Praise you, Lord, for your gracious and kind hand at work in my life. I give you glory for your rock solid goodness, your whole-hearted holiness, your deep, continual steadiness. You do not vacillate the way I do, you do not sin and suffer remorse, you do not stray off the path of righteousness and need correction as I do.

I praise you for your immutability, your perfection, your flawlessness. In you there is surety, in you there is certainty, in you there is eternal, unshifting, beautiful purity. You are the One, the only One, upon whom I can lean, for you will never  change and will never let me down.

You are the great and gracious One, ever active in my life, correcting, directing, protecting, empowering. When I stray, you are there to prick, convict and correct, bringing me back to the Path of peace and the Rock of rest.

It is so comforting, so encouraging, so gracing to live in your powerful presence, your lavish love, your awesome acceptance and your righteous rule. I look out over the sketch of today, just a few bare points of possibility visible to me, but at the same time you, Lord, see every detail of what will happen in full color, every dimension, total outcome. Therefore I can rest in the fact that for you there are no surprises, you can guide me through every twist and turn, every problem and possibility. You prepare me, bringing to mind what should be done, what I should remember and what I should avoid. Praise you, Lord, for your complete love, your competent preparation, your consistent protection, your continual presence.

To you belongs glory, honor, praise and obedience for you are perfect in personality, complete in character, marvelous in ministry, powerful in performance and illogical in love, giving us the opposite of what we deserve.

I praise you, bask in your love, revel in your goodness, rejoice in your patience, celebrate your acceptance and rest in your forgiveness. Today I bow before you in awe, surrendering whole-heartedly, to rise up in obedience and go forth in joy, all because of your infinite greatness. To you be glory today in all I do and say, think and feel, desire and do. Amen.

Praise you, Lord, for a new day, another chance to live with you. In the night my uncertainty, worry and fears surface and I often feel far from you.  But this is an opportunity to touch the Rock and remember how safe I am in you: you know what you are doing; you have a plan; you are moving us forward; stability does not depend on my performance but on your character—which is immutable, mature, holy, perfect and eternal. You will take me to the next step; you will guide me in all that is to be done today. I can rest in you, trust in you, rejoice in you.

I may fail (and will every day), but you are always there to fill in the lacks, to pick me up, to give guidance, to encourage and to love. I can relax in you, listen to your voice and move ahead in Truth. How wonderful it is to be your child, to wait in you, to rejoice in you. I give you honor, praise, glory and exaltation. May you be honored and glorified in my life today.

Praise you, Lord, for your abundant goodness, poured out upon us undeservedly and bountifully. Your lavish love is evident at every moment as we are kept in your presence by grace, as we are your children, accepted, deeply loved and doted on.

You have given us your Spirit, your grace, your protection, your Word, your guidance, your daily provision.

We can see, hear, speak and walk. You have given us hands and feet to facilitate life. You have provided clothes, food, a bed, warmth and rest. We lack nothing that is necessary, and have far more than we need.

You are the great Provider, the mighty Protector, the magnificent Power Creator, the majestic Potentate. There is no one who comes vaguely near your greatness; you are the glorious One, the gracious One, the good One, the great One. You are worthy of worship no matter what my circumstances may be: in your holiness, your purity, your wisdom, your power, your creativity, your eternalness, your infiniteness you are worthy of honor, glory, exaltation and praise.

Your love, poured out on those who deserve the opposite, is astounding to the angels, to the universe, to us. Your gracious forgiveness and redemption are the opposite of what we deserve, of what we should expect. You are so good, so kind, so gracious, so forgiving, so all inclusive in your offer of redemption and salvation.

You are way beyond our comprehension, yet have made yourself known to us so we can trust you, worship you, obey you, love you. May we do so today in our attitudes, motives, words and deeds, giving you the honor you deserve, the glory due your name.  Glory be to you in my life  through out this day. Amen.

A new day, a new week, a new opportunity to live for you, Lord Jesus, my God and King. Praise you that the purpose you have given us in life is not dependent on our success or failure, on other people’s opinions of us, on our feelings or perceptions, or by our circumstances. In every instance, at every moment we can trust and praise you, Lord God, and thereby bring you glory and honor—this is the purpose of our lives, to worship you, the Creator of all, the Sustainer of all, the ender of all—for you are worthy.

You are the One who breathed the stars into existence, who gathered a handful of them into the Milky Way, who arranged our solar system in one little corner, who hung the earth on nothing, who set it’s rotation, axis and orbit at the optimum levels, at just the right distance from the sun. You spoke into existence the fish and fowl, the beasts and beauty of the earth. You fashioned from earth man and from man, woman.

You, O Lord God, are immensely powerful, unwaveringly strong and wonderfully wise. As you created and now sustain all in your wisdom and love, so you have worked in our sin-warped lives. You created a way of salvation which was much harder than speaking the stars into space. You became the man, Jesus of Nazareth, you suffered the unjust attacks of people, demons and the devil, you became sin for us, you endured the ripping of the Trinity, and you were crushed under the just wrath of the Father against sin. And you took  it all with patience, trust and love.

You then rose up to defeat the devil and death, to open the door to life and light and to invite all to come through it into the Kingdom of Truth, Purity and Love.  Those of your sinful human beings who come are transformed as they pass through the doorway of your sacrifice.

–They enter as enemies, they exit as your children.

–They enter as those excluded from heaven, they exit as qualified by you as partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light.

–They enter as grotesque rebels, they exit clothed in the beautiful righteousness of Christ.

–They enter as weak in flesh and dead in spirit, they exit with a resurrected spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

–They enter as aliens, they exit as those in whom the Lord delights.

These truths never alter; these privileges are given for eternity, sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit as the first portion of the inheritance of the children of God.

Lord God, what a wonderful and gracious God you are, way beyond anything that man could ever think up.  You live in dimensions we have never seen or could imagine. A few of these we can name, but not actually know: you are eternal, all seeing, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, never tiring, never sleeping, never changing, living outside of time and loving all perfectly. We can only glimpse tiny portions of these dimensions in descriptions of you in the Word. We must bow before you in the small window of knowledge you have granted within the limits of living in a three dimensional world bounded by death and decay.

The wonder of becoming the beloved child of such a Great and Gracious God is incomprehensibly wide and deep and long and high. It is good we will have all eternity to rejoice in you, to worship you, to love you.

We begin now with putting on the armor of God, lifting the shield of faith through praise to give you honor, glory, exaltation and power all through the day. When we desire to live thusly, each event becomes a stage upon which we can live in your grace and be a signpost pointing to you: the living, loving God of light, beckoning to all mankind from the doorway of salvation.

Today may we live the purpose for which you created us, resting in the mighty Truth of your Being, bringing joy and honor to your heart through praise, prayer and persistence in obedience. Amen.

Lord, as we face times of change and adjustment, it is so good to be your child, to know that we are within the strength of your arm, that you are guiding us in how to proceed, that you are protecting us and will carry us on to whatever conclusion and outcome you desire in our lives. And, most importantly, you will provide us many opportunities along the way to give you glory, honor and praise.  Doing so is fulfilling the purpose for our existence—giving you glory–so will bring joy, fulfillment, goodness and strength. Truly, the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Lord, out of your immense, eternal, never ending power, you share with us, pouring into our lives every day the grace we need to keep going. As it says in Isaiah:

Isa 40:29  “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” [When we feel we can’t do any more, can’t take another step, He gives us strength to go on. “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand.” (Eph 6:13)

Having this strength depends first on God’s giving it and second on our accepting it, taking it up and using it. It has to do with obeying in faith, in thinking Truth, in praising in all, in resisting despair, self-pity and fear of man. It has to do with viewing weakness as an opportunity to see your power at work, Lord. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9a)

Being weak is uncomfortable, distressing, humiliating–and good, for it reveals to us our true state and helps us turn to true partnership with God. “I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness so that the power o Christ may rest on me.” (2 Cor 12:9b) God gives, are we accepting, embracing His strength, or do we demand to have it on our terms?

Isa 40:30  “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;” [Even in the flower and power of youth, when the day of evil comes human strength isn’t enough. We need strength from another source in order to move through life with grace, goodness and greatness.]
Isa 40:31  “but” [now comes the shift of vision to the source of all] “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.” [here is our part, to hope in the Lord, not in our own abilities, not in our talents, not in chance or luck, but in the Lord who created heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. We look to Him for the outcome, wholeheartedly cooperate, and He brings it to pass. In that hope He gives us renewed strength.]

“They will soar on wings like eagles” [able to rise above the events of the day, the evil of the world, the darkness of our old nature. We must stretch out our wings of hope and faith so the wind of God’s Spirit will lift us up to new heights.]

“they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” [At whatever speed we move forward in God’s will, sufficient strength will be supplied, for God is faithful, His resources are endless, His grace is abundant, His heart is ever giving, His plan is relentless and will be completed. Are we willing to embrace what He sends, join Him in what He’s doing and receive the power he proffers?]

You, Lord, are the God of wisdom, of insight, of understanding. You require of us what each of us can do: have faith in you. And you give us plenty of evidence so that we can trust you, submit to you with joy, obey you with confidence. You are the great and mighty God who has never been defeated, who will never fail, whose plans will come to pass. “The plans of the Lord endure forever and the purposes of His heart through all generations.”

Praise be to you, Lord, in my life today. May I so remain in the light of this truth that I consistently live in hope, taking up your grace, running in your strength, soaring in your truth and giving glory to you. Amen.