Communicate Encouragment

[S] Acts 15:30-31 --
30 So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

[O] These days we have so many channels of communication -- email, Facebook, sms, twitter.com, blog, etc. -- in fact, it's an overload of communication.  As they say quantity does NOT equal quality and I am wondering how much of our overloaded communication encourage others such as this letter read to the congregation in Antioch church did.  I can just see how they were rejoicing after hearing the letter, clapping hands and hugging each other.

[A] As I communicate with others via many means I should carefully choose the words to encourage them and to report what God is doing so that when they read it, they will be uplifted rather than weighing down such as so much of what's in the news these days.

[P] Dear God, You are the message of hope and as I soak up more and more of Your hope, may it overflow to many others I come in touch with.  What I write on Facebook, email, or blog, may it carry the light of Your hope.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Reset (not rest) in God Every Morning

[S] Lamentations 3:23-26 --
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

[O] Some key words from this passage just jumps out and comforts me and strengthens me:

• New every morning:  God's loving and gracious faithfulness is new every morning for me.
• My portion:  God is enough for me PERIOD.
• Will wait for Him:  Since He is enough for me, I can wait for Him without being anxious.
• Good to those whose hope is in Him:  Where I put my future is important.
• Wait quietly:  Waiting itself is based on trust and hope, so there is no reason to make noise (or grumble).

[A] My apps are:

1. Renew my love for Him every morning as I start the new day He's given me.
2. Be gratefully satisfied to know that God will be enough for me.
3. Wait on Him to reveal Himself throughout the day.
4. Do not lose any hope by aim at the wrong things.
5. Pray quietly for His ears only.

[P] Dear Father, as I read Jeremiah's testimony in this passage who, if anyone in this world, very well understands the true meaning of suffering physically and mentally I am so encouraged to take on the circumstances I face each day.  May I not unnecessarily pile up each day's burden and struggles soon to find out myself drowning in them but may I put my trust and hope in You who promises to rescue.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Stuck in Baby-lon

[S] Jeremiah 29:10-11 (NIV) --
10 This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

[O] God has a specific plan for my life and even though I may seem to be spending eternity in "Babylon" He will take me out of that place into prosperity, hope and future.  When I feel like I'm stuck in Babylon one of the first thing that goes out the door is hope of living for future but that's exactly what God promises here.

[A] I've been feeling like I'm stuck at my current job as my Babylon (nothing bad, just too busy to take up a lot of my time away from family and ministry).  I'm going to rid of my thinking like that but to trust in His plans for my life with prosperity, hope and future!

[P] Dear Father, Your plans are always higher than mine and please don't let me forget about that so my daily life will be founded in that firm foundation of trust in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Love the New Stuff

[S] Hebrews 8:13 --
13 When He said, "A new covenant, " He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

[O] We like new things -- cars, gadgets, shoes, clothes, etc.  But when it comes to God's new covenant, we dearly hold on to the old thing of living by the sets of rules and regulations.  Let go of the old things and seek for the new covenant God provides for me right now in Jesus' victory.

[A] Every morning, pray for God's leadership in my life so the new covenant will be lived out and touch someone else with it also.

[P] Dear Father, I want that new covenant and not want to have any part of the old covenant.  I want to learn to live by the new covenant from Jesus and that my life will have the forward-moving momentum in Him.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Blossom Out of Shadow

[S] Hosea 14:7 --
Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

[O] I cannot avoid passing through the shadows of my life.  But God's promise of raising those in the shadow is very encouraging and refreshing.  Not only he will raise up but will produce much fruit out of such a shadow.

[A] Every time I feel like I'm in the dark, I want to turn to this verse to know that God will raise me up again.

[P] Dear Father, I want to grip that hope of salvation out of my dark moments.  Please continue to fill this heart with Your hope.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

There Are More Unknowns than Knowns

[S] For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:24, 25 NASB)

[O] Hope is to wait for the future that is unseen because it doesn't mean much to hope for outcome that is already known. There are a lot of unknowns in our lives and that is why having hope is important so that we would have a healthy perspective of what is to come.

[A] I need to have hope in the crisis I face now because I cannot see how it will resolve itself in the future. I need to wait eagerly for it with perseverance as I put my trust in God.

[P] Dear God, there is so much unknown than known in my life I have to trust in You in order to have the right outlook in life because otherwise I'll be so entrenched in my own ways to make things work, I will spend all of my energy doing that just for the short span of life I live here in respect to the eternity You have for me.  May my heart be filled with Your hope and may it carry me through the life I live here on earth to glorify You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Two Way Street Love

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:13 --
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

[O] Faith, Hope, and Love are three ingredients necessary for anyone to follow after Christ; yet, Paul distinguishes love to be the greatest of these.  I can see that the same love of God is what sacrificed Jesus on the cross for us, and on the receiving end, it's that same love that transforms our hearts in order to believe in the Way Jesus paved for us.  Faith and hope naturally follows once the love has been registered in one's life.

[A] In trying to cope with the family crisis at hand, I've tried to hold on to hope of God through my faith.  I should continue to do that without giving up, however, God wants me to love Him more and to reflect on His love more especially meditating on the suffering, death, and resurrection in this season of Easter.  I must exercise the greatest attribute Paul wrote about here.

[P] Dear Father, I love You with all my heart.  May my love for You outweigh all of other attitudes especially during this time of Lent.  I give You my heart.  Take it, Lord, and mold it and use it for Your kingdom's glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Returning to Spiritual Home Base

[S] Jeremiah 29:10-12 --
10 "For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

[O] After some bogus prophets spoken lies pretending to be from God, Jeremiah declares the truth of how God will bring his people back after seventy years of exile in Babylon through an amazing plan that only God may bring forth to His people trusting in Him.  Physically they were brought back to their homeland but more importantly as verse 12 states, they were spiritually restored to their proper position of calling upon God with willingness to obey Him.

[A] Many times I put too much emphasis on specific locations and the community of people I belong to as if certain "places" retain God's presence more than others.  But the place God desires for me to return to on daily basis is, regardless of where I am physically, I may recognize and praise the presence God in action.  He is indeed everywhere so wherever I am I should look for what He is up to and praise Him for it.  This is the special plan He has for me.

[P] Dear Father, I want to make daily life full of opportunities of recognizing Your presence in and around my life so that I may lift up my praise to You. Thick or thin I know You're with me, but unless I recognize that my focus will drift away from You.  Thank You for giving me that special plan of hope.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Hope is Not Just Positive Thinking

[S] Hebrews 6:19-20 --
19  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,20  where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

[O] The message of hope is defined as how Jesus had lead us into the veil as the forerunner because before then there was a clear separation between God and us since our fall at the Garden of Eden.  At times I think of hope as thinking positively about the future but that is merely based on my own subjective outlook and has no solid basis.  God's hope for us is based on a tangible event at the Cross.

[A] This world is only going to be turbulent every which way I look or live, and so I need to anchor my soul on a solid rock which will not shake loose.  That should be the hope that I hold on to which is solely based on Jesus' sacrifice for me.

[P] Dear Father, I praise You for giving me the total hope I can anchor my soul into.  I praise You for uplifting my soul through this reminder. In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Strength of My Failing Heart

[S] Psalm 73:25-26 --
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

[O] No one enjoys failing and when it comes to ones own flesh and heart, failure is to be avoided for certain.  However if it were to happen, would there be anything to hold onto?  The writer of this passage assuredly says God is the strength of his failing heart forever.  It's not an easy thing to say unless one really believes this from the bottom of one's heart.

[A] If things were to fail, would I be clinging onto God's strength?  I'd like to say yet but I will never know, so I need to do all I can to make sure that happens by anchoring my heart into God's hope and strength displayed throughout the Bible.

[P] Dear Father, You are indeed my strength and portion, but when the going gets rough will I still be confessing it?  I sure hope so and I sure hope I hide myself in Your amazing grace in order for me to recite the same thing this author wrote.  Please let Your grace permeate through my life now and forever.  In Your name.  Amen.

Side Effects of Standing Up For God's Promises

[S] Numbers 14:8-10,19 --
 ⁸"If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us--a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹"Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." ¹⁰But all the congregation said to stone them with stones Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
 ¹⁹"Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."

[O] Joshua and Caleb were the only two out of twelve spies who were standing up for God's promises and tried to convince the people to embrace His ways and not fear the people of Canaan.  But the people wanted to stone these two valiant warriors.  This scene is so much like what Jesus did for us where He came to us to tell us the promise of God to lead us into Heaven despite all the difficulties we face in this world.  His intentions were to save us, but the people responded by crucifying Him on the cross.  In light of this, Moses in verse 19 intercedes for the people because God's anger is about to wipe out these grumblers and what I noticed in both situations is that Joshua, Caleb, and Moses all focused on God's greatness rather than people's wretchedness.  They all were so sure of God's promises based on what He had already shown them from the exodus from Egypt.

[A] My life is going to face a whole bunch of difficult situations especially when my service for His ministry will be misunderstood by others and let alone God's wrath, my own disappointment desires to show them who is right.  However, I need to focus and re-focus my mind on God's greatness and not people's imperfectness and continue to put my hope in Him and not get discouraged.

[P] Dear Father, it's so wonderfully assuring to know that You always keep Your promises because by Your promise, I can stand through the ordeals I need to face in this world.  There are so many things to worry about in this world it's not even funny.  And I can get so wrapped up in all those things losing sight of Your promises for me.  I want to be filled with Your Spirit so that I will never lose focus of Your promises especially during the times of walking through some dark moments in life.  I ask that You will never let me go.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Go To Where There Is No Lasting City

[S] Hebrews 13:13-14 --
 ¹³So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

[O] Just like the Mosaic times of giving sacrifices to God (vv. 11-12) the animals used as offering for sin are burned outside the city gate, Jesus suffered outside the gate as well symbolizing that He was our sin offering.  Denying myself to follow Christ is to go outside the gate myself to a place of outcast where Jesus was crushed selflessly.  It is not a place of establishment of a lasting city but a place where God will establish His city in the future for eternity on that foundation.  If you ever looked at the construction site preparing to build a large building, it's a mess with all kinds of equipments and foundational materials digging away into the dirt.  But once that process is over and then the actual construction of the structure takes place, before we know it an awesome building will take place on top of that messy place of nothing but dirt.  That's what I envision here because in the desolate and "messy" scene of the crucified Christ outside the gate is only a temporary and yet necessary foundation for the lasting city to come.

[A] How am I going to join the crucified Christ outside the gate rather than staying inside the comfortable city?  For me, it's about dying to myself more by smoothing out the rough edges of "pride" that sticks out, at times even without my awareness, through interactions with people close to me.  This time it was feeling self-righteous or self-justifiable caused me to pride over others.

[P] Dear Father, why is that I keep failing to follow the footsteps of Jesus' humility outside the gate?  More I reflect, more I am so awed by Christ's complete humility (when He didn't have to at all).  Please grant me just a fraction of that humility to rule my life.  Lead me to that desolate place where there isn't anything so that I will witness Your everlasting city establish itself there to live in there forever.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

When I Feel All Alone Taking All the Beating

[S] Romans 11:4-5 --
 ⁴But what is the divine response to him? "I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL."  ⁵In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.

[O] God responded to Isaiah's question (almost a complaint out of fear) of why he is left all alone as a fugitive.  Isaiah just didn't realize the bigger plan God had of preserving His people according to His grace.  Even though he could not see himself, Isaiah was reminded that there are 7k other men who have sustained their obedience to God despite the oppositions prevalent in that society.  God not only knows where he was but also did not leave him alone to carry on the bigger task of God by also preserving more men.  This begs the question of how will they network and find each other without having facebook.com but even there, God is bigger than facebook.com!

[A] I am going to lift up my pastor because at times being in the frontline receiving all the beating may make him feel like Isaiah.  I want to lift him up so he will be uplifted from God's provision of fulfilling His purpose by sending more men with the same heart and spirit.

[P] Dear Father, please let my pastor be soaked up by Your uplifting message of strength through other men sharing the same vision and purpose.  Please allow him to be protected from all the spiritual attacks and may his heart be filled with the hope that comes from You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

When Jesus Returns

[S] 1 Thessalonians 4:17 --
 ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

[O] The picture of meeting Jesus when He returns is pretty awesome, beating any Hollywood movies.  Not sure exactly how it'll look physically but meeting Him in the air (watch out Michael Jordan) is definitely going to be an experience of a life time before we spend the eternity with Him.  At this point, the whole world will be aware of the returned King.

[A] In light of this, all that goes on here on earth seems so irrelevant.  This does not mean I will be lazy for the rest of my life but it means I will not put too much emphasis on what we do here on earth in contrast to preparing for the eternity I'll spend with God.

[P] Dear Father, there are so much worries in this world I live in -- some for good reasons -- but in light of this passage even those need to be surrendered.  I want to live the rest of my life expecting the great return of Jesus who will take me up into His arms in the most awesome way.  In gratitude and anticipation I pray in Your name.  Amen.

Even Through Generations of Glitches

[S] Matthew 1:5-6 --
 ⁵Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. ⁶Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

[O]  The generations these two verses cover reveal what appears to be "failures" to the plan of God for bringing His own Son to this world in His purest form of God let alone a Jew because Rahab and Ruth were not Jews and Bethsheba didn't really take a legitimate route of becoming a queen.  This was a period of back-to-back glitches leading to the birth of King David.  And he almost didn't get picked as the anointed one when Samuel visited his family because his father ruled him out as one of the possibilities for being just a boy.  However, despite all this God's plan still came through without a hiccup.

[A] Even when things seemed to derail from the plans set forth, I need not to focus too much on the failures but need to turn to Him for His guidance through those tough times.  If He reveals my faults in that, then I need to repent and correct my heart but need to be sensitive to His voice about the hope and peace when all I have to do is to persevere through it to see the glory of His plans unfolding.

[P] Dear Father, I want to recognize that You are in full control regardless of how I may interpret circumstance I'm in leading to the recognition of Your ultimate plan coming through.  There are so many times in a day when my mind would doubt Your plans so I want to work on more of letting those thoughts go in order to believe in the hope that has been promised by You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Retirement Model from Job

[S] Job 42:12,17 --
 ¹²The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
 ¹⁷And Job died, an old man and full of days.

[O] After all that Job went through, the completion of his life displayed the splendor or His beautiful and wonderful provision for His children.  It is not only because God restored the material wealth and his family, but because of the greater intensity of Job's life in the latter days than his beginning as well as how he was able to die full of days.  He maximized his life in the Lord even through the "deadly" downturn of his life.  My take away here is: I will surely go through challenges of my life no matter how closely I walk with God but that shouldn't be my excuse to not live out my life full of days, giving it all for Him.

[A] As I'm bombarded with lots of interruptions and challenges of my life stage, I need to defocus the strain coming from them and redirect my heart to focus more on the hopes and visions God intends for me to catch and to figure out a way to live the rest of my life giving it all for Him.

[P] Dear Father, Job's beautiful example of living out his life for You inspires me today.  I also want to follow his footsteps of living my days full for You.  Just like how someone once mentioned that on his tombstone, he wants to put a gas gauge with the needle pointing to "E" (for empty) signifying how he's given it all he had during his life.  I want to follow that model so please continue to teach me how I may do that until You call me home.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Old, Dry Bones Is Not The End

[S] Ezekiel 37:11 --
 ¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.

[O] This explanation of the dry bones being put together to an exceedingly great army describes how God desires to be our hope especially when we're up against detrimental situations of shattered dreams.  After the Israelites rebelled far away from God's ways and ended up in the exact condition God warned them -- nation like old, dry bones without any hope -- God still provides hope through Ezekiel about how God wants to put His Spirit and bring life back to His people so that they would declare His as their God.  This well-known "dry bones" passage is nothing other than God's pursuing us to give us the life that we don't deserve in order that His name would be raised up by His people.

[A] My heart is very much humbled before God's unending love to pursue even when I would totally mess up.  This is the type of a God I'm serving.  Whatever I do, especially in the name of doing His ministry, I need to stay totally humble because I don't deserve any of credit (which my heart desires to gain).  Additionally, as a father to my children, I need to learn more about what it means to exercise such an unending love toward them not based on their achievements but so that they would one day truly recognize the love of God that passes to them through me.

[P] Dear God, may I continue focus my eyes on You and especially as a father teach me to shepherd their hearts  patiently waiting for them reach the point of recognizing the amazing love of God reaching to them through their parents regardless of what courses of life they may go through.  In the end may it be You who shine through their lives; and may I be the one who would influence them to reach that place sooner than later.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

New Every Morning

[S] Lamentations 3:4,22-24--
    ⁴He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
         He has broken my bones. 
     ²²The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
         For His compassions never fail.
    ²³They are new every morning;
         Great is Your faithfulness.
    ²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
         "Therefore I have hope in Him."

[O] The consequence of rejecting God's ways is quite severe as in verse 4.  In fact, that is the type of a world we live in now because we had fallen from spending the eternity with Him by disobeying His commands.  This is why at times I do fee like my flesh and my skin wasting away and all my bones seem broken.  However, the story does not end there but God's lovingkindness come through again not because we deserve to but because God's compassions never fail.  They are new ever morning, not dwelling on the past forever.  As the night cannot last forever before the morning comes to start a fresh new day, God's lovingkindness is renewed every day and that is true hope for my soul.

[A] As I face some of the challenges in life making me feel like my flesh wasting away, I need to not let go of His amazing hope that is renewed every morning of my life.  I can have a renewed life in Him all the time.

[P] Dear God, Your amazing and wonderful compassion for me never fails.  And that is true hope that will sustain my life to live for You in this fallen world.  Please continue to pour in Your hope into my heart that it will overflow Your love to those around me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Anchor of My Soul

[S] Hebrews 6:19-20 --
 ¹⁹This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
 ²⁰where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

[O] The anchor is used to stabilize a ship from floating or drifting away in ocean.  That picture applying to my soul was a great concept for me today as I thought about how easily my soul can wonder off in midst of all the events taking place in my life coming at me like the ocean waves.  Without any anchor my soul will wonder far away into the ocean getting lost as the waves get stronger and stronger.  This anchor is the hope Jesus gave me by through His life on earth living out the full purpose of God.  This anchor is the hope for any and all situations I am and will be in.  This anchor is what will sustain me through ups and downs of my life.

[A] Even though doing God's ministry is a joy, it was never meant to be easy, per se.  In fact, in some ways there is agony of building up a ministry from ground up.  Much like a start-up company requiring a lot of sweat hours to bootstrap a viable business from a mere concept (or a dream), I believe kick-starting a God-inspired ministry requires a lot of efforts, struggling through challenges to bring them into fruition God intended.  One of the major stumbling block in carrying out His ministry is discouragement, and a simple definition of discouragement is absence of hope, and just like verse 19 states, without hope my soul will be anchorless.  So, I want to reattach my soul to His Hope for me that He had paved the way for me to have a direct access to God who is almighty, all knowing, and all powerful.  How can I have discouragement when I can tap into such a wonderful God?

[P] Dear God, forgive me for feeling discouraged with so many things coming my way in life when I can cast all of my burdens on You.  I want to anchor my soul to Your hope, and through that I want to steadfastly and all-out serve You rain or shine and seek Your wisdom to carry me forward.  I surrender the small group ministry to You once again because it is Your ministry after all.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Seeing Through the Circumstances

[S] Ruth 1:14b; 2:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:7 --
^14bbut Ruth clung to her.

¹¹Boaz replied to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.
¹²"May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight

[O] Ruth found herself cornered by the unfairness of life's course where she had simply lost everything she had leaving her the choice of going on to find a new start by seeking another husband in her homeland of Moab or to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, who is about to return to the land of Judah after losing everything herself. Naomi wasn't quite full of hope and joy either as she faces the uncertainty of the future back in her homeland. In fact, in verse 1:13 she displays her bitterness: for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.

It is at this crossroads Ruth made up her mind to cling to Naomi. She was able to see through the despairing circumstance with her eyes of faith not by her own sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) to make a commitment that seemed unwise and impractical. However, her choice was the same one Mary made who desired to stay at the foot of Jesus as well as the one the disciples of Jesus (except Judas Iscariot) have made first to follow His calling in the beginning of Jesus' ministry and then to truly surrender all they had in order to seek refuge under His wings for the sake of passing on the Love of God to the ends of the earth.

[A] Every choice I make will last eternity and that's why I need to make them cautiously by seeking His wisdom. I need to be careful not to see into my circumstances with my own sight too much causing me to stumble my walk of faith. I need to remember the awesome choice Ruth had made at the crossroads she found herself in because that choice is what made her the Ruth whose faith was recognized by Boaz and his people as well as in the end made her the great grandmother of King David through whose lineage Jesus Christ was brought to this world.

[P] Dear God, the life of Ruth and her testimony touches me every time and encourages me to live a life full of choices which God can use to make a wonderful history. May You grant me the wisdom and the "clinging" faith especially during the difficult and hopeless times of my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.