September
I Will Judge You according to the Book
I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:12
The day will come when I will open the books, which hold a record of the deeds of all people. For those who have not trusted in Christ but are hoping that their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds and get them into heaven, the books will bring condemnation. But for you, the books will provide confirmation that you are connected to Christ in a saving, transforming way.
The books will show how you threw yourself on my mercy, how you welcomed my forgiveness, and how your appetites and affections changed as my Spirit went to work in you. The books will provide an accounting of all the things God’s grace in your life has empowered you to do and become because of your connectedness to Jesus. You will not be judged according to the books but on the basis of the Book of Life, where your name has been written by my own hand.
My deeds are not the basis of my salvation but the evidence of it. I do not have to fear not measuring up. Christ is my righteousness . . .
I Am Giving You Reason to Trust My Promises
God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.
Hebrews 6:17
I see that you’ve gone out on a limb. You’re staking your reputation, your life, your future on the promises I have made to you. I assure you that you will never regret it. The day will never come when you think yourself a fool for putting all of your hopes in what I have promised you.
My Word is sure and certain. But I know you live in a world where people make promises all the time that they do not keep. So while I didn’t have to swear by an oath, I did, to accommodate your doubts. I have bound myself with an oath to provide you with every confidence so that you can grab hold of my promises in a world of broken promises. I have sworn on the highest, most honorable name I can swear on—my own. My oath is meant to give you deep confidence that I will not change my mind about you. You will inherit all I have promised to you through Christ.
Through faith, I’m taking hold of your promises as my own. Though I am unable to keep all of the promises I have made to you, you will keep your promises to me, and that is enough . . .
I Infuse Your Life with Meaning
My dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
1 Corinthians 15:58
An abundant life is a life that has meaning and purpose. And I know that is what you want. You don’t want to simply watch the days and years go by, collecting a few more things, going a few more places, and saving a few more dollars, with no sense that it matters for eternity.
As you unashamedly talk about me, your words are made fruitful. As you earn and invest money in Kingdom endeavors, you store up treasure that will last forever. I see you serve in ways that no one ever esteems or notices. I see the extra care you invest in your efforts because you work as if you are working directly for me. I see the integrity you show when no one would know otherwise. And so I am blessing your life with a satisfying sense of purpose. I am infusing all your efforts with meaning.
When I think I am wasting my time and effort, I look to you, Lord, confident that you will not let my labor for you go to waste . . .
I Give You the Pleasure of Joining Me in My Work
He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.
Acts 17:24-25
Don’t believe it for a minute when someone tells you that I created mankind because I was lonely, or that my plans for the world can be frustrated by those who don’t cooperate.
I have no needs, nor do I depend on any lesser creature for anything. I do not need helpers. However, I do stoop to work in and through my beloved and obedient children for their joy. I am giving you the pleasure of joining me in my work in this world. I have chosen to use you for my purposes and for your joy.
I was not lonely. After all, the Father, Son, and Spirit have always enjoyed perfect and complete fellowship. I made you in my image to enjoy me and glorify me. I determined that you would be meaningful to me, which is the very definition of significance.
You, Lord, are all-sufficient in yourself; there is no deficiency in you. I praise you and thank you for inviting me into your work and into your fellowship . . .
I Have Shown You My Favor
May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.
Numbers 6:26
I want you to hear me speaking over you the same words I spoke over my Son: “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” You are my dearly loved child, and you bring me great joy.
Is it hard for you to imagine? Does it seem undeserved? That is exactly what grace is—undeserved favor. This is the favor I am showing to you today. Because you have hidden yourself in Christ, the Son who brings me great joy, you bring me great joy.
No longer do you live under my frown. Instead, you are showered by my favor. No longer are you alienated from me because of your sin. My Son has made peace with me on your behalf. So enjoy my favor today. Rest in my peace. Live as one who is dearly loved by your heavenly Father—because you are.
Jesus, you absorbed God’s anger toward sin so that I can enjoy his unending favor. What goodness, what grace, so undeserved . . .
I Have Broken the Power of Sin in Your Life
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
Romans 6:5-6
Sin once had supreme power in your life. Its power was in its promises of pleasure. But its promises always prove false, and its pleasures are always fleeting. In the end, sin only depletes and destroys. And this is why I want you to be done with sin, to live in freedom as one who has been saved from the clutches of this evil taskmaster.
Use your freedom to run in the opposite direction of sin. Run toward me, listening to my voice, seeking after my ways, enjoying my presence. Begin to live out the reality of this new life you have, united to Christ, by saying no when sin tries to pull you back into old ways of thinking, relating, and acting. Sin wants only to rob you of freedom and joy, not provide it to you.
How can I keep living like a slave when you have paid my ransom and given me a whole new life? You have set me free, Lord, and I want to run in your direction . . .
I Have Given You a Worthwhile Goal
Whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.
2 Corinthians 5:9
So much happens in your life that you cannot control. But I have given you a place to put your focus and invest your energies in the midst of a world you cannot control. Your life is not merely about securing the hope of heaven and then living as you please. As you wait for heaven, throw everything you have and everything you are into this singular aim: Make it your goal to please me. Set your sights on living a life that honors me and on becoming a person who is pleasing to me.
When hard things come (and they will) and you wonder what to do, make it your goal to please me in how you respond. When you are betrayed, abandoned, or misused, invest your energies in pleasing me instead of justifying yourself. When you feel the sting of undeserved criticism, the fearfulness of being alone, the weight of overwhelming responsibility, or the aimlessness that comes from lack of purpose or significance, make it your goal to please me.
Oh, Lord, how I long to please you in how I invest my time and money, how I handle success as well as failure. Thank you for filling my life with meaning by giving me this worthwhile goal . . .
You Will Be Recognized as Mine
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
I am a peace-loving God and a peacemaking God. My heaven is a place of peace. So when you operate in the world, in your church, in your home as a peacemaker, it becomes obvious that I am your Father. I have made peace with sinners through the Cross, and my children are recognizable by their willingness to make sacrifices for peace as I have.
As a peacemaker, you will love your enemies instead of constantly throwing more logs on the fire of your anger toward them. You’ll pray blessings on those who persecute you instead of mumbling curses under your breath. You’ll choose again and again to let my love toward you overflow into your relationships so that you will not always be nursing an injury, obsessing over a slight, or taking offense so easily. You’ll build bridges to people rather than settle into a comfortable distance. You will persevere in becoming reconciled whenever there has been a rupture in relationship.
I could have no greater joy than to be told that I look like you, my Father, in the way I make peace with those around me . . .
I Am Slow to Anger with You
The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.”
Exodus 34:6
All that I am as God I am to you. I am compassionate. I care about your situation, and I am sympathetic with your weakness. My heart is drawn to help you whenever you are in need. I am the God of mercy. Rather than giving you what you deserve because of your sin—condemnation—I am giving you what you don’t deserve—salvation. I am slow to anger, not capricious or volatile. When I act against evil, I do it righteously and deliberately, not out of an uncontrolled temper. I am not rash to act against those I have created, even when they are in rebellion against me. I wait patiently, giving sinners the opportunity to return to me in repentance.
Because my heart is not filled with frustration or anger but with unfailing love and faithfulness, you need not cower before me but can come to me. I will always follow through on my love.
You have set your love on me, and I know that it will remain constant and unchanging. You have been patient with me, and I am awash in your mercy . . .
I Will Reward You
Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.
Revelation 22:12
While salvation is about my work for you and is a free gift of grace to which you contribute nothing, my rewards are dependent on your faithfulness to me. Belief determines your eternal destination, but behavior determines your eternal reward.
But it is not that I saved you by my grace and then put you to work to keep earning my favor so you can stay saved. You are connected to Christ, and because of that life-giving connection, good works will naturally flow out of your life. I began a good work in you, and I will be faithful to complete it. Every bit of obedience I graciously decide to reward is a gift from me in the first place.
While everyone in heaven will be perfectly happy and completely satisfied, not every believer’s position and experience will be the same. As you walk with me and live for me, I expand your capacity for eternal joy.
I live to hear you say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” . . .
I Will Help You Escape the World’s Corruption
Because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
2 Peter 1:4
I know you are living in a world that promises you pleasure everywhere you turn. But you’ve tasted enough of sin’s promises to know that they always turn sour in your mouth. You’ve listened to enough of sin’s lies to know that they do not deliver. Sin makes its attack by holding out false promises of happiness to you. It tells you that if you lie on your income tax return, you’ll have more money to enjoy; it says that if you get a divorce, you’ll both be happier; if you brag about your accomplishment, you’ll be admired; if you keep quiet about your faith, you’ll get ahead.
So you must do battle at the level of your desires by hanging my promises of deep and lasting happiness like a carrot in front of your eyes. They will lure you away from sin.
As I keep before my eyes the astonishing promises you have made to me for now as well as for the life to come, your divine voice defeats sin’s lies. Your divine power bends and reshapes my desires toward pleasing you . . .
I Have Secured Your Future
I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 5:1
The scroll represents my decrees concerning what will happen in the future. You see, the future of this world is not determined by fate or chance. All of history is the unfolding of my predetermined plan for all things. What is written on the scroll is precise, and it is sealed so you will know that it is complete and cannot be altered—that it has not yet been revealed and has not yet come to pass.
When you picture me on the throne of this universe holding that sealed scroll, you can trust that my plans—not only for this world but also for your life—are precise, complete, and perfect. You can rest in knowing that a sovereign God is seated on the throne, that nothing happens in your life that is outside of my plans, and that my plans for you are good even when they don’t seem that way on the surface.
The sealed scroll reminds me that you are worthy of my radical trust when the future seems uncertain. You are in absolute control and have loving plans for my future firmly in your grasp . . .
I Will Show an Unimaginable Measure of Mercy
He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.
Romans 2:8
I do not manipulate with idle threats. I have promised to pour out my wrath, and I will not go soft. I am too perfect for that; in fact, I am perfectly just. There is a time for mercy and grace, and then at some point, when warnings have been unheeded and there is no repentance, there comes a time to follow through with the appropriate punishment. That is justice. Justice demands that evil be punished, and you can be certain that it will be. My wrath is not the irrational rage of an egotistical, power-grabbing deity but the righteous, pure, and perfectly appropriate expression of justice.
Until now, I have chosen to show mercy—an unimaginable measure of mercy. But the time for mercy will pass, and there will be no more mercy for rebellion, rejection, or refusal, and no more time for repentance. So rest in knowing that you are a recipient of my mercy and live as one who is greatly loved.
Because I belong to you, Lord, I do not have to fear being a target of your anger. I can rest in knowing that while unrepentant evil will not go unpunished, I will not be punished. Instead of wrath, you are pouring out your grace on me . . .
I Will Provide the Contentment You Crave
Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
Hebrews 13:5
Even though I have given you so much, you want more. But the life of your dreams cannot be purchased with money, and it is not found in the constant pursuit of one more thing. That is a life of tyranny and dissatisfaction. The life of your dreams is found in learning to be content.
You think you’ll be content when you finally get what you want. But real contentment is found when you accept something less than what you want or something other than what you want. That is real freedom. And it doesn’t just happen. It must be cultivated as you tell yourself the truth about this world and about me. The truth is that the things of this world will never fully satisfy you.
Everything you can buy with money will one day fail you. But I will never fail you. Everything you collect, you will one day be forced to relinquish. But I will never let go of you.
The world tells me that I deserve better, that I’ve earned more. But I hear your call to a life of being content with what I have, a life of confidence in you rather than in money and what it will buy . . .
No One Can Take You from Me
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.
John 10:27-28
You’re safe. You’re secure. You are mine. How can you be sure you are mine? Because you listen to my voice. You open up my Word and take it in rather than explain it away; you meditate on it and make it part of you. I know you are mine because you follow after me rather than running from me and my commands.
Because you are mine, you have so much life to look forward to—in quality and quantity. You are not missing out on anything good as you follow me but are storing up goodness for yourself. Though your body may one day die, you will never perish. Your life will not end in the grave but will endure in glory. Even when you give in to doubt or disobedience, do not fear. Because you are mine, I will always woo you back to listening to my voice and following in my footsteps.
I hear your voice and I am following you, so grateful to know that nothing can come between us . . .
This Kind of Sorrow Will Make You Happy Forever
The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
I take no pleasure when you hurt. But there is a kind of sorrow I do want you to experience—not because it will make you miserable, but because it will lead to eternal happiness. I love you so much that I am willing for you to be sad in this way.
I want you to truly mourn over your sin. You must see its filthy defilement, its bold betrayal, its destructive evil. Weep over the distance it has brought between us. Groan over the damage it has done. Let it break your heart in the best ways. This is a redemptive sadness, and you will never regret giving yourself over to it. It will become the grounds for changing direction, the impetus for genuine repentance. This sorrow will lead you to eternal joy.
Often I resist the discomfort of deep sorrow over my sin, rushing quickly past it to enjoy your generous forgiveness. But today I will linger to see my sin the way you do . . .
Coming Clean with Me Brings Healing
If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9
I know it is never comfortable when my Spirit shows you the areas of your life that are offensive to me. I’m not trying to hurt you by calling attention to your sin; I’m helping you. Won’t you let me love you in this way? Just turn toward me and begin to confess those sins rather than ignoring them or trying to hide them. I won’t turn away from you. I will cleanse you.
This repentance I’m calling you to is not a onetime thing. I’m asking you to make it your way of life. As you live in brokenness before me, I will continue to show you the things in your life that keep you from closer fellowship with me—not to condemn you or discourage you, but to draw you into the full and free life I have for you.
On the cross, Christ dealt decisively with your deepest and most destructive disease, and even now you are being healed by his wounds.
As I lay my broken life before you and invite you into it, you are moving toward me, doing a work of great healing and bringing me peace . . .
I Am Drawn to Your Tender Heart
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
Philippians 2:1
Some people develop a tough exterior as they go through life in this world, seeking to be invulnerable to pain. But as I work in you, my goal is not to give you thick skin so that nothing can hurt you. I do not want you to become cold, callous, and hard-hearted toward me, and neither do I want you to be insensitive to the hurts of others. To protect your heart from being broken by the things that break my heart is to have little genuine connection to me.
I am drawn to a heart that is sensitive to being touched—even though it might cause some pain. I intend for you to stay soft and tender, moldable, and even vulnerable, because this is what you need to stay responsive to me. Sensitivity to sin and tender compassion toward the hurts of others flow only out of a heart that can be broken.
Sometimes I want to build a wall around my heart and put blinders on my eyes so the pain of this world can’t touch me. But your Spirit is at work in me, making my heart tender . . .
I Will Reward Your Sincere, Secret Prayer
When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Matthew 6:5-6
The world is looking for magic formulas to get good things from me. Plenty of people use public prayer to put on a spiritual show. They would much rather gain a reputation as a pray-er than do the hard work of prayer.
But you know that the real secret to prayer is secret prayer. Communing with me in prayer and finding your rest in me is itself the prize. Sincere, secret prayer is always rewarded with a response from me. While it may not always be the response you want, you can be certain that it is the best response. So come to me in private. Pour out your concerns, leaving behind all pretenses. Then you’ll find your best reward, not in making an impression on others, but in finding true intimacy with me.
There could be no greater joy in this world or the next than communing in the secret place with you, the living God . . .
I Am Putting My Strength on Display in Your Life
I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I am making your life a beautiful display case for my glory. And while I know you would rather have me display my glory through your successes and strengths, that is not how I do things.
When you are obviously inadequate for the task and my power at work through you gets the job done, my strength is put on display. When your body fails you and yet you can smile, confident in my goodness, it is obvious that the power of Christ is working through you. When you endure unjust criticism without becoming defensive and when you are misunderstood without becoming bitter, the world around you cannot miss that it is my Spirit inside you that makes you strong.
Lord, I don’t want to boast about my strengths but about the weak places in my life where you shine strong . . .
My Word Is Doing Its Work in Your Life
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2 Timothy 3:16
Some people search through my Word for something that appeals, something that comforts, something that inspires. But I have given it to you for so much more. You are blessed when you truly take it in—all of it—because you want to hear everything I have to say to you.
Rather than dabble in my Word, picking and choosing what interests you, you are letting my Word more than dabble in your life. You have placed yourself under it as a student and allowed my Word to teach you what is true. You’ve opened yourself up to it as a patient and allowed my Word to show you where your soul is sick. You have subjected yourself to it as a child and let it correct your misbehaviors and misbeliefs.
O God, go to work with your Word in my life. I’m embarrassed by my errors, so teach me what is true. I’m ashamed of what dishonors you, so teach me to do what is right . . .
I Will Make You Forever Fruitful
They delight in the law of the LORD,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
Psalm 1:2-3
As you find life in my Word and make it your way of life, your roots are going deeper and deeper in me. Deep roots are what you need when strong winds of difficulty and disappointment begin to blow in your life. You see, abundant life doesn’t mean I will spare you from the hard things. It means I will be your security in the storm.
I’m not saying that you will be unaffected by the hurts this life throws your way. I’m saying that you will not be completely crushed or destroyed by them. In fact, my Spirit working in you will enable you to do far more than simply endure difficulty. I will work in you to make you fruitful right there in the middle of hard times. Out of your life will flow peace and joy and contentment because your roots go deep in me.
This blessedness sometimes seems too good to believe in, Lord, yet I know that I can endure more today than I did when I first found my place in you. My roots are going deeper as I go deeper in your Word . . .
I Have Given You a Better Obsession
Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
I have given you so many good things—so many things worthy of being enjoyed and desired. What you want is not necessarily bad. It’s that you want it too much. Your desire so easily becomes a demand, and you find yourself off track, obsessed with so many lesser things than Jesus himself.
So will you let me bless you by giving you a better obsession than whatever it is that dominates your thoughts and desires? Will you make Jesus the center of your life, the focus of your thoughts, the object of your passion, the definition of your identity, the source of your significance, the supplier of your happiness? You do not want to settle for being merely affiliated with Jesus, interested in him, or associated with him. He must take center stage in your thoughts and emotions. Real blessing is found as you are united with him and as you give yourself to him, letting go of whatever keeps you from him.
I am taking stock of my ambitions, my allegiances, and my affections. I want you to be at the center, Jesus, in your rightful place . . .
I Have Provided the Weapons You Need to Win
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
While I have assured your ultimate victory in the war for your soul, this triumph will not be accomplished without many battles and occasional defeats, wounds, and scars. So when you find yourself assaulted by a flurry of doubts, attacked by subtle temptations, or belittled by those who hate the truth, you should not be surprised. You are in a war—a war against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. And the weapons I have provided for you to fight this war are spiritual, not natural.
I’ve given you prayer to fight self-sufficiency. I’ve given you joy to fight discouragement. I’ve given you truth to do battle with deceit. I’ve given you my Holy Spirit living inside you to overcome worldly seduction. I’ve given you full acceptance to silence the accusations of guilt. I’ve given you humble submission to defeat rebellious unbelief.
Satan seems to use every possible means to urge me to satisfy myself with anything other than Christ. But I am not at his mercy . . .
I Will Not Pour Out My Anger on You
God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
I am not a God who has gone soft on sin. I cannot overlook it or sweep it under the rug of the universe. And you don’t want me to. You want a God who is just, a God you can be certain will punish evil in this world.
But you are also well aware of the evil inside of you. While you know that you deserve to be punished for your sin, you need not live in that fear. I am not going to give you what you deserve. I gave Christ what you deserve at the Cross.
I have chosen to save you through Christ. While I poured out my anger on him, I have poured out my mercy on you. I am abundant in mercy beyond what you can conceive, and because you are in Christ, you will know only my loving embrace, not my anger.
God, this salvation from what I deserve and your decision to give me what I don’t deserve is too good for me to conceive or explain, but I receive it by faith and celebrate . . .
I Am Calling You Away from Your Busyness
After sending [the people] home, [Jesus] went up into the hills by himself to pray.
Matthew 14:23
I know you are busy. I am well aware of all of the demands and interests that clamor for your attention. As soon as you finish one project, the next one is looming. Much of what you do is good. But I am calling you away from many good things to enjoy the best thing: time with me—time listening to me by reading and meditating on my Word, time talking to me about the things that really matter to you, time to simply enjoy the peace and joy of my presence.
When you read your e-mail or your newspaper before you read my Word, can you see that you are allowing them to take precedence over me? The tyranny of constant communication with the world can distract you from nurturing an ongoing conversation with me. The voice of the enemy and the easy entertainment of the television can deceive you into thinking that time with me will not be productive or enjoyable. So you must decide not to listen to that voice but instead tune your ear to my voice. I have so much I will share with you as you listen to my voice.
I hear you calling me, not to a to-do list, but to yourself. I want to fill my life with what will matter for eternity—relationship with you . . .
I Am Making You Holy in Every Way
May the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
My grand plan has always been to make you holy, as I am holy. My grace does not nullify this requirement, and my forgiveness does not make holiness optional. I am at work in your life, and I will not quit until that great day when you will stand before Christ with nothing to hide.
You should know that I will not settle for sanctifying only the areas of your life you freely open to my penetrating gaze. I will continue to press and probe so that I might cleanse the hidden motives, the closeted collection of unresolved animosities, the destructive patterns that have become so much a part of you that you can’t see them for what they are. I intend to work my way through every aspect of your character and personality, your habits and your desires, exposing the corruption and contamination and bringing fresh new life.
However you want to do it, Lord, please do it. Whatever you need to get rid of, I’m letting it go. I’m opening my spirit, soul, and body to you . . .
I Will Reward Your Sincere Seeking
It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
I am not impossible to please. In fact, I provide to you exactly what I require from you: faith. I have given you the faith to believe that I am real, and I am a rewarder. I am not merely an impersonal cosmic force but a personal, loving, gracious God to those who seek me.
I gave you the desire to go after me, and then I rewarded your pursuit of me. And what is the reward I have given to you? I have given grace and forgiveness. I have rewarded you with the righteousness of Christ in place of your failed attempts at being right with me. But the most prized reward I have given is myself—in closer relationship and clearer understanding. I have rewarded your seeking by allowing myself to be found.
Even though all my instincts tell me that I must work my way into your good graces, your Word makes it clear that what pleases you is faith. May my life be a living display case for how real and rewarding you are . . .
I Am Filling Up Your Emptiness
Christ . . . fills all things everywhere with himself.
Ephesians 1:23
I want to bless you today by filling you up with myself. I know there are lots of things that compete with my filling, and many of them are very good. But know that you can fill up your life with many good things and still miss the best thing.
So today, will you make room for me to fill you with myself—my thoughts, my priorities, my love, and my concerns? Will you tune out other voices so you can hear mine? Will you eliminate empty activity so you can enjoy interacting with me?
You don’t have to be afraid of losing out when you let go of something you enjoy to make room for me. I only add to your life. I will never deplete you or disappoint you.
Fill me, Lord Jesus, not just with good things, but with the very best thing: you. Show me what needs to be discarded from my life so you can fill me with yourself . . .
I Am the Light That Leads to Life
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
John 8:12
Most people in this world are stumbling through life in the darkness, unable to see the way forward that leads to ongoing life and joy. But because you follow Christ, you do not have to walk in the danger of the darkness. He is shining the radiance of my glory on you. I am flooding your life with the light of my very presence.
My Word is a lamp that shows you where to walk and what to avoid as you make your way through life in this dark world. My light reveals what is true in contrast to what is false, what is real in contrast to what is a fraud. As you walk in my light, you can see what is truly beautiful to behold, what is truly worthy of your worship, what is truly life-giving to your soul. My light will not lead you into a dead end but into everlasting abundant life.
Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see the supreme greatness of your wisdom and power. Heal my stubborn blindness. Fill me with the all-pervading, all-exposing, all-purifying, all-pleasing light of your presence . . .