Good Morning, God.

It’s 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday and, though I was honestly hoping to sleep in, I am so very happy to spend some quiet time with you. I learn so much when my world, both the external and internal, is quiet; when it’s just You and me; when Your Peace floats down from heaven and settles like a warm blanket over me. Oh, sweet Jesus, there is simply nothing like it. Thank you for waking me up on this beautiful morning.

This morning, I am drawn into Your Word, specifically Romans 10, Verses 8-10:

“In fact, it says, ‘The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.’ And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:8-10

Lord, I pray this morning that you really open Your Word up to me in a way like never before; let it be as if I am peering into a place where it is played out before my very eyes; beckon me in and allow me to mingle among not just the words, but with You, the One that breathed them into being; the One that breathed me into being. Take my hand, Lord. Take my heart, Lord. Send me. Use me. Allow me to fulfill Your will and purpose for me and to encourage and enflame others to do so as well; for life without You and Your promise and Your grace is no life at all, but simply a miserable existence. I love you, Lord, with all my heart and soul. Thank you for Jesus; for the gift of salvation.

Thank you for giving me the desire and the means to openly declare that Jesus is Lord and to believe in my heart that You raised him from the dead; for because of these things, I am saved and am promised eternal life with You! Oh, how I want to shout it from the rooftops! The Good News that we are saved by grace and not by works…that we are saved by a free gift that is ours for the taking. Lord, thank you for that…thank you for You. Amen and Ehmen.

Dear Child of Mine:

Oh, how I love you and how I love spending time with you. You know, time is something I gave you to help keep order in your world; to help you in fulfilling My will and purposes for you. There just seems to be something about the ticking of the clock, the passing of second, minutes, days, weeks and years that eventually brings about a sense of urgency and getting My message to the world is an urgent matter, just as it always has been. In fact, child, it is just as critical that My message be spread across the world today as it was back in the days of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And your role in spreading that message is just as important as it was for Paul and the rest of the disciples. The fact is, My child, there are souls, sheep, out there that need to hear your voice; your declaration of faith; your story of what I have done for you; your story of once being lost but now found. This, my child, is why you are here—to help spread the Good News and find My other lost sheep, each one of whom is very valuable to Me and to my Kingdom; not just as a group, but as individuals as well. Have you ever noticed that the word sheep is the same whether referring to one single living creature or a billion? Just as the quantity does not change the word, the quantity does not change the importance of My sheep to Me. One lost sheep grieves me just as much as numbers that you can not even count. They are one and the same to Me. This is why your calling is so very important; infinitely and eternally important. Embrace it, My child; relish in the fact that you are no longer a lost sheep yourself and know that I am celebrating that as well; shouting with glee from My throne in heaven; but also don’t waste any precious time in embracing your new “found” position as one of My own shepherds. You only have a limited amount of time on earth. Grab hold of each minute as if it were your last; take hold of My hand and the hands of time and let not a single opportunity pass by to shepherd the lost back into the flock. Oh what joy it brings when the lost is found! Oh what joy you bring Me, My child! What joy it brings to see My will being done on earth. My Kingdom is on its way, My dear child, and Heaven is is just a blink away! And until that twinkling happens, until you are with Me here in Heaven, I will remain there with you at all times, cradling your heart and spirit so that you need not fear ever being lost again; eternity started for you the moment that you were found and declared your love for me. I want all of My children to experience that; to experience Me. Oh, how I love My children.

And the Word of God Says…

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:3-7

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

–Amen and Ehmen!