Father, we do extol Your work and praise You with our lips, with our voice and with our devotion to follow You all the days of our lives. We stop and consider Your great wonders and mighty works as we acknowledge You to be the Creator of all things. Your ways are perfect and beyond human understanding. It is all the more reason why we must rely on Your guidance and not lean on our own understanding. Today we acknowledge You in all our ways and ask You to direct our paths and increase our understanding in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Father, help us with the spiritual exercise of observing how You are working in our own heart and in the lives of those around us. And we especially need to observe the ways You are present in nature and in our everyday lives. The daily routine can easily squeeze out those special sightings of Your glorious presence and supernatural workings where You make visible that which is not seen with human eyes, but only through the eyes of faith. Faithful and True God, just as You formed the universe with Your own hands, You also shape the human heart with Your own Spirit, bringing it into conformity to Your will for our lives. Help us to surrender ourselves fully to You so that we are among those who have supernatural faith which makes us confident of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see with human eyes. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Father, as we look at the ancient paths, we must make choices that reflect truths and principles established from the beginning of time as taught in the Scriptures. Help us to align ourselves with Your teaching and reject anything that would lead us to compromise or forsake that which we learn from Your Holy Manuscript, the Word of God. Change is inevitable and often inviting, but not the kind of change that would lead us to forsake the teachings of old, the lifestyle that reveals to others that we are set apart unto holiness, a people who reflect Christ living within us. Our days on earth are like grass; we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone, as though we had never been here. In a changing world You are our unchanging holy God and Your love endures forever. You are indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever and because of that we give you our full allegiance. Amen.

Father, we need our minds stirred up by those things which are true, honorable, right and pure. Stimulate our minds to wholesome thinking as we consider Your Word which not only purifies us within, but also guides us as we develop godly character. Help us to maintain a teachable heart that is open to a new perspective on ancient truth but is also blessed when we receive the reminders of truths well established in our life. Remind us often that our words and actions give us opportunity to bring You glory as we reflect Your image. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Father, how wonderful it is to enjoy the privileges available to those who live in a free country We give thanks for those who enlisted and served in our military, fighting for and maintaining our independence. And how glorious it is to enjoy freedom from sin, thanks to the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus, on our behalf. Our lives, once enslaved to sin, now enjoy the freedom from that which once held us captive to Satan’s bondage. We live in victory because You have set us free and we are now free indeed. Thank You, Father, for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of Your Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins! Amen.