December 7: Repentance

Today in My Utmost for His Highest: http://www.myutmost.org/12/1207.html

Dear Jesus, Forgive us, Lord, for our tendency to excuse our sins and dismiss their importance because we compare ourselves with others who are worse than we are, at least in our own eyes. Teach us to see our sins from Your perspective and feel true remorse as we fully realize "against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight." What we consider to be the smallest of sins is still a mighty obstacle in our relationship with You. Please give to us this gift of God, the overwhelming need to fall before You in repentance when we have not been attentive to Your Voice and instructions.

The Children of My Heart live in a world full of every conceivable vice, and it is so easy for them to consider their own sins as insignificant as compared to the baseness they see every day. Please help them to realize that comparison is a weapon Satan uses to keep them from a true, intimate relationship with You. There is only one standard by which we should live, and that is the instructions You gave us in Scripture.

These Children of My Heart are going through so many different types of struggles, but there is one common element of each trial. To focus on the point of suffering is to take their focus off of You, the Solution to every problem. Help them to remember that the answer to every problem is in You for Colossians 1:16-17 tells us that all things were created by You and for You. You are before all things, and in You all things hold together. Sometimes the sadness of life can be so powerful that we feel like we are splintering. Remind them that they can trust You to hold them together as You wrap them in Your love.