Open your mouth, open your eyes!

In case you're in need of a little joy burst today--

"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see--

how good God is. 

Blessed are you who run to Him." Ps.34:8 The Message)

       "O Lord, all my ancestors were justified in their trust in You. Rid my heart of all pointless anxieties and paralyzing fears. Give me a cheerful and buoyant spirit, and peace in doing your will; for Christ's sake. Amen" (Prayer for this morning from John Baille's A Diary of Private Prayer.)
        Anybody else need a wee bit of reminding that our God is all-good, all-wise, all-gracious, all-kind, all-loving, and sovereign and in control of all, all, all things?  Well, hello, HE IS! 
        We're so prone to myopically squint and see only the messed up, divisive, uncertain, generally terrible things around us. And yes, there's a gracious plenty of that to go around. But, goodness gracious, this little picture of my precious granddaughter totally enjoying and delighting in her lunch (yes, she comes by her love of food naturally!  Our whole family loves, loves, loves to eat!) reminded me to open my eyes and look around at all of God's relentless goodness. It's everywhere, because He's everywhere. 
         The blue heron sitting regally in the middle of Crabtree Creek. The scent of gardenias. The laugher of a dear friend. The relaxation of a hot bath. The joy of reading that great book. The softness of silk. The happy songs of early morning birds. The sweetness of a homegrown tomato or ripe blueberries or warm bread or chocolate anything. The sound of a favorite song. The strong beauty of a majestic tree.The gift of home. The grin of a baby.
        Open up your eyes and look around. Linger and savor. Slow down and notice. Taste and see. Oh please, please taste and see...
        And then worship the Author, the Creator, the Chef, the Sustainer of every single good--every oh so, so good--gift in your life.
        Yes, there's still Covid and rancor and injustice and on and on...but over and above it all,  there is Jesus. Emmanuel--God with us. And because He is with  us, in us, for us we will ultimately be okay.  Or really, infinitely more than okay, because ahead is glory beyond anything we can begin to imagine. And all the sweetest, best gifts of this world are only the tiniest foretaste of the eternal and joyous glory ahead.
         So let's choose to live this day with hope and joy.  Let's ask our Father to "rid our hearts of all pointless anxieties and paralyzing fears." (After all, does your anxiety help? Seriously, when has worrying and wringing our hands ever really benefitted us or anybody else?)  Instead, by His grace and for His glory, let's ask Him to "give us a cheerful and buoyant spirit and peace in doing your will, for Christ's sake."
         Today, let's open wide our mouths and taste, open wide our eyes and see, how good God is...and then share His goodness with someone else. Surely there's a person around you who needs to hear, who needs to be reminded of our good, good Father. "Blessed are you who run to Him." We're coming, Abba, we're coming!
          To God be the glory. 

Lord of all hope...people of hope

            How about a little dose of hope?  Not the world's "hope so" kind of hope, but real, honest-to-goodness, God-created, God-sustaining, indefatigable hope. Happily, these aren't my paltry words, but the Lord's words in a brief verse that I decided to memorize way back in March when this whole Covid marathon began. 
           Little did any of us dream how prolonged, how difficult, how frustrating, how discouraging this marathon would prove to be. Nor could we have dreamt all the tragedies, division, anger, tension, violence that would be unleashed during these long, hard months.  So this little nugget from the Lord has come to mean more and more to me, and I pray it will strengthen and encourage your heart as well.  It's simple, but profound--
        "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
        He is the God of hope. That is who He is.
        He is the one who can and will fill us to overflowing with all (not some, not a little bit, not a modicum, but all) joy and peace in believing.  Oh how we all need joy and peace--and He's got them in overflowing, unlimited abundance.
        His Holy Spirit that dwells within us will empower us to abound in hope. Oh yes, we need His power! His power that raised Jesus from the dead!  That's some serious power and that's the power that will fill us and enable us to experience and live in abounding, God-created, God-sustaining, God-strengthening hope.
        Moreover, we all know that His hope never ever disappoints, never ever fails, even in the midst of the worst suffering, the most terrible tragedies, the most impossible dilemmas. Again, don't take my word for it, but His:  "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom.5:3-5)
        So here's my simple message today--we can and should be a people of hope, because we follow a Lord of hope. No matter what our circumstances may look like right now, we have the hope of Almighty God which cannot disappoint and will not be defeated. Might we look to Him and be filled with overflowing hope! 
         I'll close with some powerful words on hope I read the other day from a ministry that serves parents and families called Axis--
        "Experts warn a second surge of COVID-19 deaths are imminent. Racial tensions continue to dominate the news cycle. Economic insecurity is trickling down into every sphere of life. It seems everything these days is up for grabs. Despair, darkness, and depression are dominating the cultural landscape and our interior lives. And yet, as followers of Christ, we are called to be people of hope in a hurting world, which, in hard times like these can only seem like “foolishness to the Greeks.” But is it?
        If there is one lasting legacy you can leave with your children during this kairos moment in their lives, it might be this: We are a people of hope. But hope and good old-fashioned optimism are radically different things. While optimism is focused on a good future outcome or a pleasant change in our current circumstances, hope is a quiet confidence in the present based on what God in Christ has done in the past. As long-time missionary and theologian Leslie Newbigin once wrote, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Amen to that.
        For Newbigin and for us, hope is defiance in the face of fear. It is the often courageous task of staring reality in the face and still claiming that though evil, suffering, and death remain, they have already been defeated. Hope is standing in the valley of dry bones and daring to believe God will breathe life into them once again. Hope is mustering the courage to go to the tomb in the early hours before dawn, just in case. Hope is living as resurrection people in a dying world. Hope is joining God right here and right now in the renewal of all things. If Hell is hopelessness, then maybe a little bit of heaven is the realization that all over this tired old world, 'hope springs eternal.'"
         Thank You, Lord, that in You, we have true, lasting, powerful, transformative, never-ending hope. Because our hope is grounded in the glorious reality that You rose from the dead, and You are alive, Lord Jesus. Father, we don't know what the future holds, but we know that You hold the future. And we know the very end of the story...and You win. And because You win, we win, so our trust  and our hope is in You.
        Today, by the power of your Holy Spirit, would you fill us with your hope and then use us to pour out that hope upon every person that we meet. Might we be not just glad receivers of your hope, but generous givers of your hope.  Oh how this weary world needs your hope, Lord. In your grace and by your power, please use us. We praise You that You are the Lord of all hope so we can be a people of hope. In Your mighty name we pray. Amen.
        To God be the glory. 

"Nose to the sunrise"

        This will be simple and short, but maybe you, like me, needed this little reminder.  So here it is--
        This morning, our daughter texted our family a quote on our family group text that is one of my all-time favorites. She's always loved it too, and, boy, today was a day I needed to hear it again. Its's from the C.S. Lewis book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. These are the words of the plucky, courageous, faithful little mouse, Reepicheep:
        "My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise."
        In a word, don't quit. Persevere in loving God and loving others. Persist in trusting the Lord...in reading His Word...in obeying Him...in following Him, step by step by step all the way until He brings you to your Heavenly Home, to "Aslan's country." Lock your gaze on Him and keep walking. Keep going...He's promised He will get you there, not somehow but triumphantly.
        And how will we do that? Glad you asked!:
        Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
        Romans 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."
        Rely on Him. Ask Him, Depend upon Him. Look to Him. Consider Him. Trust Him. It's not about us or what we can do...it's all about Him and what He can and will do in us and through us.
        Thank You, Lord, that You always meet us right where we are--and today, I simply needed to be reminded not to quit. Not to give in to weariness or worry.  Not to let my focus wander, but to keep my eyes on the prize--on You. On glory. On the King of Kings who is with us here in the trenches and will be with  us forever in our perfect, joyful, glorious Heavenly Home. 
         As Tim Keller recently wrote when sharing about his battle with pancreatic cancer, "Running the race set before me with joy, because Jesus ran an infinitely harder race with joy, for me." 
         Yes, Lord, yes!  Keep us running our races with joy, one day at a time. For every day that  You choose to give us, keep us focused, keep us following hard after you, keep us faithful. All the way to the finish line.
         We're not gonna quit.  Even if it means sinking with our "noses to the sunrise," let's keep on. Our Father is going to get us there...and He'll be with  us every step of the way. So run...paddle...swim...or even sink with joy.
         To God be the glory.
         

What will you choose?

       These past months have been hard, so hard on so many levels. For many of us, the fall began with the unimaginable loss of the precious daughter of dear friends. And then COVID with all it's fear, destruction, and death.  Then terrible racial injustice exposed and the tragedy, the ugliness that this horrific sin still endures and divides. Oh forgive us and help us, Lord Jesus. And then the vitriol, the bitterness, the political divisiveness that threatens to literally tear this nation that we love apart.
         The continuing weight of it all, the ongoing isolation and loneliness from quarantine, the bone-deep sadness and perplexity and fear...Abba, we're weary and uncertain and look to You for hope, for deliverance, for strength, for redemption. Help us, show  us, lead us, revive us again, Father. Yes, we don't know what to do but our eyes are on You. (II Chron.20:12)
       But then I open our Heavenly Father's eternal Word, and His God-exhaled words breathe hope, sustenance, faith, and peace into my heart. He renews my mind and restores my perspective, and I realize afresh that He is in control. He is our Peace. He is the reconciling Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And He is the conquering Lion of Judah who destroys sin, hatred, bitterness, death and despair and rises triumphant over it all for us, for you, for me.
         "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (Col.3:12-15)
         Jesus is our Hope. He is our Way-maker. He is our Strength. He is our living Word, and He's given us His written Word that will transform our hearts, renew our minds, and redeem our culture.
         So the question is, how then will we live?  Will we fall back in despair or will we trustingly follow our Savior wherever He leads?  Will we give in to the negativity of the culture around us or will we choose to be salt and light? Will we choose the path of bitterness and recrimination or will we choose the path of forgiveness and restoration? Will we be led by fear or will we be led by faith?  Will we quietly blend in with the darkness or will we boldly shine the light and love of Christ?
         We choose. You choose. I choose. Yes, the darkness around us is thick, indeed, but the tiniest, weakest little flicker of candlelight will obliterate the darkness around it. We can be that light. Because remember--it's not our light...it's the unconquerable, unending, unfailing Light of the World that shine through us. We're not the source--He is. And because He is the Light, we know that His "light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5) 
           Maybe we need to stop trying so hard to shine, and simply choose, as His beloved, to have Him do the shining. We just need to obey...and that means forgive as He has forgiven us.  To forbear, to show compassion, to be kind, and above all, to love.
          We don't have to have it all figured out...just love as He's loved us.  Just shine His light. We don't have all the answers...but we have Jesus and He does.
          I'll close with the lyrics to a new song by Rascal Flatts--"How They Remember You"--that in many ways, says it all. The first time I heard it the other day, the tears flowed. I encourage you to go listen to it and remember that we all have the choice to be the love and light of Christ in this world.

Sprayed my name on a water tower
Carved it in an old cottonwood tree
Signed a bunch of high school yearbooks
So they wouldn't forget about me
It wasn't 'til I saw my daddy's name in stone I knew
It ain't a question of if they will
It's how they remember you

Did you stand or did you fall?
Build a bridge or build a wall
Hide your love or give it all
What did you do? What did you do?
Did you make 'em laugh or make 'em cry?
Did you quit or did you try?
Live your dreams or let 'em die?
What did you choose? What did you choose?
When it all comes down
It ain't if, it's how they remember you

When you're down to your last dollar
Will you give or will you take?
When the stiff wind blows the hardest
Will you bend or will you break? (Will you break?)
You're gonna leave a legacy, no matter what you do
It ain't a question of if they will
It's how they remember you

Did you stand or did you fall?
Build a bridge or build a wall
Hide your love or give it all
What did you do? What did you do?
Did you make 'em laugh or make 'em cry?
Did you quit or did you try?
Live your dreams or let 'em die
What did you choose? What did you choose?
When it all comes down
It ain't if, it's how they remember you

         Oh Father, help us to build bridges rather than walls; to love rather than to hide; to refuse to quit but by Your grace and for Your glory, to keep trying, keep giving, keep forgiving, keep helping, keep encouraging, keep loving, keep shining.  When they remember us, might they simply see You.
        To You--the Light of the World--be all the glory.

Not fear but power, love, and self-control

        "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Tim.1:7)
        Lord, I know this intellectually, but help me to live it out experientially.
        I haven't been able to put my finger on it exactly, but as I've pondered it, it seems that I'm battling a vague and deep-seated sense of fear and anxiety over all that has been happening in our world. First the corona virus and all the uncertainty, isolation, division and destruction that this virus wrought on our world . And then, all that has surrounded the tragic, terrible death of George Floyd...the wounds that have split open, the ugly racism that has been exposed, the anger, the sorrow, the suffering, the vitriolic divisions. It's been both heartbreaking and convicting. It's engendered both lament but also fear. What will the future hold? Where will this end?  What if we respond in the wrong way? What are we to do to help make a difference? What does it mean to be salt and light in this situation? 
        I don't know...but my Savior does. He knows what it means to walk right into pain, division, and difficulty and bring healing, hope, grace, and light. He steps right into the brokenness. He never shies away from the hard conversations.
        As Jesus prepared to go to Calvary for our sins, He--who was and is fully God--knew full well the incalculable weight of all the sin that would soon be laid upon Him and the infinite amount of suffering He would endure.  And yet, we're told, "When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51). Or as some translations put it, He "set His face like flint." Such steely, unwavering determination to go straight into the horrific, cosmic battle for our souls which would cost Jesus His life...but would give us ours. Oh thank You, Lord Jesus.
        So when we ponder Jesus and His suffering for us, when we "consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself" for us, how can we grow weary or fainthearted? (Heb.12:3) How can we shirk the hard conversations? How can we seek to avoid all discomfort and pain in our desire for self-protection and self-preservation? How can we choose comfortable isolation over uncomfortable loving? How can we succumb to fear of the future when He calls us to reject our fear and act on our faith in Him. To act on our faith in the One who holds the future in His nail-scarred hands and promises that He is with us always, even to the end of the earth
        Yes, I know these things intellectually, but yet that stubborn fear wants to wrap it's icy tentacles around my heart. 
        To my fearful "what if, what if, what if?," the answer is "But God..." 
        But God's Word promises that the Lord has given "us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
        That "spirit of fear" I claim to feel?  It's not from the Lord who has given us His Spirit to dwell within us.  No, that fear is not from Him, so I, so we, need to reject and refuse it and instead act in accordance with the Spirit of power, love, and self-control that our heavenly Father has given us.
         By the power of the Holy Spirit, away with you fear--you ugly, destructive, paralyzing, unloving, unbelieving, joy-sucking, peace-destroying fear.
         Instead, by God's grace and for His glory, might we act in obedience to the gentle yet powerful promptings of His Holy Spirit--to trust, to love, to forgive, to sacrifice, to be salt and light, and to live with joy, hope, and gratitude in our hearts, words, and actions.  We can't, but He can. 
        Thank You, Father, for Your unfailing, unchanging Word. Thank You for our saving, living Savior. And thank You for the indwelling, empowering Holy Spirit. Help us this day and everyday to be led by faith, not by fear. You've promised us that we have Your Spirit of power, love, and self-control, so please enable us walk in step with the Spirit, by Your grace, for Your glory.
        To God be the glory.

But God...

        "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal.3:25-27)
        "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those of the household of faith." (Gal.6:9-10)
        The events of the past few weeks have been beyond heartbreaking. What a vicious, pernicious sin racism is. To think that our nation continues to confront this hideous sin of devaluing the worth of some human beings based simply upon the color of the skin. How can this be? What is wrong with the heart of mankind?  How can one human being treat another human being this way?
         And yet, what is wrong with my selfish, prideful, stubborn heart?  As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago, “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
          Like so many of us, I have wept to see the evil that resides in the human heart--and the horrific price that has been paid by generation after generation because of the sin of racism.  Generation after generation of African Americans hurt beyond anything I can understand (but I'm trying) but also of the countless generations of those whose hearts have been warped, twisted, and destroyed by their hatred. 
         Yet even as I want to cast stones at that sin, God shows me my own heart with its dividing line of good and evil. My lack of self-sacrificial love and compassion. My desire for my own way.  My idolatry of comfort and security. My pride. My impatience. My determined love of self.  Oh, my sin, too, is relentless and stubborn and hideous.
        But God...oh such beautiful words, "But God..." 
        "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph.2:4-9) 
        But God is rich in mercy.
        But God loves us with His great and perfect and beautiful love.
        But God saved us even when we were absolutely dead in all our hideous sin and made us alive in Christ.  Because God doesn't make bad people good...He makes dead people alive. Including you, including me.
         But God has saved us by His grace--His utterly unearned, utterly undeserved grace--and raised us up to the heavenly places with Christ to show us the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness.  God's immeasurable riches--I cannot even begin to fathom this...but oh how thankful I am...
        ...and humbled because it has absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing to do with my worth or ability or performance.  It's all by His unmerited, underserved, amazing grace. Which means no one can boast. Not Billy Graham or Tim Keller or Ann Lotz or the most godly person you or I know.  And most certainly not me!  Oh mercy, definitely not me.
          Yes, it feels an awful lot like our world right now is on fire. The problems seem impossibly  difficult, the pain immeasurably deep, the anger and fear frighteningly great...but God.
           Not us, but God.
           Now is the time to listen.  To learn. To seek to understand more than to be understood. To weep with those who weep. And to pray, to trust, to hold up our empty hands to the sovereign King and Kings and admit, "we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” (II Chron.20:12)
         Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes finally, finally are fixed on You. You alone. You are able. You took the sin and pain and hatred and racism of all the world upon Yourself, Lord Jesus, and You conquered every bit of it at the cross.  So we look to You. We trust You. We depend upon You. We ask You to cleanse us, to help us, to lead us, to teach us, to equip us, to shine Your light and love through us. May we be vessels of Your grace, forgiveness, hope, and sacrificial love to the world around us. Help us not to become weary in doing good in the hard, holy days ahead but to keep our eyes fastened on You as we run this race ahead of us, all by Your grace all to Your glory.
         How we praise You that even for the worst of our sins, we can loudly proclaim "But God..."
         To God, to our Savior Jesus who is the Way-Maker, the Reconciler, the Redeemer, be all the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Only a breath away

        "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb.4:14-16)
         How thankful I am today and everyday that we can daily, hourly, moment by moment, draw near to the throne of all thrones--the throne of all power, all majesty, all sovereignty, all wisdom, all awesomeness.  Imagine the privilege, the wonder of that--that we, who are but little dust people, who fail and forget and falter again and again, can enter right into God's very throne room.! A place of such unfathomable holiness, greatness, and power...and yet we dare, indeed, we are exhorted time and again, to come to His throne. 
        Moreover, we're told to come to God's throne with confidence! The greek word for that is also translated "boldness" and "courage." If this wasn't in God's Word, I'd call that ridiculous presumption and prideful folly. But not according to God's Word--and the very words of the Lord trump any and all of our emotions, ideas, and inadequacies.
        And what will we receive there?  Well, here's another reason we can approach Him with confidence, not terror and dread. We need not expect stern lectures, dire warnings, expressions of great disappointment, nor harsh sentences of judgment. No, because of our Savior Jesus, He promises we will receive amazing grace, we will receive astounding mercy,  and we will receive the supernatural help that only the Lord can give.
         So here's the question: why aren't we going?  Seriously, why are we not continually beating a path to that beautiful, wondrous, powerful throne of grace? What is preventing us?  Busyness?  Preoccupation? Doubt? Laziness? Forgetfulness?
          Whatever reason we might ostensibly come up with--and I'm preaching to myself here!--there is NO REASON!  The glorious throne of almighty God is open to us.  It's a throne of unimaginable power and yet also a throne of unlimited grace, mercy, and help.  And because we're told to come boldly, confidently, courageously, let's do it!  (Again, I'm not just exhorting you, but I'm preaching to amnesiac me, myself, and I here too! Because no one needs this reminder worse than yours truly!)
          In light of all that, I wanted to throw out one suggestion that has particular application in times of stress and worry.  Hmm, Covid anyone?  It's super easy, can be done anywhere, anytime, and has the ability to calm your racing heartbeat and your fretful mind.  It's simply the process of breath prayers. Meaning: as you take deep breaths, you repeat a simple verse in your mind.
         Here's one way to do it.  As you take a deep breath in (for about the count of 3 or so), say in your mind the first half of the verse. Then, as you slowly exhale, you repeat in your mind the second half of the verse. For instance, slowly take a deep breath in as you say in your mind "When I am afraid" and then as you exhale slowly, you repeat "I put my trust in You." (Ps.56:3)  Or a little longer one: inhale to "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you" and breath out to "He will never permit the righteous to be moved." (Ps.55:22)  Or inhale to "The Lord is my shepherd" and exhale to "I shall not want." (Ps.23:1)  Or one of my favorites: Inhale to "God is our refuge and strength" and exhale to "A very present help in trouble." (Ps.46:1)
           You get the idea--pick a few verses that you love, write them down, and start praying them in and out, in and out, in and out with your breath.  I've typically heard it suggested to do this about ten times in a row to allow your breath to slow your heart rate, and more importantly, to allow God's supernatural Word to transform your mind.
             As Matthew Henry said so many years ago, "Days of trouble must be days of prayer."  My hope is that this simple exercise will help us to avail ourselves of this priceless privilege and powerful weapon against anxiety and discouragement.  Our God is only a breath away. Let's go to His throne with confidence and know He will give us His grace, mercy, and help. 
             To God be the glory.