On this Friday, take a minute and pause, and remember just a few of the things God says about you:
You have been set free from sin and you are a fully adopted member of God’s family. (John 8:34-36)
You have been created uniquely and specifically by God. (Psalm 139:14)
Absolutely nothing can separate you from God’s love for you. (Romans 8:38-39)
As we go through this campaign of Building Hope for Tomorrow, it would be an unsuccessful endeavor if we raised all the money we needed but in the process, the members of our community did not grow deeper in their faith. Read that again, just to make sure you remember it. Building Hope for Tomorrow is certainly about positioning Hope for many more years of fruitful ministry, but it’s also about strengthening you and the community for the work that goes along with that ministry. For Hope to be a refuge, a light in the darkness, it will take the enthusiastic participation of thousands of individual lights to shine bright as well.
What proves to be true again and again is that to shine that light and love well, it must come from the core of who we are. And we don’t often allow ourselves the experience of basking in how deeply we are loved by God. We fix our thoughts on our shortcomings and our stresses and our disappointments, and as you’ve experienced, allowing our thoughts to dwell on those things is not the light and easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:28). But the remedy is to follow Paul’s example and fix your thoughts on the innumerable good things of God. And then, when God’s voice gets priority in your life, you will be surprised how deeply you will long for others to have that peace too. When you are full of God’s love, that’s when you will truly have something to give away.
Prayer
This prayer exercise will take a bit of intention throughout the day. What I’d like you to do is pay specific attention to your thoughts. Maybe use your phone to take note of the thoughts that get your attention. Then later this evening, do a bit of an inventory and self-reflection on how many of your thoughts were true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or worthy of praise. This isn’t an exercise for you to feel shame, it’s an exercise on getting honest with yourself. After you’ve done the self-reflection, consider this prayer or use your own words:
Gracious God, I ask your forgiveness for my thoughts that are not of you. I ask that you create within me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me. Give me the courage and grace to seek your will even in the deepest corners of my heart and mind. Thank you for the easy yoke of Jesus. The gift of abundant life, in this world and with you for eternity. In Jesus’ name, Amen.