Walk before My faces and be empty of yourself.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lam. 3:22-23

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6

When you are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, God will wonderfully work wherever you go. When you are filled with the Spirit, you will know the voice of God. –Smith Wigglesworth

I, thus on the very brink of the grave, solemnly bear withness to you that the Almighty Redeemer, most gracious in His promises to them who truly seek Him, is faithful to perform what He hath promised. –Samuel Taylor Coleridge

This is my real prayer for this new year.

Holy fire, burn.

The all of my heart stuff. The come to an end of myself stuff.

The embracing courage really means to embrace Him.

He is my courage. He is my strength. He is my light.

To know His steadfast voice step by step.

And He is good and merciful, new every morning. Because every day I get tangled up and distracted with what I think and what I say and what I do. And I allow fears and judgment a place in my heart.

Every single stinking day.

And a friend sent me a link to Explode My Soul yesterday, and it became the day’s soundtrack. Again and again.

Let these walls come down.

It is all about His faithfulness.

His mercy.

Walk before My faces and be empty of yourself. Genesis 17:1

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."--Mark Twain

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
Don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;    
He’s the one who will keep you on track. Proverbs 3:5-6

Something written by a guy I met at my new office, Starbucks. Kind of my battle for the day.

Fighting out of old wounds against the people who hurt me, leading campaigns against those who've oppressed me, trying to take them down, sabotage them and "save" others from their hurting of more people is something I've been good at, even found identity in. You might think it would be personally empowering to take back my power, to take on an enemy. Yet for me, it hasn't been. It's only caused further pain. It was as if the enemy I was attacking was really myself, some phantom amalgamated bully I let live inside me to ever berate me and pick at old sores and scabs on my soul. To set myself up as an opponent to be further rejected, fought back against, and be reminded of old offenses and wounds.

Yet forgiveness, on the other hand, has been freeing for me and extremely empowering. Even if those who hurt me never asked for forgiveness or never do, it is better for my soul to let go of that pain, let others off the hook, to see those who have hurt me as valuable, and work towards reconciliation instead of revenge. -Andrew Rogers

Prayer: Grant me, O Lord, to trust in you with all my heart; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The morning light now pours through those panes of glass

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
    and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

So pretty much if you are on my prayer list, you might as well know, this is what I am praying for you, every day. Just in case you were wondering.  And well, I am sort of an Eeyore person, and can’t quite imagine a gleaming path stretching out to the horizon as straight as some of those perspective drawings we learned how to do in fifth grade with a wooden ruler. But I do pray for the next step to be clear and strong and straight.

And it’s not so much like that little Verizon guy with the cell phone and the incessant and slightly setting-one’s-teeth on edge (re the Urban Dictionary entry), “Can you hear me now?” That is not how God speaks to us and makes His understanding known.

We read the Scriptures to learn how He has worked and spoken in the past and we read of dreams and early risings and still small voices. But the image in my head is not so far in the past. I think of my brother Scott. Slow-speaking Scott. Pause. Rub his chin a little. Squint. Reflect on what he has learned of what is true and good and of real value. Not his own understanding, but His.

All my ways. Holding nothing back.

We are yours.