Peace reigns as I rest in you, Lord Jesus. Grace flows as I embrace my place of submission to you with humility. Joy deepens as I move forward in eager surrender to your wisdom, to your Word and to your ways.

Praise be to you, Lord Jehovah, Yahweh, the great Triune God, marvelous in majesty, glorious in grace and caring in compassion. You have made yourself my Father, my Savior, my King and my Shepherd. In you alone is rest, in you alone is peace and in you alone is joy, for we were made to live in surrender in your embrace of love.

Help me to be in submission and sync with you all through this day, Lord, living in the light of your Word, in the direction of your Spirit and in the wisdom of your understanding, waiting for your timing in all. I praise you now for what you will do, for how you will use me, for all that you will bring into my life today.

Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;”

[To you belong all things, O Lord Yahweh, the Great Creator God. Every square inch of land, every drop of water, every plant, every mineral, every molecule as well as every creature is yours. You are the undisputed owner by virtue of your creating all out of nothing, simply speaking them into existence.

You are, therefore, worthy of glory and honor, of awe and worship. You are also worthy of obedience, for we, too, belong to you as the work of your hands, as creatures before the Creator.

Psalm 24:2 “for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”

[It was you, Lord Yahweh, who spoke and brought the earth into existence, hung it on nothing, spun it at the right speed, correctly tilted the axis for proper seasons, and sent it off in the best orbit around the sun. You are the One who planned all, established the laws of physics, set gravity at just the right strength, who put your stamp of design on all aspects of your creation.

What a wonder you are, Lord Jesus, in your willingness to suffer the anguish of the cross, the despair of abandonment, the pain of rejection, the battering of Satan’s attacks, the horror of becoming sin, the crushing weight of the Father’s judgment, the banishment from His presence, and condemnation to death.

There was no need for you, the Righteous One, to suffer these things, but love led the way, faithfulness stayed the course, obedience brought the glorious conclusion. Praise you for this great display of your rich, loving, gracious Character, O Everlasting God!

Praise you for your loving care, shepherding your rebellious children, displaying great patience in the face of our disrespect, unbelief, disobedience and selfishness.

You, Lord Jesus, are worthy of worship for boundless reasons. I praise you for the joy you give as I think on how you have worked in my life, providing personal, powerful, persistent, patient intervention to bring me to my senses, to bring me to surrender and out of trouble.

I love you, Lord Jesus. I rejoice in your all-sufficient grace, I praise you for your all-encompassing goodness. Truly you are worthy of all-absorbing worship, so I bow down now and give you honor in my thoughts, desires and words. I rise up to enter this day, giving you all glory in my life. May you be the One I continually delight in, and may that delight spill over onto all I will meet today!

Because of computfer problems I’ve been unable to post every day, but “God sighting” Josh is here for our 50th and was able to fix things. Thank you, Lord.
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The continuation of the story of losing my hearing aid.
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I returned to join my family, again looking carefully as I retraced my steps and then we all looked again as we walked back home–but no hearing aid. I returned later in the afternoon with a magnetic stick and swept through the leaves, but nothing. The next morning, I brought a young friend who is really good at finding things—but again nothing.

Each of these fruitless searches was another chance to trust God in praise. He certainly knows where that hearing aid is, but, has chosen not to show me. I don’t know what He intends to do with this, but I can trust Him to know and to reveal it at the right time.

It is so good to relax in His love, to let go of what is temporal (it belonged to God anyway), to hold on to the truth of His goodness and grace, and to rise above the situation.

As it says in Hebrews 12:1-2, remembering that I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, I am told to lay aside every weight (sadness at the loss) and the sin that so easily entangles me (worry, fretting, anger) and run with patience and perseverance the race He has set before me, looking to Jesus (not to people, possessions or success), the Author and Finisher of my faith (He will carry me through).

Then, following His example, for the joy set before me (of being His child, of having Him as my Shepherd, of His protection and provision, of a certain future, of spending eternity with Him), I can endure whatever cross (loss) may come and despise whatever shame I may feel (for my failure to find it), knowing that I will be set down in heaven with Him.

What a freeing, empowering perspective! I encourage you to pray that passage for yourself every day for a month and see what God does! And I will wait to see His further purposes in this adventure of loss.

[Epilogue: I never did find the hearing aid, but the Lord provided money to pay for a new one in an interesting way. A friend was unable to sell his pickup truck, so I bought it to help him out, then was able to resell it with enough profit to pay for both a new hearing aid, and a crown from my wife’s tooth! God has it all in hand, if we will only cooperate: “He who offers the sacrifice of praise, honors me, and opens the way that I may show him the salvation of the Lord.” Psalm 50:23]

You, Lord Jesus, are deeply caring, wisely working, godly in guiding, persistent in protecting. You are the only One we can trust–all others and all else are shifting sands.

Praise be to you for your lavish love, your gracious goodness, your wise work, your firm faithfulness, your cherishing in chastening, your reasonable rebuking, your taking us through trials, your shepherding through suffering, your working through our weakness, your maturing us through miserable times.

You are marvelous, Lord Jesus, you are majestic, you are mighty, you are magnificent, you are worthy of worship and deserving of dedication. “I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies” (Psa. 18:3).

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, gracious God, King of glory. May you be honored in my life today through faith, obedience, kindness, patience, wisdom and grace. Amen.