Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

Psalm 115: 1

 

When this new day begins, and I face its challenges, where is my mind focused and what does my heart desire? Am I consumed with how others will think about me and how many will praise me for my brilliant skill, knowledge, and accomplishment? Glory, honor, and praise take a lot of effort to seek. Power and control can become the controlling focus of a life. Yet, through Christ, glory surrounds us, and Christ is in control in ways that actually mean something.

 

Let me direct my thoughts toward God and onto His desired way for me to live. I pray that I will allow Christ’s approach to life to take over mine; then, I will begin to live as an expression of love. The only true and lasting love to be found is in and from love’s source, and that is God. So, for me to even begin to understand faithful, unwavering, and lasting love, I need to stay closely connected to the Lord. Then, as He continues to transform me and to mold me into His image, the ways that I act that are unloving and disconnected will start to change into His way of relating.

 

My prayer goes something like this. O Lord, let me seek to bring glory to you through the way that I live today. So, I ask that You would change the hard places in my heart into ones that lovingly embrace and that you would remove my self-directed thoughts and replace them with Your face. My Lord, I pray that You will guide and direct me to live as an ongoing expression of Your love. Grant me the endurance to be faithful to the calling of Christ for all of the days of my life. Amen.