Face to Face

My Scriptures this morning to pray through in my prayer book could not have been more appropriate for my "fear of man"!

I will regard You as holy, Lord of hosts;

You shall be my fear,

And You shall be my dread (Isaiah 8:13)

You are the stability of my times,

A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

Fearing You, O Lord, is the key to this treasure. (Isaiah 33:6)

May I love my enemies, do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me, and pray for those who mistreat me. May I do to others as I would have them do to me. (Luke 6:27-28, 31)

I look to you for my daily bread, to forgive me my debts as I also have forgiven my debtors. Do not lead me into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. (Matthew 6:11-13a

Because I love you, You will deliver me;

You will protect me, for I acknowledge Your name.

I will call upon You, and You will answer me;

You will be with me in trouble,

You will deliver me and honor me.

With long life You will satisfy me

And show me Your salvation. (Psalm 91:14-16)

(This is a promise that I personalized long ago. It was such a good promise to be reminded of.)

This week in the online retreat is about accepting God loving forgiveness. Brother Alex wrote this when I asked what does it mean when the online retreat wrote,"Jesus did not come to solve us but to save us." Here is his response: 

"God does not see us as a “problem” to be “solved.”  Instead, God simply saves us from the power of our sin and from death.

I think he’s try to say that God doesn’t love us because we’re perfect.  God loves us because we aren’t perfect and we need loving. It's a beautiful week." 

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