Return to Me, For I Have Redeemed You

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
    your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
    for I have redeemed you.

—Isaiah 44:22 (NIV)

O LORD, My God and My Redeemer,

Let me forever live in the truth of the work of redemption Your performed, when You removed all my offenses and sins, so that I could return to You!

You have swept away my offenses like a cloud that the wind carries away—so that Your light can shine on me, in me, and through me.

My sins are gone—like the morning mist that evaporates in the warmth of the rising sun. You have done this for me—out of Your immeasurable love for me—to make a way for me to return to You!

So when I sin, make my heart eager to repent and return to You, my feet ready to run to You—for my salvation in found in You alone!

Let me forever live in the truth of the work of redemption Your performed, when You removed all my offenses and sins, so that I could return to You!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

When I Look and See

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
    the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
    human beings that you should care for them?

—Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT)

Creator God,

As I gaze upon the night sky, as I try to take it all in, I cannot even begin to comprehend the vastness of all that You have made.  And when I think that Your creation is no more than a mere glimpse of Your power and glory, I am overwhelmed to think that You would choose to set Your unfailing love and affection on one like me!

I am amazed at the intricate details with which You designed, created, set in place, and put in perfectly synchronized motion, the moon and each of the stars in the multitude of galaxies that You spread across the vastness of an endless space.

I am even more amazed that You created them all and put them on display for us—to demonstrate Your power and greatness and majesty to all of mankind—in order to reveal who You are and to draw us into relationship with You.

I am most amazed that You would make mankind the reason for, and focus of, everything that You have created—that You not only would think about us, but would want us, and truly care for us—making us the objects of Your amazing and immeasurable love.

As I gaze upon the night sky, as I try to take it all in, I cannot even begin to comprehend the vastness of all that You have made.  And when I think that Your creation is no more than a mere glimpse of Your power and glory, I am overwhelmed to think that You would choose to set Your unfailing love and affection on one like me!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Doing My Part to Live at Peace with Everyone

Never repay anyone evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and gracious and proper in the sight of everyone.  If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

—Romans 12:17-18 (AMP)        

Prince of Peace,

Let Your peace remain in me, by helping me to be a person who resists the impulse of my flesh to repay evil with evil and chooses the better way—the way that is right and gracious and proper—so that my actions don’t diminish the possibility of me living at peace with everyone.

Help me to remember that any evil that I do to others, in response to evil they have done to me, will only breed more evil—and that if I choose this destructive course, evil will always have me in its ever-tightening grip.

Let me instead enjoy the freedom that comes from being one who walks uprightly before others—being careful to love others in the same way You have loved me—so that I might represent You well and sow seeds of peace wherever I go.

And while I know that it will not always be possible for me to live at peace with everyone, remind me that I must always do my part to be a peacemaker—by speaking only the truth, granting an abundance of grace to all, letting Your love guide my thoughts, and making that same love be the sole motive behind everything I say and do. 

Let Your peace remain in me by helping me to be a person who resists the impulse of my flesh to repay evil with evil and chooses the better way—the way that is right and gracious and proper—so that my actions don’t diminish the possibility of me living at peace with everyone.

For the glory of Your Name, Jesus, Amen.