The scripture for today, August 24 (8/24), is Romans 8:24f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Sometimes you go through a period of your life in which it is difficult to have faith that God exists, or even if he does exist, that he cares what happens to you. During those times, you may not be able to have faith.
But you can HOPE. You can hope that God exists, you can hope he cares what happens to you. Even the weakest person can hope. Hope holds you until you are strong enough to, once again, have faith.
So the next time your faith wavers (and it happens to everyone at some time in their life), remember, you can still hope.
Ah, Lord God. My logic tells me you are there. But my heart is lost right now. Satan is attacking me. I cannot find you. Cling to me, Lord, as I wander until I can see you with clear eyes once again. Lord, come quickly.
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The scripture for today, August 21 (8/21), is Ezra 8:21a as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“There, by the Ahava Canal [from the Euphrates R.], I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God.”
In our modern society, does anyone fast anymore? Not drinking our food (juice) for a day and calling that a fast, but a true fast where we drink only water to stay hydrated, but that’s all? And we turn off all computers, phones, radios, and televisions for the day?
Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “WHEN you fast….” (Matthew 6:16). He didn’t say, “IF you fast….” No, he assumed his followers would fast. Do we?
If you do, do you do it as a group? Jesus said we are to keep it a secret. Does anyone else know about your fast? They shouldn’t know unless they are the reason for our fast. Fasting is an act of self-restraint. It belongs to the sphere of humble self-discipline. It is strictly a personal and private matter.
All moral and bodily restraint, all humbleness of body and spirit are represented by fasting, and it is a complete failure of self-restraint to want to show the world our self-restraint. An unknown author wrote this:
Fasting is a way of starving yourself temporarily, a way of saying, “God, I would do this and more for you; I would die for you.” Or, “God, if it were possible, I would trade lives with this person I am fasting for to give them rest. I would even die for this person.” It is a deep expression to God that goes beyond words.
Also, when you fast, your mind is freed from guiding the digestion of food, so you can think clearer and deeper. And you can face yourself more honestly.
Just what are you deep down? Do you truly love God as much as you claim? Do you truly love your family as much as you claim? Your neighbors? Your fellow Christians? Your enemies? This is your time of self-reflection and self-honesty.
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I praise you God of creation. You are the only God, the self-existent one. You are at once the Child who was born, the Son also called Father, and Mighty God. You are the one I worship. I adore you and look up to you as my Maker, my Protector, my Redeemer from Satan. How can you allow me to be so close to you? It is because you love me without limit. Satan fears you. May I always stand on your side and never believe any of Satan’s lies. No matter what Satan lambastes me with ~ disease, handicap, loss of family, loss of possessions ~ I will never blame you as he wants, and I will remain faithful. The real world is not here! It is in your realm. How I adore you.
Lord, I am still discouraged. Why won’t your kingdom grow where I am living? What am I doing wrong that I could be doing to represent you better? Why do lost souls wander from me with their excuses? Oh, Lord, give me souls or else I die.
Father, no matter how lonely and deserted I feel sometimes, I will never forsake you and never compromise. You never forsook me and never compromised. Keep reminding me of that. I shall continue to tell others how much you love them. Until the day I die, I will declare you are the only God and love them so they can open their eyes, see you as you are, and thank you for never giving up on them. And me ~ you have never given up on me. I bow to you in gratitude.
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Ah, my Lord and God. How I adore you. How I want to please you. I am yours forever. You are my life and my love. How you can let me be so close to you amazes me. But you made me and want to beautify my spirit and make my heart strong. You treasure me as a pearl in the sea, a diamond in the sky, a twinkle in your eye. Such love overwhelms me. My soul bows to you and my heart worships you.
Lord God, you materialized and came to earth to show us how to live, love, and die. You continually taught the inexpressible, performed the impossible, and reached the unattainable. Why? So we could attain the unreachable. You left all the glories of heaven for us. You left your majesty for us. You left your sinless world for us. How can I thank you for all you did? For me ~ simple unworthy me. I worship in gratitude and always will.
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I lift up my praises to you, Jehovah, God of the universe. You are the ultimate love, for though mankind has left you, you want us back so we can 
delight in each other’s presence. As a new-born baby, I think perhaps I must have been aware of you, having just left your presence. But as I grew older, I drifted farther from you. When I became grown, I did things you were ashamed of. But you pursued me anyway. Your love was stubborn. Your love was such a powerful and mighty and driving force. You reached out to me over and over. Though I ran from you a little while, I gradually realized you were not going to let me go. I gradually realized the potency of your love. When I turned toward you, you held out your holy arms to me and welcomed me back home.
My Lord, sometimes I am tired. I do not want to do anything but sit and stare or go for long walks. Sometimes I am discouraged. I am at a lost what to do next, so I do nothing. Sometimes I feel so inadequate, I lie down and refuse to do anything at all. At those times, you smile, take my hand, and whisper, “It’s okay. Go ahead and rest. I’ll send one of my angels to sit with you. When you are ready, I’ll be ready too. You do not need to ask my forgiveness, for there is nothing to forgive. Rest now and be at peace.” Thank you for being so understanding, my Lord.
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Oh Lord, my God. I do not always understand you. But I trust you no matter what happens in my personal life, in my city, my nation, the world. I know you have everything under control. You step back sometimes to let the true motives of bad people be seen at the expense of people they hurt. I do not always understand you. But I trust you no matter what happens to my body during plagues and to the earth during natural disasters. No matter what happens, I will trust you and praise you. I will never turn away from you as long as you give me strength to do so. May I die praising you.
My Father, thank you for making me your child. I am a child of the Creator of greater things than I can ever see or understand ~ me just a spec in the cosmos! How is that possible? I am a child of the King over all kings, the Lord over all lords. I am a child of the self-existent one who chose to make me, protect me, and love me. Me, Lord? Me? I fall at your feet in gratitude and heart thanks.
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As long as there is breath in me, I will praise you. As long as my heart beats, I will praise you. As long as I have a lucid mind, I will praise you. Though I may be beaten to deny you, in my weakness I will praise you. Though I may be imprisoned for not denying you, in my restraint I will praise you. Though they may threaten to kill me, at the moment of my death I will praise you. As long as it is within my being to do so, I will praise you, my Lord and my God.
Thank you for coming to our world as the kind of man you created. With that, you made my salvation possible. Salvation from Sin, Satan and Death and that hopeless prison of hell. You rescued me. You ransomed me. You bought me back. All to take me home with you to heaven. And everyone else who once turned against you. Thank you for forgiving me and all the others. Thank you for such astounding love that soars through the universe to my heart.
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Ah, my Lord God. Everywhere I look, you are there. You leap from mountain to mountain as stepping stones. You throw out seeds of pine and spruce and fir, and forests appear. You blow on them, they fall, and deserts appear. You step into the oceans, stir them up, and laugh when their waves leap with joy. You are in the chirpings of the birds, the giggles of a child, the echoes in canyons. You are in the gentle breezes, the laughing brooks, the slumbering meadows. Everywhere I look and you are there, dear Lord. More wondrous still will be when I see you face to face.
There is a basin of blood at the foot of your cross. You washed me and made me clean when I was baptized in that blood. That which was crimson and laden with grief, made me pure and white and overflowing with joy. How can this be? What you went through for me. How you fought Satan for my spirit, my life, my soul. I do not understand your strength, but I know it is greater than Satan’s. He made you bleed, but the life that flowed out of you with that blood became the water of life. Thank you for all you did for me. I worship you.
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The scripture for today, August 13 (8/13), is Isaiah 8:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary.”
Righteous God in heaven, so far and yet so near. You made the rules so I wouldn’t hurt myself. No matter how hard I wanted you to change them, you refused to change. You are forever the same. My rock. My foundation, My wall of salvation. My sword of truth. My rainbow of love. You have clothed me with your perfection because I can never attain it. You have clothed me with your purity because this I can never accomplish either. You have clothed me with your majesty to rule with you somewhere in your realm someday because I could never have the wisdom or patience you do. You have given the earth to me, and all that is in it to rule with you. You have granted me a canopy of stars over my head and a rainbow of delight to encircle my heart. I love you, my God.
From the night, you call forth light. From the soil, you call forth a flower. My tears, you turn into diamonds. My laughter, you turn into mountains of love. My weariness you make be sweet, peaceful rest before the dawn. My soul rises to meet yours, my heart flies to touch yours, my mind, my understanding soars to try to understand you. You are so great, and I am so small. Yet you love me so. I do not deserve it, for I am sinful. You love me still. I worship you.
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