God's Children #23

... let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds...

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.

...he brings out those who are bound into prosperity...

Psalms 68:3-6 www.solascriptura.com

Father, When we are "in Your will", doing righteous things, we feel Your presence and we are thinking about things pure, just, noble and lovely. That is Your stated will for us.

Father, when we are not in your will and we are doing sinful things, it is so obvious to us, sometimes in retrospect and sometimes, right then. Sin simply does not return enduring benefits. Just the opposite. We seem to know or to sense that this is true yet temptation persists. Father, will temptation ever go away? We know it will not until Satan is destroyed and we are in Your eternal presence.

You are our defender, the One that is there for us. When we fail, You lift us up, forgive us and renew us. Help us today to fail less and less and to simply focus on that which is pure and righteous, even as temptation pushes hard against us from every direction. Bless us and hold us up we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

Bruce Caldwell