1 Peter 3: 15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
Dear God,
It is so good to come today, with my gratitude and love toward You in my heart and on my lips. You know also, that I sincerely want to love You more than myself, with Jesus abiding in my heart and life. I thank You for guiding me through my study and prayer time, so I will be blessed with the scriptural truths You have for me.
I sincerely want to be used by You and represent You aright to all that I meet today and each day. I am conscious of the fact that as a follower of Jesus Christ people read whether I behave as a His follower. This means I will naturally do the actions of the Man; I profess to love and follow. I have found this to be a simple, yet profound outworking of His process of sanctification in my heart.
Jesus said, John 15: 14 “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.” Satan too often distracts us away from thinking about God and Jesus Christ, onto instead thinking about our failings and wrongdoings. It is easy to be discouraged and think thoughts such as, ‘am I falling below what Jesus asks of me? Or is my love for Him too shallow? Or again am I too self-centred? Are my actions toward others an illustration of His love in action? And on it can go and it always forgetting about what God has done for me and promises to do in the scriptures, when asked.
The truth is, in human strength I will always fall short of representing Jesus, because it will not He that is evident, but myself. Instead, by faith believing I receive, when I ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me, and He brings Jesus into my life, and Jesus abides in me, as he promised before returning to heaven. The joy of it is, when I am filled with the love of God, it is His love that motivates me, and the love people see. Romans 5: 5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
God how wonderful, how divine You are, as You fill us with Your love and joy.
Amen