Constant Praise - Revelation 4

S - Revelation 4:8 "Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
O - John is telling about what he is seeing in heaven and here he is talking about four creatures and what they are saying.
A - These four creatures were constantly saying this and praising God. I too need to be constantly praising Him and giving Him honor and thanks. He is everlasting and stays the same always.
P - God, you are holy and worthy of my constant praise! Thank you for being constant, never changing so I don't need to wonder who you are or what you want from me. Help me today and guide my thoughts, words, and actions.

God hates Lukewarm - Revelation 3

S - Revelation 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[g] I will vomit you out of My mouth.
O - God is talking to the city that is lukewarm and how He would prefer it to be either hot or cold, not lukewarm.
A - God also wants me to be hot or cold. Lukewarm is that point in my life where I may say that I'm a Christian and talk a good talk but my actions don't reflect that. I need to be passionate about living a life that is full of love, peace, and grace that only He can give me. I want to show this daily and be a light for Him and His kingdom.
P - Heavenly Father, Help me today to be a Christian on fire for you. Help me to do the best I can at everything I do and be an example for the world to see. Give me opportunities to share your great news and the love that you have for everyone. Thank you for coming to this earth and being the ultimate example for us to follow and live up to. Give me the strength to strive for perfection daily and to be a husband and father that they need and deserve. I love you Lord! Bless my family and me today.

Clean the inside - Matthew 23

S - Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.
O - Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees in this chapter and in this verse He is telling them that they are more concerning about their outward appearance than what is on the inside of them.
A - I too need to focus on what is on the inside more than what others can see on the outside. If my heart is right and I am full of integrity, the outside will just follow that and will display righteousness. However, no matter how hard I try to cover up the inside with good action and words, eventually the wrong thinking and wrong motives will show themselves and show my heart. Only with the love of Jesus can I change my heart and follow His example and straighten it out.
P - Heavenly Father, Thank you so very much for sending your Son Jesus to set the perfect example for us to follow. Give me the wisdom and strength to change into that man of God that you want me to be and that my wife and children deserve. Bless my family and me and keep us healthy and safe. Be with our families and guide us through our journeys that you have put out in front of us.

Faith Moves Mountains - Matthew 17

S - Matthew 17:²⁰ for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

O - Jesus was telling the disciples that the reason they weren't able to cast out the demon was because they lacked faith. Also, some kinds of demons required a larger amount of faith. Faith with prayers and fasting.

A - Jesus' statement was not just for His disciples but also for us. If I truly believe nothing is impossible. With difficult decisions and/or situations that present themselves, like this adoption journey, I know that nothing is impossible for Him. As Jesus said, some require prayer and fasting to really know what and how to move forward.

P - Heavenly Father, You are amazing and have given us the same power that you have. Help me to harness that power and not be afraid to use this and expect that it will work for me as well. Help me to know your path for me and to believe with all of my heart. I want to follow your ways and be a light for your kingdom. Bless my family and me today and bless our adoption journey.

Die for Christ - Matthew 16

S - Matthew 16:²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

O - Jesus is talking to His disciples here about what how He is about to suffer and die and then He tells them that they to should be willing to lay down their lives for Him.

A - I too need to be willing to lay down my life for Him. Most likely I will not face death for Him but I need to stand up strong regardless of what is coming against me and stand for Him. The path that He has given me is good and right and that is the path that I need to stay on regardless of the difficulties that I may come up to. He has promised to be with me and guide me.

P - Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy to follow and to die for. I pray that you protect my family and me today. I am willing to die for you if it will bring others to know you and am willing to "die" to my flesh to help my family know you. Bless our day today and be with us.

Miracles cannot happen without faith - Matthew 13

S - Matthew 13:58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
O - Jesus was preaching in His hometown and they couldn't understand how He had become so wise. Because of this it says that they were offended by Him and He in turn did not perform any miracles there.
A - In order for the miraculous things to happen in my life and in my family's lives, we need to have belief. For healing God has clearly said that "By His stripes we are healed". He has promised to protect us in Psalm 91. He has promised to provide and watch over us by telling us that I am more important than all the birds of the air that He watches over as well. These types of promises should fuel my belief and I need to lean on these promises when needing a miracle to happen. Without this belief, I cannot expect a miracle to take place.
P - Heavenly Father, Thank you for your promises to me and my family. You are truly amazing and I stand in awe before you today. I expect miracles to happen in my life and in my family's lives and when they do I will give you the glory and the honor. Thank you for the sacrifice that Jesus gave for us and for the grace that you have showered on us because of Him. Bless my family and me today and everyday.

Choose Jesus - Matthew 12

S - Matthew 12:³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me

O - Jesus is explaining that He didn't cast out the demon by the power of Satan. He is warning the Pharisees that if they are not with Him that they are then against Him.

A - I also have this same choice to be for or against Jesus. The choice is more subtle though than just choosing a side once and being done. Instead this is a daily and hourly choice. Do I choose to go along with something that others are saying or doing to not cause any offense to them even though this is clearly against what Jesus has told me to do? Do I stand up to others when they may directly or indirectly question Jesus? These are the times that I need to show that I for for Him!

P - Father, Thank you so very much for your Son Jesus and the works that He did for us and the wisdom that He has showered on us. Help me to live a life full of boldness and confidence and to stand up for you daily and to always be on your side. Help me to pass this same desire on to my children and to equip them with the wisdom and understanding to stand firm in what they believe. Bless me and my family today and be with us.

Lean on Jesus - Matthew 11

S - Matthew 11:²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
O - Jesus told the crowd to come to Him as He would give them rest.
A - This same command still exists for me today. As the trials and troubles of life come crashing down on me I tend to bear them on my shoulders and look for a solution and/or live with the weight. What a great God we have in that He tells me to instead come to Him with these trials and troubles and He will give me rest! That means that I need to be in constant communication with Him to give Him these issues that I may be facing. He will give me guidance through these challenges and bring rest.
P - Father, you truly are amazing! You care for me even though there are millions and millions of other people in this world. You care about the labor that I'm going through and want to help. Thank you so very much for the sacrifice your son Jesus did for me to give me this rest and for eternal life. Help me to be bold with helping others to understand that you care for them as well and want to help them. Be with me and my family today and bless us.

Confess Jesus - Matthew 10

s - Matthew 10:³² “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven

O - Jesus is sending out his 12 disciples to teach and heal the lost people of Israel. He is talking about persecution that they will endure and that in the end those people that can hurt the body are not those that they should fear. But instead they should confess his name boldly.

A - I too have opportunities to confess Jesus to others around me. I need to be bold with this confession so that others may know Him as I do and may know everlasting life and live in grace while they are alive. Not only will I be helping these people but because of my confessing Jesus, He says that He will confess me before God the Father.

P - Heavenly Father, Help me to be bold with confessing Jesus to those around me and those that I meet. Give me the words to speak that will touch their hearts and make them desire more. Help me to pass this same boldness on to my children so that they to can touch people's lives for your glory. Bless my family and I today and guide us every single minute.

Let Your Light Shine - Matthew 5

S - Matthew 5:¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
O - Jesus is talking to the disciples hear and explaining that they are to let their light shine so that others may see the Father and worship Him.
A - This is something that I need to daily remind myself. I can not only be a nice person and treat people well but I need to go above and beyond that. The light in darkness is such a contrast; so too needs to be my actions that they vividly contrast what the world is doing. There are a lot of nice unbelieving people in the world but I should stick out and everyone should take notice as my actions are even so much more noticeable. However, the key to this is not that people will see these actions and words and think good of me but to instead wonder what I have and ultimately worship God.
P - Father, I desire to be near you and hear you daily. Help me to shine my light so brightly and without fear to bring you honor and glory. Help me to instill that same desire in my children so that they too may bring you glory and affect people's lives.