Thank You For It All, Lord

”Thank You For It All, Lord”

Psalm 36:5-7 NLT

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.  You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.  How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Lately, I have been finding myself thinking of more and more ways to be thankful each day for what God has provided for me.  This passage is powerful starting with declaring praise to God for His unfailing love.  I am thankful each day how God reminds me that I need to be constantly and more grateful for the unfailing love He pours out to me. 

I’m so thankful that He continues to love me, even as I am often unlovable to those I love and care about the most.  There are days when I’m just not fun to be around and I’m so grateful for the love my family continues to show in those times toward me.  I’m grateful for His continued faithfulness that never ends and stretches beyond the clouds.  He is faithful even when I am so often unfaithful to Him in little and big ways.  Some days, I just don’t want to even try for various reasons.  I get in my own world and I’m just selfish and want things my way.  I’m thankful for not only His faithfulness, but the faithfulness of my family in those times.

I’m finding myself becoming more aware of all that He has done for me and continues to do through His faithfulness and unfailing love despite so often how self-absorbed I can get.  I’m so thankful for it all!  I don’t want to become ungrateful, but so often I do.  I’m so grateful for how faithful He is to give to us so abundantly in so many different ways.  I need to be reminded often how very grateful I should be.

Friends, these are just thoughts I want to share with you in hopes that you will be reminded of how grateful you need to be as well because of the amazing faithfulness, unfailing love and righteousness of God.  We serve an amazing God and we all need to be daily reminded of how very Awesome He is!  We need to be reminded to be so thankful for all things and all the people He has put into our lives to encourage and love on us.  We should also be thankful for those who challenge us to be better servants in our lives.

With all the continued changes we are dealing with day in and day out, we need to be reminded of His blessings and say, “Thank You For It All, Lord!” 

Father, help us to be in complete awe of You every single day from the moment we get up till we lay our head on the pillow to sleep.  Help us to be strengthened each day by Your constant, unfailing love and faithfulness.  You are faithful, even through all these challenging days.  Amen!

Thankful For The Hope

“Thankful For The Hope”

Psalm 33:20-22 NLT

We put our hope in the Lord.  He is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

This past week, I have been thinking more and more about the hope that I have been given in my life with God.  I find myself wanting to thank Him more and more each day for giving me the life that I have in Him because I have a hope that is real and strong, no matter what my emotions are like as I go through my days.  As I daily fight different emotions with all the different changes in life from this pandemic, I am being reminded by Him that I have so much to be hopeful about and so much to be thankful for.

I am thankful that He is my help and my shield.  I am thankful that I can fully trust in Him, no matter what is going on around me daily.  His unfailing love surrounds me every day and I just love feeling His warm embrace as I rest in Him.  I know that God is going to continue to provide for me and my family even though the coming days and weeks are filled with uncertainty. 

Friends, I simply cannot imagine how life would be with the hope we have in Christ.  I could not imagine waking up in the morning and living the whole day without any hope that God gives.  It saddens me when I think about how many people live each day without being filled with this hope and now knowing God at all.  Life with God is still hard enough so many times with not understanding things, I just can’t imagine not having my relationship with Him and being completely without hope. 

I want to encourage all of us this week, and in the coming weeks, to focus on putting our hope in God, no matter what the future holds.  We don’t need to worry, but just allow ourselves to be surrounded by His unfailing love in all the ways He shows that.  He is taking care of us and always will somehow.  Whatever you might be dealing with today and in the days to come, know that nothing is out of His control and He will fill us with hope.  We can rejoice daily because we have a hope that the world can never take away and no world events can crush.  Yes, we may have our days of despairing feelings, but His hope will fill us once again. 

God, thank You for the hope that You will us with each day.  There are some days, Lord, when we feel like we’re losing hope and feeling helpless.  We are human and we need Your unfailing love to fill us and remind us that we are never alone.  We have so much to be thankful for God and we need to trust that You will never abandon us and that You truly love us.  Remind us each day God to give You thanks for all the wonderful things You continue to bless us with in our lives.  We are truly blessed, even with a chaotic pandemic going on around us.  You are bigger than anything we might fear.  We love You and thank You for loving us and giving us hope.  Amen!

Lord, Help Us Through These Storms

“Lord, Help Us Through These Storms”

Matthew 8:23-26 NIV

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us!  We’re going to drown!”  He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

I don’t know how many of you are storm chasers and/or storm enthusiasts, but I have been a storm enthusiast most of my life.  I’m sure that I have written before about my fascination with thunderstorms and the weather patterns it creates.  During thunderstorm season, I get really excited when storms come through because I just like the adrenaline rush of watching them.  I have never personally witnessed a tornado in person, but I have heard and watched videos of countless stories of people who record them and chase them.  I also like to watch storm chasing shows on TV just to see the excitement and adrenaline rush of the storm enthusiasts.

Some storms have plenty of warning, but then there are some that suddenly come up and people respond with, “Where did that storm come from?  I did not see that coming!”  Sometimes we have no warning at all it seems and we are completely taken off guard by what comes our way.  We often don’t know how to react and we want to keep ourselves and our family safe. 

Friends, we continue to embark on the unknown ahead of us as we all deal with this new life experience none of us were prepared for or ever saw coming.  I hope this passage can bring a little comfort to us knowing that we are never alone when we deal with storms that come up in life.  Right now, we are all experiencing so many of the same storms.  And just like this passage states, these have come without warning. 

Even though we may be feeling a wide range of continued mixed emotions about the pandemic around us, know that Jesus is there to comfort us through these storms, whether we are experiencing job loss, the actual coronavirus itself in our life or within our family, financial difficulty or you are a first responder dealing with the front lines on all of this, know that Jesus is right there with us and will give us comfort through this as we trust in Him.

Father, we experience a lot of storms in our lives.  These current storms often seem overwhelming and they have come upon us much without warning.  Give us strength daily Father to trust You that You will carry us through this scary time.  We love You and know that You will never forsake us or abandon us.  Help us trust in You even though we don’t understand so much right now.  Give us joy and peace even in the midst of this pandemic.  We know You are still in control and help us never forget that, especially in the storms of life.  Amen!

Lord, Help Us To Keep Trusting

“Lord, Help Us To Keep Trusting”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

This past week, I have had the word “trusting” on my mind and heart frequently.  As the days and weeks continue on, I still feel the need to share with you all how God is teaching me more and more how to keep my trust in Him in the midst of the pandemic that feels like a bad dream still.  I find myself waking up everyday and just wondering what the next set of news I will hear will be about.

I find myself praying differently.  I don’t really know how to describe it, but I’m just asking God for peace and that I will continue to have the strength in Him to trust even though there is so much I cannot understand. 

I have read this passage more times in my life than I can count.  It’s been a staple for many of us through the years and is a popular passage to quote in various times and circumstances.  Lately, I’ve been thinking more about it and how God is asking me to trust Him even more these days as I strive to provide for my family as I keep hearing different news at work and in the community about changes. 

He is reminding me to trust completely in Him, even though I don’t understand many things.  He continues to provide for us and lead us.  It is often easy some days to wake up and immediately feel anxious about many things.  It seems I’m hearing daily changes at work about various changes and it’s easy for me to lose sight of hope and that He will always be with me no matter what.

Friends, I don’t have any great revelations about all that you and your friends and family are dealing with.  However, I do know that we serve an Almighty God Who has never stopped providing and will never stop leading us, even when the path seems very unknown.  He asks us to continue trusting in Him, especially when things seem chaotic. 

Will you please join me in striving each day to wake up and put total trust in Him?  We need to trust Him now more than ever and not depend on our own understanding.  I would like to end with another prayer this week.

Lord, please help us to continue trusting in You, even though we find ourselves continually bombarded with temptations to lose hope.  It’s easy for us to become fearful of the continues news of sickness, but may we focus on You and depend on Your understanding, not ours.  Help us to trust and know that You will always provide.  Give us strength, Lord to trust even when we feel weak.  We know You are in control and will always be.  Help me to know I am blessed in so many ways as You have provided.  Amen!

Consumed By God's Great Love

“Consumed By God’s Great Love”

Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

As the days and weeks roll on with consistent changes in the world around us, it is easy for us to become consumed with all the updates and challenges going on.  I have found myself often lately saying to my wife, “Please honey, do we have to listen to the news…..again.”  It isn’t that I don’t want to be informed, I just feel consumed with hearing the news over and over and over again.  However, I struggle because I need to know updates (we all do to an extant). 

It almost seems impossible to think of not being consumed by everything going on around us, with the constant changes at home, at work, in stores, at church, etc.  We are surrounded by constant changes every day and all through the day.  We are especially dealing with the challenges now of having kids doing school at home.  That has affected so many families and I know that we are all adjusting in different ways with different things each day. 

As we are consistently dealing with the challenges of being consumed by world events, let us be challenged by our Heavenly Father that He wants us to be consumed with Him.  His great love is amazing and is so much bigger than any virus could ever be.  This is not to diminish the power and concerns of what the virus is doing in our world, but to remind us that we serve an amazing God Who is so much bigger and can comfort us when the world cannot. 

I hope and pray this passage and the thought of God’s consuming love will bring us all comfort in these continues days of uncertainty.  While so many things and activities around us have been cancelled, remember that God’s love, faithfulness and compassion will NEVER cancel on us.  No matter what is happening to us, around us or to our families, God’s powerful love will ALWAYS be with us.  We can count on this, no matter what!

I’d like to end with a prayer as we continue on these days with God’s strength in the days of uncertainty.

Father, please continue to guide and direct us as we face daily challenges of uncertainty.  We know You are in control even though the world seems out of control.  Help us to continue to provide for our families as we seek to follow You faithfully each day.  Help us to be thankful for every single thing we have that You have already provided.  Most of all, help us continue to focus on being a witness to those around us who do not know You.  Help us to spread the love, hope and compassion You give to us.  Thank You God for your consistent great love and faithfulness, which never fails or ends!

Give Us Wisdom, Lord

“Give Us Wisdom, Lord”

Proverbs 2:6 NIV

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Last week, I shared a prayer with you all regarding how we need God’s peace, especially now with all the chaos that is happening in our world these days.  In the past week, I have continued to feel scared and overwhelmed at what might happen as we continue to learn more and receive more disturbing news.  Every day, I’m praying that God will not only give me peace, but that He will also give me wisdom. 

As I think about how I need peace and wisdom from God, I wanted to share another prayer with you as we seek God’s wisdom in the many choices we face each day as we continue into uncharted territory.  I hope these words will echo in our minds and hearts as we continue to ask god to guide us.

Father, as each day passes and I continue to hear more and more about the chaos going on in the world with sickness, I find myself desiring wisdom more than ever.  Lord, we have so many choices every day that we need to make that affects others around us.  I need wisdom Lord to continue to be faithful in whatever you ask me to do each day.  As I continue to feel worried and concerned not only about my health, my wife and my kids, but also my friends and others around me, I ask Lord that You alone with grant me wisdom that only You can give.

God, we all need wisdom as we make intentional decisions that we’ve not really thought much about before.  As we consider how we need to use what finances we have been given by you, help us to be wise and discerning.  Maybe some of us have received blessed tax returns and we need wisdom to know how You want us to use those.  Some of us, though might not be doing so well with finances and are very concerned about the days ahead and how we will provide for our families.  Along with that is how many places of businesses have shut down and that can bring so much concern and worry to so many people, Lord. 

Father, help us be wise in whether we should go certain places and do certain things.  Help us be mindful of what is going on around us and make decisions that are beneficial to others and our families.  Help us be the servants you continue to call us to be.  We need wisdom so much these days, Lord as things seem to continue to spiral out of control in so many ways.  Let us never forget God that You are always in control and You will continue to fill us with peace if we ask. 

Father, as the days go on, I ask that you fill me with Your wisdom so that I can make good choices to support my family, no matter what lies ahead with what You have given to me and what happens to my place of work.  Amen!

Give Us Peace, Lord

“Give Us Peace, Lord”

Psalm 29:10-11 NLT

“The Lord rules over the floodwaters.  The Lord reigns as king forever.  The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace.

As so much uncertainty has swept over the entire world recently, I have found myself filled with so many different emotions, concerns, worries, anxious thoughts and prayers as I’m sure millions of others are experiencing as well.  I struggled with what to share this week as I sort through how I’m feeling and all that continues to unfold each day. 

I read this passage this morning and I just feel led to share it with you all and offer a prayer as we all look to God for the comfort only He can provide.

Lord, I come to You today with a very heavy heart as I consider all that is going on in the world today.  Each day that passes recently, I find myself tempted to give in to the fear of everything that is happening and the uncertainty that seems to hang over our heads.  Lord, I want to come to You and lay all of my worries and fears at Your feet because I know that no matter what happens, You are truly the One in total control. 

I don’t know how things will turn out, Father, but I know that You will give me peace because You and You alone reign over all.  There is nothing more powerful that You, Lord!  No matter what fear I may face today and the days ahead, I know that You will give me peace beyond understanding and I just need to trust in You with all my heart.  Father, some days I am very scared of the uncertainty of what will happen at my job, with the school and other closings that could occur, but I need to remember to completely trust in Your provisions and be thankful for what You have given to me.

Lord, I know that You and You alone can and will give me the peace I need to live each day as I trust in Your unfailing provisions.  Father, help me to not allow fear consume me as I continue to hear of the devastation of this sickness spreading.  Help me to completely focus on You, Lord and bring all of my concerns and worries to You anytime I have them.  I need to lay them at Your feet and know that You will give me comfort.

Lord, I pray for all of those who have been affected with all the chaos going on and I ask for Your loving arms to comfort those in need.  Father, help me to reach out and encourage others in any way that I can as needs arise.  Lord, You are in control and that will never change. 

Father, may we all trust in You and be filled with Your amazing peace as we continue in the days ahead.  Than You for being Almighty God!  Amen!