by: Carole L. Haines
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful”
(Colossians 3:12-15)
I worship You as My God because of Your almighty power. I magnify You as my LORD because of all You’ve done for me. I follow You as my Master because of Your wisdom and miracles. But I know You intimately because You are my Father.
(Prime Time Devotion, Ephesians 4 Ministries: HIS NAME IS FATHER)
I hear You, God, calling us back to the Simple life, a simpler faith,
like we had before it all became so complicated.
Your truth never changed, You stayed the same;
but we made it harder than it has to be.
Take us back to a time when we worshiped You simply
because we enjoyed You and Your company, simply because You are God.
*Focusing on Your Great Salvation brought to us in Your Great Love
demonstrated by You, Dear Jesus, in the sacrifice of Yourself for us.
*No longer do we need to come day after day, as the high priest did,
and offer sacrifices again and again. You offered Yourself
once for all and are now seated in Heaven
at the right hand of the Father praying for us.
*We were the Joy set before You, Jesus, as You endured the journey to the Cross.
It was Love for Your Father that led you there
and Love for us, Your Creation.
For You knew, Dear Jesus, before *the foundation of the world,
before you made even one of us, that we would rebel, fail and sin.
You knew we would cost You your life, but You created us anyway.
This is a love we will never understand, yet so desperately need.
All of humanity is looking for love, and You have Your hands stretched out
offering it to us all, paid for with Your own blood and sacrifice.
You ask us to love one another as You have loved us.
To lay aside our petty differences, our grievances, our opinions;
and clothe ourselves in love and humility toward one another.
*To take up the shield of faith, the helmet of truth, the breastplate of righteousness. Wearing on our feet the Gospel of Peace, ready to go wherever you send us,
carrying Your Beloved message to all who are desiring to hear the truth
of Your love and sacrifice for them as well.
*Simplicity is Loving God, Loving Others and Loving ourselves as God does.
Holy Spirit, this is not natural for us at all.
We are so naturally self-focused, self-centered.
Please help us become more like Jesus every day.
Bring us back to our First Love,
as the day we first came to know just how precious the Love of God is.
God’s love drew us in. God’s Love reached our hearts
and God’s Love saves us from ourselves.
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit; bring us back
to the *Purity and Simplicity of Devotion to Christ.
We Pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen
Scriptures used *
(Romans 5:8)
(Hebrews 7:27)
(Ephesians 1:4-5)
(Colossians 3:12-15) shown above
The Armor of God, (Ephesians 6:10-20)
Matthew 22:34-40
2 Corinthians 11:3
hisshadowings.com 