Blue Schwinn Bicycle

 The adorable five year-old girl on the blue Schwinn bicycle, Tracy Duncan, is now an awesome wife of Zac Duncan and mother of our two precious grandsons, Colton and Carson. God sees the end from the beginning, He knew the day we took the photograph of her waiting to ride her blue Schwinn bicycle in the Fourth of July parade in Sebring, Florida, all of the plans, the hope, and the future He had waiting for her and our family. 

I am constantly amazed by the many ways God uses His word, His Holy Spirit, and prayer to draw us like a magnet to Jesus Christ and His will for our lives. Recently, God used the memory of a passage in the Bible study, Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby, and this photograph of our daughter on her blue Schwinn bicycle to remind me of His sovereignty and His great grace.

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From Experiencing God: "For his sixth birthday, my oldest son Richard was old enough to have a bicycle. I looked all around for a bicycle. I found a blue Schwinn. I bought it and hid it in the garage. Then I had a task—to convince Richard that he needed a blue Schwinn bike. For the next little while, we began to work with Richard. Richard decided that what he really wanted for his birthday was a blue Schwinn bike. Do you know what Richard got? Well, the bike was already in the garage. I just had to convince him to ask for it. He asked for it, and he got it! What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "in the garage." It is already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get you to want it—to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things God already wants to give or do? You will always receive it. Why? Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased."

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Trusting Him, my daily prayer has become, “Lord Jesus, I trust You, You know what You’re doing…"

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We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have—for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.—Romans 8:24-25 TLB

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It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.—Philippians 2:13

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The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.—Romans 8:26-27

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I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.—Jeremiah 29:11

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I approach the Throne of Grace with confidence in prayer, I picture Jesus, my Good, Good Shepherd, in the green pasture of the 23rd Psalm. I take whatever concern I have, or person for whom I am interceding by the hand. I walk out to the meadow, the green pasture, and I place my concern, or the hand of the person for whom I am interceding, in Jesus’ hand—knowing that He is sovereign, He loves me, and He loves the person for whom I am interceding more than I do. He has a plan, a hope, and a future for each of us. I walk away, thanking God for how He is at work in my life and in the lives of those for whom I am interceding. I experience His peace. Praying as Catherine Marshall prayed, “Lord Jesus, I trust You, You know what You’re doing, I relinquish my will to Yours.”

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Thank you, Lord Jesus, for kindling these wonderful words of hope in my heart . . . We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently . . . I am trusting You . . . In Your precious Name Above All Names I pray, amen.

Look up – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25 Pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

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Look in – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25  Pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: “Because God is ______________, I will ______________.”

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Look out – Meditate on Romans 8:24-25   Pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.  

Do The Next Thing

 Elisabeth Elliot’s famous quote “Do the Next Thing” has been my byword since the first day I heard Elisabeth quote it in 1993, so much so that even when my children and others would ask me for advice in a difficult season, "Do the Next Thing," always seems to be some part of my reply. I shared this in my response to a writing prompt which asked the question: “Who inspires you?”

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Servant leaders like Elisabeth Elliot, who push through seemingly overwhelming obstacles, inspire me. From 1989-2001, when I served as the executive director of the Learning Resource Center of Polk County, this Monday Profile interview was published on the front page of our local newspaper, The Ledger, as well as an article about Polk Businesses for World Class Education, where I served as the administrator. 

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I heard an interview on Moody radio with Elisabeth Elliot, who was talking about her life in Ecuador following the murder of her husband while they were missionaries. As a widow with a young infant, living in the jungles of a foreign land, her world must have felt as though it had been turned upside down. But instead of throwing up her hands and saying, "What’s next?" she asked, "What’s the next thing?"

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Elisabeth Elliot was inspiring to me because servant leadership had become a passion for me early in my life, as I had been...

• elected president of our Future Homemakers of America and selected as editor-in-chief of our Smoke Signal school newspaper at Southwest Junior High School;
• elected as the first female president of our student body at Sebring High School;
• selected for leadership positions as a county-wide program education specialist in Highlands County;
• Florida Department of Education gifted education state consultant in Tallahassee; and
• executive director at the Learning Resource Center of Polk County.

No matter what the task, I have been inspired by the maxim, 'Do the next thing,' which helped me look beyond what appeared to be overwhelming obstacles to get the job done.

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As Elisabeth Elliot said in the interview, "You can imagine how tempted I was to just plunk myself down and say, 'There is no way I can do this.' I wanted to sink into despair and helplessness, then I remembered this old Saxon legend, 'Do the next thing.' I remembered a verse that God had given to me before I went to Ecuador in Isaiah 50:7: 'The Lord God will help me; therefore, shall I not be confounded. Therefore, have I set my face like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed."

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Instead of allowing the burdens to stack until they completely blocked out the sun, she dealt with them one at a time. She said you should not sit down and think of all the things you have to do because it can be overwhelming. Instead, just pick the next thing and do it, then move on to the one after that. She said while pushing through them, you’re likely to find that many of the problems will work themselves out.

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The essence of her servant leadership is found in the poem, "Do The Next Thing," from which Elisabeth Elliot's maxim originates:

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Do The Next Thing 

From an old English parsonage, down by the sea

There came in the twilight a message to me;

Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,

Hath, as it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.

And on through the hours the quiet words ring

Like a low inspiration—"DO THE NEXT THING."

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Many a question, many of fear,

Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,

Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.

Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,

Trust them with Jesus, "DO THE NEXT THING."

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Do it immediately; do it with prayer;

Do it reliantly, casting all care;

Do it with reverence, tracing His Hand,

Who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on Omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,

Leave all resultings, "DO THE NEXT THING."

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Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

(Working or suffering) be thy demeanor,

In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,

The light of His countenance be thy psalm,

Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing,

Then, as He beckons thee, "DO THE NEXT THING."

We are saved by trusting…

 It was spring break of my senior year at Sebring High School in 1971. My friends from Sebring and I drove to a camp near Ocala to attend a Young Life retreat along with several other students from inner-city Jacksonville. 

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Inner-city Jacksonville is actually where I was born, specifically at the old Salvation Army hospital which was located in inner-city Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953. I was born on Friday the 13th of February…unwanted, unnamed, abandoned, given up for adoption by my 42 year old birthmother, who returned to her home in Chicago, on Valentine's Day. I was in foster care for a few months in inner-city Jacksonville, and then adopted by loving Christian parents who brought me to their home in Lakeland, Florida. God has a plan, a hope, and a future for each of us...praise His Holy Name!

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At the Young Life retreat, as I listened to the testimonies of drug abuse and addiction from the students from inner-city Jacksonville, I realized, again, “there, but for the grace of God, that could have been me” growing up on the streets of inner-city Jacksonville. We shared our testimonies and prayed together. 

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My heart was open as we went outdoors to find our individual places for prayer during our quiet time. I took my Living Bible and sat down under a tree. I looked up to the heavens and began to pray. When I looked down, I saw that my Bible had fallen open to Romans 8, and a bright ray of sunlight shining through the tree seemed to highlight verses 24 & 25. It contained a powerful message to me that day, but even more so as the Holy Spirit inscribed it on my heart for years to come…leading me to this word study on the word “trusting” from Romans 8:24-25:

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Living Bible: We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.

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Amplified:  For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees? But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.

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NASB: For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

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Phillips: We were saved by this hope, but in our moments of impatience let us remember that hope always means waiting for something that we haven’t yet got. But if we hope for something we cannot see, then we must settle down to wait for it in patience.

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Wuest: For we were saved in the sphere of hope. But hope that has been seen is not hope, for that which a person sees, why does he hope for it? But if that which we do not see, we hope for, through patience we expectantly wait for it. 

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Young’s Literal: for in hope we were saved, and hope beheld is not hope; for what any one doth behold, why also doth he hope for [it]? and if what we do not behold we hope for, through continuance we expect [it].

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The word, trusting, comes from the Greek word elpízō, the verb form ofelpís, which means to hope, to hopefully to trust in, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. It means to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial. It is in the present tense which expresses continuous action, constantly, habitually. It pictures this attitude as the believer's lifestyle, which is one of hope, where hope is defined as the absolute assurance that God will do good to us and for us in the future.

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It is interesting that elpízō and elpís do not appear in the Gospels. And yet the concept, this truth expressed in the word elpis does appear in First Timothy 1:1 as the Apostle Paul writes, it is "Christ Jesus our Hope." 

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Hope is not just an ideal, but is a Person, Jesus Christ, our Peace, our Life, our Hope.

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Pastor John Piper explains: “There is no sweeter message of hope in all the world than to hear God announce that when you get up in the morning miserable and depressed with a sense of guilt and estrangement before a holy God, you can go to bed that very night—this very night—with a quiet and peaceful heart knowing that every sin you have ever committed and ever will commit is forgiven, and you are reconciled to the Almighty by the death of his Son. That’s the free offer of the Gospel!"

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Pastor John Stott has said, “We wait for it patiently, that is, for the fulfillment of our hope. This whole section is a notable example of what it means to be living ‘in between times,’ between present difficulty and future destiny, between the already and the not yet, between sufferings and glory. ‘We were saved in hope’ brings them together. And in this tension the correct Christian posture is that of waiting, waiting ‘eagerly’ with keen expectation, and waiting ‘patiently,’ steadfast in the endurance of our trials. The combination is significant. We are to wait neither so eagerly that we lose our patience, nor so patiently that we lose our expectation, but eagerly and patiently together. Yet it is hard to keep this balance. Some Christians overemphasize the call to patience. They lack enthusiasm and lapse into lethargy, apathy and pessimism. They have forgotten God’s promises, and are guilty of unbelief. Others grow impatient of waiting. They are so carried away with enthusiasm that they almost try to force God’s hand. They are determined to experience now even what is not available yet. God give us a patient eagerness and an eager patience as we wait for his promises to be fulfilled!”

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Pastor Charles Spurgeon writes, “This is our present position, patiently waiting for “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,” patiently waiting for “the manifestation of the sons of God,” for “it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” If we could be all we should like to be, there would then be no room for the exercise of hope. If we had all that we are to have, then hope, which is one of the sweetest of the graces, would have no room in which to exercise herself. It is a blessed thing to have hope. I believe the New Zealand word for hope is “swimming thought,” because that will swim when everything else is drowned. Oh, happy is that man who has a hope that swims on the crest of the stormiest billow.”

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Pastor George H. Morrison illustrates, “One might take the instance of Zacchaeus, that outcast from the commonwealth of Israel. He had been taught there was no hope for him, and he believed it until the Lord Jesus came by. And then, like the dawn, there came the quivering hope that his tomorrow might differ from his yesterday, and in that new hope the saving work began. In the movements of the soul, hope may be the forerunner of faith. And our Lord, bent on evoking faith, that personal trust in Him which alone saves, began by kindling hope within the breast. That is how He often begins still. He does not begin by saying, "Trust in Me." He begins by kindling these hopes of better things that are lying crushed in every human heart. Despair is deadly. It is blind. It cannot see the arm outstretched to help. Our Lord begins with the quickening of hope.”

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Thank you, Lord Jesus, for kindling these wonderful words of hope in my heart that day under the tree at the Young Life camp, I have never been the same . . . We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently . . . I am trusting You . . . just as i am . . . presently, actively waiting—patiently and confidently—looking forward to Your return and my eternal Home with You. In Your precious Name Above All Names I pray, amen.

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Look Up—meditate on Romans 8:24-25 … pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

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Look In—as you meditate on Romans 8:24-25 … pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

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Look Out—as you meditate on Romans 8:24-25 …pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

His Grace is Sufficient

 A word study of 2 Corinthians 12:9:

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NASB: And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

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Amplified: But He said to me, “My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

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A Greek word study of this Scripture reveals that Jesus’ first words are "is sufficient" which places emphasis on our supply of His grace; a truth which gives us encouragement to face difficult times. Jesus' response to Paul follows a chiastic pattern (a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result is a “mirror” effect as the ideas are “reflected” back in a passage. Each idea is connected to its “reflection” by a repeated word, often in a related form...e.g., he came in triumph and in defeat departs)

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A...is sufficient

     B...for you

          C...my grace

          C...my power

     B...in weakness

A...is perfected

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"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect IN weakness.”

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IN distresses—circumstances forced upon you, reversals of fortune against your will. This could refer to any situation where you feel trapped. You didn’t plan it or think it would be this way. But there you are, and it’s hard.

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IN persecutions—wounds, abuses, painful circumstances, acts of prejudice or exploitation from people because of your Christian faith or your Christian moral commitments. It’s when you are not treated fairly.

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Whether IN distresses or persecutions, Corrie Ten Boom encourages us...Look at self and be distressed,Look at others and be depressed, Look at Jesus and you’ll be at rest!

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The word grace comes from the Greek word, charis meaning “to rejoice.” Someone has written that the word grace is probably the greatest word in the Scriptures, even greater even than “love,” because grace is love in action, and therefore includes it.

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Charis is a word which can be somewhat difficult to define but one of the most familiar definitions is "God's unmerited favor." In the present context, grace speaks of the supernatural power available to Paul to enable him to bear up under his "weakness", the trial of a thorn in his flesh. 

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Grace is God's unmerited help for one undeserving with no thought or ability to give recompense. Grace is not some static concept but is a dynamic force, which totally transforms the believer's life beginning with salvation, continuing in our sanctification, and then all through eternity in our glorification. 

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Grace enables the believer to endure without grumbling or complaining, and enables our weakness or suffering to be used for God's glory.

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Grace is God’s supernatural provision for our every need when we need it. God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve, and in His mercy He does not give us what we do deserve.

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Pastor John MacArthur writes: “When God declared to Paul in answer to his prayer, “My grace is sufficient for you,” He affirmed the total sufficiency of His grace for every need in life—to believe the gospel; to understand and apply the Word to all the issues of life; to overcome sin and temptation; to endure suffering, disappointment, and pain; to obey God; to serve Him effectively; and to worship Him. God’s grace was sufficient for the deepest pain Paul (or any other believer) could ever experience.”

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Pastor Hanmer William Webb-Peploe was born in 1837, in England. When asked about his favorite Bible verse, he replied in writing: “A very large number of texts have been, in my lifetime, of special service to me, through the goodness of God; but that if I have to choose one out of the whole book which has been of special help to me, I should mention the words in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for thee,” which were made by God’s mercy at a time of special trial a blessing of remarkable force to my soul. 

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It had pleased God to remove my youngest child under circumstances of peculiar trial and pain, and I had just laid my little one’s body in the church yard when, on returning home, I felt it my duty to preach to my people on the meaning of trial, and finding that this text was in the lesson for the following Sunday, I chose it as my Master’s message to them and myself; but, on trying to prepare my notes, I found that in honesty I could not say that the words were true, and therefore knelt down and earnestly asked God to “Let His grace be sufficient for me,” and while I was thus pleading I opened my eyes and saw a framed illuminated text, which my mother had given me only a few days before, which was placed upon the wall during my absence at the holiday resort where my little one was taken away from us. 

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I did not notice the words on returning to my house, but as I looked up and wiped my eyes, the words met my gaze, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” The ‘is’ was picked out in bright green, while the ‘my’ and the ‘thee’ were painted in another color. 

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In one moment the message came straight to my soul, as a rebuke for offering such a prayer as “Lord let thy grace be sufficient for me:” for the answer was almost as an audible voice, “How dare you ask for that which is? God cannot make it any more sufficient than he has made it: get up and believe it and you will find it true, because the Lord says it in the simplest way: “My grace is (not shall be or may be) sufficient for thee.” 

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The lesson that came to me, and which I seek to convey to others, is, “Never turn God’s facts into hopes or prayers, but simply use them as realities and you will find them powerful as you believe them.”

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After the homegoing of my Daddy, Eston Willis, we discovered in his Bible the following poem which describes our Master Weaver's plan… “My life is but a weaving, between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colors. He worketh steadily. Oft times He weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride, forget He sees the upper and I the under side. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly, shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why, the dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hands, as the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned.”

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Consider the underside of a handmade tapestry described in this poem. The elaborate coordinated threads on the exterior side of the fabric, woven with precision and creativity, produce a work of art intended by the weaver. The side that will not be seen, however, is a tangled mess of thread, yarn, and knots. How similar to life! Christ uses what appears to be random circumstances with no meaning—simply knots and tangles—and makes something beautiful out of them. 

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Lord Jesus, help me keep my focus on You, even in suffering, knowing that You are at work mending and making whole, raising up the broken to life...IN my weakness...thank You for Your promise that Your grace IS sufficient for this day. Thank you for the power and grace of Your Holy Spirit, Who gives me the strength to persevere in prayer even when I am at my weakest moment and ready to give up. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.

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Look Up—meditate on 2 Corinthians 12:9

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Look In—as you meditate on 2 Corinthians 12:9 pray to see how you might apply it to your life.

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Look Out—as you meditate on 2 Corinthians 12:9 pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others.

Good, Good Father

 

When I first heard the anointed hymn, Good, Good Father, by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown of Housefires, a group of musicians from Atlanta, Georgia, I was moved by the simple beauty and authenticity of this new hymn, which speaks literally of God’s goodness, and paints a simple picture of His identity, even as it underscores our own identity in Him. Any person who’s ever felt lonely or unloved will be ministered to by this hymn, because it declares something we’ve always wanted: identity and purpose. We are loved with a superabounding love by our Good, Good Father...drawing my heart for a word study of surpassing or superabounding from  Ephesians 1:18-19…

Amplified:  By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), and [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength.

NLT:  I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power.

Phillips: That you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realize how great is the hope to which he is calling you—the magnificence and splendor of the inheritance promised to Christians—and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.

Wuest:  The eyes of your heart being in an enlightened state with a view to your knowing what is the hope of His calling, what is the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the superabounding greatness of His inherent power to us who are believing ones as measured by the operative energy of the manifested strength of His might.

Young’s Literal: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, for your knowing what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us who are believing, according to the working of the power of His might.

A word study of surpassing or superabounding [huperballo from hupér(above) bállo (cast)] which literally means throwing beyond the usual mark and figuratively referring to a degree which exceeds extraordinary, a point on an implied or overt scale of extent. Expressing a degree beyond comparison. Extraordinary, extreme, supreme, far more, much greater, to a far greater degree. To transcend. Immeasurable. To overshoot, outdo, surpass, prevail over, to go beyond, exceed, absolutely to exceed all bounds, to go on further and further.

God's power goes far beyond all other power. The power of Christ applied in the believer’s behalf can't be defeated because the Creator's power exceeds all. Huperballo is in the present tense (present-active-participle) indicating that this is a power which is continually surpassing or excels all other power. There will never be a day when it is not sufficient to accomplish what God purposes in us and through us to the praise of His glory. What He does in and through us will be seen by others, who give Him praise and glory because they realize that it is a supernatural, not natural, work. Join me in praying daily that we surrender to the authority of the Spirit of Christ, Who dwells in the innermost part of us, energizing our walk, elevating it from a natural to a supernatural walk.

As Greek scholar, Dr. Kenneth Wuest translates, the superabounding greatness of His inherent power to us who are believing ones as measured by the operative energy of the manifested strength of His might. It is difficult to give a clear distinction between the three Greek words that expand on the meaning of the surpassing greatness of His power, but in simple terms it pictures the piling up of similar terms in an attempt to convey the magnitude and capability of God's incomprehensible, infinite power. God's surpassing, superabounding power is available to believers because we are in Christ and He is in us, these positions picturing a union, a oneness, a solemn and binding covenant relationship. Commentators tell us that they can distinguish differences of meaning between the words, in that the first of them is the more active and outward, and the last of them is the more inward, comparing them to fruit and branch and root. The surpassing power which God uses in ministering to our spiritual needs is in accordance with, commensurate with, His infinite, immeasurable divine energy. Praise His Holy Name!

Pastor Adrian Rogers is quoted as saying, “Now, I want to ask you a question: Are you sitting in this auditorium, this morning, or are you sitting in heavenly places? The answer is yes, yes, yes. Physically, we are here; but, in Christ, we have been raised. When He died, we died. His death had our name on it. When He was raised from the grave, we were raised from the grave. When He ascended, we ascended. When He is seated at the right hand of God, so are we, in Christ. If I were to put you in a barrel and put that barrel in the Mississippi River, where would you be? In the Mississippi River, right? Well, if you're in Christ, and Christ is at the right hand of God, where are you? 

Seated with Him…as the Apostle Paul wrote, I am praying that your eyes will be opened, that you will be enlightened, that you will understand this (Ephesians 1:18)… surpassing, superabounding, exceeding greatness of His inherent power in and for us who believe (Ephesians 1:19)"…

He’s a Good, Good Father…it’s Who He is, and we’re loved with a superabounding love by Him…it’s who we are…it's Whose we are…in Christ...

Good, Good Father, I am so grateful that You have drawn me with cords of loving kindness to know and experience the surpassing, superabounding, exceeding greatness of Your inherent power in and for us who believe. Thank You for giving me a heart which yearns for Your Presence, a yearning for You that draws me over and over into Your Presence, a yearning that makes only a few days without time in prayer and Your Word seem like an eternity. Thank You for giving me a heart which is motivated first and foremost by a desire for You, not for what You can do for me, but a yearning for Your Presence. Thank You for giving me a heart that wants You more than anything else You could give, to love You and know You more than anything in life. Thank You for giving me a heart that takes what You have made known to me and makes You re-known to everyone else, a heart that makes Your name and renown the desire of my heart. Thank You for giving me a heart to feel Your Holy Spirit woo me once again to the place where I meet You. In the simplicity of my prayer time, thank You for giving me a heart to be suddenly confronted by the majesty of my Redeemer—the One Who is responsible for any good in me. Lord, each morning, thank You for giving me a heart that welcomes Your fresh mercies which fall like manna from Heaven, and once again move my heart. I gratefully surrender all. Morning after morning. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Look Up—meditate on Ephesians 1:18-19 …pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

Look In—as you meditate on Ephesians 1:18-19 …pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

Look Out—as you meditate on Ephesians 1:18-19 …pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.