I always like a good prayer. Hannah was barren for years and treated badly by other women. God gave her Samuel and she then gave Samuel to God. This prayer is what she learned through suffering her years of childlessness. By the way, in God's hands her son Samuel made history.

1 Samuel 2:3-7

After Hannah weaned Samuel she let him go to serve God.

“Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.

“The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

“The Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.

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My friend Ken armed himself to face death with the sword of faith. He is this green olive tree.

Psalm 52:8-9
But I am like a green olive tree
   in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God 
   forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
   because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
   in the presence of the godly.

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This is the story of my life. I am not perfect, but God does not need perfection he needs a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:12-13
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

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Men, the only organ you should let guide you is your heart, filled with the love of God. And women, stop pestering them. It will turn out better for everybody.

Judges 16:16-17
And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,

My eye candy version of Samson

that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

Bible Gateway link (NKJV)

We are always looking for affirmation from outside forces. Here is a red letter direction to the right place to look.

Luke 17:20-21
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

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Wealth can make you comfortable. It can also distract you from what really matters. Do not get confused, you are just leasing all that stuff for a little while.

Psalm  49:16-20
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.

For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.

For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light.

Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Bible Gateway link (ESV)

I was dead now I'm alive, lost and now found. If you think you know what this parable is about, please read this book. It is SO interesting.

Luke 15:32
"'It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

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This is direct and in red letters. I used to think this was impossible for me. I am not so sure anymore. For me, that is progress!

Luke 14:27
"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."

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Enough said.

Luke 14:11
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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One thing I know with utter certainty: God is faithful. We will never be perfectly faithful, but He is. On the day Joshua died he reminded his people of this. Remember, "not one of them has failed."

Joshua 23:14

“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Bible Gateway link (ESV)

I only suffered being bent over for 9 months. She suffered for 18 years! What she must have learned. I got so much closer to Jesus in my 9 months of disability. This woman and I had the same reaction to being freed: We glorified God!

Luke 13:10-13
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”
And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.

Bible Gateway link (ESV)

I need a "very present help in trouble," even little troubles. I have been promised he will be there "though the earth gives way." Wow, I would really have to pray this Psalm often to not be afraid of that.

Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

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I have to admit ravens rarely cross my mind. But this is a red letter rebuke. God will provide. He will also feed us with spiritual food, if we let him.

Luke 12:22-24
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

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A red letter reminder that God sees right through to our hearts.

Luke 11:37-40
And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat.
When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

Bible Gateway link (NKJV)

What a coincidence! We talked about this in our home Bible study last night. It was a red letter enlightenment for me. I'm asking for the love of Christ in my heart.

Luke 11:9-13
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

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Both these were in my daily reading today. The first is ancient wisdom, the other is a red letter rebuke. We need to stop pulling our houses down with our own hands. Sorry ladies, it is not all about us.

Proverbs 14:1
The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
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Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
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Just show up for work! Below is a red letter promise. We are the laborers, our bosses deal with the big picture.

Luke 10:16

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Bible Gateway link (ESV)

Light and truth, these are things that come from God.

Psalm 43:3-4
Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill 
and to your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

Bible Gateway link (ESV)

Sometimes just the poetry in the Bible is enough to get me through the day. An ancient voice touches me this moment. How lovely.

Psalm 42:7-8
Deep calls to deep 
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves 
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

Bible Gateway link (English Standard Version)

I have always been so thirsty. Living water is the only thing that quenches my thirst.

Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.

Bible Gateway link (NKJV)

Here is a red letter question in Luke. So often my answer comes up short. You?

Luke 8:25

He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

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When I am poor and needy in spirit, I often forget to say "Great is the Lord!" But I love my salvation and "the Lord takes thought for me." Great is the Lord! Try it.

Psalm 40:16-17
But may all who seek you 
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation 

Photo by Brit Hume: Sunset, Hume, VA. 4-4-14

say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!

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Here's a red letter prescription for life. Try living this, it will make you humble.

Luke 6:36
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

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