17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
1 Peter 1:17-20
Dear God, verse 17 kind of reminds me of my prayer yesterday about hypocrisy. “[You] will judge or reward [us] according to what [we] do. So [we] must live in fear of [you] during [our] time here as ‘temporary residents.’” So I can’t just take this admonition by Peter to do good while I am here as a temporary resident, but I need to layer it with selfless earnestness.
But that’s not really what’s on my heart this morning. I had a long, sometimes hard conversation with a family member yesterday. I tried to show love, but I’m not sure I did. I tried to help them see the perspective of others, including myself, but I’m not sure I did. I tried to do some good, but I’m not sure I did. I can say without reservation I was honest and transparent. But I don’t know if any good will come of it or not.
Father, I guess my prayer this morning is that I will be as genuine as I can be in my love for you and the things that I do. Help me to be the man you need me to be in all situations. I pray that you will take any good that was done yesterday and use it to grow into something beautiful. And anything that was not good, I pray that you will throw it on the fire and let it burn like chaff. And as I go into four different important meetings today, help me to glorify you in all of it. Help me to decrease as you increase. Help me to be part of your will being done and your kingdom coming into earth as it is in heaven.
I pray this through Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 