Heavenly Father I praise You that You accept me as a living sacrifice and no longer need a burnt offering which was never Your plan anyway. I praise You for the transforming sacrifice that Jesus Christ did for all of mankind by giving up himself for my sins by dying on the cross. I praise You that You still want me even after all the failures, frustrations, sinful times in my life. I praise You for giving me hope, love and comfort even after losing my son.
Holy Spirit Paul wrote to the Romans, “I say, through the grace given to me, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought think, but to think with sound judgment, according to the measure of faith God has distributed to every person. [Romans 12:3] James wrote, “My beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. [James 1:19&20] Help me to understand my place in life so that I can fulfill my purpose that I was created for. Do not let pride interfere with what I must accomplish. Help me to listen more and speak less as James advises. Help me to keep my anger in check for it has no place most of the time in what we are to do for Christ. Teach me how to use sound judgment and to take time to think, pray and follow the promptings from You.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this [the resurrection from the dead v.11], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers [and sisters], I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[Philippians 2:14&15; Philippians 3:10&11; Philippians 3:12,13&14; Philippians 4:4-7]