A * P * R * I * L

April 1

How can I praise you enough? Tell me and I will do it. You are in my thoughts and my dreams. You are my light in dark places. You are my warrior, my comforter, my hero.  You make promises and keep them. Even when things do not seem to go right, you are still keeping your promises. Even when a thousand years have passed, still you are keeping your promises.  Even when I have forgotten them, you never do. You are truth, integrity, fidelity. You are justice tempered with mercy. You are all I need and more than I can fully understand. You are above and beyond all things. Most of all, you are in my heart.

Please forgive me when I complain. Nothing happens to me without your permission. Help me see how my problems can only make me stronger if I let them. You did not set me in a lazy world where I do not have to lift a finger. You set me in a world with work to do, places to go, people to see. When I grow lazy, make me take a second breath and get out there and get back to work. It is the only way I can become spiritually strong.

Thank you, Lord, Jehovah, materialized in Jesus, magnified in his works, glorified in his words. You did everything possible to save me from hell.  You go after me when I wander away. You shine your light when I go into dark places. You love me even when I forget you.  I am unworthy. Yet you made me and I am yours. You protect me and give me strength. You give me your perfection just by believing all this. You even gave me your name.

 

April 2

Your mercy and compassion endure forever.  You make things happen in my life so I will stop what I’m doing and question you. You have your ways of getting my attention, don’t you? You will never stop running after the world trying to rescue it from Satan until the world ends. You have lifted up the most hardened persons on the wrong side of right, and turned them into mighty warriors on the right side of right. What you do in people’s lives is amazing and spectacular. Oh, my! You never tire of running, running, running. Your love never tires of declaring to this out-of-control world, “Come to me! Come, and I will give you rest.”

Lord, forgive me when I let people believe what they are saying about you is true when it is not. Help me learn to correct them with such gentleness and love, they will not see it as correction, but rather an awakening.

Thank you, Lord God, for my everyday comforts ~ food enough that I am not hungry, clothing enough that I am not cold, shelter enough that I am out of the elements, transportation enough that I can get where I need to go. You are the world’s bounty and it flows on until it fills my heart.

 

April 3

Shout for joy, all mountains. Sing with exhilaration, all stars. Declare it, all tongues, across seas far and wide: You, Lord, reign on earth and in heaven. You keep all things in order, rotating in their paths, blooming in their seasons, reproducing kind after kind.  You are faithful and true and let nothing stop you. You are the ultimate in love, kindness, mercy, gentleness. At the same time, you are strength, potency, might. You never change. You stand for right in the face of Satan who convinces mankind rebellion is good, doing things for self is best, following what you declared wrong is true life. You alone are good. You alone offer true life, marvelous life, forever life.

Forgive me, Lord, for accusing someone who forgot to repay me that it was on purpose. Help me stop faultfinding and judging. Help me do as Jesus said and give without expecting anything back.

Ah, my Lord, thank you for making me your bride.  How anxious I am for us to be together at last. I think and dream of that day when you will close the door on my life here and open it on my life with you.  Help those who love me here understand my new happiness when I go. Help them smile through their tears. You and I will be waiting for them to join us. Oh, happy day when my life will end here, for it will be the beginning of true life. To be the bride of the Creator lifts my heart and makes it soar through the universe to you.

 

April 4

My heart magnifies you, Jehovah God, the great I AM.  I stretch to touch you though you are within my heart. I long to see you though you are all around me. I strain to hear you though you are my song. You are magnificent beyond my greatest imagination. You are glorious above every galaxy in the cosmos. You are my Creator, my lover, my reason for being.

Forgive me when I fight your providence. I know you are leaving me here to fight Satan with your love. But sometimes I complain about my duties. Then I am ashamed.

Great God of heaven. Thank you for opening up the way for me to go home with you and live with you forever. You are faithful and true. You are my hope and joy. How does anyone survive this life without you? Deep inside, they are miserable and do not know why.  They have an artificial happiness based on laughter instead of love and wonder why tears mingle with that laughter. Their sense of fulfillment is unrewarding because their dream accomplishment and reward is always right around the corner. Thank you for giving me opportunities to enlighten them about you. Thank you for revealing yourself when you materialized as Jesus and when you left us your divine words. They guide my life, consume my thoughts, thrill my heart.

 

April 5

Lord God of heaven and earth, your radiance dazzles the universe. When you speak, the thunders crash. When you protect, you send bolts of lightning where needed. You are not soft. Your enemies hate you for stopping them. They declare you are not a good God because you will not let them do whatever they want.  I am unendingly grateful that you are my shield, my defender, my safeguard, my shelter. You are always there when I need you. I do not even know all the times you have kept me from harm, but I know you do. I praise you with my lips, my actions, my heart.

The other day I began flattering someone so they would do something for me. They are not normally the way I described them. They knew it and I knew it. It was blatant flattery. Lord, nothing is so important that I need to flatter and lie for something to be given or done.

Thank you for rain ~ gentle showers, rushing torrents, and all that is between.  You soften the ground with it and make it ready for seeds anxious to reproduce themselves. Spring is filled with hope, autumn overflowing with bounty.  Even the deserts with their sparseness and sand that blows wearily here and there come alive with blossoms that have been hidden since the last rain long before. No seed really ever dies. It always has life in it. How amazing how you awaken what was thought to be dead even in the desert and bless the earth. How kind you are to provide my food when I am hungry and nourish my life so I can plant seeds of your hope in others’ hearts.

 

April 6

You have made it possible for me to transcend worlds ~ from mine to yours ~ in prayer. You hear me! You actually hear me! How do you do that? Your Spirit touches my spirit. Your mind touches my mind. Your heart touches my heart.  My words arrive safely at your throne just as I uttered them.  I know you are there and hear me. I know because of the evidence you left in the Bible that you exist. Therefore, I praise you with all my spirit, my mind, my heart. Ah, I can hardly wait to enter your world, your heaven, where I will praise you all day.  Glorious day where there will never be night.

Lord, when people say bad things to or about me, I turn coward and slither away in fear. I know that perfect love casts out fear, so this proves I do not love them. Help me overcome my fears and love instead.

Thank you for allowing me to talk to you. You send me answers in your Bible or in changes of circumstances here on earth. If I pray to meet someone who lives far away, you shift things around so that person gets a different job and finds a house in the area where I live. All the shifting of lives you do to answer just one prayer. I do not know how you keep us all straight, but you do. And for that I am eternally grateful.

 

April 7

The highest praise belongs to you alone, Jehovah of the universe, both that which is seen and unseen.  I praise you, God of the NAME, God the I AM. You are not just existence. You know me by my name. You run after me when I run away from you and call my name. You love me so. If you did not love, you could not exist. If you were not life, you could not exist. Oh, how I long to be with you as your bride forever.

I am just a weak sinner. I find it hard to forgive sometimes and have to remind myself that you forgive me only as I do others.  Satan wants me to become an accuser like him. Satan, get away from me!

I whisper thank you in my heart for your Word ~ your heart poured out. My puny thanks swells, rushes to you, and bursts forth in your throne room.  Thank you, Jesus, for being my perfect sacrifice. You had to materialize so you could be my substitute. You went through what you did not have to do, even while I was offending you with my sins. Thank you for giving life, and re-giving life over and over. You cannot stop because you are God. Thank you for being stronger than Satan and keeping him at enough distance that I can recognize all the good that you are.

 

April 8

I praise you, Lord God, from the mountain peaks, the lowest valleys, and the depths of the earth.  I praise you in my heart and spirit, my mind and body. You made the universe for my pleasure. You are so good. You guide me and watch me and keep turning me around whenever I go the wrong way. You are everywhere at all times. I cannot escape you. I do not want to escape you. You keep my heart alive.

Forgive me for neglecting people I meet in a group. I talk only to my friends when I should be talking to those standing to the side who no one is talking to. I have been in their shoes sometimes. Make me remember those times and look for the neglected.

Ah, thank you, for loving me, and thank you, my Lord, for saving my soul. Such love, even when I insult you with my sins.  You are so good to me and I do not deserve it. You surround me with love like a wall, protecting me from Satan as long as I do not go beyond the wall.  Satan wants to punish me with his accusations. You want to save me with your mercy. With you, my garments are white and I am crowned with your glory ~ not mine but yours.

 

April 9

I adore you, my Lord. You are life and light and love. You are the path, the road, the Way. You give direction to my life that would otherwise have no meaning. You guide me when I do not know what to do. I long to live with you where you are. How much longer must I wait? Even as I wait, I will proclaim you to people, nations, the world. You are the one and only God. You are the only light, life-giver, and soul of the universe. And of my heart.

Lord, I continue to be selfish. I continue to spend time with friends instead of looking outward to others who are so lonely, but smile and pretend they are not.

Thank you, God, for loving me and giving life, for you are love and you are life.  You watch over me every day as a mother or father does for their little helpless child. Why do you love me so? I reject you with my sins, yet you love me still.  Thank you for materializing as Jesus so we could watch your example of living, and so we could see, hear and touch God. What an example. While on earth, you taught extreme love while your enemies taught extreme intolerance. You never backed down. For me, you never backed down. I worship you.

 

April 10

My Lord, you dissolve the boundaries of my resistance and make your home in my heart.  I laud you because with you my pulse beats with joy.  Through the shadows, you illuminate my life and lead me step by step up the mountain. Then I fly, soaring through the universe. There is nowhere that I can go that you are not there.  And so I worship you.

Help me, Lord, keep loving people and not notice their offensive words. If I could train myself to not notice, life would be better for both them and me.

I thank you, God, for doing so much for so long to save me and make it possible for me live forever with you. You love me beyond measure despite my sins. You forgive me though I keep repeating the same sins over and over.  You show me how to forgive others by your infinite example. Mercy in its supremacy can only come from you. Ah, my Lord, you are the epitome of love.  You surround me with your patience and peace. Your perfect peace.

 

April 11

You are so great, but you lean low and take notice of the lowly in life and lift us high. You notice the oppressed and make them feel like princes. You notice orphans whose parents have left them in spirit or death and make them part of your glorious family. You notice the blind and other handicapped and make them feel like kings. Some day you will give everyone that kind of glorious body Jesus had. Then I will be able to praise you in ways I never imagined. You, who made me, are more amazing than words can say.

Lord, I was so foolish and thoughtless yesterday.  I bought a new pair of shoes I did not need when I know a family that needed help with their electric bill.  I think I will take the shoes back and send them the money in the mail anonymously.

Thank you for days when I feel your peace despite goings-on around me.  When I look at the birds hopping around, looking for things out of which to make their nests, I smile. When I listen to the dove you sent me a few weeks ago, my heart stops racing and slows to an easy pace. When I notice the buds on them, they remind me how quietly they peek out from their branches and slip into my spring day with aromatic sweetness.  Thank you, God, for all that you make for my pleasure.

 

April 12

I magnify your name, Jehovah, God of the universe. The only God. The God who is  just and yet merciful.  The God who loves the unloving. The God who is sinless but has patience with sinners.  Such love fills me with lofty gladness. You overlook what I do wrong and make it all good and right. You behold my puny efforts to make a difference in the world and make them multiply and expand and become beautiful. Such attention and love I cannot comprehend. So I worship you.

Help me talk to everyone I associate with and not spend so much time with those I get along with. I think the old saying, “To know them is to love them” is true. Forgive me when I neglect the neglected.

Ah, my Lord Jesus, thank you for leaving heaven for me and taking your chances on earth with Satan. He tried everything he could think of to make you sin just one time. That one time would have been all he needed to bring you down to his Sheol. But you were too strong for him, even in your human body’s weakest moments! You hovered over Satan and dared him. You brought Satan to his knees. You rose up powerful and magnificent and glorious. I was too weak to face down Satan. No one could. No one but you. So, you did. You did it for me. You took my place.  How can I thank you enough? I will spend eternity finding new ways to show my deep gratitude.

 

April 13

I adore you, glorious God. You are my Maker and Lover. You lift me up and honor me. Oh, my. You are the one who deserves all honor, all respect, all heavenly nobility. Everything you do is right. How can you keep us all sorted out? It is amazing. You are magnificent and wise beyond all my understanding. I stretch my mind to comprehend you. I sing softly a love song to you. It mingles with my tears and then I smile.

Lord, someone began a conversation yesterday about how you created everything. You never told anyone how; you just said you did. Your creation was your miracle. We cannot explain miracles. But I jumped in with some opinions I’d heard. How silly of me to keep a conversation going that cannot come to any conclusion. Forgive me.

Thank you, God, for your Bible so I do not have to guess what you are like and what your Plans are for mankind and the world. We are here for a purpose. I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me to do my part in proving Satan wrong and dangerous. Thank you for allowing me to fight with you and help fulfill your glorious purposes for the world.

 

April 14

I adore you, God. You are unfailing. You never give up on me and never desert me when I fail you.  You are strong, for love is strong. You are the great conqueror because love overcomes all things. You are all-wise because you are truth. You are all-life because you created all things ~ and me.  When I feel like a little ant lost in a great wide desert, you lean low and take me to green meadows where my heart can sing.

Lord, I don’t know how to have everyone’s favor as Jesus did when he was a child. Gradually, he revealed himself until those same people became his enemies. I am a coward around many people instead of standing up for truth and you. Forgive me and live in me more largely.

Thank you, God, for the rain today. It was so gentle and brought with it the promise of more flowers and sweet fragrances to tantalize my senses. What a beautiful world you have made. Even on a battlefield, a daffodil, a crocus, and tulip can spring up and remind the world you are still here. You love me so. You hold me in your great arms as long as I need and whenever I need. You are so good to me.

 

April 15

Ah, my Lord, you are my light for the path I walk.  You are my path through the world I travel.  Your holiness soars through the cosmos and settles at last in my heart.  I can never feel alone when you are near. I can never feel rejected when you carry me. I can never feel deserted when you hold my heart in your arms and sing to me with your spirit.

Forgive me, Lord, when I am alone in my house and am afraid of what might be lurking in the darkness outside. Remind me that nothing will happen to me without your permission and for some greater good.

Thank you, God, for getting me through yesterday when I felt so down. I did not stay down. I saw a few friends and you lifted me up through them.  Thank you for your life on earth and your willingness to live it to the fullest ~ all the way to dying for being good. You seemed so defeated. How wrong everyone was. What you went through made your victory so much more dynamic. Thank you for materializing for me. Forever thank you. From my heart thank you.

 

April 16

I praise you, God, for being so great in heart, in mind, in presence.  You are the Prince of all princes, the King of all kings, the Heart of all hearts. When you speak, may the world sit up and acknowledge you. You are wisdom incarnate. You provide me with solutions to every possible life problem in your Bible. All I have to do is take the time to look, make the effort to read it, then soar to your throne in prayer.  Thank you for pouring your deepest heart out in the Bible. I know of no one willing to do that to friends. You not only exposed your deepest thought to friends, but also to your enemies. You are my glorious example.  Ah, to know your heart even better, to understand what you said even greater. You are my heart.

I am depressed again today. That is not like me. Forgive me for complaining about it. Help me see it as a day of rest for me.

Thank you, Lord God, for giving me your Bible so I can know how you react to all kinds of people and situations. May I understand it more and more all the time. It explains your great Plan for the world from your point of view in eternity.  Thank you for having personhood and not just being an impersonal concept. Thank you for being accessible to me and not remaining aloof and uncaring. Thank you, Jesus, for showing me in your own prayers how intimate God feels toward me.

 

April 17

I lift up my praises to you, the self-existent one.  Both Father of the Son and Son of the Father. The great wellspring, mind, and will of all things. The only life-giver to all things. You are all life, all truth, and altogether love. You are so far above me and yet so near. You fill the universe, yet make your home in my heart. Even the stars bow to you in effervescence.

Lord, I told some friends about something another friend went through that I had no business repeating. Nothing good can come from it. Sure, I can say it is so they will pray for this person, but deep down I know I told it in order to sound more informed than them. Forgive me and block the memory of what I said from my friends.

Thank you, God almighty, for all you did to save me. So complicated. Yet you stayed on track. You gave mankind a chance to earn and deserve our salvation by giving us the Law of Moses which we just could not to keep perfectly. You let the rest of the world come up with their own god-laws. Nothing worked. We could not be perfect. Then Jesus came and did it for us, for me. You were perfect for me and for everyone. You see me as perfect as Jesus was. Oh, Lord, you are so wonderful and merciful. I do not deserve your presence, but you love me still and stand by me always.

 

April 17

My heart with all its vulnerabilities reaches for you and  sings of the lover of my soul , the God of heaven and earth. The strings of my heart tremble and vibrate, then rise up in loving strains. From earth to heaven, from my heart to yours, my spirit to yours. Transcending worlds, my song spreads its laughter and sighs and rests in you. Be ever my song.

Lord, I went to some friends’ house and they had a beautiful new carpet. It was lush and deep and soft to walk on. I keep thinking about it and wondering how I could get such a carpet for myself. How selfish and greedy.  There are orphanages struggling to stay open. There are preachers who have trouble supporting their families. How can I think about carpet when their needs are so great? Forgive me.

Thank you, God, for making me move to an area where not as many people believe in you. I will no longer take your church for granted. I have struggled so much here trying to expand your kingdom. It’s been so hard. Now I understand their struggles. I thank you for your strength that keeps me on course in a wilderness. I thank you for your example of courage and concern. You went everywhere seeking and saving the lost. And thank you for the church around the world, both small and large. They are your crown jewels.

 

April 18

A child’s cooing praises you. A lion’s roaring praises you. An ocean rising and falling praises you. Rainbows and snow tops and diamonds in sparkling waters praise you. Everything I see, sound I hear, everything I touch are full of praises for you. You are everywhere and you, my God, are my soul.

Today I spent time with Christian friends gossiping about weak Christians. Help me reach out and encourage them to do something special to someone else for you. Forgive me when I criticize instead of lift up.

Ah, my Lord, how I long to see you as you are. Life here is too long. I know I must do my share in conquering Satan and making him weaker all the time. But, when my work is done, I get to be in your realm and exchange smiles with you. What a day it will be. A glorious day when I, your bride, will be united with you forever.

 

April 19

I worship you, Jehovah. I am so unworthy of your attention. Yet, you think about me every day, every moment. You are farther above me in love than the most distant star. Your mercy plunges into the depths of the ocean where sometimes my spirit struggles to breathe. You go where ever you are needed to take care of your bride.  Me your bride? I am overwhelmed.

Yesterday I was with friends and complained about a congregation. Complaining to people is the same as complaining to you. Help me rise above it.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all you have done for me in my sinfulness. You saved me from punishment for my own sins, the punishment I deserve, not you. Your love for me is unstoppable though I am unworthy. You are strong.  I am weak. I cannot comprehend such love. I do not deserve it. I will spend every day of my life thanking you. And thank you for your Bible that explains all I need to know. It even has answers to questions I haven’t thought of yet! How astonishing and wonderful.

 

April 20

I praise you, God for all your manifestations in order to reveal yourself to me.  I feel your presence in a morning mist, a crocus peeking up from under winter snow, a bird making her nest. I see your glory in the mighty oceans, the towering mountains, the magnificent moon, and stars that sing together of you.  Mostly you reveal yourself in your Bible. How glorious it is. Every page, every word reveals what is important to you. Every page and every word reveal your wisdom and how you run after us to bring us back to you every time someone strays. You keep track of everyone, yet you make every one of us feel as though we are the most special. How amazing. I worship you.

I moved recently and am so lonely. I have no friends. Is that to remind me of the times I did not befriend a stranger? Help me not resent those I wish to be friends with but to be an example, giving to them what I wish for myself.

Thank you, God, for pouring out your heart, your mind, your existence to me in your Words. And thank you for materializing as Jesus. You are light and the fountain of life. I can never be lonely because you are there. I can never feel forsaken or betrayed because you are there. Always, you are there. Thank you for the friends I have had, and those still unknown I shall have someday. And for the quiet time I have in this moment with you.

 

April 21

I praise and adore you, God. You are the delight and the lover of my soul. You even gave the sense of love to the animals, both large and small.  I watch mother and father animals protect their young, and teach them, and let them lie down sometimes beside them and sometimes on them. All the good things you gave me in nature teach me lessons about our Maker. Some things you made delight my sight. Some delight my sense of touch. Some are aromatic and fragrant. I think all must be a part of heaven. I think the delights you have given on earth are a shadow of what you have waiting for me in your world.

Every time I complain, I lower myself and people lose respect for me. It’s so self-destructive. Satan, get away. Leave me alone!

Thank you for your Bible so I can understand you behind the curtain of mystery that my mind struggles to comprehend. It is your biography, and the biography of mankind, the object of your affection. Ah, Lord God, you give me peace as never before wherever I live. Thank you for the friends I will make someday and the seekers I will meet along the way. You direct my life with so many delightful surprises in it. How do you think of them all?  Oh, of course. You are God.

 

April 22

Ah, God of life, God of the seeable and of the hearable. I adore you and look up to you. You made me so you could love me. You are my life and love. You take pleasure in me even though I am weak and sinful. Your mercy and love are beyond me. You envelop me in your arms of safety and comfort. You cover me with your wings of shelter during the storms of my life. You are my all.

Sometimes I hate what the government is doing. Or I hate what criminals are doing. Or I hate what some parents are doing to their children. Help me leave the hating to you.

There is so much to thank you for. Thank you for making it possible for me to speak directly to you. Still, my restless nature fights it. My mind wants to be in control of everything I do and say. My body is restless and wants to keep moving around. You draw my mind into prayer with you and, when I do not fight it, I find you. Then, empty of my will, I whisper to you, I shout to you, I sigh to you. Make your will mine, I declare. And so you do. While hungering for you, you fill me with thoughts of activities to redirect my body so it, once again, is a reflection of you and your doings. Thank you, Lord, for being in me.

 

April 23

God of all.  You made everything in existence because you are Life and must do so. You are loyal to all, for you are Love and must do so. You forgive all, for you are Mercy and must do so. You stand against all who would perpetrate wrong, for you are Truth and must do so. Your glory rises from the ocean floors, up to the meadows, higher to the mountain tops, higher still to the stars, and at last returns to you in your heaven.

Father, I sat around yesterday doing nothing. Such laziness. I have never been lazy before. Stop me now. Energize me with your passions.

Ah, my Lord God, I slide through my life, sometimes out of control as though on ice and sometimes in a symphony of actions here and there that mirror your glory.  Mostly I do not know where I am going and sometimes forget where I have been.  You watch over me, as insignificant as I am. You have been my protector against things I know nothing of. You are my hope when I am hopeless. You are my mercy when I find it in none other. You are my forgiveness when I fail to do what is right. How do you stay so resolved to be there for me? It is because you are Love. I am astounded and will fill my life thanking you.

 

April 24

Oh, God, you never stop watching me. You never sleep in order to make it possible for me to sleep.  You never close your eyes in order to make it possible for me to close mine. You never rest in order to make it possible for me to rest. You look for me when I lose sight of you. You yearn for me when I lose hope. You have faith in me when I lose faith in you. You are so strong and mighty. My strength is from you, in you, and for you.

How heartless I was yesterday when I laughed at someone when they were serious. I added pain to the pain they already felt. Forgive me and help me think of something special I can do for that person.

I thank and praise you for you have been so good to me. So many people in the world are not nearly as blessed as I ~ lives full of turmoil and terror, or confined where they do not wish to be, and so many other horrible situations.  I live in peace. May I never take advantage of that peace to throw it away on the selfishness of a leech. Ah, the responsibilities you have put on me to protect this peace, not only among people but between people and you. I will rise up each morning of my peace and draw people to you like the rays of the morning sun. You are the morning star and the peace of souls. I thank you. I worship you.

 

April 25

Ah, my Lord, you are the greatest in all things good and bright and pure. Yet you walked with Adam and Eve, then once again when walked among us and delighted in us in the body of Jesus. Even now I hear your tears as I read of your struggles with ego-filled leaders and those who willingly follow them.  And I hear your laughter when I read of those who allowed you to conquer their will in exchange for being in tune with the great Mind of the universe. I long so for my struggles to end so I can rest in you. But, until then, I will praise your very name day and night.

My Lord, I was looking through some things I have had in storage for years. Why am I hoarding them? If I am not going to use them, why am I not giving them to someone else or selling them and giving the money to someone else? How selfish of me. Forgive me.

Lord God, I adore you and love you. You are with me always. You watch me day and night. How amazing that you do this for all people who belong to you. You never tire. It makes you happy to do so. We are your delight. How can I thank you for such love? You are my comfort and joy, my calm and exhilaration, my beginning and ending.

 

April 26

I adore you, God. I praise you. I lift up my heart to you and my heart feels as though it will burst with joy. You are the water I drink for life and which turns my life into a glorious adventure.  You are the words I read to discover your love and my mind leaps from one marvelous revelation of you to another.  You are the light I follow to keep me on the path that rises before me and leads to the heights of your world. I will follow your path forever. I will keep on walking and keep on walking and keep on walking until at last I walk right through the gates of glory into your home.

As good as my intentions are, sometimes I feel as though I am going backward. Sometimes Satan attacks me with doubt. But you carry me for a while until I am stronger. You are so patient with me. Forgive my weaknesses.

I thank you, God, for the good life you have given me. I haven’t been perfect, of course, because Satan is always right around the corner trying to distract me from you. How he hates love. Sometimes I give in to him, ashamed even as I do it. When things get too rough, you step in and carry me until I regain my strength. Then I rise like a bird soaring to its nest on a high mountain. And you smile.

 

April 27

Oh God, I adore you above all others. You are my bright light of truth, wellspring of life, the way of love to me. You are so amazing that you keep all your followers sorted out. You even make me feel as if I am the most special one in the world.  Your love spans the universe and beyond. Your light races through the cosmos and into my heart.  My heart bursts with inner joy at your mercy, patience, and love.  Then I rest in you.

Lord, you condemn homosexuality, but you also condemn adultery. Why the double standard where I sometimes condemn the one and tolerate the other. Help me judge as you do, no more and no less.

It is spring and the air is full of the aroma of blossoms that soon will begin turning to fruit to give us joy in the tasting and health in the eating. The hummingbirds are back, enjoying the nectar of flowers, and flitting around for my enjoyment. The gentle rain falls and softens the earth. The raindrops dance around the new leaves on the vines. The breeze swirls from branch to branch. I walk in the warm rain and feel you smile.

 

April 28

You are my comfort, my shield, my protection. When in danger, you send your angels to stand between harm and me. When I weep, you wipe away my tears.  When I laugh, you laugh with me. When I am sick, you hold me in your arms.  When I walk barefooted, you place my feet on little blades of grass that tickle my toes. When I am tired, you carry me. Though you are far away in your realm, you are in my thoughts, my words, my heart.  You hear my thoughts spin, my words tumble out, and my heartbeat.  I praise you for all that you are. I long to understand more.

Yesterday I got on the telephone to talk to someone and heard voices in the background. I could tell my friend was busy with other people, but I had nothing else to do, so kept talking and keeping my friend from whoever was there. Lord, when I become idol, rather than ruin someone else’s day, help me find something constructive to do for someone.

I thank you for the rainbows.  You must love color. You made so many things with colors of rainbows in them ~ flowers, fruit, vegetables, gemstones, birds. I do love color, just like you do. When my eyes absorb all the color around me, they dance and flutter.  Color fills my heart with joy. You even made the foundations of heaven many-colored gemstones.  You have a red glow over your throne and an emerald green bow above that. I am so glad you love color too. Thank you and help me to not ever take it for granted.

 

April 29

Oh, how I adore and love you, dear God. You are so large and I am so small but you love me still.  You are strong and I am weak but you love me anyway. You are perfect and I am sinful but your love embraces me. I run from you sometimes and you run after me. How I love and adore you. Life is never complete without you.

Lord, it is so hard to forgive and turn the other cheek so I can be attacked again. Such a coward I am. Make me bold with love and forgiveness.

Thank you for your Word which I love. You poured out your heart to me. I know the pain and laughter, the disappointments and triumphs you have gone through since making mankind. You bare your soul to me in your Word.  You, the God of the universe and Maker of my soul, revealed all of yourself in your Bible. I read it in wonder and awe. I absorb it and it fills my heart and my being. Thank you for showing yourself to me one way in your Bible and in another way by materializing in the form of Jesus.

 

April 30

I adore you, Lord God. You are majestic and your glorious splendor soars through the universe to my heart. In your hand are all my daily blessings. You sprinkle them around the earth and make me glad. The stars sing of your glory, the mountains quake at your power, the meadows whisper your kindness, the fish in ocean depths slip silently around their world revealing your mercy. I worship you.

Father, if I worship anything besides you, make me see it so I can get it under control. Do I worship power or fame, riches or things?  Do I worship my television, my telephone, internet games? Make me see if I do, so I may repent and get rid of them.

Thank you, Father of all mankind, for loving me. Thank you for making me well when I become sick. Thank you for keeping my mind clear so I can remember things that make my life smoother. Thank you for being my hero.  Thank you for opening hearts of those who are truly seeking you. Thank you for opportunities to meet them. May I realize who they are and open up your love to them so they, too, may become grateful recipients of your blessings and live with you in your eternity.