When I became faithful in seeking you, God, you lifted me out of the slimy pit of my rebellion and sin. You rescued me from the deep mud of my bad choices. You pulled me out of the mire I created by trying to do things ‘my way’.
I am now solidly planted on you, my Rock. I have a new song of love and praise to sing to you.
I pray that many others will also decided to put their trust in you, God.
Father, you bless those who trust in you. We are wise when we put you first in our lives and don’t follow the example of others who are only focused on themselves.
You have great things planned for us, the faithful. You have done many awesome things – there is nothing and no one to compare you to.
You don’t want me to just read the Bible and go to church. You want my eyes to be open to your truth. You want my obedience.
You don’t want me to just give my money to the church – you want me to passionately care about the things you care about.
You don’t want me to just close my eyes to pray and start down my list of requests. You want a relationship with me. You want a conversation. Most of all, you desire listening ears and a softened heart.
Hear me, LORD, and answer me, I need you. I am a faithful servant who trusts you – save me.
You are my God, have mercy on me as I call out to you all day long. I trust you, God. Please give me joy.
You are so good. When I walk close with you, your love and forgiveness overwhelm me. There is no other god like you. Everything you have created joins together to worship you. You are great and marvelous. You alone are God.
I want to learn all about you, LORD, so I can build my life on your truth. Give me an undivided heart which is focused on loving and honoring you.
I will praise you, God, with all my heart forever.
Each day I feel your great love for me. Keep me safe.
I am surrounded by arrogant and confused people who don’t believe in you, God. But I know you are a compassionate and gracious God, overflowing with love and faithfulness.
Open my eyes to what you doing, God. Have mercy on me and save me just like you have done for those who have gone before me. Show me your goodness, LORD, so that others around me will see what a great God you are.
The LORD takes care of me each day. He provides everything I need.
My Father guides me on the right path – he knows what is best for me. He gives me exactly what my soul longs for as I walk closely beside him.
I can always trust my Father’s guidance.
Even when I’m going through the darkest, most painful times of my life, Father, I have no fear. You are with me. You comfort me.
You pour out blessings on my life. Even those around me who don’t want the best for me can see how well you take care of me.
You fill my mind with your truth as I continue to study your Word and grow in my knowledge of you.
I am overwhelmed by your love for me. Your goodness and grace fill all the days of my life here on earth. And I am 100% certain of what happens to me when my time here on earth is done – I will go to live with my Abba Father forever.
Hear my prayers, Father, and show me your compassion. I will hide myself in your shadow until my fears and worries go away.
I ask that you fulfill your purposes for my life. I know the angels of heaven are fighting my battles and they will give me victory.
Your love and faithfulness never leave me, Father.
I am surrounded by the evil one who is trying to take pieces of me and devour me.
But I still praise you, God. May your glorious light shine over all the earth.
My enemy sets traps for me – especially when I am weary and distressed. The evil one digs deep pits in my path but then he falls into them himself.
I am confident in you, oh God. My heart sings your praises. I awake every morning with a song of praise to you. Thank you for your love and faithfulness which has no end.
I praise you, Father. May your glorious light shine over all the earth.
O God, you are my God. I am searching for you with all my heart.
My soul needs you. My whole being longs to be close to you in this empty, weary and very confused world. I treasure the precious time I get to spend with you.
I have personally witnessed your power and glory. I praise you for your love which makes this life worth living.
I will lift my hands and heart up to you in praise for as long as I live. Only you can fill the emptiness inside of me and make me sing for joy.
In the darkest part of the night, I remember how much you have loved me in the past and how much you have promised to love me in the future. My heart sings for joy as I cling to your promises and feel your arms around me, holding me safe and securely to your side.
The Evil One and his team are all around me, Father, trying to ruin me. But I know you are fighting my battles, God, and you have already won the war.
I rejoice in you, God. All who know the Truth know you. Liars will be silenced.
I will lift my praise to you for the rest of my life, Abba Father.
I will share this great news with everyone I know. Everyone needs to hear this – there is no one and no thing that compares to the LORD!
Say it with me – God is good, all the time!
When I talk to God, he answers me and takes my fears away.
The light of God’s love shines out of us, his children, and we are never ashamed. When we are lost in a pile of problems that we created, we can call on God who rescues us. His angel protects us and sets us free!
Try him and see! God is good!
My Father God is a safe haven and a provider for me and for everyone who has faith in him. Those who look strong on the outside are actually weak and empty on the inside if they don’t have faith in God.
God’s children have everything they need.
Listen to me –
respect and honor the LORD and you will live a life filled with good days. Stay away from lying and all evil. Be a peacemaker.
God watches over those who do what is right. He hears our cries. God is always close to the brokenhearted.
But God turns his face away from those who do evil.
When we have faith in God, we will still have trials but God walks beside us every step of the way – giving us peace and strength.
The wicked get what they deserve. The LORD condemns anyone who opposes the people who love him.
God rescues his children – he is a safe refuge that is always available to us.
Sounds good – let’s all do whatever works for us. Then we’ll all be happy.
Or not.
“In those days Israel had no king: everyone did as they saw fit”. Judges 21:25. This is how the book of Judges ends. It may sound good until we scan back a couple of chapters and realize what they thought was ‘fit’ to do.
Family members were stealing from each other. They obviously thought this was an ok thing to do.
Family members were kidnapping each other. They thought this was ok as well.
Family members were killing each other to the point that they virtually annihilated one of the 12 tribes of Israel. I wonder how they could possibly think this was ok but they did. They could rationalize anything. Their moral judgement was quickly spirally into total chaos and confusion.
Because they had no compass.
Sounds familiar? Our current culture obviously has many of these same issues.
Why?
When I base what is right and wrong on what I think, I’m in trouble. Then I’m just like these Israelites – doing what I see fit and letting my standards waiver in whatever direction the wind is blowing. When I do what I think is right, it can hurt you as well. My bad decisions have a lot of consequences.
God has been very clear to you and me on moral boundaries. His Word to us is full of direction and guidance. I might not like all of it. You may not agree with all of it. But that doesn’t change his Word to us.
The image of standing under an umbrella of God’s Blessing is stuck my head and reminds me that one of my main goals in life is to stay in line with God. When I obey God and follow the compass he has given me, I am placing my life under his umbrella of blessing. When I don’t obey God and just do what I want to do, I am stepping out from under his umbrella. I can’t expect God to bless my decisions and life when I’m not obeying him.
One example is tithing. If we have put our faith in God, we also want to put our money in his hands. This means being faithful with tithing. We can’t expect God to bless our finances if we don’t.
It’s my choice and I choose to obey so I stay under the umbrella – every hour of every day.
What do you choose?
Dear Father, I desire to walk in your path of truth. Please guide me because your moral standards are what ‘fits’ me best.
It’s a story of redemption. It’s my story because I needed a Redeemer, someone to fill up the hole that was deep within my soul. I needed the Only One who could save me from eternal separation from God.
It’s clear to me that the story of Ruth in the Bible is the story of everyone who has put their faith in Jesus. I can see God orchestrating his love and grace in every step of the story. Without Jesus in our lives, you and I would all exist in a famine, without hope – stuck in our past.
But in Jesus we have found our kinsmen Redeemer! Hallelujah!
Jesus paid the price of our sins for us so we could make him Lord of our lives and become part of his forever family. When we admit that we need a Savior and turn away from our rebellion and sin while turning toward Jesus, we become filled with the power of the Holy Spirit under God’s umbrella of grace and blessing.
Have you made this decision? It not, today is a great day to fill the emptiness inside your soul with the light of Jesus.
“Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsmen redeemer.” Ruth 4:14.
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 