Heartlight/Leaves of Light

[Judy Harder]

February 25

Matthew 22:37-39
Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Thoughts on today's verse

Some things are just not very complicated. Living for Jesus can be boiled down to two principles: love God with everything I am and have, and love others and treat them as I would like to be treated. Not too hard to understand. I guess it's living it that is the challenge!

Prayer:

O Living and only True God. Please accept the work of my hands, the words of my mouth, the moments of my rest, and the love of my heart as my worship to you this day. I pray that it is pleasing and refreshing to you. Through your only Son I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

February 26

1 John 4:9
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

Thoughts on today's verse

Love is a verb. We can't say it enough. Love must not only be spoken, but must also be shown. The beginning of love is God. He showed his love in the most sacrificial of ways so we could know our incredible value to him. The price of our adoption was the emptying of heaven of its greatest treasure, God the Son, who is our Savior.

Prayer:

Loving Father, thank you for adopting me into your family. I can never thank you enough or ever repay you for your kindness, but please receive the service of my life today as thanksgiving for your grace and my small way of trying to share the love you have given me. Through my Brother and my Ransom I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

February 27

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Thoughts on today's verse

"Talk is cheap!" "You can tell me with your words, but I'll show it with my life." "Put your life where your mouth is." We know the slogans, now let's live love in truth. In a world where barter has replaced sacrificial and steadfast love, let's go against the grain and do the truth!

Prayer:

Sacrificial Father, I confess to you that at times I am selfish. Other times my intentions are good, but my follow- through and faithfulness are lacking. Use your Spirit to empower and enable me to be what I hope to become, to your glory. May your love be seen in my actions of genuine concern today. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

February 28

2 Timothy 1:7
God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.

Thoughts on today's verse

Power! We like that concept. When it is godly power, might does make right, because godly power is accompanied by love and self-discipline. These three together make a person's life effective. Live life to its fullest: not as a closet Christian, afraid of standing true and firm, but one who lives by God's power, shares God's love, and displays God's virtues.

Prayer:

Holy God, you are without comparison in your majesty and might. I have no right to come into your presence, and yet you have invited me here by your love and your grace. You are my Rock, my Fortress, and my Strength. I depend upon your guidance and your mercy to sustain me through my storms and to reclaim me from my stumbles. Holy God, you are without comparison and I worship you. In Jesus name. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 1

Psalms 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Thoughts on today's verse

What can truly fulfill and sustain us? Maybe the best way to answer that question is by asking another: What can we keep when our bodies are placed silently in their graves at death? Only our relationship with God and his people last beyond the grave. If he is what lasts, then how can we displace him for anything that doesn't?

Prayer:

Mighty Yahweh, Strength of Israel, Keeper of the Covenant and Fulfillment Maker of every prophecy--you are my hope, my strength, and my future. I live this day in wide-open amazement that the Keeper of the Universe knows my name, hears my voice, and cares for me. Thank you for being my past, my present, and my future, the Great I Am. Through my Savior, I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 3

Isaiah 55:8-9
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Thoughts on today's verse

No matter how we try to perceive God, he is still God and we are not. We must forever remember that the original, and still primary sin was to try to become like God in terms of knowledge and understanding. We are to know God, but we can never fully know about him. We are to take on his character, but we cannot approach his majesty. This is both exciting and frustrating. But the promise remains that one day we will be like him and see him as he is.

Prayer:

Tender Shepherd, thank you for being so patient with me when I cannot fully understand and appreciate your holy and transcendent character. Thank you for sending Jesus so I can know you better and trust you to know me better than I know myself. I look forward to seeing you face to face when Jesus comes to bring me home. Until that day, please know I love you. Through Jesus I offer my thanks and praise. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 4

Joshua 1:9
Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Thoughts on today's verse

Never alone. What a promise. As Psalm 139 emphasizes later, Joshua hears first hand. God will go with him, and us, through all the seasons of life, through all our ups and downs, through temptations and triumphs, even through death. So we can take courage and feel his strength. We are not alone!

Prayer:

O God who is and was and is to come, thank you for being there and staying there when all others forsake and leave. You are the one constant in my life, which is so full of change. Help me become more steadfast and faithful in my commitments and relationships to honor you and to learn more about you. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 5

Deuteronomy 6:7
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Thoughts on today's verse

Each day we are to begin with God. Each breath we take is a powerful reminder that he has granted us another day of life to serve him. Each heartbeat is God's drumbeat of love, reminding us that we are blessed with another minute to offer him our best. This blessing is so easily forgotten. We best remember when we teach it, show it, and live it with and before our children.

Prayer:

Almighty God, Gracious Sustainer, and Undeserved Friend, thank you! Thank you for this breath I take and for the heartbeat that sustains my life. Make me aware as I travel, talk, rest, and work that you are there and are worthy of my intentional best. Through Jesus, my gracious sacrifice I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 7

Psalms 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Thoughts on today's verse

God knows us. We can't pretend we are something we are not with him. This should liberate us to a remarkable degree of intimacy, but most of us run from such a close relationship with God. If our desire, however, is to become more like him, the only way to be transformed is by inviting him and looking at our heart, our motivations, and our desires.

Prayer:

O God, I know you are the one who "searches hearts and minds" yet because of the grace you demonstrated in Jesus, I am confident that you love me. My heart is sorry for the sin I have committed, but I am really trying to serve you in honor and purity. Please fill me with your Spirit to enable me to become more like Christ. In the name of your holy Son I pray. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

March 8

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Thoughts on today's verse

We are comforted to comfort others. God doesn't bless us because we are somehow uniquely better than everyone else, but specifically to equip, empower, and encourage us to comfort others. God has human hands only when I use mine to his glory and for his purposes!

Prayer:

Tender Shepherd, there have been times when I was so broken I could not go on. I know the strength to continue came from your rich grace and mercy. Please use me this week to offer your comfort and love to others so they may feel your warm embrace and come to yearn more for the day we see you face to face in heaven. Through my brother Jesus, I pray. Amen.'