Consider

"Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots." (Luke 23:34)


As I am instructed by the Lord through the presence of His Holy Spirit in my life, I am ever so slowly realizing the best defense to ignorance is probably not retaliation or quick retort.  My natural being wants to immediately cry out, "Now wait just a minute, you have that wrong"; at the very least, I want to let people know that they don't know from whence they speak. I am grappling with the idea that one of my best defenses against ignorance and stupidity is not retaliation or rebuke,  it may be reflection.


When I pause within a situation which might otherwise invoke my anger or frustration, the Lord may show up to speak His peace and wisdom to my anxiety and disturbance. 


He may remind me, "Amie, the person speaking doesn't have all the details; he or she might be making a judgment without knowing enough of the story." He knows I have done the very same thing often enough. He also knows there are people in my life whom I can trust for wise advice and direction when I need it. He has given them to me.


He may remind me to fix my eyes on Him as the writer of the story, the One who truly knows the end from the beginning. 


He may remind me of His time on the cross where He responded to rejection and hatred by calling on His Father to provide mercy, forgiveness, compassion and grace (www.bible.org)


His prayer from the cross provides believers with an example they can follow even though it may not necessarily be an easy thing to emulate. The Scriptures also provide the case of Stephen in Acts 7 when he asked Jesus for the sins of his persecutors not to be held against them.


I am learning and growing slow but sure. 


I must use discretion to evaluate the counsel I receive and ask wisdom to determine what is pertinent to me and what is not.


I need every day to consider Jesus who endured the cross and its shame for me; I need to keep steadily pressing on and pressing on and pressing on...


from here into eternity.

Sensitivity

“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:48)

Lord Jesus,

I am thankful once again today that you do not turn aside needy people when they come to You for healing, strength, and comfort. You treated the suffering, hemorrhaging, distraught, woman who touched your cloak with compassion and spiritual sensitivity. You responded to her belief in You by offering her freedom from anxiety, freedom from uncleanness, and completeness of life (www.bible.org). You allowed Yourself to be interrupted so that someone You cared about was able to obtain healing, renewal, and the restoration of hope.

Forgive us, Lord, when our profession seems strong, but the reality of our practice is weak.

Forgive us, Lord, when we get our priorities out of whack and we tend toward shunning the masses with their messes.

Forgive us, Lord, when we fail to right-size ourselves and begin to operate out of our own perceived strengths, goals, and motives. 

Forgive us, Lord, for all the times when we allow self-focus to stand in the way of true love and faithful service.

Thank You for not acting perturbed, put out, bothered, or inconvenienced when you hear our voices and see us in our times of discomfort, loneliness, weakness, doubt, and pain.

You have shown Yourself faithful in patience, grace, and wisdom throughout the ages. Help us not to take Your gifts and example for granted.

Help us to serve, give, and sacrifice with joy and gratitude because You have so graciously provided for our healing, restoration, wholeness, and life.

Serving others on Your behalf isn't meant to be a burden or a bother when it could be an opportunity for blessing and mutual benefit.

Lord, in the power of Your Spirit, may we deeply, honestly, cherish You and keep our eyes firmly fixed on You as the author and perfecter of our faith.

We are grateful we can come before You without fear and with great expectation.

You have adopted us as Your very own.

Witness

 Lord God,

I’m thankful today for the reminder that my feelings do not determine my future. Above all else, my future is secure in You. Thank You for the security a relationship with You provides. I pray today for insecure people living amidst insecure circumstances. I pray You would touch them through Your Holy Spirit and guide them on the path of knowing You.

Enable them to know You through the witness of Your creation. May they look around them and see Your beauty in the things You have made. May they be reminded of Someone bigger, greater, grander, than themselves. You are the God who transcends and goes beyond to reach Your people and repair their broken lives.

Enable them to know You through the witness of Your Word. Thank You for Your Word passed down through the ages so that people may come to know it, trust it, believe it, and apply it to their lives. Thank You for being the Promise-Keeper. Keep believers faithful to You and Your promises as we see them unfolding with the passage of time. Help us to not be afraid, but to turn to You for help.

Enable them to know to You through the witness of Your servants. Speak to us that we may speak in living echoes of Thy tone. Make my life a testimony to Your continued grace and favor so that others may look at me and find You present there.

Enable them to know You through the witness of Yourself. Cause people to hear Your voice and follow You whatever it takes. Your ways are not our ways, neither are Your thoughts our thoughts. God beyond limits, Your servants praise Your name and are confident that Your will shall be completed for Your  highest honor and highest glory.

Thank You, Lord!

It all belongs to You!

Rescuer

”The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” (Isaiah 57:15)

As I sit in the presence of the Lord this morning, I praise Him for His holiness and eternality; I confess I don’t understand them.  Like one songwriter intones, I truly am such a limited creature and my words can only paint so many pictures.

I praise the Lord today as the One who restores the crushed spirit. He doesn’t just choose people of great stature and status to represent His name. He comes to those who have little to offer but their sorry, penitent, selves. One version of the verse says He wants to cheer up the humiliated and seeks to encourage the discouraged. Sounds like a marvelous ministry statement to me!

God is into restoration! God is into revival!

This is good news for those who need rescuing; this is good news for those who have been brought low by sinful lives in our sin-sick world. Love has come to New Testament believers in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

God is into restoration! God is into revival!

This is good news for those who need refreshment and re-focus in their ministry lives. God is able to cheer up the humiliated so that they can minister anew or for the first time to those who feel humiliated around them. When Christ comes and breaks down barriers for me, He also equips me to go and break down barriers which exist between me and others. His grace makes things possible in and through me that would have been impossible in my pre-grace experience. 

Grace afforded does not just translate to grace gained; it also translates to grace which can be gloriously given away.

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise the everlasting King 

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same as ever;
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.                                                                                                                              Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Prayer

Father God,

I come before You again in this hour and I bring with me my antsy spirit. I pray for Your calm in the middle of my storm. I pray for a more complete surrender of my will to Yours. I know by now this is only possible by Your Spirit.

Thank You for the gift of Your Son who accompanies and guides all those

who trust in You.

Thank You for being such a patient and bountiful God. You give to us things which are needful for life even though we don’t deserve them.

I pray for more of Your serenity amidst my frenzy. I pray I may know the peace of Your presence and the wisdom which comes with Your timing.

Enable me to accept the gifts which come from Your hand and Your planning as truly gifts from You.

I pray I would be able to sing the words from When Peace Like A River and really mean them.

Thank You, dear Father, my sin is nailed to the cross and I need bear it no more.

I praise the One who bore my sins for me and I pray for daily faithfulness to His name for the sake of His glory.

In Christ alone...my hope is both found and restored.

I am grateful for the replenishment which is mine by Your grace.

Aid Your servant as You see me in my need.

Enable Your servant to discern well the needs of those around me