The stars join together in rapturous chords to sing your praises from galaxy to galaxy. The planets echo their song. It spirals down to the mountain tops. The mountains tremble and the song soars upward until it penetrates worlds and rests at last at your throne. Though there be hundreds of billions of galaxies, the worlds cannot praise you enough, nor can my heart.

The clerk at the store gave too much change.  I know it wasn’t much, but I did not have a right to keep it.  I must return to the store tomorrow and give the extra back. And I didn’t get my credit card paid last month and won’t be able to this month either. It’s not just the card not paid, but those merchants that sold things to me ~ they’re the ones who I am not paying. I have stolen their merchandise from them. Lord, open my eyes to the things I do that are actually stealing.

I thank you, God, because you never change. No matter how much people change, you stay the same. You never allow anyone to pressure you to give in to us or become like us to ease our consciences.  If you changed, there would be no such thing as truth. If you changed there would be no such thing as love.  If you changed, we could not be saved from Satan and his gastly world. Your love is stubborn, immovable, persevering. You stand in the universe and among the worlds tall and strong, exalted and majestic. Thank you for never changing.

Your love melts the hardest heart and chases away the worst of sinful thoughts. Your love strengthens the weakest heart and makes it bold in the face of fear.  Your love shouts from the mountain tops in glistening white purity and spreads delight, wonder, and exultation to those willing to look up. You emerge from the depths of the oceans in face of storms, for nothing can hold you back. You reign from the heavens and are all glorious. Whatever I do, you are there. Whether I run or walk, you are there. Whether I work or rest, you are there. You are in my song and in my silence.

Someone asked me to help them convince a mutual friend to give them some money to help with a worthy project. I just cannot. This person has asked for money for a good work before and then spent it on himself. That is out-and-out swindling. Give me courage to confront this person and work with them to earn honest income.

There are so many things to thank you for, Lord God. If I began right now counting them all, I could not complete my list in a thousand years. You made a beautiful and fascinating world for me to live in. I do not know why it was important to make us in material fashion in a material world unless you wanted us to have daily reminders of you.  Indeed, you are in everything I see, hear, touch and sense. Even then, the world cannot contain you.  What I can see and touch, that I thank you for. And for the wonders I am yet to behold, I bow in gratitude.

Heaven stirs. The song comes near. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Angel wings are heard then stilled.  Prayers rise from earth and soar to your majestic throne.  The mountains declare your glory and the ocean answers with a mighty roar.  Your love is like trees in a storm, bending but not breaking, and coming back stronger than ever. My praises break forth from my heart, dear Lord, in jubilation. The forests shiver in excitement and the tiniest creature answers with its tiny squeak.

Someone told me something the other day that was wrong and I corrected them.  It was of no importance whether a city is 100 miles away or 120 miles away. It is of no importance if his shirt was brown or tan. It is of no importance if gasoline was 2c more than someone else said. All I accomplish when I correct people like this is to stir up strife between us. Help me control my tongue.

It is dawn. The sun is shining today. We have had a lot of rain and that made the gardens happy. Now the sun is back, gleaming in a deep blue sky while cottony white clouds bounce here and there in satisfaction. Delightful serendipity.  No matter what the heavens bring day by day, I thank you for that.  And I smile.

My God, you are my life, my heart, my soul. You have done so many stupendous and amazing things to save me from beautiful Satan who grabbed me into his trap before revealing what he really was. Nothing was too hard for you. You raised the dead back to life and thereby destroyed Death.  You are the light of my soul, my hope, my song. Your love is so high, it reaches the stars which join in chorus to sing of your glory. Your love is so deep, the ocean waves dance in gladness at the sound of your voice.

Help me not ever be too presumptuous. When I share what and who you are with others, give me patience to say a little, then step back to give them room to think. Help me not think they should catch on the first time they hear something new from the Bible.

Jesus, you did so much for me ~ for us all.  You came to earth temporarily to suffer with me, though you didn’t have to.  I was rebelling against you, so you rolled up your sleeves and met me on my level. Only then did I fully understand you.  Only then would I let you lift me up with you and whisk me to heavenly safety. Thank you, Jesus, for such love. And, oh, it is summer. Thank you for summer.  We had a gentle summer rain yesterday and the flowers smiled.

I praise you, God of my heart, soul and mind, God of the Bible. You never leave me guessing. As in days of old, you judge my thoughts and actions and sometimes punish enough to make me realize how self-destructive I am being. I hear your voice and  turn around toward you. You call out to me. Sometimes I am stubborn, but you are even more so. Your patience and mercy fill in the gaps. So, sometimes when I wander in a wilderness of my own making, you call out to me, “I have the Water of Life. You do not have to be thirsty. I am the Way. You no longer have to wander.  I want you to walk with me. You do not have to be alone.”

Father, help me ask people how they are and then wait for more of an answer rather than just “fine”. Slow me down so I do not wander off before they have a chance to tell me how they really are.

I have freedom to walk down the street and ride down the highway in safety. I have gardens with food and flowers in abundance. I have time to work on my hobby. I have the Bible ~ Words of life  and love. I have the church and your friendship. What more can I ask?

I praise you, Jehovah, God of all things and people. You made us for your pleasure, for Love cannot stand to be alone. Love must have others to love. But pure love must give a choice to love in return and not be forced. You gave us choice, thus taking the chance we might reject you.  Ah, my Lord, little children love you because not too long before their birth, they beheld your face. May I be as the little child. May my eyes always twinkle, my lips grin wide, and my arms reach out for you. And when I my soul trips and falls sometimes in its hurry, may you reach down, wipe my tears away, hold me in your protective arms and kiss away my hurt.  Help me be like a trusting little child.  I am trying, Lord. I am trying.

Father, I fear being deserted but do not know why. I fear being alone but do not know why. Help me not bring about what I fear. Job in the Bible feared losing his wealth and family, and that is exactly what happened to him. Maybe it’ my fault. I think, when I get involved in my work, I emotionally desert my loved ones. Forgive me and help me open my eyes and do what is right.

God, you went running after us when we sinned. You begged, “Come back! Come Back!” But we kept sinning. You said, “I’ll do anything. I’ll even send my Son to take your punishment and clear the way for you. Then we’ll be together again.  Come back! Come back to me!”  Then it was that I stopped and turned toward you. Your arms were opened wide for me. Such love I do not deserve.

I praise you, Jehovah God of the universe and God of my heart. You are above all things, below all things and in all things. Yet you live in my heart and speak to me in your Word ~ Jesus, your brainchild. You have poured out your heart to mankind in your Word. You have exposed your greatest desires, greatest disappointments, and greatest glory in your Bible.  You reign over the world, crowned with honor, truth, and love.

Someone told a joke about someone with a depraved mind killing off people and I laughed.  I was queasy listening to it and I could have walked away, but I didn’t. I laughed. It seared my conscience. Forgive me, Lord.

How can I thank you enough for your Bible? I read and learn, read and learn, and there is no end to it So amazing it all is ~ each sentence you breathed into it. It contains examples of every type of behavior and how to keep doing it or change.  It contains the answers to life’s questions. It is all I need or could ever hope for. It tells how much you love me and your patience when I walk away from you. It sings your praises and draws me back to you. I bow to you in gratitude.

The more I look to you, my God, the dimmer this world becomes. The more I strain to be with you, the foggier this world and all its busyness seems. As I travel toward you, earth fades and heaven grows more in focus.  Life here becomes less important and all that heaven holds grows in magnitude. Each step I take draws me closer to you. Each path I take is smoother. Each breath is sweeter. And my view of home becomes clearer day by day.

Lord, I slandered someone the other day. I told something about that person that did not need repeating. I wanted to look as though I had the inside scoop on someone important and wanted the others to envy me. How egotistical. Forgive me please and help me keep things to myself.

I love you, God. And I fear you.  You have the power to save and to turn away.  After all, heaven is your home. You are not obligated to share it with anyone who wants in because they consider themselves “not so bad”. And, well, they pray, but only when they wanted something.  And are bored worshipping you so would be bored in heaven. Such “not so bad” people would turn heaven into another earth.  Thank you for keeping heaven a place of peace, excitement and wonder and never ever to  be bored.

Lord God, you are great beyond understanding. No matter how hard I try, I cannot comprehend you. But it is this that convinces me you are God. You keep my imagination intrigued, and I delight in the adventure of discovering more of you. Compared to you, I am small and insignificant. Compared to you, I am just a speck in a great sea of stars. Compared to you, I am but a small drop of water in a wide and deep ocean. But you love me still.

Lord, I waste my time in senseless activities. I watch too much television, I send out too many emails, I sleep too long, I eat too much. Help me find an activity that involves helping others and is so interesting to me that I lose interest in all these other frivolous things because my time becomes your time.

Thank you, Jesus, for materializing and letting us actually see and hear you.  You showed me how to live and how to die. You are my example and more. What I could not possibly handle, you handled for me. What I could not comprehend, you understood for me. You overcame Satan, hell, and death for me. How can I thank you? I owe you my eternal life.

I praise and adore you, Jehovah God. I fear your power and justice, yet I am so grateful for it. With your justice, to take people out of my way who want me to believe Satan’s lies by calling good bad and bad good. Sometimes I believe them because they look so successful, so happy, so perfect. Eventually, I come to my senses and crawl back to you.  I cling to your mercy and compassion. You love me without reservation. It is your heaven you are inviting me to. It is your home you wish to share with me.  You made me, set me free, then invited me back home. I’m coming, Lord. I’m coming.

Forgive my selfishness, especially with my time.  I keep so much of it for myself.  I don’t want to interrupt my routine to reach out to someone else. Open my heart to others.

Ah, my Lord, t is you who opened the gate for me to heaven and you did it from the cross.  I could never open the gate myself.  It is impossible. Oh, mighty Plan. Amazing strategy to defeat Satan as you did in a realm I cannot see. Fighting over us. Satan wanting to give us a living hell, you wanting to give us a glorious life beyond our imagination.  He tries to get people to blame you for all the bad he does. He tries to get people to think you don’t want them to have any fun. He tries to get people to think you hate them. Then he teases people and tells them they can go to heaven without reminding them that, if they didn’t like worshiping you on earth, they won’t like it in heaven. Thank you for making Satan back down.