Psalm 119:76-77 “Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.  Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.”

As I was sitting in my prayer time today I was compelled to lift the people and situations in my prayers journal in love.  When I pray I ask God to be with them, to heal them, to guide them... whatever they have asked for in their requests.  It is the pure love of God poured out onto and into us that brings us what we need.  His Divine Love brings comfort, healing and guidance.  His steadfast love holds us steady when we falter and brings mercy to us when we fail.    He is always there with us, never leaving our side.  He is truly and honestly steadfast in His love for us.  I delight in his law because his law is Love.  Love Him, love each other.  Today I lift my prayers to the Lord in love.  I surround those people and situations in Love and I go into this day filled with the steadfast love of the Lord.  There are many struggles all around but if I can feel the love of God with me and pray for the love of God to fill those struggles, I will be able to continue in delight of the Lord and His law.  Love to you all.

Lord,

Let love songs fill my heart today and as I sing away, let each of them draw me to you and your Divine Love.  Fill my heart and my home so that it overflows into my neighborhood and my world, bringing your love and mercy to all.  I pray all this in your holy name and to your glory.  Amen.

1 John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

I was wondering this morning – where do I draw the line?  I really wanted to include verses 5-10 and then go into chapter two because this whole section of 1 John was leaping off of the page into my heart but alas, if I included all that text on this page of devotion, there would be no room for my meditations and that is important for me to write as well.  I would encourage you to read this passage and see what speaks to you.  God is light.  As the sun breaks over the horizon this morning I am rejoicing in the Light.  He dispels all darkness and brings light and love into the deepest darkest places.  He brings healing and grace to those places of hidden secrets; the dungeons of our souls.  Open the creaking doors and allow the light to come in.  Do not fear; He is our comfort and our friend, our Healer and our Savior.  As He comforts, soothes, forgives and heals, the light will flood the darkness and we will all rejoice in truth and love at the beauty.

Lord,

Thank you for all you have done for me and every reader, for all those who do not read.  I cannot abide in your light by my own strength. I do not have what it takes but because of your love and sacrifice I call on your grace and forgiveness and step into the light once more.  Hallelujah! Amen.

John 14:5 “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?’”

This morning I have been thinking about all the different paths that I see people on.  There are so many different religious practices out there, even more than I can imagine.  In the bible Jesus is referred to in many ways.  He is called Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Light of the World, King of Kings, Lamb of God and the list goes on.  As I lift people I know and love in prayer to God because I do not know that they see Him in truth, I realize I do not know their heart or their path.  Only God can know who they are, who they will become and what their path is.  I do not know the heart of God or the hearts of others, I only know the desire that all would be with Him in the end.  I trust His word when he says He will seek out even one lost sheep, his desire is that none would be lost.  I trust His power that he reigns over all this and is omnipotent.  I believe that He is so much bigger than I can fathom that I will turn my prayers over to Him, and allow Him to do the work He knows needs to be done.  He is the way, I choose to follow and trust Him to lead.

Lord,

So often I feel blind to your ways.  I know you are at work in the world I have seen evidence of it and yet I struggle.  Help me let go, placing my prayers for my friends and this world in your mighty hands knowing that you will prevail.  Show me the way and I will follow you for you are Light, Love and Life.  Amen.

Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Today feels like a day of foundations.  We are at the end of our spring break week, getting ready to settle back into a school routine.  The kids and I will join some friends and visit a conservation center that depicts living in the plains in the 1800’s.  I woke up with the words “in Christ alone” running through my head over and over again.  Now I am led to this verse in Romans.  All of these things seem to point to a bottom line, to my roots; the foundations.  There are many places in the bible where we are told to love God and love our neighbor.  We are told that if we love like this, the law is not abolished but completed.  How can we love like this?  In our human eyes, we see differences and separateness.  We see aversions and dislikes.  In Christ alone, we are able to see our neighbors in love.  In Christ alone, we are able to come to the God of all and love as He taught us to love.  Let us break down barriers and simply reach out in love.  Search for the deep love of God in your heart and soul then let that love reach out to others. 

Lord,

Thank you for teaching us how to love and how to live.  Fill us up with your love and grace and guide us out into this world today to spread these precious gifts to those around us.  Let us each be a beacon of light and lover of souls.  In this way, we fulfill your law and further your kingdom.  Amen.

Psalm 34:22 “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”

Yesterday morning the sky was gray and a fog was looming in the air.  I was looking forward to sunshine and warmth but trying to find the joy in the moisture that the fog and coolness was bringing our grass.  Fog envelopes the trees and the houses around.  It closes around us like a blanket.  I resigned to the fact that we would have another gray and cold day.  I don’t know when it happened because I was busy and not paying attention but the clouds lifted and the sun came out.  The kids were playing outside with water and sand by the end of the day.  Spring arrived!  This is how I feel when I revel in the refuge and redemption of the Lord.  I take refuge in Him and I am enveloped in his arms of love, grace and forgiveness.  When I have been restored I go out into the world fill with light and life through Him.  As spring comes out in all of its glory, let us each take hold of the newness of life that is granted to us.  Let spring flowers like crocus and tulips be reminders to us.  Let the singing birds and the budding trees call to our hearts... Life is new again! 

Lord,

Thank you for your sacrifice and your grace.  I praise you today for all the blessings you give us.  Through your death and resurrection we have all been given new life.  Guide me today as I seek to honor the life you have given me in everything I do.  Amen.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

Have you ever tried to make coffee without plugging in the coffeemaker and turning it on or tried to cook a pot of soup without turning on the stove?  Let me tell you from experience, that these things do not work without their power source.  When I read this passage this verse jumped out at me.  I thought about electricity.  Can we accomplish daily tasks without electricity?  Yes, but things are so much more efficient with the power of electricity to help them.  I liked this analogy for a bit but then I came back to the one Jesus used to begin with.  As much as electricity is necessary for certain tasks and certain appliances, God is more than that.  We need more than to be plugged in with God, we need to be intertwined; we need to be one with Him.  The branch is not a separate entity plugged into the vine; they are a part of each other, one in each other.  Do more than plug in, allow yourself to grow in God.  Become a part of Him and allow Him to be in you.  This is how we will be fruitful people.

Lord,

As we go into this day, open our eyes to see little reminders of you being in us.  Whether it is a coffeemaker or a tree, a bush or a computer, remind us that we are useless without you and that, with you, we can bear much fruit for your kingdom.  Thank you for being our life source.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy that person.  For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

My spouse works for a company that has an incentive plan to be healthy.  They encourage their employees and the spouses to eat well and exercise as well as seek counsel for habits and struggles that keep us from optimum health.  As I log the foods I eat and the amount of water I drink it causes me to be more conscious of what I put into my body.  As I log the amount of exercise I did and choose what kind of exercise I do, it makes me more conscious of how I treat this body.  I printed out a spring cleaning checklist from the internet last week and I have plans to use it this month to clean the things I don’t think about.  As I go through this process in my home, I also plan to go through this process in spirit and body as well.  As I meditated on these verses and the passage right before them, I thought of the people I see in society that do not seem to honor their temple.  The question I ask myself and I am led to ask you is this:  How can I bring light and love to my temple and then in turn share that light and love to build up the temples of others?

Lord,

Thank you for reminding me that we are your holy temples.  You abide in us and we are called to build these temples with care and love.  Guide me in building so that the building is strong and well built upon your foundation.  Amen.