus? Did the Holy Spirit reveal it to him? The same with Peter when he talks about life after death stuff. Where did he get that information?

The truth is, I have no idea what exactly happens to us beyond death from the earthly world. I have no idea how your second coming works. My brain is too small. But here’s the thing: I don’t have to know. If I start focusing on the outcome of this life, then the outcome will become my idol. Your promise to Abraham through Isaac became his idol and he almost had to sacrifice Isaac to learn his lesson. For me, I want you to be my God. I want worshipping you in this moment to be what it’s about. Death and what comes next will be revealed to me in time. But right now it’s about being reconciled to you through Jesus and then living for you in this moment. So I offer that to you right now. I offer you happiness and peace in my ignorance. I offer you my worship. My faith is in you and I will let you do with me whatever you will from this time forward.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2024 in 1 Thessalonians

 

Psalm 56:3-4

30 May

But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:3-4

Dear God, I stopped at Whataburger this morning to get a quick bite to eat and do this prayer journal to you before a haircut, and I came upon three men who are having breakfast next to a fourth man, and they are witnessing about you to the third man. It’s quite lovely. Let me sit here right now and give them prayer cover. Be with them. Send your angels to fight over this fourth man. Bring him into your kingdom. Love him. Help him to feel your love. Be with these other three men. Give them your words. Give them your love. Send your angels to protect them as well. Oh, Holy Spirit, hover over that 10 square feet in this restaurant and be loosed on this man’s life.

Now, let me get back to this passage. My wife and I both reported dreams to each other from last night that were each rooted in our sorrow. We obviously need your healing. Is there a part of us that is afraid? Maybe. Is there a part of us that is afraid for others? Yes. Is there a part of us that is hurt on a personal level? Yes.

Father, I prayed with my wife this morning, and I pray to you now. Heal us. Heal those we love. Fill them with your love. Fill us with your love. Oh, please to your will in all of our lives. Thank you for the ways you have used this pain to do positive things, but please heal this pain. Protect us spiritually. Send your angels to protect over us. Forgive us for the things we do to hurt ourselves, each other, and you. Forgive me for the things I do that grieve you. I offer myself to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2024 in Psalms

 

“What gives you hope?”

29 May

Dear God, I was just listening to this week’s Holy Post podcast, and they were talking about Pope Francis’s recent 60 Minutes interview in which he was asked, “What gives you hope?” I’ve got nothing but love for Pope Francis, and I would probably do very poorly in a 60 Minutes interview, so I’m not going to throw any shade at his answer, but it did stir up some controversy. I think it’s a fair summary to say he said the basis goodness in people gives him hope. Taking his answer off of the table, and knowing that I have a chance to thoughtfully consider, think about, and edit my typed-out answer, what would be my response to that question? “What gives [me] hope?”

I’ve thought about this a little, and I think it comes down to the innate hunger for you that is in all of us. There is a conscience that gives us guilt. There is a dissatisfaction that comes from self-indulgence. There is an emptiness that accompanies selfishness. It is this existence of the innate hunger we have for you that gives me hope. And it might not happen in this generation. The pendulum might take a while to swing back. This isn’t measured in days, weeks, or months, but years, decades and centuries. From Abraham until now, one can read history and watch the pendulum swing. At some point, we all get disillusioned with all of the idols we chase that we think will give us the peace that only you can give.

It makes me think about the part of the movie Jesus Revolution in which the hippie evangelist tells the established pastor about the hippies and all of the drugs, sex, and self-indulgence they are pursuing. He says (paraphrasing): “They are looking for God. The don’t know they are looking for God, but they are looking for God. And when they find him they are amazed.”

Thinking about the Pope mentioning the innate goodness in people as giving him hope made me wonder what I think sin nature is. What is it in me, and what will make it different on the other side of death and in your new earth? What will be different about me then that is sinful now? I think at least part of it is the fight for survival that exists now that, I think, won’t exist then. The need for resources like food and structure to survive. The need for things of pleasure to give me pleasure. But if my spiritual self does not know a struggle to survive, but just a timeless existence with you in this other realm of earth then will that be the difference?

Father, I heard someone in the Holy Post Podcast say, “Before Genesis 3 there was Genesis 1.” We were created good. But sin entered in. And I have it. Boy, do I have it. But I lay it before you continually–even now, and ask that you please be with me as I learn to consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task you have given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of your grace. (Acts 20:24)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Romans 12:9-21

28 May

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection,[e] and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.[f] 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
    I will pay them back,”[g]
    says the Lord.

20 Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
    burning coals of shame on their heads.”[h]

21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Dear God, I just wanted to stop before I get this day going and tell you that I need you. I thank you. I thank you for, well, everything. You are a good God. Oh so good. And I’m reminded of this through this passage. What a weird perspective of life Jesus authored for us as Christians. Everything here turns the world on its head. What would it look like if we really did this?

Father, help me to do this today. Maybe I should read this every day. If my enemies are hunger feed them? Okay. Wait for you to avenge me if there is something to avenge? Okay. Pray that you will bless those who persecute me? Okay. I will.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 28, 2024 in Romans

 

“God Beyond All Names” by Bernadette Farrell

27 May

“God Beyond All Names” by Bernadette Farrell

God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth.

God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth

God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth

God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth

God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Bernadette Mary Farrell

Dear God, I heard this song in church yesterday morning, and I really stuck with me. Honestly, I think it is the haunting tune even more than the lyrics, but the lyrics are lovely worship of you as well. I thought I would spend some time with it this morning.

God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.

It’s amazing you choose to reveal yourself to us at all. You could sit there silently. You could walk away and ignore us. But that’s not what you do. You speak to us. You reveal yourself to us. You put a hole in us that looks for you to fill it.

God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.

What does it mean to be made in your image? What gives us a soul? What is in us that could possibly look like you? I feel very inadequate to even sit here right now and express my love to you. To worship you. To say that I will take you into this world and reflect you to the world. That seems ridiculous to me because I am such a poor representative of you. Help me to be just a little bit better reflection of you today.

God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.

There are no words that can describe you, but the beauty of creation is more than all of the words I could possibly conjure. You are amazing, God. Everything around me attests to that.

God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.

I was going through some pictures of myself from 35 years ago yesterday. I was 19 then. I’m 54 now. I thought I knew so much. Even now, I think I know so much. But one day I will look back on 54 and think about how young I was. How naive. Thank you for laboring within me. Moving me. Changing me.

God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.

Oh, Father, comfort me. Comfort my wife. Comfort my children and their significant others. Heal us. Make us whole, Father, God.

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth

I know you, Father, in that I know you are there. I know you are beyond what I can know. I know you love me. I know you are rooting for me. You comfort me. You live through me and bless others. Help me to not hurt, but to bless in your name and with fruit of your Spirit.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 27, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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(Children Who Will Love) “While the Nations Rage” by Rich Mullins

26 May

“While the Nations Rage” by Rich Mullins

Why do the nations rage?
Why do they plot and scheme?
Their bullets can’t stop the prayers we pray
In the name of the Prince of Peace
We walk in faith and remember long ago
How they killed Him and then how on the third day He arose
Well, things may look bad
And things may look grim
But all these things must pass except the things that are of Him

Where are the nails that pierced His hands?
Well the nails have turned to rust
But behold the Man
He is risen
And He reigns
In the hearts of the children
Rising up in His name
Where are the thorns that drew His blood?
Well, the thorns have turned to dust
But not so the love
He has given
No, it remains
In the hearts of the children
Who will love while the nations rage

The Lord in Heaven laughs
He knows what is to come
While all the chiefs of state plan their big attacks
Against His anointed One
The Church of God she will not bend her knees
To the gods of this world though they promise her peace
She stands her ground
Stands firm on the Rock
Watch their walls tumble down when she lives out His love

Where are the nails that pierced His hands?
Well the nails have turned to rust
But not so the Man
He is risen
And He reigns
In the hearts of the children
Rising up in His name
Where are the thorns that drew His blood?
Well, the thorns have turned to dust
But behold the love
He has given
It remains
In the hearts of the children
Who will love while the nations rage
While the nations rage

Well, where are the nails that pierced His hands?
Well the nails have turned to rust
But behold the Man
He is risen
And He reigns
In the hearts of the children
Rising up in His name
Where are the thorns that drew His blood?
Well, the thorns have turned to dust
But not so the love
He has given
Oh, it remains
In the hearts of the children
Who will love while the nations rage

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Rich Mullins

Dear God, this has never been one of my favorite Rich Mullins songs, but it came up on my playlist yesterday morning while I was mowing the lawn, and there was one line that caught my ear: In the hearts of the children who will love while the nations rage.

Oh, Father, where has our love gone? And when I say “our,” I mean the church. Your church. Your body. Where has our love gone? It feels like we have joined the fray with bullets and raging. With barbs. With “destroying” or “owning” each other. I’ve mentioned that I’ve been reading a memoir by Nancy French called Ghosted: An American Story. She is a ghostwriter, and she describes about ten years ago one of her jobs was to sit off camera at Fox News and feed zingers to her clients so they could “own the libs.” She is a great believer in you. Her love for you is deep and sincere. But she didn’t “love the libs” as Jesus would have commanded. She wanted to “own” them. She regrets it now. Especially since she fell out of step with the current makeup of the Republican party. Now she is the one they try to “own.” And sometimes it has worked. Sometimes, they have devastated her and her family. Of course, they claim to love and worship you too. Where is their love?

Now, before I get too sanctimonious on this topic, I could ask the same question of myself. Where is my love for those I oppose? Do I want to own them, or do I want to love them? Do I want to attack them or attract them? Do I want to fight them, or do I want to accept their attacks and meet it with love? Do I want their defeat, or do I want to comfort them? No, I make the same mistakes French describes she made. I get defensive. I get angry and then let that anger become something destructive instead of constructive.

Father, the nations are raging, but our nation is raging too. French described the difference between a Republican campaign rally in 2012 vs 2016. The anger and hate in 2016 vs 2012 was apparently remarkable. People arguing with security guards that they should be allowed to bring their guns in. Yelling at the press. Of course, chanting awful things about their opponent. Yes, right now, our nation is raging. Sometimes with real bullets. Sometimes with barbs of hate, superiority, and dominance. Even Rich Mullins, in a live performance of this song threw a barb at the Clintons (Rich died during Bill Clinton’s second term, so he was President when the song was recorded). It made me uncomfortable. I wondered if Rich could watch that now if he would regret it.

Father, I might have to take a principled stand at some point about political issues, whether they be local, national, or international. And it might cost me. My prayer is that, if it costs me, it be for a reason that glorifies you and sees me honoring you in my response to it. And while I’m here talking about the nations raging, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, China and Taiwan, etc. Oh, Father, please bring peace. Please bring solutions. Raise up your leadership to guide your will to be done. And be in our current elections from local sheriff all of the way up to President. Let nothing happen outside of your will, Father. And while you do that, I will worship you and not look to any outcome that I prefer as my idol.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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James 5:13-15

25 May

13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

James 5:13-15

Dear God, this passage reminds me of the Rich Mullins song “If I Stand.” I heard him say once that he wrote it thinking about calling on you in the bad times and thanking you for the good times. Worshipping and celebrating you always.

I’ll confess that I feel a little flat this morning. It’s a Saturday morning, and while I have something planned to do at 10:30, I don’t really have anything planned today. What will I do? Will I take time to worship you? Or will I waste the day? Will I take time to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, or will I just be self-indulgent? Will I bring my hurts worries and concerns to you, or will I just feel sorry for myself?

Father, “if I stand, let me stand on the promise that you have pulled me through. And if I can’t let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you. And if I sing, let me sing for the joy that has born in me these songs. And if I weep, let it be as a man who is longing for his home.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 25, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, James

 

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Romans 12:6-9

24 May

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Romans 12:6-9

Dear God, it was the “do it gladly” at the end of verse 9 that caught my eye this morning. Do it gladly. How many of us (and this definitely includes me) don’t do what we are called to do gladly? How many of us don’t live into our gifting gladly?

Leadership is one that kind of floats to the top here for me. First, I confess that I am one of those people who seems to fill the void if there is ever a leadership vacuum. For example, when I was only 27 I served on a jury and, even though I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person in the room, I ended up being a presiding juror (the word they used for foreman). It just kind of happens to me. And there are a lot of times when I find myself in a situation that needs leadership–that could use my leadership–but I am reluctant to do it because of the commitment. Will it require too much of me? Too much of my time? Like I don’t have mountains of time I waste every day. I’m not maxed out. I could give a little more. But when I am asked to do it, too many times I don’t do it gladly.

One of the things I really don’t do gladly that you call me to do is pray more–especially for others. I have a friend right now whose home and city were hit by a big storm. He has a lot of damage and no electricity. We texted about it, but it didn’t occur to me to pray for him about it until he said, pray for electricity to be restored. I thought, Oh, yeah. I should pray about that. There is a family in our town who tragically lost a child in an accident last Sunday. I’ve prayed for them a little, but I haven’t really, in a focused way. asked for you to just cover them in your Holy Spirit. To minister to them through your angels in the spiritual realm and your church and their friends in the physical realm. No, I don’t pray gladly.

Father, help me to embrace the gifts you’ve given me. I like to give. Help me to give gladly. I live to serve others. Help me to serve gladly. I have leadership gifts. Help me to lead, when appropriate, gladly. Help me to love my wife and family gladly. Help me to pray for all of them, my friends, my community, and my world gladly. Help me to carry your joy in my heart. Help me to do it all gladly so that I might experience the fruits of the Spirit you have for me, and I might take you to a world that is looking for you.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 24, 2024 in Romans

 

“The Gentle Slope” By Fred Smith

23 May

Dear God, I woke up this morning and read Fred Smith’s blog post for today. He titled it “The Gentle Slope” which referred to the slope we are all tempted by. The most succinct description is the quote he used by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters: ““It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

My favorite part of his piece, which mainly focused around the Israelites’ experience in going back to the Promised Land after Egypt and not completely purging the Canaanites and their customs, was when he said:

There was no law in their hearts. They could not master themselves. They did what was right in their own eyes and, predictably, having no common standard for what was lawful, society disintegrated into small factions often at war with each other. What is right for you may not be right for me. Who is to say? What is right is set by whoever has the most votes. What is right is up to who can make people believe it is right. I read a good description of the Higgs Boson particle this week. It is the egg in a bowl of flour that makes it all stick together. A society with no common values is a bowl of flour with no egg.

A society that has no accepted standard of Law and a use for idols will always find itself in the same condition as Israel. Instead of being bound together we will inevitably be in bondage to the delusions of seductive idols. Israel could not resist the corrosive power of the idols around them and so disintegrated from within long before being conquered by others.

So this is what I want to pray about this morning: the egg that holds the flour together. I’d like to say that, as Americans, your church could be what holds us together. But Satan even seems to have successfully divided that. The church has lost its saltiness and so now there are parts of it that are trying to force itself on the unchurched which only drives the unchurched farther from you. A church built on worship of you, love for each other, and service to the world would be influential in making people want you. Put another way, I heard Andy Stanley say a few years ago (my paraphrase), “I understand people not being able to believe the story of Jesus from the Bible, but I don’t understand anyone who wouldn’t want it to be true.” Jesus on earth, even before the crucifixion and resurrection, was amazing. The only people he disappointed were the people who expected him to be in their image and not yours. If we were all like Jesus–if I were like Jesus–the world would be an amazing place.

Father, you are the egg in our batter. You are what ties all of the little pieces of flour together and make us one. Help me to be an instrument that brings peace, unites people to you, and then to each other. And let it start with me being united with you.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Galatians 5:11-12

22 May

11 Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. 12 I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.

Galatians 5:11-12

Dear God, verse 12 actually made me chuckle this morning. Paul’s exasperation was funny. I wonder if he could have a do-over, if he would like to take that part of the letter out so that it wasn’t here for me to see 2,000 years later. But that’s part of the beauty of the Bible and how you chose to communicate with us. It was written by real people with real emotions.

It is interesting to see what they were 1.) persecuting Paul for and 2.) then trash-talking him in the opposite direction. So the Jewish people were mad that he was both saying that Jesus was the path to salvation through the cross and resurrection, and that he had absolved the Gentiles from needing to be circumcised to come into the completed Jewish faith. Then there was another group of people who were accusing him of the opposite. Apparently they were saying that Paul was preaching salvation through means other than the death and resurrection of Jesus and requiring men to be circumcised. Satan figured out a way to get both sides to call Paul a heretic, or to at least teach false doctrine using Paul’s name.

Division is an amazing thing. I’ve said for a long time that it is Satan’s Plan A and it’s such a good plan that he rarely needs a Plan B. I was talking with someone the other day and saying that our country is so divided that we cannot even agree on a common enemy when there is a threat. I thought at least we could gather around fighting COVID and the pandemic, but that only divided us more. I guess there is just something in our sin nature that loves to feel wronged and avenge ourselves in some way.

Father, help me to simply let go of my rights, do my best in any given moment, and then embrace what follows. I’ll admit I get riled up by certain people. I was reading a political flyer last night that upset me. The messaging was so–well, awful. Sowing fear. Sowing hate. Just so someone could get into an office they want against another person who probably agrees with them on 95% of the issues. It’s a primary. They are from the same party. But they choose to differentiate themselves from each other by trying to make me afraid. Father, walk with me today. Make me an instrument of your peace. Even for those who are against me or the things I might be trying to do through my service to you in our community. Give me wisdom. Give me discernment. Give me love. Help me to not be part of divisiveness.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 22, 2024 in Galatians

 
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