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Through Faith and By Love

Romans 5

Father, hallelujah! You demonstrate your love for me in that, while I was still lost in sin and selfishness, Christ died for me. Now, I know I have been justified by his blood, and I have been saved from the wrath to come through Christ.

For, if while I was your enemy, Father, you reconciled me to yourself through the sacrifice of your son, much more, now that we are reconciled, I am saved by Jesus’s perfect life.

All this saving power and purpose is by your grace, Father, and is a gift to me by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, your Messiah and my Savior.

With joy and thanksgiving, I receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness that is mine through faith in Christ Jesus and by the love of Christ Jesus.

Your Very Presence

Romans 4 & 5

Thank you, Father, for your grace upon my life. In your mercy, you have given me the gift of faith. By that, I believe more and more in your promises. I am convinced that you are able and perfectly faithful to perform all that you have promised.

Through faith, your righteousness is imputed to me. I know you raised Jesus, my Lord, from the dead. I know he was delivered because of my offenses and is raised to prove my justification.

So, by your grace, mercy, and gift, I have been justified by faith, and I have peace with you, Father, through my Lord Jesus Christ. Through you, Lord Jesus, I have access into the marvelous grace of God where I now stand and rejoice in sure hope of the glory of God.

Tribulations may come, but by faith, tribulations produce perseverance, and perseverance builds my character, and character produces hope. Now, hope in you, Father, does not disappoint because you make faith a surety by your very presence poured out into my heart by your Holy Spirit.

Passed Over

Romans 3; Ephesians 1; Romans 2, 8, & 3

So, Lord, all mankind, including and especially me, has sinned against you and fallen short of your glory. Nevertheless, in your mercy, you included some, including me, in Christ before the foundation of the world.

In your goodness, you led me to repentance. You predestined me to be conformed to the image of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. You called me. You justified me, and you glorified me. You are for me, so nothing can prevail against my salvation.

Now, I am not justified by my good deeds or because I am a good person. Rather, I see that your perfect righteousness is credited to me through faith in Jesus Christ.

For everyone who is yours, Father, is justified as a free gift, by your grace, through faith in your redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

You, Father, set Jesus forth as the propitiation for my sins. His righteousness is imputed to me, and, in your forbearance, Father, you passed over my sins. You are just with me and the justifier of me, through faith in Jesus, your Messiah and my Savior.

Finally

Romans 1

Lord God, I see that you have wrath towards all who refuse you. You tell us you are love, and mankind tries to hold you hostage by presuming to define what love means. But you are not subject to man’s decrees. You are the potter. You make the decrees.

Your wrath is revealed from Heaven against all the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men. You condemn all who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

You have shown yourself to all men since the creation of the world through your invisible attributes which are clearly seen, so man is without excuse if he refuses your person, power, and presence.

Many are not thankful and refuse your salvation and your glory. They make up their own futile philosophy, and their foolish minds are darkened. They profess to be wise and change the glory of the incorruptible God into the corruption of man.

Every thought and desire of man becomes evil unless you, Lord, grant repentance. Many refuse confession and repentance, and you give them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts.

Those people exchange the truth of God for the lies of evil. They wax worse and worse and finally, worse than can be imagined. So bad, in fact, that they give each other awards for their evil and claim to be proud of it.

Paid and Imputed

Galatians 6; 2 Corinthians 5; Romans 1

Lord Jesus, I praise and honor you. I boast in your courage and compassion to endure the cross. By your obedience and sacrifice, I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me.

What counts is that I have been born from above. I am in you, Lord, and you are in me, therefore, I am a new creation in Christ.

I am thankful and sure of your Gospel, Father. It is your power for salvation to everyone who believes whether Jew or Gentile. Your gospel shows your provision of real righteousness to all who live in faith in Jesus as your Christ and your Messiah.

I live by faith in you, Father, through Christ, and in that, by your grace, I am justified. I do not deserve it, but you give it as a free gift. I certainly did not earn it, but Christ did. He paid for it and you, Father, impute it to my credit.

You have shown me yourself. I see your presence in creation and your invisible attributes in my transformation. I glorify you, and I am thankful.

Ordained and Determined

Ecclesiastes 1 & 3; 1Thessalonians 1; Ecclesiastes 3

The working and worrying done by the works of mankind, on this earth, under the sun, is vanity and grasping the wind. Man, on his own, cannot change the nature of man. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.

In human wisdom is much grief, and human pride and wisdom leads to increased sorrow.

But when you call us, Lord, and when we labor in the labor of faith and obedience, you make everything beautiful in its time. You put eternity in our hearts. It is great good for us to eat and drink and enjoy our labor of love, our work of faith, and our patience of hope.

Your gift to each person, on this earth, who is yours, Father, is that we can eat and drink and enjoy joy and peace as your children and as your obedient servants.

Our service is not in vain. We can know that you are God and that you take care of “forever”, that nothing will be added or taken away that is not ordained and determined by you. You will do it, and we can be glad.

Purified With Fire

Malachi 1, 2, & 3

Lord God, you have chosen me to love, and I thank you. I realize your choice is by your grace and not because of anything special about me. You have made your forever covenant with me, a covenant of life and peace.

I fear you, and I am reverent before your name. Your word of truth is on my lips, and I walk with you in peace and fellowship.

Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior, has come into my life. Through your word, Father, and by the witness of your Holy Spirit, I have seen my Lord, and he has cleansed me with a refiner’s fire. Like laundry soap, he has washed me.

He has purified me with a fire of regret, conviction, confession, and repentance. He has purged me like gold and silver. He has redeemed me and filled me with his righteousness.

I am yours now, Lord Jesus, and I meditate on your word. You are the Lord, and I love you, and I fear you. I want to obey and please you. You have made me special to you by your grace and your choice.

I am somehow like a jewel to you. You treat me as a brother, and your father is now my father.

But By Your Spirit

Zechariah 9, 1, & 3

Father, I rejoice greatly. As your beloved, I shout for I see that my King has come, and I know that he is coming again. He is my Lord Jesus, and he is just and has brought salvation. He has come first as a lowly servant riding on the foal of a donkey.

He is the Prince of Peace, and his dominion is from sea to sea, to the ends of the earth. He has set me free, filled me with hope, and restored me to life.

By your grace, Father, through Christ, I have returned to you, and you have filled me with your presence. You granted me repentance, and I have turned from my evil ways and my evil deeds.

You have removed my iniquity from me, and you have clothed me with your robe of righteousness. You have put your cleansing word in my head and anointed me with your Holy Spirit. You have done all this, not by force, but by the love of your Holy Spirit.

Sing, Shout, and Rejoice

Zephaniah 3

I sing, Father, because you have made me your son. I shout. I am glad, and I rejoice with all my heart. You, Father, through Christ Jesus, have taken away the judgments against me. You have cast out my enemies.

You, Lord Jesus, the King of Kings, dwell in me by your Holy Spirit, and I shall see disasters no more. You tell me to fear not. You make my hands strong for the tasks you have for me.

You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are in me and in my midst. You have saved me from myself and my sin. You rejoice over me with gladness. You quiet me with your love. You rejoice over me with singing.

Everlasting and Good

2 Thessalonians 1, 2, & 3

Thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for your grace to me and for your peace that guards my heart and mind. Thank you that, from the beginning, you chose me for salvation through sanctification by your spirit and belief in the truth, that is your Gospel.

You called me to you, through your gospel, in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I stand fast and hold on to good doctrine that agrees with your word.

I know you love me, Lord, and you give me everlasting consolation and good hope. You comfort my heart, and you establish me in every good word and work.

Fill me, Lord, that I could share your word and your glory effectively. Deliver me from unreasonable and wicked people. You, Lord, are faithful, and you establish me, and you guard me from the evil one.

Today I will obey and live by your word, and you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will direct my heart, my mind, and my desires into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.