That’s a good reminder for when you feel so self-important because you were smart enough to choose Jesus. You weren’t. I definitely wasn’t. I’m not about to go all five-point Calvinist on you, but I do believe that we choose God because He chose us first. That’s biblical.

I also know that any good in me at all is Jesus. It’s not my righteousness. It’s completely His. That’s the truth that keeps me grounded when people tell me how great I am. More like how great God is. Though sometimes I forget and think it’s all about me.

The Bible says that Jesus became sin for me. Any sin that Jesus carried was mine. Yours. Anyone in the world who has ever sinned? That sin was laid on Jesus. He carried the weight of the world’s sin up to Calvary.

And if that weren’t amazing enough, He gave us His own perfect sinless righteousness. Now when God sees us, He doesn’t see every impure thought and mixed motive. He doesn’t see our selfishness and laziness. He sees the absolute perfection of Jesus who never sinned and who obeyed the Law 100%.

That’s a good reason to give thanks during this Thanksgiving season, even if there’s nothing else to be grateful for. Spoiler alert: there is.

Thank You, Lord, for taking our sin that we could never have paid for in a million lifetimes and giving us Your righteousness that we never could have earned in a million tries. Amen.

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.” (Psalm 34:4-7).

I read today that God doesn’t ask us to be fearless but instead invites us to bring our fears to Him. Faith is being afraid but trusting and continuing on anyway. I think those who say they are never afraid are largely in denial or not really honest about what they’re facing. Maybe there are a few who are genuinely fearless but the vast majority live with the ever present reality of fear.

The antidote to fear isn’t denial and it isn’t some macho exercise in mountain climbing or cliff diving. It’s a continual seeking of the face of God. It’s a continual dependence on God, a moment by moment surrendering of self.

Desperation is good if it drives us to prayer. Of course, it shouldn’t take exhausting all other possibilities before we resort to prayer, but often that’s the case. Prosperity and pleasure have a way of making us forgetful of our need. Only pain can waken us to our deep need of God’s grace and mercy.

Lord, thank You for everything in our lives that drives us to You. Keep us ever mindful of You in every season so that we can keep our eyes fixed on You in every circumstance and know the joy of Your faithfulness and provision. Amen.

“We have no merit, no claim, no righteousness of our own. Dear savior, we look up to you. Oh, that some might look for the first time, and those of us that have long looked would fix our happy gaze again upon that blessed substitutionary sacrifice wherein is all our hope. Dear savior, we do take you to be everything to us, our sin-bearer and our sin-destroyer. We do not have a shadow of a shade of hope anywhere but in you, your life, your death, your resurrection, your ascension, your glory, your reign, your second advent; these are the only stars in our sky.

Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

Lord,

As we set back our clocks, may we set our hopes eternally on You, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

As we end daylight savings and fall back, may we always fall back on to the arms of grace whenever we are troubled and in despair.

As we near the Advent season, may we remember that You stepped into time and became for us our God-with-us, Emmanuel, who chose to leave the splendor of Your throne for a manger and the lofty halls of heaven for a stable.

Help us to be quicker to listen than to speak, to forgive than to retaliate, to serve rather than lord it over people.

You became like us so that we might become like You. You took our imperfection that we might receive Your perfection. You choose the nails and death so that we could choose life everlasting.

Keep us humble and keep us grateful. Keep us falling to our knees in dependence and thanksgiving. Keep us in Your care and grace from this time until forever.

Amen.

I found this lovely hymn that can also serve as a prayer at the end of the day. As I grow older, the more I appreciate liturgical prayers and knowing that I’m praying the same words as countless saints through the ages. May these words be our prayer tonight and every night:

“To Thee be­fore the close of day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That, with Thy wont­ed fa­vor, Thou
Wouldst be our guard and keep­er now.

From all ill dreams de­fend our sight,
From fears and ter­rors of the night;
Withhold from us our ghost­ly foe,
That spot of sin we may not know.

O Fa­ther, that we ask be done,
Through Je­sus Christ, Thine on­ly Son,
Who, with the Ho­ly Ghost and Thee,
Doth live and reign eter­nal­ly” (Words: Un­known au­thor, 7th Cen­tu­ry (Te lucis ante terminum). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, 1852, alt. Music: Rest (Brad­bu­ry) Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry, 1843)

Today, I tried something new. I couldn’t find my work badge, so I looked for it all over the place and then had the brilliant idea to pray about it. You would have thought that by now I’d start with praying then looking, but I can be spiritually dense sometimes.

But this time, instead of panic-praying for God to help me find it, I felt led to pray thanking God in advance for helping me find it. I remembered a verse that talks about if you pray in faith without doubting, you will receive.

I am in no way advocating for a name it, claim it kind of theology. I don’t for a second believe that if I ask for a Corvette in faith believing I have already received it that I will get it. Besides, I’m more of an old-school Jeep guy. But the point is that God is not obligated to cater to my selfish desires if I use all the right magic words.

But in this case, I went back to my car that I had already searched more than once. I pulled back the passenger seat. There it was. After praying with thanksgiving, I found it. In that moment, my faith was strengthened and I thanked God again for His faithfulness.

Again, I’m not promoting a formula for instant prayer success. I believe that you and I should pay special attention to the Holy Spirit whenever He prompts us in our praying. Listen and notice those little nudges. Don’t rush into your petitions without taking time to thank God for all that He has done, is doing, and will do. And above all, leave margins in your prayer time for God to speak.

I think one of the scariest sensations is one of falling. For that brief moment, you feel completely and utterly helpless, especially when you’re falling backwards. It’s like there’s absolutely nothing you can do in the moment to catch yourself, so you end up hoping for the best but anticipating the worst.

Often, God places us in situations where we must come to the end of our rope proverbially before we can land in safe hands. There’s that feeling of nothing solid beneath your feet and letting go of the rope seems like the worst thing you can do but at the same time the only choice you have.

Faith is trusting God in that moment that when you let go He can and will catch you. Faith means trusting that God made a provision long before you knew you needed it.

Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see” (J. B. Phillips).

That means faith is trusting what we can’t see, a kind of backward trust falling into unseen hands. It’s the absolute confidence that when we let go and fall back that the everlasting arms are underneath to catch us and bear us up.

Father, help us to trust in what is unseen, knowing that what is unseen is greater than what is seen. As You did with Elisha’s servant so long ago, open our eyes to see the heavenly realms to know that we are surrounded by a host of angelic armies at all times to protect us from dangers unseen and unaware. May we ever fall into Your arms of grace now and evermore. Amen.