Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek
you.
My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for
you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1-2
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that
if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40
Dear
Heavenly Father,
You are my
God. You are mighty and wise and your thoughts and ways are above mine. You cherish
us and all of creation in ways that are outside our own ability to love and
cherish. You forgive and embrace in ways that are so much more expansive than
we can ever imagine. Your heart encompasses emotions that are rich and deep and
leagues beyond our capacity to feel or measure.
I see your
glory in dawn’s vermillion clouds and night skies brilliant with lightning. I
hear it in the cooing of mourning doves and the twilight call of coyotes. I
smell it in the fresh, fall rain and newly stacked hay on roadside pastures. I
taste it in an orange picked straight from the tree and the kiss on a baby’s
just-bathed belly.
Yet, at this
time of year, I remember your glory and your heart in your Son, who you gave to
us as a living sacrifice, to purge us of our sins, to offer us a chance at
repentance, new life, a new heart, a new relationship with you.
You offered
up your Son, who was born for us, who lived for us, taught us, was tortured for
us, who died for us and who rose again for us, that we might continue his
legacy and, in love, spread the gospel to everyone and build your Kingdom.
Heavenly
Father, help us to love you first and greatest. Help us to be examples of
Christianly love in our walk. Help us to remember we carry the Holy Spirit
inside us and help us to honor him – and you, and our Lord Jesus – at all
times. Help us to surrender our hearts fully to all that Jesus taught so that
we build your Kingdom by embodying the fruit of the Spirit in all we think, in
all we say and in all we do.
Help us to
become the people you intended us to be.
