“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

“For God shows no partiality.”

From Martha: When I read this Psalm it reminded me of my dad. My dad was not the sort of person who would run around and grab people by the lapels and say “come to Jesus!” “Repent and be saved!” But people could always tell what he believed by the way he lived and the way he helped people.

He was a kind, friendly gentleman and no one ever questioned his great faith. And one of the ways I knew that he truly loved God was one little thing that he always did. Every morning as he walked into the kitchen he would stop at the back door, the kitchen door that faced the east where the sun was coming up. He would pull back the drape and look at the sunrise and he would say a little quiet prayer.

I never knew what he said. I don’t know if it was the same prayer every day or if it was a different prayer every day, but I know that he always stopped there on that little step and spent a moment with the Lord, preparing himself for the day. I imagine that he prayed for his family and for our safety and for my future and certainly prayed that our family would come together again in safety at the end of the day. And I’m sure it included some words of thanksgiving. It was a touching habit and a powerful example to me. And I’m sure that it came from a line from one of his favorite hymns “Great is Thy Faithfulness”: “Morning by morning new mercies I see.”

He taught me that every single morning God gives you a brand new sunrise, a brand new start, every morning His mercies are new, yesterday is gone, God has given you a brand new today. So, right now where you are sitting at your computer, whatever you have to do after you click me off today, remember that God is already preparing a brand new day tomorrow, with brand new mercies, with great forgiveness, and a chance to start over.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”