Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come– God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready– God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me.

Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. “Fear not, for I am with thee,” is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in “the furnace of affliction.” — C. H. Spurgeon

Excerpt from “Streams in the Desert” a devotional by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.

Lord, keep me mindful of what matters.

Man toils to build up wealth, he strives to gain power. He scratches and claws his way to the top only to find there is nothing there but loneliness. He uses any means to build his fortune, but he is never content with his gain. He achieves all that he has set his mind to do, but it does not satisfy.

When will we learn that earthly gain means nothing? All the rices in the world cannot satisfy an empty soul. No amount of money or power or “stuff” can satisfy our longing. If only we would realize there is only one way to fill the void in our hearts – that way is Jesus.

Lord, You have warned us, “what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul”? What indeed? Solomon the Preacher advises us “He has also set eternity in their heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And again, “Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover. (Ecclesiastes 8:17) We may think we want the riches this world has to offer, that is just another of Satan’s lies; what our hearts really long for is You. The “abundance” of the wicked is a paltry substitute for the riches to be had in Christ Jesus.

Lord, You bless me so richly. Yes, even with material blessings. May I never forget that all that I have comes from Your hand. May I never forget Jesus, that if I didn’t have You, I could own the world and it would be as nothing.

Lord, set my heart on the riches of Your kingdom.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023

Lord, I don’t know what I to say.

I don’t know how I am supposed to feel about all that is going on around me. I watch the violence escalate while those who are supposed to be our protectors sit idly by and do nothing. They turn their heads as the property of hard-working people is being destroyed at the hands of anarchists. Their silence is the voice of approval.

Surely we are in a time of brother agains brother, child against parent, friend against friend. The war is raging against your people. It would be so easy to lose hope. But we will not lose hope for You O Lord are our defense, You will prevail.

Lord, break the vow of the wicked.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023

(Note: this was my journal entry on September 13, 2020, a time when our nation was in great turmoil. I considered whether I should share it since this specifically dealt with national events going on at the time. After much back and forth I decided to post it because every day we potentially face turmoil in our personal lives. When we do, let us remember, the Lord will prevail.)

It is my prayer that these words will minister to you in some small way.

Lord, forgive me when my faith is lacking.

I know Your word is true and Your promises are sure. So, why do I worry and fret? Why do I spend my time doubting? Why do I allow the wickedness of this world to rob me of my joy?

Our hearts long for “what is right”. We look for it from our leaders, but it’s not there. We hope for it from those who make decisions for the people, but our hope is in vain. The evil persist.

So, where does our hope come from? From You and You only. You alone are the Righteous One. You only Lord can make all things right.

Wicked men laugh, they celebrate their evil victories thinking they have won. Foolish men. Do they not realize that there is a new day coming? Soon their laughter will turn to cries of terror for their day of reckoning is coming.

Lord, strengthen my faith.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023

Lord, “abundant peace”, what a comforting thought.

In these days of turmoil and unrest, when peace of any kind hardly seems possible, You have given Your people this assurance that there is a land waiting for us where perfect peace will reign eternal. A place where where there will be no more violence, no evil, no wicked thing. A place where there will be no worry, or strife, nor fear. No one will suffer cancer or dementia or any kind of illness. There will be no tears; You, Lord Jesus, will wipe them all away.

I delight in knowing that there is a place waiting for me where I will have contentment and great joy, for I will abide in Your presence for all eternity.

In just a little while. Amen.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023

Lord, give me eternal vision.

Not to see the future, but to perceive the future. To look beyond the troubles of this life knowing that whatever today brings, You have promised a better and bright tomorrow – and Your promises are sure.

We grow weary of the evil of this life. We wonder how it can get worse and yet, it does. Each day we see more anger and hate. More illness of mind and body. More divisions and destruction among families. The world is growing darker. Jesus, in the midst of the darkness, won’t You help me be a light; a voice of peace and hope?

Keep me from falling into the pit of despair that has been dug by the devil. Help me to remember that there is a place waiting for me, a place where this evil that corrupts every corner of life will be no more.

Lord, what You have promised to be, will be.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023.

Jesus, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
O bind my thankful heart to Thee,
And reign without a rival there:
Thine wholly, Thine alone, I am;
Be Thou alone my constant flame.

O grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone;
O may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown:
All coldness from my heart remove;
May ev’ry act, word, thought, be love.

O Love, how gracious is Thy way!
All fear before Thy presence flies;
Care, anguish, sorrow melt away,
Where’er Thy healing beams arise:
O Jesus, nothing may I see,
Nothing desire, or seek, but Thee.

In suff’ring, be Thy love my peace;
In weakness, be Thy love my pow’r;
And when the storms of life shall cease,
O Jesus, in that solemn hour,
In death as life be Thou my guide,
And save me, who for me hast died.

Paul Gerhardt ( 1607-1676) A famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas’ Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Gerhardt experienced much suffering in his life;­ he and his parishioners lived in the era of the Thirty Years’ War, and his family experi­enced incredible tragedy: four of his five children died young, and his wife died after a prolonged illness. John Wesley and Catherine Winkworth both made famous English translations of Gerhardt’s texts.

What is meant by “the love of Christ?” Is it His to us, or ours to Him? It is impossible to divide them thus, for they are one. As the sunlight strikes the moon, and is reflected from her to the earth, so the love we have to Christ, or to man, is the reflection of His love to us.

All love in our cold and loveless hearts is the emanation and reflection of the Love which began in Him, was mediated to us in Calvary, and is reflected from us, as sunlight from a mirror.

Excerpt from “Our Daily Walk” devotional by F.B. Meyer

OUR LORD sought the proximity of sinners, not because there was any affinity between His character and theirs, but because He desired to bring them back from the far country into which they had wandered. The straying sheep heedlessly nibbles at the grass which lies immediately in front, and so crops its way until it has wandered a great distance from the shepherd, and the rest of the flock.

Is this a picture of your life? Have you lived only for personal gratification, drifting in thoughtlessness and unconsciousness of the dangers which threaten to destroy you? Then remember, that though you care not for yourself, your condition is stirring the deepest solicitude in the heart of Christ. Probably you will never find your way back to Him, but Christ is on your track, and He will not relinquish his quest until He has come just where you are, and has extricated you from the rocks on which you have fallen, or from the thorns in which you are entangled.

The lost coin bears the image and superscription of the sovereign, once clear-cut by the mint, but it lies unused, tarnished and perhaps defaced, amidst the dust of the corner, or the chink of the floor. Its owner sweeps, ransacks, and explores every possible hiding-place until it is found. How aptly that lost coin represents the soul of man, made in the image of God, lying amid the dust of sin. The one hope for the sinner is the anxiety in the heart of God, who leaves no stone unturned that He may win us back. There is disturbance and removal, and the house of life is upset in every part, for no other reason than that we should be recovered.

From “Our Daily Walk” devotional by F.B. Meyer

Lord, if there was ever a time we needed these words, that time is now.

Even among Your people, there is so much anger and division. Your word tells me that as much as it depends on me I am to be at peace with all people. In Your own words You have said “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God”.

Lord, make Your word come to life in the hearts of Your people. You have called us to come out from the world; to look different, to be different. And yet, more and more we are being conformed, not transformed.

Jesus, replace any anger or wrath in my heart with Your love. Renew in me the joy of my salvation.

“Songs in the Morning” Sandra Bivens Smith. Copyright ©️ 2023.