Month: June 2023

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

1 Peter 1:22-23 (RSV)

After experiencing a conversion of faith when I was 19, I had a hunger for reading scripture. I read both Old and New Testament, praying as I read. In the zeal of being a new believer, I decided to memorize the entire first chapter of first Peter. 

I imagined that if I was ever in a situation without a Bible, I could have this chapter planted in my brain. In those early days of my conversion, I felt so much of God’s mercy and grace, that each time I read scripture, it seemed like a love letter from my Savior to me. The theme of the chapter I memorized is what God can accomplish in us as we go through fiery trials. Looking back, it was well worth memorizing, since trials are used by God to purify our faith.

Peter starts this chapter telling us that we are chosen to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood. God’s salvation plan always ties in with obedience, and through our obedience, He renovates, renews and transforms us into the image of His son. 

Our obedience is necessary for the renovation project, that Jesus, our designer, has in mind. We start by faith, but we haven’t fully arrived after a word and a prayer. It’s not magic, there is a life long process known as sanctification. 

If we are honest with ourselves, our whole life has been part of our renovation process. God uses each humbling situation to teach us something, that makes us more like Jesus. Peter refers to fiery trials, and fire purifies. We may feel that we can’t go on in a difficult situation, but God knows we can and we will. In the process, He is bringing things to surface and purifying us.

God desires to help us move forward and walk in the right direction, but we may be hesitating in faith during our trial. He still loves us and as we obey, He will unfold His good plans for our future.

We are chosen for goodness, to be sanctified, set apart as His children. Paul says “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Whether we feel it or not, we have always been held in the arms of Jesus, in His nail scarred hands, and He will never give up on our renovation process as we continue to walk with Him the rest of our lives. 

Lord, help us not to be discouraged by fiery trials, but to hold firmly to your word, in faith, so that we may obey through our life long process of purification and renovation for your glory. Amen

“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)

Someone once said, your best friend is your unpaid therapist. 

I had a friend for fifty years who was not a professional therapist, but she had a natural gift for helping a person look deep within themselves and learn from it. I benefited from many conversations with my friend Helene, over the years. There were many things that we never agreed on, but the friendship we shared was solid in spite of our differences, which is what true friendship is.

In December of 2021 Helene was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and by February of 2022, she passed away. I lost another good friend a year later, but Helene was the one I knew the longest, or I should say she is the one who knew me the longest. 

She witnessed my transition to a deeper faith in Christ during my college years. She was with me through many stages of my life. She knew my loved ones and was there when I lost some of them.

Friends are valuable just by giving us a sense of being understood and known, and we all have a need to be well known. I don’t mean well known in some famous kind of way, but known well, in a personal kind of way.

Today’s scripture states that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I believe that Jesus is our truest friend who sticks closer to us than a brother, but He blesses us with friends to enjoy as well. 

Those kind of friends are a gift, and when we lose a gift through whatever means, it leaves a vacuum, called grief. I recently saw a meme that read “Grief is just unspent love.” 

After any kind of loss, we need to find a new outlet, purpose, or direction of focus to reinvest our love.

For me, writing has become my redirected purpose. Through writing, I’m able to honor friends and loved ones who I’ve lost, as well as to encourage the faith of my current friends. What a blessing it has been to build friendships through these daily meditations. 

Half of this year has already passed, and I think about all the people who are receiving these meditations. Some of you are friends, and some are friends of friends, who I haven’t met, but you are all gifts to me, and especially to God, who adores each one of you. 

After I write each day, I pray and ask that everyone receive something special from the Holy Spirit, before I hit the send button. 

Maybe we will all discover a new way to reinvest all the unspent love that is stored within us. Our Savior taught us by example, that love is meant to be spent.

God bless each reader with good friends, comfort and a sense of their own divine purpose, in Jesus’ name. Amen 

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Luke 23:43 (NIV)

How often in scripture has the phrase, “Remember me” been said to God. I found five instances in scripture where people have prayed these simple words in their individual and desperate situation.
Samson said “Remember me” to God, after his hair was cut, his eyes were put out, and he lost all his strength. As a prisoner, close to his own death, he asked for one last restoration of strength to defeat the enemy of his people. 
Hannah, after years of being barren, wanted a child of her own so much, that she went to the temple one day and travailed in prayer, with words that began  “Remember me.”
Nehemiah, the prophet, asked God to “Remember me,” when all he wanted was to rebuild the temple for his people, when his enemies put up a stronghold of resistance against him. 
King Hezekiah, while lying on his death bed with a terminal illness, turned his face to the wall and prayed to God, saying, “Remember me,” as he reminded God that he has lived his life with nothing but single hearted faith and integrity. 
Finally, there was the thief hanging next to Jesus on a cross, in his dying moments, who turned to Him, with no righteousness or integrity to speak of, but presented himself to Jesus, as he was, asking Him to “Remember me,” when you come into your kingdom. Jesus assured him that he would be with Him in Paradise, that day.
Every one of these bible characters who prayed “Remember me” received the answer they asked God for: 
Samson received one last restoration of strength and defeated the Philistines.
Hannah had a baby boy.
King Hezekiah was completely healed.
Nehemiah built the temple.
The Thief on the cross was forgiven and welcomed by Jesus in heaven later that day.
Whether our desperate need is for ourself or for someone else, “Remember me,” is still a meaningful prayer, and a plea that reaches the heart of God. It doesn’t matter if we are like Nehemiah and Hezekiah, having walked a single hearted life of faith in God, or if we have slipped and fallen along the way like Samson and the thief on the cross. 
If we come to God with desperate hearts, open like Hannah’s, coming to Him just as we are, we know His mercy is the same toward us as He was to the people in these stories. Let us implore God’s heart of mercy today and ask Him to “Remember me.” 
Jesus, thank you for giving us a renewed hope of mercy from these examples in scripture. Please have mercy on us and meet every need that is in our hearts today as we pray, “Remember me.”
Amen

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”  

Romans 8:27 (RSV)

Last weekend, I was an usher in the church service and after bringing the collection baskets to the safe, I saw Kevin, our staff person who usually sits at the visitor desk in the lobby of the church. He was on his cell phone and looked concerned, as a lady from church was standing in front of him. 

The lady left her pew in a hurry to report that the woman sitting next to her felt like she was having a stroke. Kevin was on the phone with 911, and asked me to go sit with the lady until they arrived. 

As I sat with her she was able to talk, and told me her name was Jenny, and that she drove herself to church alone and felt fine until five minutes ago, when she developed left sided weakness. 

I put my arm around her telling her I was going to say a prayer for her before the paramedics arrive. Before I could pray, a paramedic was at my side, and motioned for me to get out of the pew. They quickly took Jenny in a carry chair and rushed her off to the nearby hospital. 

I kind of felt bad that I never had the chance to pray for her, even though I did pray for her afterward. I might have been interrupted, but I now believe that in putting my arm around her with the full intention to pray for her, was equal to a prayer. 

God knows our intentions, with or without our words or the touch of a shoulder or a hand, because He searches our hearts. 

This scripture verse today couldn’t say it any better, just take a moment to meditate on what it is saying; 

“And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

Isn’t it good to know that the Spirit knows all our good intentions and intercedes for us ?

The Holy Spirit intercedes for all His people according to the will of God. When I touched Jenny with good intent, the Spirit already made intercession for her. 

God is so good to send His Spirit to finish what we cannot finish with our words. The intent of our heart is known by God, because He has already searched our hearts. 

If you’ve ever been hindered from praying in person for someone, due to distance or were too distressed to find the words to pray, or any other reason, know that the Spirit already acted on your behalf. We, who are God’s people by faith, are all connected by the same Spirit, who reads the intent of our hearts. 

Jesus, thank you for sending the Advocate, your Holy Spirit to intercede for us, when we have a sincere intention in our heart, with or without words. Amen

“Then, from a flask he had with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying: “The Lord anoints you ruler over his people Israel. You are the one who will govern the Lord’s people and save them from the power of their enemies all around them.”

2 Samuel 10:1 (NAB)

A turning point of destiny can happen through the least expected circumstances, with the help of many unlikely participants. 

Saul was a young man whose runaway donkeys led him to a royal destiny. His father sent Saul with a servant, to go search for some lost donkeys. As it started getting late, Saul was about to give up and return home, but the servant encouraged him not to give up, but to consult the prophet Samuel who was living in the area. 

So they started searching for the prophet Samuel’s home, to get some spiritual help in finding the donkeys. A group of women passed by, and they asked them where Samuel lived. The women pointed them in the right direction, and Saul and his servant soon arrived at the prophet’s home. 

Meanwhile, God told the Prophet Samuel to anoint a young man named Saul as the King of Israel. The donkeys were still lost, but Saul’s destiny was about to unfold. 

The prophet told Saul he would find the donkeys on his way home. The next day, Samuel went to Saul’s home and what began as a search and rescue mission for donkeys, ended with Saul being anointed the first King of Israel. 

This story is full of people, who had some small part in fulfilling a divine plan. We can see the mission of each person in this story. Lost donkeys began as a problem and a loss, but God takes the losses and the negatives in our lives, and turns it into something beautiful. He connected Saul to all the right people for a much greater purpose. 

When Saul became tired and was ready to quit, the servant encouraged him to keep going and seek out the prophet. God sends motivators into our lives at the right time, just when we are losing heart and becoming spiritually exhausted.

Neither of the two men knew where to find the prophet, but the neighborhood women knew, and they were passing by at the right moment to point them in the right direction. People, even strangers, are sent to us at the right time and place, who, as passers by, point us in the right direction.

Every person has a part in the divine plan, and God has a perfect plan for every person, not only those who will become kings. We are all interwoven in the destinies of other people, just as they are in ours. More than we know, there is deeper purpose for all the connections we have with people throughout our lives.

Someday in our afterlife, we will learn of the ways God used the people He connected us with, along our journey. We will realize who the encouragers were or the strangers who passed by at the right time to point us in the right direction. 

All the twists and turns in our lives were used by God to bless us with far more than we could ever ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

We will have all of eternity to connect the dots, and discover the wisdom of the networking of each person in our lives, starting with our parents. 

Lord, we will never have enough words of gratitude, but thank you for all your loving kindness shown to us throughout our lives, to fulfill our destiny which is beyond what we could ask or imagine. Amen

…”as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

2 Corinthians 6:10 (RSV)

Archeologists have fully excavated a magnificent public building which they have dated back 2,000 years ago. I came across a photo that shows the ancient building that was dedicated to shops where the lambs, turtle doves and all things related to temple offerings, were once sold. It was next door to the great temple in Jerusalem. These would have been the shops where Joseph and Mary bought the turtle doves to offer according to Mosaic law for the presentation of their son Jesus, when He was forty days old. 

In 2021 this site became open to tourists after all the hard work to fully excavate it. Archeologists confirmed that this building dates back to the time of Jesus, and is situated next to the famous western wall, which was once the temple. I heard someone who visited this mall site, share what a Jewish tour guide told him, “if you are a Christian, you would want to remove your shoes because this is holy ground for you, since your Messiah was brought here 2,000 years ago.” It made me want to search for more information about this biblical custom. 

According to the Mosaic law, the firstborn male child belonged to God, and the parents were to buy him back on the 40th day after his birth, by offering a sacrifice of a one year old unblemished lamb as a burnt offering. This law as stated in Leviticus 12:8, permitted parents who couldn’t afford a lamb, to offer two turtledoves instead. Mary and Joseph offered two turtledoves as the gospel tells us, indicating that Jesus’ parents were poor. 

They may have been poor, but they made many people rich, and while having nothing, they possessed everything, all within that bundle of humanity wrapped and held in their arms. 

I can visualize them stopping at this big building filled with shops, the temple mall of the day, and purchasing the turtledoves to fulfill their obligation. The Lord of the universe, the Holy One, who originally gave this law to Moses on a mountain that thundered with smoke and lightning, was now incarnated as a baby and carried into His own temple, in fulfillment of His own commandments. Let that thought sink in for a minute. 

God is very intentional regarding numbers throughout scripture. Forty days was the time of obligation to bring this offering to the temple. Forty days Moses spent on that mountain in the presence of God receiving the law. Forty days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness before beginning His ministry. We also have a forty day period of lent, when we meditate on the generous offering made by our Father in heaven for us, to buy our souls back from eternal death. 

We also were bought back and redeemed, not with two turtledoves, but with the costliest offering of all, the offering of the unblemished lamb of God. We have been redeemed and adopted as God’s children through His Son’s precious blood, to live eternally with Him in heaven. 

Lord, we are speechless as we stand on the Holy ground of this truth. We thank and praise your holy name, Jesus. Amen

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

Matthew 6:19-21 (NAB)

Yesterday, God brought three people  briefly into my path, who I have known in my workplace for years. One was a surgeon, except instead of working with him in the usual intense environment of surgery, we had the rare opportunity to talk for about 45 minutes. 

We reminisced about people who we worked with in the hospital over the past 25 years, but who have since left to go elsewhere. We recalled serious times for coworkers with health problems as well as funny stories and memories of some that still make us laugh. 

I told him that I was retiring in a few months, and he asked what I planned to do with my time. After telling him that I write daily meditations, he asked me to add him on my group mailing list. 

I was surprised but honored that he would want to be included in the group email of my daily meditations. 

In the busy atmosphere of working in health care, that brief time to talk with him outside of the usual work environment, was a rare blessing. 

After that, I passed the doctor from my own department, who I see daily,  and he told me that he was at a high level management meeting to discuss future hiring in our department. The question arose whether to replace my position after I retire, and he told me that he said to them, “Maria is not replaceable.” I chuckled and thanked him for his kind words. 

Then, when I left work for the day, I met up with another man who has worked at the hospital for as long as I have, but in a totally separate department. I had not seen him for years, but we share a very unique connection. When I got married 21 years ago, he and his new bride were on the same cruise ship that Stephen and I we were on, during our honeymoon. It turns out that he was married the same weekend as us. 

It was such a coincidence and though I don’t see him very often, we never forget our common honeymoon connection. In our brief walk to the parking lot, I didn’t feel like mentioning Stephen’s passing four years ago, but I asked him how many children he now had, and he said 5. It was so good to see that he was still happy, and it brought back good memories. Then we said goodbye and went separate ways to our cars. 

What a special day of reminiscing the past, and feeling so much appreciation for people I’ve known through my workplace over the years. I was sentimentally touched by all three people who are not even close friends, but only work acquaintances. I wondered what the meaning is of those three interactions in a day, and the affection I felt from them and for them all. 

It occurred to me that all people God brings into our lives are treasures. The older I get, the more I realize this. In those three consecutive conversations with people, the Holy Spirit just made this truth more evident to me. Every person God sends into our lives leaves an impression, and is a treasure and a legacy left in our hearts. 

We don’t bring anything else with us when we leave this earth except the love we give and receive from others. We are here to store up real lasting treasures, not perishable ones. 

Legacies are not carved on tombstones, but in the hearts of people. Many acquaintances have left their legacies on my heart. I just want to say that the friends I have been sending these meditations to have each left their individual legacy in my heart, and have become a blessing in my life. 

Lord, thank you for the ways that you teach your truth to us, and thank you for the people you have brought into our lives. Bring a special blessing today to each reader, in the form of a treasure and a legacy that will last forever. Amen

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand wither!”

Psalm 137:4-5 (NAB)

The Israelites were known for their joyful songs, which were enjoyed by the people of all their surrounding nations. When God’s people were taken captive to Babylon, a foreign land, they lost their desire to sing the joyful songs that they were known for. Instead of singing, they wept all day long in their captivity. Their captors said, “Sing us the joyful songs of Zion!” but their answer is in today’s scripture, “How can we sing in a foreign land?”

Babylon and Jerusalem are more than geographical places, they can represent two different spiritual states of mind. We may be in a Babylon state of mind when we are held captive in some way, either through worry, anxiety, or the inability to forgive someone. Babylon is a proverbial place of captivity, and when we see ourselves as captives, there is no longer singing, because joy has been robbed. In Babylon, we see ourselves as misplaced refugees, rather than the children of God, as He sees us.

The next line in this scripture is a determined self reminder that we must never forget Jerusalem. 

Like Babylon, Jerusalem is also more than a geographic place. It’s the state of mind we take ourselves to, where we re-center hope in God, speaking faith to ourselves, and recasting our anchor of trust in Jesus. 

In Jerusalem, we let the words of Jesus become living and active, piercing through the lies of the enemy. The enemy’s oldest tactic is to make us to question the truth, but in Jerusalem, we hear Jesus tell us, “You were worth dying for”. We feel overwhelmed by His love, and come to believe every other promise He made to us. 

In Jerusalem, the blood of Jesus is still flowing from the cross. His grace and love is still streaming down the hill and throughout the entire city. It reaches every person, wherever we are. 

Whatever areas of our mind, soul or spirit are drifting into captivity, when we spiritually revisit that Holy city, we are personally touched by His blood, which transforms us. The never ending, overwhelming love of Jesus sets us free, and we can sing His praises with joy again. 

Paul reaffirms this truth in saying, 

“In all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

Thank you Jesus, for seeing our worth and freeing us from our captivity in Babylon. As we remind ourselves that we belong in Jerusalem, refresh and renew us in the flowing streams of your love and grace. Amen

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

John 3:14-16 (NAB)

Jesus spoke these words about the exodus story of the bronze or brass serpent that was placed upon a tall pole. Everyone has seen the image of this serpent wrapped around a pole, sometimes with wings. It originated three millenniums ago, from the exodus story which later evolved into a universal medical symbol. The symbol has been sewn into medical patches, used in logos and appeared on many lab coats. 

The story took place after God saved His chosen people, through the parting of the sea. A huge multitude of people who were miraculously delivered from slavery, passed through a parted sea on dry ground, and now had their freedom. 

Instead of being grateful to God, they became frustrated in the wilderness and persistently complained. Moses tried to help them survive physically, while also trying to rekindle their faith in God. The people quickly turned against Moses due to the scarcity of water, food and the basic comforts of life. They told him that they had enough of the manna, the bread from heaven, which they grew tired of, calling it “wretched food.” 

What an insult it was to God, to scorn the heavenly bread sent from heaven. 

Moses didn’t know what to do next, and as their rebellious attitude worsened, God stepped in and sent venomous snakes into their camps, to chastise them. After many people were bitten by the influx of poisonous snakes, they began to repent, begging Moses to pray for them.

Moses prayed and interceded for his people, asking the Lord to forgive and heal them from the poisonous bites. The Lord then instructed Moses to make a serpent out of bronze and mount it on a tall pole. Then God said that anyone who looks up at the bronze serpent on the pole will be healed of their snake bites. 

It sounds like an odd solution but it foreshadowed the plan of salvation for the world. What a merciful God we have, who forgave and healed the people, even though they were irreverent and rude. 

If anyone thinks the God of the Old Testament was harsh, this story is an illustration of God’s patience and mercy towards His people. It’s also an example of what intercessory prayer can do. They didn’t deserve it and could never earn it, but God simply loves us so much, He provides a way of forgiveness and healing, as a free gift of His grace. 

Jesus was the living bread God sent from heaven, who was also scorned by many people, just like the first bread from heaven was. Once again, God’s love and mercy brought healing and forgiveness to all who would repent, and believe in His Son on that cross.

Jesus brought up this exact bible story and followed up by saying that God so loved this world that He gave His only son for us. (John 3:16)

The motive is simply God’s unconditional love for the world. As that serpent on a pole brought forgiveness and healing, by gazing at it, Jesus was saying that He is the one to look up to now. 

He is our source of forgiveness and healing, since He was lifted up on a cross. He is now lifted up in everlasting glory, and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. 

In this world, which is filled with serpents of many kinds, God’s mercy is still extended to anyone who will look up to Jesus for forgiveness and healing. It doesn’t matter what kind of serpent bite we are dealing with, because God’s love and mercy is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Lord God, we thank you for loving us so much more than we deserve. As your people found mercy and forgiveness in the wilderness, by looking at the serpent on a pole, we receive your forgiveness, healing and restoration today, in faith as we look to Jesus on the cross, and worship Him in His everlasting glory. Amen

 Serpent on pole    Jesus on the cross 

Example of its use as a logo

 “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27 (RSV)

A Franciscan friar, author and psychologist, who was a New Yorker, with a down to earth style of speaking, had a deep love for Jesus and a comfortable relationship with many Jewish people in New York City. He had a familiarity with Jewish culture and was respected by many rabbis, who were his close friends. He passed away ten years ago, but if anyone could lead a person to faith in Jesus, Father Benedict Groeschel could. 

In one of his TV talks, he used the Yiddish word “schlep” to refer to a spiritual condition, instead of the usual use of the word. It made me laugh out loud, because I grew up in a very Jewish neighborhood in Chicago, where I regularly heard and used the word “schlep.” 

My parents owned a three flat apartment in that neighborhood, and we lived on the third floor, without an elevator. We did a lot of “schlepping”, up and down those three flights of stairs. A schlep is someone who is always dragging himself or things around, hauling baggage, and is always heavily burdened. 

In the area of faith, Fr. Groeschel used the word schlep to describe someone who drags himself through life, with half hearted faith, carrying their burdened soul back and forth, but when it comes down to what they believe, their response is uncertain and vague. A spiritual schlep is a wishy washy believer without an anchored faith. When troubles come, it’s the person who says “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” Their faith collapses because their foundation is on sand. The friar described it as spiritual schlepitude. 

I think Jesus also talked about schleps, in His parable about the man who built his house upon the sand. When the rain fell, and the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed. Jesus described the man who built his house on sand, metaphorically as a foolish man, with no solid foundation of faith to stand upon. We probably know people like this, and some may even be our relatives or close friends. 

Sometimes I have even questioned the circumstances in my own life, and wondered why other people don’t have the same type of problems I’ve had. Then I realized that everyone is dealt a different set of problems to challenge their faith, and we are not to compare ourselves to others, and what matters is, what we do with whatever has been dealt to us. 

When we carry burdens or attitudes around that we should give to Jesus, we become sluggish, heavy laden and can fall into a state of what the friar called schlepitude. Scripture is full of warnings to stay sober spiritually. Jesus called it a fool’s foundation of sand, and Paul also warned against a spiritual sluggishness.

He admonished the Hebrews to “not be sluggish, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12)

We need to stay alert and guard our foundation, reminding ourselves of Jesus’ words, and imitating the faith of believers who inherited God’s promises. The heroes of faith are an inspiration to us, whether they are people we read about in scripture or actual people we have known who lived their faith. 

Everyone’s faith is personal, and we don’t all respond the same way to adversity, but the only important question is, “Is our foundation on the rock?” Jesus told us to listen and act on His words. Hearing and doing builds on our foundation of Jesus, who is our rock, and that’s what keeps us through the storms, winds and floods of life.

We have one life to live, and we have all received a certain measure of faith, by God’s grace. Let’s guard that seed of faith that is growing in the good soil of our heart.

Lord Jesus, we cherish our firm foundation in you, and please help us to keep growing in wisdom and faith as those who built their houses on rock. We pray for grace and faith for those who have lost the firmness of a foundation in you. Amen