Saturday, June 9th

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:36

Lord, if it were not for your mercies that are new every morning my life would be over.  I depend on your mercy to remove my guilt and shame and give me a respectable identity when I stand in front of the mirror, or lay my head on my pillow after another fallible day, or when I bear the accurate criticism of others.  Why do I not always think to extend that same mercy to those around me?  Instead, I am tempted to pick and choose those whom I will forgive.  I am a choosy forgiver and I live among people who are choosy forgivers too.  I have two requests: 1) Give me your supernatural mercy for my lack of mercy and 2) Make me merciful to everyone else I know or meet.  By your grace, I will mentally burn the note cards in my mind that I have on people who have hurt me.  Today starts with a clean record for me and everyone else.  AMEN

What would it be like if we all rushed to find mercy the way people rushed to find gold?

Additional Readings: Matthew 5:48, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:31-32, 1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 4:7-21

Friday, June 8th

One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14

Dear Jesus, sometimes I think that Satan, that great accuser, should be called the god of the past. How quickly a quiet moment of reflection on great moments in my life can be interrupted with reminders of mistakes and moral failures. It's like he is the big memory spoiler.  I need help remembering that you have redeemed me from the past.  Every one of those sins has been forgiven and in your presence I have peace about the past.  Now I am free to look forward to the rest of my life with purpose.  So, Jesus keep my eyes on the present and future opportunity to love you and people with all my heart. Keep me from looking over my shoulder in guilt or shame. Turn my head in freedom toward the wonderful challenge to live a God-pleasing life.  I want to run my race not to overcome my past or my neighbor but to overcome myself with your redeeming grace.  AMEN

If Jesus really did for me what he says he did, then I have all I need to live in peace with purpose.

Additional Readings: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Thursday, June 7th

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. - Colossians 2:6-7

Dear Jesus, I remember several times in my life when all the complexities of the human condition were blown away and it seemed that there was only you and me standing together.  Each time this happened, it was an overwhelming experience of peace and purity.  I left each experience with renewed strength to face anything that came my way because I was fully aware that I was rooted in you.  It made me feel strong.  I want to live my life in you.  It is the secret to my spirituality.  It is the true Christian faith.  So, today, I ask you again, please remind me of your presence, renew me in your words, strengthen my soul to live by your grace. Otherwise, I will be blown away when the storms life come my way.  AMEN

We are no match for the challenges of earthly life without Christ. We must build our lives on Christ and his word in order to whether the storms.

Additional Readings: Matthew 7:24-29, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10, 2 Peter 1:3-11

Wednesday, June 6th

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." - John 17:4-5

Dear Jesus, I love seeing you pray these words because I have so much unfinished business and so many unchangeable mistakes and sins from the past.  You finished everything well for our Father in my place.  You are the best big brother that anyone could ever hope to have.  You did everything needed to keep me in your family.  Since I am a deeply loved child of God through faith in you, I will do everything I can to extend mercy to people around me just as you do.  Without worry over what I do not finish, I will do my best to finish the right things with my remaining days and strength.  AMEN

Every moment of Jesus' life was lived for you and not himself. Show him how grateful you are by returning the favor.  

Additional Readings: Esther 4:12-16, Romans 14:7-9, Romans 1:1-3, Galatians 2:19-21

Tuesday, June 5th

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room (where Dorcas' body was). All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. - Acts 9:39

Dear Jesus, when a loved one passes we remember  the blessings they brought to others.  We even minimize their  weaknesses.  It's strange how families and friends seem to cope better with our weaknesses after we are gone.  But it is a testimony of how your grace makes it easy to not count people's sins against them. These widows in the passage above said nothing to Peter about Dorcas' weaknesses. In their grief, they marveled at the blessings she had created.  Give my family and friends the freedom to forget the weaknesses of their loved ones who have gone to glory and comfort them with the reminder that you blessed their lives with that loved one and will keep blessing it with others.  AMEN

Every person is a blessing to others.  We just need  the grace to see and enjoy what those blessings are.

Monday, June 4th

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." - John 10:10

Dear Jesus, my life is full of hope, peace, and love because you have made me your own. Whenever I try to find my meaning and purpose in the passing pleasures of this world it always seems like the "good life" is coming or going but never sticking around for me. But with you in my life I have a contentment that makes me relax and think of others and how I can bless them. My life is full of you, full of love, and full of people. Thank you for keeping me rich!  Amen

Only our souls will survive this present struggle. Our bodies will not.  So, true wealth is only what redeems and sustains the soul.

Additional Readings: Psalm 73, Psalm 121, Psalm 139, Jeremiah 17:5-11, Matthew 16:25-27

Sunday, June 3rd

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:12-14

Dear Jesus, I awoke this morning to the list in my mind of everything that needs to be done today and it is so easy to focus on these tasks rather than on virtue.  Then I saw your word that makes my heart and life its own personal project. Today, I will dress my heart with you and all the kindness and love that you bring.  Help me to value the lives of all other people today more than my own, so I think of ways to fill up their hearts with encouragement and joy by how I treat them. AMEN

We tend to care deeply about how we look.  God tends to care deeply about how we live.

Saturday, June 2nd

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” - Luke 23:39-43

Dear Jesus, in your three-year ministry you said, "The first will be last and the last will be first." What deep spiritual joy it must have given you during your greatest moment of darkness to announce grace and heaven to the man dying next to you.  He was the last whom we would expect to receive your promise and you made him the first to receive heaven through the cross!  I think to myself, "If there is room for him, there is room for me." (Pause for reflection.) It is ironic that one dying man would give another dying man eternal life. Help me to live in the same irony; to give life eternal to others who are dying while I myself am on the same dying road.  Free me from my addiction to create a heaven on earth that I cannot keep in order to grasp the heaven in glory that cannot be lost.  These two things I ask; help me make life on earth better for others and help me give them the better life in heaven by introducing them to you.  AMEN

Jesus gives us two great blessings: 1) The secrets to happiness in a broken world and 2) the secret passage to a world that cannot be broken.

 Additional Readings: John 14:1-6, John 18:28-31

Friday, June 1st

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."- John 14:1-3

Dear Jesus, how amazingly thoughtful of you to comfort our hearts on the night before you would be tortured and die.  I trust you. I think of how awesome it will be to live in your Father's house with you and all the saints.  I wonder what it is like there for my loved ones who have crossed over to glory.  Just thinking about all this fills up my emotional cup.  I have a place waiting for me near them. What impact can any earthly sorrow have when it all ends with me living forever with you and them?  I will spend today as an optimist. Your promise is worthy of my plan to make it a good day.  AMEN

We can smile like a great lotto winner today.  In Christ we have hit the jackpot!

Additional Readings: Isaiah 12:1-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Thursday, May 31st

Jesus returned to his disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter, "Could you not watch with me for one hour. Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." - Matthew 26:40-41

Dear Jesus, it was your greatest hour of need and your disciples did not understand how important it was for them to be awake for you and for themselves. I don't think I would have done any better that day because my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak also. Today, come and strengthen me with your word and your presence so that I watch, pray, and do not fall into any kind of temptation. Thank you for never falling into temptation. My peace is in your righteousness not mine.  Amen

Jesus is always there for us even when we are not completely there for him.

Additional Readings: James 1:13-18, Hebrews 10:19-31

Wednesday, May 30th

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. - Proverbs 3:5-6

Dear Lord, there are circumstances at my work, in my family, and in my life that I just can't understand. When I think I have it figured out, it seems I get it all wrong and make things more complicated. That's why I love this passage. You tell me to trust that you will work it out and not to depend on my own understanding. So, today I am taking a personal leave of absence from worrying about anything. You get it all. I'll ride in the back seat and enjoy the scenery. Amen

Trusting God to do his job is our life and our peace.

 Additional Readings: Hebrews 11

Tuesday, May 29th

Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him. Because he always lives to intercede for them. - Hebrews 7:25

Dear Jesus, it is very comforting for me to know that while I am praying to you, you are praying to the Father for me. Your heart is always turned toward me, even when I fail. Also, I can face the uncertainty that this day brings because I know you have covered it with your prayers. With confidence, I face the challenges of today because I know that you, the Father and the Holy Spirit are right here with me. Together we make a "Dream Team".  Amen.

Angels rejoice when we come home to God.  The Holy Spirit and the Son pray to the Father for us.  Our welfare is a family affair in in heaven.

Additional Readings: Romans 8:31-39

Monday, May 28th

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. - John 12:3

Dear Jesus, I sometimes wonder if you were with me in person would my worship and adoration of you be as obvious as Mary's.  She couldn't care less who saw her spend a year's wages on an afternoon of fragrant worship.  How deeply she appreciated your impending death for her that she anointed your body for your burial while you were still alive and humbly wiped you with her hair.  Like her I know you absorbed the wrath of justice for me, too. I am loved and I am eternal because you lived and died for me. I worship you in my heart. Help me to unashamedly worship you in the presence of others today. Amen.

When you really love someone it cannot be hidden from them or anyone else.

Additional Readings: Romans 12:1-3, Hebrews 13:9-13

Sunday, May 27th

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ... Speak the truth in love, and we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. - Ephesians 4:1-2, 15

Dear Jesus, I have so many people to talk to every day. Some conversations are casual and entertaining, but others are critical as we problem solve together and work at life as a family, as a church, or as a community.  While I am conversing, give me the wisdom, humility, and strength to be gentle, humble, truthful, and full of love. In this way, when I talk to others I will not be hurting them or hiding behind self-righteousness or selfish ambition.  Give me the moment by moment insight I need to treat everyone with the same respect and love that I want from them when they speak to me.  And when they are acting inappropriately, give me a grace oriented love that refuses to be harsh and cold toward them, but rather firm and loving at the same time.  I am starting today forgiving everyone.  Help me to finish today the same way.  AMEN

The love of Christ at work within us elevates every relationship we have making it holy in the sight of God.

Additional Readings: Colossians 4:2-6, 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

Saturday, May 26th

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them,” ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13

 Dear Jesus, you had zeal for the temple on the last Monday you would be on earth, because you had a deep desire that all people would know their Creator and the love he had for them.  The temple was supposed to be the place where anyone could find God.  And it had become a market where people worked hard to make a living and sometimes by unscrupulous practices.  How your shepherd's heart must have burned to see your father's house exploited for mercantile?  Your zeal to clean house also started the ball rolling for the men you confronted to plan your execution.  You knew that would be the result. Yet, you did it anyway.  How deep your love is that you would be the star player in the game that would kill you.  All this was for me and my peace of conscience and eternal destiny under grace.  I will purpose to think often and deeply about how you spent your last week for me.  It makes my love for you grow and gives me a higher purpose to live.  AMEN

God wants all people to be saved.  So, when he moves to defend the ministry of his word, everyone better get out of his way.

Additional Readings: Psalm 19, Psalm 139:19-24, Isaiah 56:1-8, Hebrews 12:18-29

Friday, May 25th

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on. - Mark 12:41-44

Dear Jesus, you and the widow confront my selfish heart on Tuesday of your last week.  She gave all she had to your Father on a Tuesday.  You were going to give all you had to your Father on the following Friday.  I so easily get proud of my meager gifts.  Yet I invariably leave for myself more than I give to you. None of my gifts have equaled your gift of your whole life for mine.  Teach me deep in my soul to freely let go of everything I hold dear for the love of your Father and my fellow humankind.  I lose only what I try to keep.  I know you have secured my place in your heart by your generosity.  You love those you have given to. I am thankful to be one of them.  AMEN

Gifts are not measured by the decimals and commas between their numbers but by the beliefs and feelings in the heart that moved the hand to give.”

Additional Readings: 1 Chronicles 29, John 12:1-11

Thursday, May 24th

The heavenly Father said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength— he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” - Isaiah 49:3-6

Dear Jesus, you sat outside Jerusalem and deeply contemplated what was about to happen to you. Your life was in your own hands.  You could slip away quietly to Galilee and avoid being betrayed, tortured, and crucified.  But you ran toward the trouble instead of away from it.  You contemplated your prize, my very soul, and you waited anxiously to sacrifice yourself to save me.  Help me to contemplate your great work of love today and to spend less time doing and more time thinking deeply about you and your deep commitment to save me.  I'm tired of doing.  I want to be more than I do.  Come and be the Savior of my soul and captivate my thoughts. While I must do many things throughout this day, help me to be in that other place where you were, thinking deeply about your cross.  AMEN 

Jesus' entire person is engaged for us.  Our worthy response is to be engaged as much as possible for him.

Additional Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9, Luke 9:43-51 Hebrews 12:1-3

Wednesday, May 23rd

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. - Matthew 27:57-61

Dear Jesus, your friends and faithful followers respected your body and placed it in their own space.  Their hearts were breaking. Now here we are 2000 years later respecting your resurrection.  We celebrate it with special services on the day commemorating the day that you burst open the tomb and restored hope and joy to all humanity.  No matter what our disappointments in life, no matter what our medical prognosis, your resurrection gives us hope and joy. Help your Christians everywhere to live in Easter joy no matter what is going on in their lives.  Shield them from the heat of day in the shadow of your cross and heat up their cold winter nights with the sunshine from your empty tomb.  AMEN

It is through the foolishness of preaching Christ crucified and arisen that people are rescued for eternity.

Additional Readings: Matthew 27:62-66, 28:1-10, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Tuesday, May 23rd

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ... Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53: 1, 4-6

 Dear Jesus, I love to meditate on your six hours on the cross for me. When I read these words from Isaiah that were written 600 years before you were born, I realize that, as the eternal God, your heart and soul has always been on the cross.  You are always there suffering, always risen, always sending the Holy Spirit, always loving me.  Thank you for taking away the thousand plus ways I have disappointed you.  Help me to let that same grace flow through me to those who have let me down.  I want to live in the shadow of the cross being forgiven and learning to forgive everyone.  AMEN

Grace for me means grace through me.  Grace through me means grace from me to others.

Monday, May 21st

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”  Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” - Matthew 26:26-29

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35

Dear Jesus, you are love personified and on the night before you died, you gave us two commands (mandates) that are natural desires for anyone changed by your love. The first was that we would draw near to you often in the Lord's Supper for a hug from heaven from you as we take your very body and blood shed for us.  The second is that we love one another as you have loved us. Both mandates given on Maundy Thursday are a delight for my redeemed soul.  I love drawing near to you and I love forgiving and loving those around me, both friend and foe.  Please deepen my understanding of how the Lord's Supper and the command to love are foundations for my life.  Give me insight into how I can reflect what you are teaching me to others in a simple and powerful way too.  AMEN

Additional Readings: Matthew 26, John 13-17

The Lord’s Supper is the closest we get to heaven before we pass from this life to the next.