As the rain and snow

“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord has given you… You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations served their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods… You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose to put his name… There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and contribution[s], [and] offerings… And there you shall rejoice… in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes… And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake… Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”

“If a prophet… arises among you and… says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” Deuteronomy 12:1-8,18b,32; 13:1-4

Every law God laid out was for the good of His people. If their worship was off, so would be their living. Blessing, meaning, and fruitfulness in all they undertook was determined by the rightness of their devotion. In every do and give and decide, who occupied the throne of their hearts had foremost bearing.

As we set out on our days, are we more concerned with the people and tasks at hand, or the One who has called us to the interaction or industry? Unless we get the place and person of worship right, no effort will bring honor to the Almighty or lasting joy. The enemy will do all he can to deter godly thinking and priorities, and to sway our allegiances. Whose voice will we heed?

Saying what we want will not make significant momentum or change. We must seek the Lord and His place and way. We must remove idols and maintain Him as first love and supreme King. We must bring Him the all He deserves. We must be careful, and take care. (Revelation 2:4-5)

What gods are vying for the throne of our hearts? Do we recognize them through our emotional attachment and misguided justification? God can expose them and give strength to put them away. What part of ourselves have we withheld from God’s scrutiny, what part of our treasure have we hoarded? Upon correction of affection and reverence, divine joy is given!

Lord, in all I undertake, may I rejoice in and worship You as You are worthy.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You return man to dust
    and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’
For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night…

For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away…

So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom…
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands.” Psalm 90:1-4,8,10,12,14-17

The eternal Potentate of time has made us for days and years and generations, and time for us. Before the beginning, He was, yet this everlasting Sovereign visits us in our mornings with His personal and steadfast love. Our years are limited and fraught with toil, yet His eternity spans beyond our age to undergird and give broad vision to our daily. We dwell in Him, both bound by and beyond time.

With pressing responsibilities and peppered disruptions, it is normal to forget God’s infinite perspective and purposes. We hanker and haw, stressed by pressure and grind, and fail to see that our Master works by a different clock. But when we begin our mornings in His love, reminded of and refreshed by His sacrifice at Calvary and the life it bestows, the work of our hands takes on new meaning. Days become a collection of moments meant for His glory and glorious good. Godly perspective compels us to grow in wisdom and gladness. Rather than being fraught with fretting, we delight in His favor.

How go our mornings? Do we rush into frenzied days with thought only for what to do? Or will we take time to meditate on the Holy One who is from everlasting to everlasting? Will we bring before Him our nascent faith and ideas and energy and ask for a heart of wisdom to nurture and apply them with eternal vision?

This day, how will we invest the moments He’s given, putting mind to love and hand to work that glorifies God? What relationships and industry are the Lord establishing through me for His kingdom and renown? How will His work inspire mine?

“Crown him the Lord of years,
the potentate of time,
creator of the rolling spheres,
ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
for thou hast died for me;
thy praise shall never, never fail
throughout eternity.” ~Matthew Bridges (1851)

Lord, may my mornings, days, and life bring You eternal praise.

A Song. A Psalm. To the choirmaster. A Maskil.

“O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
   my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.” Psalm 88

The fulsome subtitle and Selah musical directions for exclamation provided with this song remind that it is indeed a song, a lament with melody. The scribe- anguished, full of troubles, in the depths of despair- chooses to sing to the God of his salvation, and records it for the choir and all mankind. To whom else would he carry these burdens so great? For whom else could he cry from his dark pit, his terrors, his flood, for hope and relief? Surely his wailing was heard, and safe there.

As his song enjoins the choir for expression of mutual grief and longing while looking to the Lord, may it catch us up also. In every dark place, the incessant waves that overwhelm day and night, we can cry out to Him. From loneliness, destitution of soul, waste of opportunity and time and physical vigor, we can sing. In the morning, in the gloaming, He tunes our hearts and hears our voices. These are the places where grace meets lament with the harmony of benediction.

How do we handle disappointments, struggles, agonies? Do we complain in an endless vortex of negativity, brattling on about our woes while sweeping others into the whirlwind, or do we find and voice a song? How different would our troubles appear if we joined a choir of dependence on the God of our salvation, and made melody of His deliverance that keeps us with staying power? Let our prayers, let every song- dirge or jubilation- come before Him!

Lord, in all circumstances, keep me resolved to sing to You and for Your glory.

“Man puts an end to darkness
    and searches out to the farthest limit
    the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
    they are forgotten by travelers;
    they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
    but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
    and it has dust of gold…

“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
    and overturns mountains by the roots.
He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eye sees every precious thing.
He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
    and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

“But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

“From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?..

“God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.” Job 28:3-6,9-20,23-27

Since the beginning of time, the heart of man has beat with a quest for understanding. Creator God designed and implanted an impulse to search for treasure, beauty, and meaning, to uncover hidden objects and discover how and why life works. He also created the world to be discoverable, to a certain extent, and its elements and ecosystems and jewels and creatures to awaken awe at each new unfolding. Each channel bids us deeper, each delight makes us hungry for more, yet wisdom can be elusive.

God knows the place of wisdom, and has so ordered our world and the nature of hunger that we will find it only through Him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can amass goods and pretties, and significance through education and experiences, but the quest for true treasure will come up empty if we do not first seek the Lord. (Exodus 33:13,18; Proverbs 9:10)

Have we an undefined yearning? Do we find ourselves feeling empty, unsustained by pop culture and vapid knowledge? Do we desire wisdom but habitually look in the wrong places? Would we seek perspective in the heart and ways of God? Will we search His face, His word, His grace for wisdom that nourishes, guides, and enlightens?

Lord, help me live by wisdom by looking daily for You.

“Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate,
    and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
    as with the slave, so with his master;
    as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
    as with the lender, so with the borrower;
    as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
    for the Lord has spoken this word.

The earth mourns and withers;
    the world languishes and withers;
    the highest people of the earth languish.
The earth lies defiled
    under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
    broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.
The wine mourns,
    the vine languishes,
    all the merry-hearted sigh.
The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
No more do they drink wine with singing;
    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
The wasted city is broken down;
    every house is shut up so that none can enter.
There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    all joy has grown dark;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.
Desolation is left in the city;
    the gates are battered into ruins…

They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
    over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.
Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
    of glory to the Righteous One.'” Isaiah 24:1-12,14-16a

Image after image of devastation on the earth deepen the reality of the doom and destruction of judgment. A twisted, plundered, desolate land mourns under a languishing, cursed people. None is immune, none escapes. Gladness and hope are stilled, all is scorched, wasted, dark. And yet, a song…

How does praise rise from ruin? Where the majesty in tumult and suffering? Could it be that the prophetic warning is a merciful beckon to repent? Is the very act of judgment a clarion call to praise God’s perfect justice? His word that issues commands is the one that curses the defiled and defiling. It is one righteous pronouncement. The guilty cannot go unpunished.

When we observe present ravaging consequences of sin, and that they do not discriminate, we can snarl in derision at offenders, or bemoan that we are made to suffer. But if we pray, and weigh what is happening against repeated themes in Scripture, we might find ourselves as culprits deserving the curse. If so, fly to God’s mercy! Christ has taken the curse for us! Take heed of His warnings! He’s spoken for our sake! Look for His splendor, righteousness, and grace amidst the rubble and sing of the glory there!

How will I respond to the Scripture’s promised judgment? Recoil in pride, refuse to listen, or regard the Holy One who speaks and executes the word, and rejoice?

Lord, help me recognize Your character and delight in Your majesty through even difficult Scripture, to your praise.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land.., and clears away many nations before you,.. then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods… Thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery… Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations… You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.” Deuteronomy 7:1a,2b-4a,5-9,11

When the Lord brings you into the land. God methodically prepares His people for what’s to come, binding certain promise with dire warning. They would surely enter, and they’d be sorely tempted. As loving Father, He outlined the reasons for His commands. Beware lest these foreigners turn your hearts, lest idols take My place. He’d chosen them, set His love on them, and as His treasured possession they were to live like the holy and redeemed people they were.

Many an idol present themselves as we take on new lands of life experience, relationships, work, and ministry. A spouse or child arrives and steals the heart’s affection. A job or hobby captivates focus and absorbs energy and attention. Any passion can become a god and turn us from the One who inspires the passion- for His glory, not our own fulfillment.

We must acknowledge our raison d’être: the Lord has made us for Himself, and His redemption by fact frees us from the stronghold of slavery to idols. We must determine to live as those so freed, and loved, and endowed with holy purpose. We are not our own. (Isaiah 43:1,4; 49:3)

The allure of worldly icons of wealth and image, beauty and adrenaline rushes, will always vie for our untrained, untamed emotions. Will we take God’s warnings to heart? What in our perception of self needs unskewing? If we are indeed His treasure, valued beyond human comprehension costing our Savior His life, why do we dawdle in the lowlands? With what idols of cool and feel good and boasting do we shamelessly flirt, as though they bring any true pleasure or honor to God?

How can we keep God’s word anew in light of all He’s done for us and the love He’s set on us? What idols will we put away forever?

Loving Father, help me honor You as worthy of all obedience and glory, for indeed You are.

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples under me…

Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    send out your arrows and rout them!
Stretch out your hand from on high;
    rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will sing a new song to you, O God;
    upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
who gives victory to kings,
    who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.” Psalm 144:1-2,5-10

Almighty God is master war strategist. Strong, unflappable, focused, skilled. He trains to every detail what we need in spiritual combat, and abides as our fortress and stronghold. And He fights for us! We never go alone against the foe!

How often we meet foes mental, physical, and spiritual. Daily we encounter battles against the flesh, temptation to cheat, covet, and complain. Greed, lust, shame, sloth… many are the enemies that stroll our minds and emotions and work to undo us. Yet, great is God, and greater. He sets us up to claim His promises, to go to war trusting His power to protect and vanquish. He intends that we see our self-made fortresses fail, and that He alone is Victor. (1 John 4:4)

How do we react when faced with danger? How do we respond to enemies pesky and formidable? Would we turn our attention from them to bless the LORD our Rock? Would we deliberately secure ourselves in His armor, and fight the good fight in His name, skill, and strength? What past act of help or deliverance will we thank Him for and let fuel this day’s confidence? (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Timothy 4:7)

Blessing the Lord reminds us of how He acts on behalf of His children and noble purposes. God’s steadfast love holds us, and nothing can separate us from that love. His power guards us from every attempted snatch of the enemy’s hand, and subdues those who are against us. Who He is and all He does for His people beckons us to trust and delight in Him. (John 10:280-29; Romans 8:31-39)

“We rest on thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
strong in thy strength, safe in thy keeping tender,
we rest on thee, and in thy name we go.

Yea, in thy name, O Captain of salvation!
In thy dear name, all other names above:
Jesus our righteousness, our sure foundation,
our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
and needing more each day thy grace to know:
yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
‘We rest on thee, and in thy name we go.’

We rest on thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, thine shall be the praise;
when passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
victors, we rest with thee, through endless days.” ~Edith G. Cherry (1895)

Lord, help me fight in Your strength and Name, to Your victory.

“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,  which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,  that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-7,11-13a,18-27

Creative in design, purposeful in plan and execution, the Creator made and inspired varieties of gifts, desires, abilities, and activities. Just as His creation was completed as good, good, and very good, so His exquisite fashioning of His crowning jewel, mankind, was crafted to bring very good to His people. Mutual working, honor, and care would bring the best into and out of His children for His kingdom’s sake. (Genesis 1:31)

Much is taught in current culture about fulfilling our destiny and desires, being our best selves, doing whatever we set our minds to do, living our best life now. The world’s mantra is ‘me,’ the driving thrust self-satisfaction. But the ways of the Lord are subversive to the world’s finest tenets. The more excellent way of living is to exercise our God-given, Spirit-empowered gifts for the good and care of His Body, the church. ‘Fulfillment’ and ‘best’ are not motivations, but glorious, God-given results as we commit our gifts, service, and activities to Jesus.

Life geared to personal pursuits and pleasure is oriented completely differently from Body living led and fueled by the Spirit. Our priorities of how we spend attention, affection, and time reveal for whom we care the most. How much do we care about God’s plans? How well are we caring for His people, building up strengths, encouraging opportunities to exercise talent and particular wisdom, working together to expand God’s kingdom? What are we investing in that supports and energizes the Body to spiritual growth and fruitfulness? (Ephesians 4:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Lord, help me live out and encourage Your gifts with care, zeal, and grace, so Your purposes are realized and Your glory is magnified.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money…

“You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.'” Luke 16:10-13,15a

Being faithful in a very little requires understanding of faithfulness (the quality of being loyal and steadfast; fidelity, constancy, devotion), and the Master who has entrusted us with the very little (What do you have that you did not receive?.. All things come from you, O Lord). Being faithful is the deliberate engaging between the two. The Almighty owns all things, tangible and intangible. He has loaned us everything we manage, no matter the size or scope. Therefore, we owe it to Him to be a good steward of what He’s entrusted to us and bring Him the due He deserves. (1 Chronicles 29:11-14; Psalm 24:1; 1 Corinthians 4:7; James 1:17)

To be a good steward of the Master, we must know Him, and our proper relationship to Him. Stewardship gets messed up when we think we own everything and twist its definition to usage, which easily distorts into misuse, or indulgence, or waste. When we think ourselves chief, we tend to things toward our own ends, but when we serve the Lord over self, our motive is elevated and we take care of what is His in honor of Him. Which is it for us?

Once we’ve mastered our subservient position before the Lord of all the earth, we need to master our handling of His gifts. How do we view opportunities the Lord gives us to serve and honor Him? They are not ours to squander in selfishness, but His to seize with gratitude. With material goods, how well do we supervise, maintain, and put to constructive use what He’s given us? How attune are we to the needs of others, and how readily do we share? Are we generous with resources, means, and talents, or stingy? (Proverbs 19:17)

How about the people the Lord has brought into our lives? Are we valuing friendship by care, concern, and lavish encouragement to help them flourish? How vigilantly do we guard confidences, and reputations? Are we more prone to gossip that is detrimental to other image-bearers, or to listening keenly, speaking truth, and anointing others with blessing? How well do we care for those younger in the faith, or weak, or hungry? (1 Thessalonians 5:12-14)

What needs to change in our attitude, priorities, and daily actions for the Lord to say, Well done, good and faithful servant? (Matthew 25:21)

My Master, help me treat every bit You entrust as great and valuable and worthy of most careful guarding and investment, so You name and grace are magnified.

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.'” Revelation 3:14-19

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

How skewed can be the perceptions of man! I am adequate. I have enough. I made it happen. I can make it happen. When we’re steeped in self, as our culture would keep us, life revolves around me. And since everything begins and ends with me- my feelings, my wants, my determination- I can surreptitiously go about days needing nothing from anyone else, especially God. The bent of conceit can also swing to being consumed with self-loathing and sorry. The danger is in neglecting the Almighty altogether, the result is an empty, meaningless life.

The Lord who made us for rich relationship with Himself intends to undo our selfishness as well as our deprecation. If we don’t humble ourselves He will see to it surely and mercifully. Paul needed drastic measure, and we may too. Only God can give sober, proper perspective, but grants it as we seek His eyes and mind. He will correct, for His sake in us, every wrong assessment, be it grave or gauche, boasting or belittling. (Romans 12:3; James 1:5)

How is my mind most often occupied? Where am I thinking too highly of myself? Too little? Too much? What would change if I began each day considering the Amen, the Faithful and True, and thinking much of Him? Certainly it would adjust mental priorities and set the spirit aright. Seeing myself, others, and the Lord’s intentions through the lens of His eternal goodness and grace transforms a warped mindset into a heavenly one.

Where have I grown lukewarm, numb to the influence of my Lord? What self-sufficiency and selfish preoccupation will I bring to God’s throne for dethroning?

Father, keep me needing, trusting, and glorifying You alone.