Even when I don’t get the best of sleep, I am grateful for Your presence, Father. You are ever by my side and I would be undone without You. Today is the beginning of a very full week, with additional services and all the preparation that entails. I would ask for Your guidance and direction as I work, in Your strength, to bring it all together. Amen.

Matthew 10:32-33 (<<click the green)

“Therefore, the one who confesses* and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven. But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.”

*The word “confess” used in conjunction with “before” connotes
a legal statement or a testimony in a legal setting.

Regularly I find the Amplified Bible very helpful in fleshing out Your word, Lord. I understand what these verses are saying but that portion in the brackets helps me to think a little farther and then the footnote, even more so.

A relationship with You, Lord, is not for the faint of heart. I’ve heard many times that there are those who believe that religion is a crutch. That it is for the weak and feeble minded. I might possibly concede that thought when it relates to “religion” but, Lord, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to our relationship with You.

A relationship with You is far more than just going to church a day or so a week. It is far more than a little prayer before we eat (if we can remember to do so). It is far more than all the little rites and rituals of religion. Those all have their place but without relationship, they are nothing.

How can those “things”, in and of themselves, equal “a state of oneness with You”, Lord Jesus? Our relationships with You must go far deeper! My relationship with You is not a crutch – You are by my side weathering every storm. I am strong when I am with You. No one who has ever worked through passages of Scripture is feeble-minded!

Jesus, I confess and acknowledge before all of humanity that You are my Lord and Savior! Thank You for the honor of being able to do so!

Mar 26th, 2018, Mon, 6:38 am