A thought and a prayer for today...

Let me stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils. For in what should he be esteemed? Isaiah 2:22

How can it be expected that my mind, which is propagandized, and my personal will, which desires to be obedient unto death to the Lover of my soul but which is distracted, persuaded, buffeted, and enticed by the things of the world and by own sinful lusts and greed, can be counted on to faithfully live and overcome the Devil and his authority on earth? It is, must, and can only be by the will and through the power of Him who gave Himself for me. “Who will save me from this body of death” that surrounds me daily, that seeks to undermine my hope and desire to live and serve my Creator God, my true Father - He Who has assured that yes, I too, will be counted among the faithful obedient ones who will have the final victory? It is Christ Jesus, the Lord, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I and we must find and firmly hold onto the holy ordinances by which we receive the means of grace, untouched by the fallen world of men and women, and by which the Body and Blood of Jesus becomes real to us, and by the partaking of His Body and His Blood we receive the power from on High from our heavenly Father through His Son, Christ Jesus, to overcome the world in all its effects and threats. For the ruler of this world, Satan - the prince of the air and the airwaves, shall not have the victory. Only by the Cross and the Perfect Sacrifice made by the Son of God Himself shall we receive and be given His triumph over the denizens of darkness. Our only hope, our only glory, our only redemption is through Jesus Christ the Merciful, the Victor, the Elder Brother to those who come to the fount of redemption and take unto themselves the sacrifice, made once for all for each and for all who come, the meal that gives life, hope, charity, meaning, and the sound and secure future. Amen. Amen. Amen.

“Let me stop trusting in men,” …in men’s currency, in men’s promises, in men’s persuasion, in men’s caution, in men’s wisdom, in men’s provision, in men’s assurances, in men’s security, in men’s means of life and in any of their proffered ways of finding fulfillment in life, …“whose breath is in his nostrils. For in what” …accomplishment, wisdom, suggestion, guarantee, force, mechanism, program, plan, scheme, idea, finding, research, philosophy, ideation, or psychological profile…”should [a man or even the whole of humankind] be esteemed?” “For God if for us; who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not with Him also give us everything else? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God Who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us”…He Who really loved us as no other has loved us, loves us in this present moment, or will ever fully love us in the future. …“For let us be convinced” …and stand on the promise of God through His Son, Christ Jesus, …“that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present” here today, “nor things to come” tomorrow, this weekend, next week, next month, this coming Fall or Winter, or next year and all the years ahead of me,… “not powers” - neither the powers and principalities in the heavenlies made and under the Sovereign and Mighty Hand of God, …“nor the powers” of evil, wicked, debased and corrupt men headed to hell and their eternal damnation,… “neither the heights” in the world, “nor its depths," nor anything else in all creation” under the control of men, women, the Devil and his minions, not anything at all in whatever is made… nothing of all that I can conceive and conjure in my limited knowledge and understanding …“will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” and only Savior. Amen.