Psalm 19:12b-14 Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 26:2 Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Se

Psalm 13:1-2a, ESV [a Psalm of David] How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? Psalm 42:9, ESV I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Luke 7:18b-20, ESV [When John the Baptist is in p

Luke 2:10-14, ESV And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. … And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Peace and joy. Those are the two words which have been pounding in my s

Luke 2:7, NASB And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Last week we looked at this verse and talked about how there’s no such thing as an oversight by God—that what appears to be an oversight is always ordained. But there’s one more thing I felt prompted to point out this year as we meditate on this verse—the symbolism in the fact that there was no room for them in the inn

Luke 2:7, NASB And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. We don’t know for certain if this birthplace of Jesus was a wooden stable or the mouth of a cave, but what we do know is that it was probably dirty, full of animals, and less comfortable than a room in the inn would have been. The birthplace of the Son of God, at first glance, appears to be an oversight. But it mos

Luke 1:18-20, NIV Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Luke 1:34-37, 45, NIV “How will this be,” Mary asked