Joy rises in the heart that gives honour to God, and it is a sweet thing that you rush to show gratitude for each day above ground. Yet, while you stand firm on the promise that God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, take care that the enumeration of petitions, travel funding, a phone bill paid, relocation funds, that special visit, and an unrestricted account for your friend, does not eclipse the Giver in the glare of the gifts. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and He is the Friend of sinners in their time of need. He does not hand you a bottle or a purse and bid you take your fill while He turns away. No, He gives Himself. Test Him, then, not as a mere dispenser of silver and gold, but as the very Savior you need. If every one of those outward things were withheld, would He still be enough? The fat need Jesus as much as the lean, the strong as much as the feeble, none can keep alive his own soul. So let the soul’s hunger for Him outrun the clamour of the body.
I would pay you a pastoral visit now, sitting with you in spirit, and ask: in your intercession for your friend, have you laid hold of Christ as Surety, as Paul did for Onesimus, saying, “If he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account”? That is the pulse of true friendship. And for yourself, while you apply the Scriptures to every concern, do you also groan after more of the Holy Spirit, without whom the letter of truth remains a dead thing? You have learned to ask for provision; have you learned to pray, “O visit me with Your salvation”? Not as a saved one merely, but as a soul sick, needy, undone unless the Lord comes Himself. It is no boldness to beg the Almighty to abide with you, for He has promised to make His home in the contrite heart. That is the eternal salvation opposed to every other kind of deliverance.
Let patience have its perfect work. The farmer waits long for the precious fruit of the earth, and you too have need of patience after you have done the will of God. The tottering frame learns to bend, and a mighty transformation is about to be wrought in a short space. Wait on the Lord. He who visited Bethlehem in such lowly guise will not desert you in the plain of your daily walk. The tree from which the last suit you shall ever need is already prepared, but until that hour, His mercies are new every morning. Keep praising Him, for it is a good thing to thank the Lord, and that sacrifice of the lips never fails to be met by His faithfulness.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
