Heartlight/Leaves of Light

[Judy Harder]

December 27

Psalm 103:1-3
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Thoughts on today's verse
Praise must not come just from our lips. Praise must emanate from deep within our soul, recognizing all the great blessings God has given us. While God is worthy of praise because he his holy and majestic and mighty, we have even greater reasons to praise him. He has bee so very gracious to us!

Prayer:
Holy and loving Father, I praise you for your gift of creation. I praise you for your love in granting us free will to accept or reject you. I praise you for choosing Abraham to be the beginning of faith and a people through whom Jesus would come. I praise you for sending Jesus. I praise you for providing the sacrifice for my sins. I praise you for raising him from the dead and triumphing over sin and death. I praise you for those who shared the Gospel of your grace with me. I praise You for what you are doing through me and for me. I praise You for what you are about to do and yet remains enshrouded in mystery to me. I praise because you are Almighty God who has chosen to be my Abba Father. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, I praise you. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

December 28

Matthew 11:28
[Jesus said,] "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Thoughts on today's verse
At the end of the year, it sure is nice to be invited to rest in Jesus. So before we begin a new year, let's pause and place our hopes, our future, our dreams, and especially our burdens down at his feet and let him give us rest.

Prayer:
Teach me, O God, to learn to rest in your grace and providence more and to worry less. I want to surrender my burdens to Jesus and let him teach me his way and how to find his rest. Sometimes I am so tired and weary I don't think I can continue, so please, dear Father, let me find rest in Jesus. Through whom I offer this prayer. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

December 29

John 14:1-3
[Jesus said,] "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

Thoughts on today's verse

He's coming back! As much as the world likes to remember Jesus' first coming during the Christmas season, we need to remind people that his Second Coming will be even greater. We want to be prepared -- lives dedicated to his glory and hearts full of expectation at his coming.

Prayer:
Loving God, I know Jesus will come again. May I be found faithful and expectant when he returns. Thank you for sending him the first time to live in my world and take away my sin. Thank you even more for his next coming to take me to live in your world and share in your victory over sin. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

December 30

John 16:33
[Jesus said,] "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Thoughts on today's verse

This world is a place of struggle. Yes, we can live above the struggle for awhile or can find a way to simply ignore or re-label the struggle for a time. But in the end, the struggle will find us. But in the midst of struggle, we can remind ourselves that our victory is secure. Jesus has won! We will share in his great triumph. In case you didn't know, the final outcome is already determined and Christians win big through Jesus.

Prayer:

Thank you, God, for giving me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord. I greet the future with anticipation because I know that each day brings me closer to you and the glorious future you have planned for all of your children. Until then I pray that I may never lose sight of that victory and I yearn for the day of its arrival! Through Jesus, the triumphant Rider on the white horse, I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

December 31

Isaiah 43:16 and 18-19
This is what the Lord says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

Thoughts on today's verse
The year is gone, finished, past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. We cannot rest on the things it has brought us. If tomorrow dawns, it will be another day, a new opportunity, and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment.

Prayer:
Lord of all eternity, please help me to learn from my mistakes but not dwell on them. Please help me not rest on my accomplishments in this past year, but use them to further your work in me and through me. Please help me not quarrel with those who injured me yesterday, or last month. Instead, O Father, lead me in your paths and help me see your mighty works this next year. In Jesus name and by his power I ask it. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

January 1

2 Corinthians 5:17
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Thoughts on today's verse
We all like "do-overs" or second chances. God does much better than that! He allows us to become new again. Being the "God of new things" he can even make us new. Beyond forgiveness, beyond cleansing, he makes us holy through Jesus. Let's use the opportunity of a New Year as a springboard to living a life fresh and new and alive to God!

Prayer:
O LORD, thank you for a New Year and a fresh start. Please give me wisdom and strength to serve you with integrity and faithfulness in this coming year. I pray that your work be done in my life as I offer myself, my plans, and my future to you. I pray this through Jesus, my intercessor and Lord. Amen

[Judy Harder]

January 2

Psalms 90:12
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Thoughts on today's verse
So often we look up and time has passed us by. The things we promised ourselves we'd accomplish and the deeds we told others we'd do get left undone. Before we know it, days have become weeks, and weeks months, and months years. We find ourselves unable to do what we once assumed we could do any time we want. We must ask the Spirit of God to help us see and seize the opportunities the LORD places in our path.

Prayer:
Father, I confess that so often I leave undone what needs to be done. Please help me see your plans in each of my days and live in a way which not only honors you, but also blesses those you want me to reach. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

January 3

Titus 2:11-12
The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

Thoughts on today's verse
In a world that has no absolutes, in a world in search of moral standards, salvation by the costly grace of God beckons us to change our lifestyle in response to God's grace. Anyone who receives grace and refuses to pursue righteousness demonstrates his/her ignorance or hardness of heart. In our day, in our time, to be saved means to pursue righteousness -- not so that we may earn our salvation, but so that God's saving grace will not be fruitless in us.

Prayer:
Holy Father, I confess that I live in a confusing time. Satan is always distorting the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. Because you have been so gracious with me, may my life today reflect the righteousness you gave me through Jesus. "May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be pleasing in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer." Through Jesus, my atoning sacrifice I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

January 4

Micah 6:8
[God] has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Thoughts on today's verse

God's desires for us are not hard to discern. He wants to bless us with salvation. The incredible gift of his Son is powerful testimony to this truth. But salvation from sin and death is not something he wants to happen in our lives only once. He wants our lives to daily reflect his salvation and to share it with others. We should act justly and pursue mercy in our relationships, and honor him with our worship from a humble heart.

Prayer:

Almighty and compassionate Father, as I embrace this New Year, help my eyes see what your heart sees. Teach me to hate sin and be merciful to the repentant. Teach me to know truth and act fairly, while hating abuse and exploitation. Through your Spirit, stir me to reflect on the great distance between your holy majesty and my inconsistent character. Make me more your child, I pray, in Jesus name. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

January 5

Isaiah 1:16-17
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless.

Thoughts on today's verse

Do you find it easy to replace service to those in need with religious rituals? I know I do! But God wants us to not get so caught up in talking about him and celebrating his deeds, that we forget we're supposed to care for others like he does. Whether it is Jesus defining his ministry in Luke 4:18-19 or James talking about the kind of piety that pleases God (1:26-27), we must realize true faith is treating others as God would. Today's verse defines what God does and asks us to live the same.

Prayer:

O Great God of all comfort, open my eyes today to see those who need your love and give me the attentiveness, time, and compassion to serve them. May Jesus' work be seen in my life today. Amen.