Psalm 5:1-3 – Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation. (NIV)

When I was very small, my mother taught me these words as a bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Pretty heavy words for a preschooler — but this short prayer remains in my memory, so it must have at least taught me that it is important to talk to God regularly.

I still sometimes pray as I'm preparing to sleep, though not with those same words. More often, however, it is my habit to pray as I'm preparing to get up in the morning. I'm sure those aren't always the most coherent prayers, but it is my way of checking in, of re-establishing the connection, of saying "Good morning, Lord!"

Not long ago, I woke up and remembered, "Now I lay me down to sleep." Just for fun, I changed it up a little. Then, I hopped out of bed and wrote it down. I must confess that I like mine better than the original!

Now I stir me up to rise
I pray the Lord will guide my eyes,
My ears, my hands, my thoughts, my talk;
I pray You'll show me where to walk,
And lead me in Your path so true,
And show me what I ought to do.

I pray that as I hear Your voice
I will obey in every choice,
And in Your strength I will hold fast
Until the sun goes down at last;
And when I lay me down to sleep,
I'll trust You, Lord, my soul to keep.

Whatever words you use, it is always a good idea to check in with God at the start of every day. Now, please join me in one more little prayer:

Prayer: Lord God our Father, help us to reaffirm our connection to You this very moment, and to stay close by Your side all day long. You have promised to guide us; remind us to follow. If we seek first Your kingdom, anything else we need You will provide. Amen.

A friend of mine collects Coca-Cola memorabilia, but it must be vintage, not a reproduction. Many people shop carefully for the products of designer manufacturers, because having a designer handbag or luggage is a status symbol. For others, the latest smartphone or video game is the most prestigious version to own. A guarantee of authenticity is a valued thing, and many designers guard their patents against cheap knock-offs.

Are we just as interested in the claims of Scripture for Jesus' authenticity? No one spoke more passionately on the subject than the apostle John.

1 John 5:6-12 – This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (NASB 1995)

Jesus was not a spirit, as gnostics of John's time believed, but a real man, made of flesh and blood, sent to live among us and die a man's death on a Roman cross, taking on the punishment for the sins of the world. He was baptized in water by His cousin John, and shed His blood on the cross; they are His witnesses. The Holy Spirit completes these witnesses to Jesus' humanity and His divine nature. Our faith is based on this reliable "seal of authenticity".

The apostle John deftly exposes the sin of unbelief. By rejecting God's own testimony about His Son, we are effectively saying it's not true. That makes God out to be a liar. Does that go too far for you? For many, His death on the cross is offensive and distasteful; better to trivialize the cross into jewelry or design, or replace it with a self-help gospel!

We have eternal life, but that belief rests on knowing that our salvation rests in Jesus and not in our own efforts and performance. How will you know for sure? It doesn't matter if you have a good day or a poor one, for if our salvation depends on what Jesus did for us, then we can truly know.

Prayer: We praise You, Lord, for the life You have given to us in Your Son, Jesus. Help us in our daily lives to have confidence in that "seal of authenticity". Amen.

Psalm 23:5b – My cup runneth over. (KJV)

You may be familiar with the exercise of filling a jar to the half-way mark with water, putting it in a prominent place, and, upon rising, seeing if you view it as "half-full" or "half-empty". Some may even check on it throughout the day, and/or again upon retiring.

When I was introduced to this exercise, it seemed that my jar was more than half-full. Had I cheated, miscalculated? I carefully measured and re-measured. No, mathematically, it was exactly half-full, but still, every day, it seemed to be more than half-full.

We all know the purpose of the exercise has nothing to do with the water in the jar, but how we view our lives.

Some people see their "jars" as "half-empty" … they are missing something. Some others, who may be seen by some to have "half-empty jars", feel their lives are at least "half-full" or more so. The "fullness" of their lives is not measured by the clothes they wear, the material goods they've acquired, or the status they have attained. No, their "fullness" is in direct correlation to their spirituality … their relationship with the Creator in their belief system.

Still for others, the perception of the "fullness of their jar" fluctuates. Upon greeting those whom we know to have "fluctuating fullnesses", instead of using the standard, no-answer-really-required, "How are you doing?" how about stretching it just a bit to "How are you doing today?" or "How are you doing right now?" It can be a big help. So can sharing some of the fullness of your jar, for it seems that when we share, the level of the fullness of our jar is not only maintained, but "runneth over".

What is the "fullness" of your jar?

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we know our "fullness" comes through our relationship with You and our ability to share with those who may not feel the "fullness". We ask that You would guide us as we strive to help them see their jars as "half-full" rather than "half-empty". Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

My kitchen was a catastrophe. Christmas baking had left detritus on every visible surface. The sink was full of dirty dishes, and every countertop was covered with cookie sheets, flour siftings, eggshells, butter wrappers, and dirty mixing bowls and utensils. Just as I had taken each of these items out one by one, I had to clear them away — one by one. I filled the dishwasher, disposed of the garbage, put away my cookbook and other baking items, and wiped down the countertops. It wasn't long until order was restored, and all that remained was a plateful of warm cookies — my reward for an afternoon of hard but pleasurable work.

Life is like this sometimes, isn't it! A difficult life experience can also start in a small way, but little by little, incidents are added until things seem to be out of control, and we have a problem on our hands. James reminds us that words can create difficulties, just as a spark can start a conflagration.

James 3:5 – In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. (NLT)

It then becomes necessary to take steps to deal with the problem. Just as the problem grew from a tiny spark, the problem can be resolved, step by step. A wise piece of advice is to go back to the point where things began to go wrong. By retracing our steps, we can gradually clear away the clutter and confusion and return to a peaceful resolution.

How can this be done? The starting point is to confess any known sin and ask God to forgive us and give discernment in righting any wrongs. This may mean making amends with someone or rectifying an error. When we've done our part to resolve the problem, we can accept God's forgiveness and direction in moving forward.

Let's ask God to make us aware of the messes in life that must be cleared up before they grow out of control. Let's aim to keep our lives clean and clear of the clutter of unresolved sin. Let's clean up the mess.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, You know the problems that we create by our carelessness and reluctance to face the truth. May we be willing to face up to our shortcomings honestly and to trust You for forgiveness and guidance in keeping our lives clear of unresolved sin. Amen.

John 6:35 – Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (NLT)

At almost every meal, it sat on the table.

I remember many things about my paternal grandparents — probably because I stayed with them most of the time when I was small. My grandmother served as my first babysitter, and I gladly accompanied her in her green 1950s Chevrolet as she made her "Avon calling" rounds.

Later, when I reached upper elementary and middle school age, I worked with my grandfather as he delivered ice cream to mom-and-pop shops and grocery stores.

Of course, I ate with them often, too. I remember the meals vividly. My grandfather always cooked breakfast — bacon and eggs. My grandmother usually took care of lunch and supper: country cooking. A few things were boiled, but mostly, everything was fried.

I don't remember my grandmother doing this one thing, but my grandfather did it regularly at supper. "You want some bread?" he'd ask. Sometimes, I did, but at other times, I didn't. Regardless, he placed a Melmac saucer on the table with five or six slices of bread, just in case I changed my mind. And him? Well, he always wanted bread.

He loved a particular brand of bread, secured at the day-old bread store across the highway from his house. Bread served as a filler — not that there wasn't enough food to satisfy us. But he had lived through the Great Depression. He remembered the lean times when food and many other items were as scarce as a rare coin.

Bread was also a staple of Jesus' time. Jesus used bread to refer to Himself, telling people He was the bread of life that would fill them eternally. Once they ate of Him, they'd never need to eat again. Hunger would escape them like a rabbit set free.

I've found Jesus' words to be true. The world offers many things that promise peace, joy, and fulfillment. They often fulfill their promises — but only temporarily. Either they tear up, or we tire of them and want a new version.

Things differ with Jesus. Through a relationship with Him, we find true peace, joy, and contentment — lasting peace, joy, and contentment that carry us through life and into eternity. We need nothing else or more — just Him. One slice of this bread suffices.

How does knowing Jesus change your perspective on things?

Prayer: Father, thank You for providing the bread of life that satisfies all our needs. Amen.

Genesis 2:2b – On the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. (CEB)

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference. One of the people there was a long-established and well-respected medical doctor who had a busy, downtown practice, full of corporate executives. One of the lines I heard during a break was "No one, on their deathbed, wishes they had spent more time at the office." I say: right!

People complain about the pressures in their lives. They are frantic to cram more and more in, running seven days every week. People have a nagging feeling that "this is not the way it's supposed to be". You're right, it is not. Go right back to the beginning — the creation story — and see how far out of sync with our humanity we have come.

In the first chapter of Genesis is the account of the creation of the world. There had never been a week in the cosmos like that first week of creation. And what did God do, after it was all done and everything was perfect? He took a day off and rested up. It looks like God's got more sense than many of us!

The idea of a day of rest continues down through Jewish history. The Jews of Jesus' time took the Sabbath so seriously, that when Jesus healed on that day, it was one of the first points of conflict between the Jewish authorities and the Lord. Jesus responded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28 GNT)

People are not machines. There is a biological cycle of work and rest that is built into our very cells. Our body systems are designed to work each day and rest at night. Our body systems replenish and rebuild the body during sleep. We are literally re-created each night.

A modern word-picture is "burning the candle at both ends". Take a minute and consider what that does to the poor candle. Poor candle; poor you, if you do that. Just down the hall from the office that my doctor friend used to have is a door marked "Cardiac Stress Clinic." That door is busy, with people rushing in and out, to find out what shape their hearts are in.

My suggestion for you: take a time-management lesson from the One Who created time, and holds it — and eternity — in open hands. Be good to yourself and those you love. Take some time off. They say you should "stop and smell the roses." Please do, while you are still here to do so. Oh, one more thing: can you please pass this page along to those schedule-driven friends of yours? I don't think they are going to find the time to download it themselves. Thanks!

Prayer: Lord, may we all remember that our lives and our time are in Your hands. You have numbered the days of each one of us. Help us to use the time You have given us wisely. Help us also to remember that rest and recreation are better for us than much of what we think is important. For all this, we give thanks. Amen.

Psalm 23:1-3 – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (NIV)

At a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Base in Belize, where my husband, Terry, and I volunteered in 2016, I had several responsibilities: baking, preparing a cabin for the weekly guest speaker, washing and drying the kitchen cloths and towels daily, and working in the concession.

Life on the base was a challenge. Tiny fleas from the beach sand covered my legs with bites, while mosquitoes made their presence known in the early evening. To counteract the insects, a "mosquito blower" would come by at 5:30 a.m. Our little casita was permeated with noxious fumes, which came through the window slats we'd had open, trying to coax a night breeze into our bedroom. I got caught up in what invaded my senses, instead of trusting the Lord.

One morning, when I heard that our fellow volunteers were going out in the kayaks, I asked to go with them. I quickly dealt with my first duty, the kitchen towels, so I was free for a couple of hours.

The sea was like glass as my friend and I set out, her three-year-old daughter tucked between us, following her husband and the two boys. Soon, we reached a white buoy marking the edge of a traffic lane where the water taxis would speed by. We lowered cement-block anchors. Here, the ocean floor was only about ten feet (three metres) below. My friend's husband, the base chef, wanted to dive for conches to cook. I slipped into the water to practise my snorkelling. How peaceful! The stresses of the preceding several days fell away as I leisurely swam, gazing at the sandy bottom, with sea grass moving gently back and forth.

No conches were to be seen, however, so we all headed back to the base. I was refreshed, and the kitchen cloths were bone dry.

Years later, as I pondered this interlude in my busy days in Belize, God spoke to me. The traffic lane in the ocean is like our sometimes-hectic days today, filled with frenetic activity. How often we rush through our responsibilities or waste energy reacting to our surroundings and circumstances! We may even be doing things the Lord has not appointed us to do.

The calm spot just next to the traffic lane is like the quiet waters of Psalm 23. The Lord, our Shepherd, marks out pastures where what we need is lush and plentiful. Our tasks will be much easier, as He leads us along right paths. Let us be at rest, knowing that He guides and strengthens us as we trust in Him.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for providing green pastures and quiet waters for us, so that we can refresh our souls. Amen.

The saying in my city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is that there are two seasons: winter and construction. But now, whether it be road repair, maintenance, or construction, it continues year-round. The sight of police officers guiding traffic at intersections affected by road work is common. Why do the drivers obey the directions of the traffic cop? They see that the traffic lights are inoperative, recognize the police uniform, and trust that their guidance will assure smooth and safe traffic flow.

God has offered His grace and guidance to His children, in much more than daily traffic!

1 John 5:1-5 – Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (NASB 1995)

This passage gives a deep personal assurance of the new life that started when we began a relationship with Jesus Christ. If we love God, we will also love His family and follow His commandments for daily living. The new commands grow naturally from a love of God, but how do we know it's God's commands that we are following? Often there are many opinions, like traffic signs, that can be confusing. We check with God's Word, and we will find that His commands are not overwhelming, because they can be lived out through His power, not our own.

It is not always easy, and we will fail at times, but God is quick to forgive and to set us on the right path. Hard times and personal traffic jams will happen, but God keeps working in us, giving us the joy and ability to live the life He intended from the beginning.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that we are born of You and have the victory of faith to overcome all the slowdowns and frustrations of life. We know this victory because we believe that Jesus is Your Son. Amen.

John 3:3 – Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (NIV)

Calving season is upon us once again, and we're all praying for cows and calves in our Cariboo House Churches prayer times.

I must have been 12 or 13 the first time I saw a calf being born. The strange thing was that, growing up just across the field from my grandparents' dairy farm, I had never before witnessed this miracle of life beginning. In our naive years, probably most of us have an impression of birth as a beautiful, tranquil scene where mother's body works in rhythm with nature to gently push the newborn out into the world. That certainly didn't describe this first experience for me, or for the poor heifer who was in labour before my young eyes. As we watched, eventually a little pair of hooves and a nose became visible out the back of the hard-working heifer. But they didn't come much farther. After a while, it was decided that the first-time mother needed some help. No midwife giving helpful instructions. No doctor attempting the use of forceps. No, this was a cow and a stubborn calf. Quickly, my Uncle John and Grandpa tied a rope around the calf's protruding hooves and the other end was tied to a long 4×4 beam. The beam was then lodged against a post in the stall as leverage and the men took turns pushing with all their weight against the beam to try to pull that poor calf right out of its mother's womb. After a little work on the part of my Grandpa, Uncle John, and the cow, the little calf oozed out and the mother went to work cleaning it off.

What a way to come into the world, I thought! But isn't that the way it is with some of us? We must be born again into the kingdom of God. It sounds like a nice image. Babies are cute and tug on our emotions. But some of us come into the kingdom, not in a peaceful, warm, gentle way, but resisting, holding back, having to be pulled in, as if someone had us tied to a beam levered on a stall post. We don't want to leave the comfort of the womb we have woven around ourselves — our comfortable lives and attitudes. The kingdom of God demands that we leave the comforts of our lives and give them up to seek only the comfort of being God's child.

It wasn't long before that calf was enjoying its first long drink of its mother's milk and standing on wobbly legs. We don't know the benefits of a new life with Jesus until we begin to experience them. Then, we learn that it is all worth the birthing pain.

Prayer: Lord, help us to trust You more, whether we are struggling with being born again into new life with Jesus, or with some new work You are calling us to do. Give us Your strength, that we may act before we know all the benefits. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Revelation 3:20 – Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. (MSG)

I have just heard once again those words that I have heard nearly every day for forty-two years: "What's for supper?" Sound familiar? When we were first married, Larry went out and bought two weeks' worth of frozen meals right off the bat. Thinking that was a bit strange, I cooked them and did pretty well, until I left the paper on the pizza, which made it very hard for my unsuspecting new husband to chew. It's strange that in all the time we knew each other before we were married, he had never asked me how I cooked. Had he asked, I could have told him that I didn't! After that first few weeks, I slowly learned to cook things other than frozen meals. Larry likes to tell a story (greatly exaggerated, I might add) about some biscuits I made from scratch that were so hard we threw them out to the birds. The story goes, according to Larry, they couldn't fly after eating the rock-hard biscuits. In fact, as he elaborates on the story, if they tried to fly, they would immediately drop from the sky. As the months went by, I was starting to be a decent cook, but there were those days when Larry asked, "What's for supper?" it was because he couldn't tell by looking at it.

Slowly but surely, my cooking improved, and "What's for supper?" took on a whole new attitude. It would, most of the time, come with a "Mmm — something smells good!" — words I loved to hear. Eventually, supper came every evening like clockwork, and for the most part was edible, but they still always asked, "What's for supper?"

As I go to my Bible to study God's Word, many times, I go hungry — heart hungry! I often ask my Lord, "What's for supper? What do you have for me to feed my hungry soul?" At those times, I need to sit with Him and sup with Him as Scripture tells us. In reading in the Psalms today, I came across a passage that I loved.

Psalm 132:13-15 – Yes — I, God, chose Zion, the place I wanted for my shrine; This will always be my home; this is what I want, and I'm here for good. I'll shower blessings on the pilgrims who come here, and give supper to those who arrive hungry. (MSG)

Doesn't that thrill your heart? It does mine! Think of it! God says, "I'll shower blessings on you if you come to Me, and if you come hungry, I will (get this) give you supper!" Oh, fellow pilgrims, do you feel loved? I do, too!

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to come to Your Word with hungry hearts, just waiting to be fed. Amen.