Wednesday Morning Devotional

The Consequences of Sexual Sin

II Samuel 11

David messed up. He messed up pretty bad. The “man after God’s own heart” somehow became an adulterous murderer! If it can happen to him, it can happen to you, and it can happen to me. Today, you don’t have to look very hard to see that adultery is happening all around us! Turn on the news and someone is making headlines because they had sex with someone other than their spouse.

Fortunately, for those who’d like to avoid this trap, we have King David’s story documented and we can learn from his mistakes. So, let‘s dive in and see what can we learn from David.

In the very first verse of the 11th chapter, we see that David was somewhere he should not have been in the first place. He was in the wrong place. It was Spring time and kings go out to war. David was a king. He should have been fighting. Instead, he was just taking it easy, chillin‘ and bored. Are you fighting? Meaning, do you pray, read the word, and regularly ask God to keep evil from you or lead you not into temptation? Or, are you just bored? Isn’t it amazing what boredom does to a person? Where does boredom lead you when you are on the computer late at night? David’s boredom in verse 2 led him to his rooftop. This was the 1000 BC version of surfing the internet. He clicked on some porn sites and found one he really liked…Bathsheba.com.

Listen, according to one site I found, 90% of 13 to 14 year old boys ADMIT they struggle with addiction to pornography. Another site said that over 13 billion dollars was spent on pornography in the United States alone. That is close to $400 per second! Like it or not, this is a problem! Why is it a problem? Why is it a big deal? Well, It kills marriages, and it destroys our children! How? Glad you asked!

David had at least eight wives. He had several more that were not named. You know what looking at porn did for him? Well, after that experience, none of the wives he had “measured up.” These were wives of the King! I guarantee you they were all very beautiful. But Bathsheba’s image was burned into his mind and he couldn’t get it out of his head. Think about it: can you remember any of the pornographic images you’ve encountered? When you start comparing those images to your spouse, you begin to feel like you are “missing out” on something. You start feeling like you made the wrong decision to marry because you aren‘t “happy.” You fall into that devastating trap called sin.

If you are a teenager, you are preparing for your marriage right now. You are to prepare for your future spouse the same way you want your future spouse to prepare for you! Keep unclean things from your eyes that you may only have eyes for the one you choose to spend the rest of your life with! You may brag now to your friends about how many times you’ve had sex, but you won’t be so proud of it on your wedding night. Plus, something tells me you won‘t be bragging about all those experiences to your new spouse! God’s rule against committing adultery is in place to protect you, not to keep you from having “fun.” It’s to provide you with time to work on the things that will actually make a solid marriage: Education, patience, integrity, trust, honor, dignity, and promably the most important one, self control. Basically, you learn to do all the stuff that everyone else seems to roll their eyes and wink at today! Let me tell you, these are all qualities that God honors whether you are a Christian or not.

Sin has consequences! Perhaps the harshest consequence to David’s sin was “the child born to you will die!” Let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so mad at God from reading the Bible as when I first read II Samuel 12:14, I made sure He knew that I thought that was the most unfair thing I’ve ever seen. (I’m sure I intimidated Him)

Yet, the same thing happens every single day. Marriages are ripped apart because of sexual immorality and it’s the kids who suffer. I’ve asked many kids many times “what is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?” So many say “when my mom and dad divorced .”
Likewise, here is something else that happens every single day. A teenager gets pregnant.
Most of the children that actually make it to being born in this situation grow up without being raised by both of their parents. These children never know what it’s like to grow up with a mom and dad that love each other. Kids want nothing more than to be loved by their parents. If they are not, they find some pretty cheap substitutes for that love. In many cases, the daughter will become pregnant, then the baby gets aborted. Read verse 14 one more time from this perspective . . . “Because by doing this, the child born to you, will die”

As hard as this may be to believe, we should all be glad that the innocent get punished in place of the guilty. Not glad that it happens every day, but glad that it happened on the cross at Calvary two thousand years ago. That injustice is the only reason anyone even has a chance to be reconciled to Him and spend eternity with Him! Let me explain.

Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned.” Telling lies, taking things that don’t belong to you, gossiping, pre-marital sex, drunkenness, pornography, abortion, it does not matter which ones you and I struggle with, it’s all sin, and we’ve all sinned!

Romans 6:23 says the “wages of sin is death.” This is physical death and spiritual death in a real place called Hell. I know, I can hear it now, ”well, I don’t believe God would send anybody there.” All I can say is that I wish you were right. But first, ask the rich dude in Luke 16:23 if anyone gets sent there.

Disobedience to God is serious! Sin is serious! How serious? So serious that someone or something has to die as a result!!

Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrated His love for is in the fact that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9 says “if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Thank GOD He made a way! No matter what your sins are, forgiveness and reconciliation are all found in the same person, His name is Jesus!

John 14:6 says “I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me.” Not only did He make a way, He made the way, the only way!

I sinned, and that baby boy born in a manger had to die.

Jesus, I am so sorry for the way I chose to reject you and live a life in opposition to your will. May I never live my life in a way that hurts you again.

Later
Adam

Zombie

and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. — Matthew 27:52

When Jesus died on the cross, tombs literally broke open. There were people who had been dead that came back to life. I remember the first time I read this in the Bible. I was absolutely astounded.

Today, I realize that I was a walking dead person before I gave my life to Christ. Here is the definition of a zombie: the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose. So, yes, I appeared to have the semblance of life because I was breathing. I may have had breath, but I was mute. I could not speak of the things of God because I did not know God. I was will-less because I had not offered my body up as a living sacrifice. Remember Romans 12?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. — Romans 12:1-2

So it was, kneeling by my bedside as a 22 year old, I laid my life down as a living sacrifice. I told God I would no longer conform to the pattern of this world. I let Him know that I would constantly renew my mind by reading His Word and filling my head with solid Biblical teaching and solid Biblical music. I might have said the prayer of salvation as a 16 year old, but I chose not to lay down my life. For that little span of 5-6 years I chose to give God my sin, but not my life. I would live my life driven by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose. In other words, I would do what I wanted to do, “ask for forgiveness” when convicted about it, and think I was right with God. Then, I would repeat the cycle over and over again. I would remain will-less, especially of His will.

As it stands now, I am so thankful that Jesus gave His life for me. Even though it was a long process, I am even more thankful that I was brought to a place where I would truly give my life to Him. At the time, I did not like it. Satan had me convinced that a true, Godly life was a rip-off. Somehow, only with massive amounts of help from Him, I chose to believe God’s Word instead of my wishy-washy feelings.

As time went on, this tomb broke open. I picture it as a seed being in the ground for a while. Soon, that seed had to burst open and produce some green . . . New life! The body of Adam Hopkins was raised from death to life.

Has yours?

Happy Easter

Adam

Drop the Rock

“The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” — John 8:5

I am so glad social media didn’t exist when I was younger. I have done some stupid stuff. Stuff I know some people would have whipped out their camera and posted for the world to see. I have hurt people with my actions all in the name of being “funny.” It might have seemed funny at the time, but looking back now, it was just hurtful. Not only was it mean, but back then, I would have defended my actions. I would have told you they were “no big deal,” or said “mind your own business.”

Well, fast forward a couple of decades and here I am typing this WMD for many to read. I rarely watch the news, but when I do, it is mostly people who have done stupid stuff . . . Some stuff, of course, is more stupid than the other stuff. Some stuff can’t be undone. In fact, nothing you or I have ever done can ever be undone . . . But it can be forgiven.

In John chapter 8, there was a woman caught in the act of adultery. I still don’t know how she committed adultery all by herself, but apparently that was the case. It is almost astounding to think today how having sex with someone who was not your husband two thousand years ago was such a big deal. Could you imagine someone dragging a girl today “caught in the act” being drug out in the open with the accuser shouting “this woman was caught in the act!”? Absolutely nobody would care. In fact, it would probably be the person who dragged the woman out in public that would be beaten up for embarrassing her. Times sure do change.

When someone clearly does wrong, let’s say they are “caught in the act,” what is your reaction? In my observation, most people are rock launchers. They jump at the chance to throw some rocks at people’s skull and get some “payback.” They love to “give them what they have coming to them,” or “give them what they deserve.” Every time I see the vultures swarm around the offender, I hear Bon Scott sing “If you want blood . . . You got it!” It’s just one of those songs that won’t go away.

Now, if you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, you get to react however you want. Well, as long as your reaction is legal (I’m assuming nobody wants to go to jail). You may act in mercy, and you may act in vengeance. However, if you call yourself a Christian, you must choose mercy. The simple definition of mercy is “not getting what you absolutely deserve.” I know what I have done in my past. I have done stuff that I would just die of embarrassment if I knew that you knew. Fortunately, at the foot of the cross, I met Jesus. He convicted me of my sins, forgave me for my sins, and taught me how to never do them again. He gave me a new heart that wanted to do what was right and didn’t gravitate toward doing wrong. He chose to be merciful to me. He certainly didn’t give me what I know I still deserve.

How could I not show others the same mercy that was shown to me? Jesus gave us the ultimate example of how to be in the story. Check out verse 7:

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

Who in the world am I to ever throw a rock at anyone?

Who are you?

Drop the rock!

When I stand before the King of Kings, I want mercy. I need mercy. The only way to get it according to His Word, is to give it.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” — Matthew 5:7

Later

Adam

Cleaning House

When Jesus came into Peter’s house . . . — Matthew 8:14

Every time we have company coming over to our house, we clean. I don’t know about your children, but mine can clutter up a house very quickly. Therefore, when the time comes, all of us pitch it and begin to put things in their proper place. In fact, some things get put up, some things get tossed. After a few hours of work, everything looks great and we all vow to keep it that way. Then, the whole process eventually begins again.

Peter had Jesus coming to his house. Now, it is one thing to follow Jesus “out there.” It is entirely another to allow Him into your home. Up until this point, Peter had been more like a guy who listened to Jesus while he was at work and simply went to prayer meetings and church services. Everything Peter did for the Lord and everything he saw the Lord do was outside of his home. Keep in mind, Peter had probably been a follower of Jesus for a year or less by this point.

Now, if Jesus were coming to your house, what would you do? I remember when I let Jesus into my house. I didn’t know Matthew 8:14, but I just knew in my heart that I had to clean out some things. I saw quickly that certain books I had on my shelves had to go. I looked through my DVD collection and tossed some movies that would never be watched again. I went through my CD’s and tossed a ton of the very music I used to defend when someone told me it was poison to a Godly mind. I got rid of Hell’s Box Office, I mean HBO and several of those “premium” channels that leave nothing to the imagination. I placed a Bible on my computer and prayed over it. I told God that if I ever looked at pornography again, I would rip it out of the wall, slam it on my concrete walkway several times, and toss it in the trash.

Why so extreme? (Read Matthew 5:29-30 and then tell me I’m being extreme)

Because for the first time in my life, I was going to let Jesus in my house.

It is one thing to go to church on Sunday, put “Christian” as your “Religious Views” on Facebook, attend all the potluck dinners (known as a “carry in” at Lifeline Community Church FYI), and play “church.” It is entirely another to let God determine what you watch, who you hang out with, what you read, what you listen to, what you spend your money on . . . This list goes on for a while.

Believe me, I understand the immediate pushback, because I’ve been there. “It is my life!” Right?

Well, that is up to you. If God really is God, serve Him! If you want your life to be your own, be bold enough to tell God the areas He can have and the areas He can’t have. Tell Him He can have 11:00 – 12:00 on Sundays as long as you get to the buffet first. Tell Him His Word can have a little space on your coffee table, but not to expect you to actually read it, and definitely don’t expect you to do anything that is written in it. After all, it is hard to read and understand and even harder to actually live out.

Now, I know that sounds harsh . . . It is harsh. But, even though I would have NEVER told God those words, that is exactly the way I treated Him with my actions. I was a clock watcher on Sunday who wanted to get to The Steak House (Only Oconee County people know what a temptation that actually is). I was a hypocrite who acted like I had it all together yet never read His Word unless I was opening my Bible to where the preacher was preaching on Sunday. I had no plans of ever giving Him more than a few dollars in the offering plate, forgiving my enemies, or loving my neighbor.

That is, until I found out He wanted to live in my house.

Now, there is nothing I’d rather do than get up early, listen to the rain, type this WMD, and give Him thanks for completely changing my life.

Has He completely and dramatically changed your life?

Take a walk through your house today and decide if it needs a good “cleaning.”

Later

Adam

Fighting the Good Fight

Fight the good fight of faith.  — 1 Timothy 6:12

Are you currently fighting for your faith?  Are you fighting for those things that you know are true, but cannot see?  Are you still pursuing God with all your heart, mind and soul?  This is the fight.  He is the prize.  You and I are supposed to be fighting for our hearts to remain pure.  We are supposed to fight for His presence in and on our lives.  When we feel it slipping away…we must fight.

The reason I write about this today is because lately it has been an all out war for me to fight the good fight of faith.  I have been getting up early in the morning and pursuing God, but it has been a fight.  As soon as I get started, my mind wanders.  My mind fills up with all the stuff I have to do that day and just worrying about the junk of this world.  As soon as I realize what is happening, I stop, I pray, I read the Word . . . all to have the process repeat itself.  I leave somewhat dejected because I know what it is like to leave on fire.  However, I vow to keep fighting.

I have to.

Satan would like nothing more than for me to give up.  If I stop fighting, my family no longer sees Christ in me.  If I stop fighting, my students no longer see something different about me.  If I stop fighting, the congregation of my church sees a public speaker, not a man warring for the prize that is Christ Jesus.  If I stop fighting, I am simply saying “to Hell with those who are lost and don‘t know God.”  I am saying “who cares if that brother or sister is hurting, let someone else pray for them.”  I am basically saying “let someone else fight.”

This can not and will not happen on my watch!

Paul exhorts a young Timothy to fight the good fight of faith.  As I read his words this morning, he is exhorting me, too.  He just may be exhorting you as well.  Maybe you have been like me and don’t “feel” like praying, studying the Word, or even going to the house of God . . . Do it anyway.

Just a few verses later in verse 14 Paul charges Timothy (and us) “to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  It is so easy to forget that He is coming back.  One day the trumpet will sound and He will return.  Even if He does not in our lifetime, one day we will draw our last breath.  We will stand before Him. For it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.

Fight the good fight of faith.

Later

Adam

Imitation

And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.  — 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)

Paul said to imitate him.  How many times have I read this verse and waltzed right over it?  I have never heard another Christian say “be like me.”  Until now, I would have never thought to say such a thing.  The more I think about it, if I live every single day that I might imitate Christ and bring glory and honor to His Name, what is wrong with saying such a thing?

Someone once told me that Christianity is more “caught” than taught.  There are people sitting in church every Sunday that know a lot about Christianity.  They know lots of scriptures and could even present the Gospel to anyone that cared to hear.  Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of people actually living out what they know.  The people who were the most influential to my spiritual life didn’t just know a bunch of stuff, they DID the stuff and applied what they knew to everyday life.  They were different.  When I saw them, I wanted to be like them.  I wanted to imitate them.  Imitating them helped me learn to imitate Christ.

I was once told that I could live however I wanted as long as I “believed” in Jesus.  This person believed that salvation came in the simple knowledge of the fact that Jesus did in fact exist and did in fact die on a cross.  Now, let’s set aside the fact that the Bible says that even demons believe this and it does them no good.  I equate this with working out and being in shape.  I have gotten out of shape pretty bad.  Now, I knew the whole time that I needed to be exercising, burning more calories than I consume, and making better choices when I eat.  Knowing that did not help my gut shrink one bit.  The fact is, if I don’t actually do the things I know to do, I could very easily “let myself go” and be very unhealthy.  Christianity is similar.  If we don’t actually do the stuff we know to do, what good is it doing?

I love to see my little boy come into the room when I am working out and start imitating me.  When I hit golf balls in my yard, sometimes he will grab a club and imitate me.  Sometimes he will get up early in the morning and come into the living room where I am praying and studying the Bible.  He will say “Dad, let’s read a Bible story.”  I usually ask him which one he’d like to read and he says “Sampson carrying the gate” or “Daniel and the Lions.”  We will just sit there together for a little while, talk about the story and end in prayer.  Days like that make me want to keep imitating Christ to the best of my ability.  I want to be more like Jesus because my little boy wants to be like me.  I want to live a life worth imitating.

Now that I am the pastor of a church, I want to live a life that the men of my church want to imitate.  They need to see that my heart is ablaze for God and want the fire for themselves.  They need to see me humble myself at the altar.  They need to see that I am absolutely in love with God and that He is my one true source of life.  They need to see that when I start drifting back towards the world and its ways that I fight with everything that I have to regain that intimacy with God that I once knew.  They need to see that there is nothing more important to me than loving The Lord.

I am also a math teacher in the school system.  I want to live a life that my students want to imitate.  They need to hear that I am excited about going on a date with my wife of 12 years.  They need to hear that I am looking forward to just hanging out with my children on the weekend.  They need to hear that I enjoy coming into the school and trying my best to help them get where they want to be in the future.  They need to know that I genuinely care about them and want the best for them.  They need to know that the abundant, drama-free life is possible.  They don’t need me talking down to them and condemning them.  They need to see me actually do the things I say I will do and also see me ask for forgiveness when I don’t.  They need to see me being the best Christ follower I can be.

Lord, help me imitate you.  Place in the heart of others who are far from you the desire to imitate me.

Later

Adam

The Thing About the Abundant Life

…but I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.  —  John 10:10

I was talking to someone this past week who was making his return back to the Lord.  He told me the story of his salvation, his baptism, and how just a year ago he felt like a clean, brand new man.  Then, he proceeded to tell me how immorality grabbed a hold of his life.  He told me how the offering plate passed a few weeks ago and he didn’t put anything in it, yet he didn’t mind spending all of his money on anything and everything he could possibly buy for his girlfriend.  He told me how he realized at that moment that God was no longer in His rightful place.  An idol in the form of his girlfriend had taken God’s place and this man told me that he wanted God to be first in his heart and life.

Of course I was excited for this man.  At the same time, I realized something that I have never thought of before.  God loves us unconditionally.  Now, I know that isn’t some big revelation to most of the people who will read this, but I’m not finished.  Even though the love God has for us is unconditional, the abundant life that God offers us is absolutely, 100% conditional.

God miraculously saved me through faith in Jesus Christ.  I felt everything this man felt after being saved and baptized.  I was clean and I was brand new.  So, why was my story eerily similar to his?  I did the same things this man did after I got saved.  Money, girls, guitars, and golf clubs all at some point in my life were placed in God’s rightful place.  I didn’t mind spending a few thousand dollars on temporary, stupid stuff, but would complain about giving God a few hundred dollars.  My heart wasn’t right and I felt far away from God.  There is no way God wants me, you or anybody else to feel defeated and separated from Him, so what must we do?

Well, I don’t have a “quick fix“ answer, but what I do know is that when we come to faith in Him, He saves us from two things.  The first thing is eternal and nothing can separate us from that eternal gift.  We are and will be saved from the eternal consequences of our sin.  The second thing He saves us from is the sin that lives inside of us.  Unfortunately, this sin does not immediately go away.  Even Paul struggled with this and said that the things he wants to do he doesn’t do, and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does  (Romans 7:15).  You and I still have to make choices.  God gave us minds to continue to make choices.  If you consistently make good ones, then and only then will you begin to experience the abundant life.  If you make bad ones, you will be telling your pastor stories like this man was telling me.  You will be telling stories like I told the men of God I looked up to when I didn’t like where my bad choices led and how they made me feel.

Bad choices that go against what we know to be the known will of God will always lead to a defeated spirit within us.  The first part of John 10:10 says “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.”  Are you letting him?  Satan’s primary way of stealing from you is to offer you an alternative decision to the one that God wants you to make.  Remember the garden of Eden?  God said “don’t eat from the fruit, or you will die.”  Satan said “go ahead, eat it, it will make you wise . . . like God.”

They made a choice.  They chose to reject the known will of God.  That choice did not separate them from God’s love, but I guarantee you they felt like it did.  Adam and Eve made an awful trade that day.  They knew what was right, but chose the alternative.  Once again, it did not change God’s love for them . . .

But, it did keep them from experiencing God’s best.  It kept them from the abundant life.

What choices will you make today?

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.  — 1 John 2:28

Later

Adam

The Problem with a Staircase

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves;  — Genesis 11:9

Of all the stories in the Bible, the story of the Tower of Babel seems on the surface like the least big of a deal.  What I mean is that it doesn’t seem like God would care if the people wanted to build a huge tower that went way up in the sky.  Surely that tower didn’t even touch the heights of some of the buildings that have been built in the last century.  God didn’t stop us.  Why did He stop them?

The more I think about it, I think I’m beginning to understand.  The people wanted to “reach the heavens” without God.  They wanted to get there on their own terms and by the work of their own hands . . . No God necessary.

So it continues today.  People want to make it to Heaven, but only on their own terms.  We continue to say we are Christians, but hardly ever get alone with God to read His Word and pray to Him.  We continue to claim that we love Him, but refuse to actually obey His commands.  If the truth were known, God gets very little of our attention, much less our affection during our week.  We have somehow invented a brand new god who believes and acts an awful lot like we do.  A God who simply winks at our sinful behavior.  We have re-invented the one true God of the Bible.  We have turned Him into a golden calf, a brand new god that does not demand surrender, consecration or holiness and allows us to worship the way we want to on our own terms.  Unfortunately for many, this brand new god does not exist and has no power to help us reach Heaven.  I know because I served this god for far too long.  This god left me empty, wanting, and never gave me an ounce of peace or assurance.

It turns out, the attempt to build a tower was and still is a very big deal, that is why God will always put the brakes on it.  God would not allow me to make up my own rules, or treat Him like some idol to be prayed to when I needed or wanted something.  He refused to be my genie in a lamp.  There was no right way to rub Him or manipulate Him that would force Him to do my bidding.  It has always been His rules, His terms.

So how do I get to Heaven?

Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  — John 14:6

It’s not about making a name for myself and getting to do things my way.  It is about honoring His Name and trusting Him enough to do things His way regardless of the consequences to me.  I don’t have to look good in this process.  I just have to be obedient.

Lord, there is nothing I want more right now than to live my life Your Way on Your terms.  Help me to use my life to make Your Name great.  Kill any desire in my heart to make a name for myself, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, but Yours . . . The name of Jesus.  The name above all names. 

The only way to Heaven.

Later

Adam

Lord, I sit here amazed at what you can do to a life. Here I am. I was just a really immature sixteen year old kid when I asked you to come in to my heart and life. You knew my heart. You knew that I was merely afraid of the place called Hell. You knew I didn’t really have any intentions of turning my life over to you and actually obeying your commands. You knew that fear would start it all for me, for Your a Word says repeatedly that the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Ah, but you also knew your plan for me. You knew that you were going to continuously and relentlessly be kind to me even though I wouldn’t be so kind to You. I would ignore you simply so I could chase the pleasures of this life, and You would constantly beckon me to come home. You would constantly say “I have something better if you will just trust Me and follow Me.” It was your kindness that led me to actually repent and follow You.

My prayer today is for the readers of WMD. I pray that all of them will seriously think about what You have done for them and how You saved them. Not simply saved from the fires of Hell, but saved from a life of sin and saved from the destruction that sin produces. There are so many of us that don’t even want to think about where we would be had it not been for the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

There are so many stories that have yet to be written. Help us to tell someone today about You and what You have done for us. May someone’s story begin today. Help us to encourage other believers. May someone stay on track with enthusiasm because we chose to take the time to encourage them and pray for them.

Open our eyes that we may see You for who You really are. Help us to see others as You see them.

Open our ears so we may hear from You today. There is nothing like having you speak to our hearts. May Your words produce that undeniable presence that only You can produce.

Open up our minds that we may fill them with You today. May we read your Word, listen to songs that glorify You and lift up Your name. May we think only on those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Open up our hearts that we may fall this day even more in love with You.

In the name of The Father who loves me,
The Son, who gave his life for me, and
The Spirit who now lives inside of me.

Amen