I have been thinking about you a lot today. I hope that you do not mind. It has been odd to not see you as much recently. I want you to know that you are continually in my prayers. This sometimes sounds trite and I will have to admit that I have used that phrase lightly in the past. This time the phrase actually has a new meaning for me. I have not been able to stop thinking about you since the day I departed from you. I would like to share my prayers with you if you do not mind.
I pray for you to have assurance. This might seem like an odd thing to pray for but the last thing I would ever want is to be an instigator of doubt. Instead I would rather encourage you to have confidence in the one who has called you. He is able to save to the utmost those that repent and believe in Him. Remember that and trust in that. All the rest is fluff and window dressing that can distract us from the true prize that we have in Christ Jesus.
I pray for you to have joy. This prayer is that you find the true joy that Paul speaks of and not this temporal pleasure that we have in stuff. The temporal comes and goes with the rising and setting of the sun but the joy we have in Him continually renews itself and rises up in us refreshing us daily. This is the joy that I want for you. The joy in knowing Him and being His.
I pray that you remain humble. There is a balance here somewhere that we should strive for that allows us to be confident without falling into pride. I pray that you find and maintain that balance. Consider others better than yourself and actually treat them that way everyday and you should be fine. I pray that you discover this.
I pray that you love. Let no anger or discouragement enter into your heart but rather continually reach out to others in the manner that God has reached out to us. It is often an overdone analogy but if you accept others with the open arms that Jesus embraced the cross with then you should be fine. If you sow in love you will be guaranteed a harvest that will not disappoint that will increase 30 or 50 or even 100 fold. Practice this daily.
I pray that your faith increases daily. Since we are using the farming analogies I would encourage you to get out and work the field. The way to grow your faith is to exercise it. Train it daily by study and practice. We must not be content to simply know the Word but we must also live the Word. I pray that you hitch your yoke up to Christ Himself and begin working the field.
I have been praying for you quite a bit recently and I wanted to encourage you to do the same for others. Lift them up and love them. Let them know that you are thinking about them. I have been praying for you almost continually and I hope you don’t mind. I love you my friends.
Bruce
