In this day of materialism, when the "dollar speaks so loudly"
and those who possess more of it are the envy of others because of the
multitude and luxuries in their lives which they display with pride, it's
so easy for me to long to have their lifestyle.
Lord, remind me that isn't where life begins or ends, that
"riches take flight" and that the visissitudes of life are such that
today's wealthy person may be a homeless "street person" almost overnight.
In this time of "lesaiz faire," it's so easy to fall into a spiritual
lethargy and forget that God has a high moral standard He expects each of
us to meet; to judge ourselves by others and pronounce ourselves righteous
since after all, we're not as bad as .....[fill in a name of someone you
think worse than you].
Lord, remind me that I, too, have feet of clay and that anything
someone else is capable of doing, I also capable of doing; the difference
is more often than not opportunity; that "There but for the grace of God
go I."
In this day of Political Correctness, it's imperative that I forget
the basic tennets of my roots and loose sight of any value systems that
I was taught about right and wrong; to reject God's standards of
righteousness and to twist and warp His idea of Love, and Justice toward
my fellow man; to even fear to mention Him or the name of Jesus so as
to not offend anyone who doesn't believe in God; to forget about sin since
it will make others uncomfortable.
Lord, keep me close to Your Word, and ever bold to tell others
what You are really like and to point them to the way out of the morass
of confusion they have sunk into because of their fear of man and his
judgements and rejection.
In all these things, Lord, may I hold Jesus higher and may I
be willing to accept the shame of the Cross in my life so that sin will
die and I'll be free to love others with YOUR love, and be willing to
lift them out of their personal pits instead of merely reassuring them
that their lives are alright so "long as they are doing what they choose
to do and don't let others dictate to them an external standard." Let me
ever be holding up Your standards, but in love and not in hypocrisy or
Phariseical condemnation.
