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A walk in the woods with the snow falling. A hot cup of coffee and a chat with a friend. Diving under the blankets when the wind howls. A warm sun. A laughing baby. A hearty bowl of stew. These pleasures are all brought to you by God. Mothers and fathers and children and families. The tulips in April and the fiery hillside in October. The watermelon and the raspberry. Green grass and blue sky. The starfish and the mountain ram. These gifts are all brought to you by God. Laughter. Sight. Rain. Fresh air. A mind. A purpose. These…

Father, grant me a heart that is pure and simple and devoted to you, and I shall be content.   The University of Texas is a sophisticated world.  Professors, thinkers, influencers, media.  Indeed, the University of Texas is quite proud of its sophistication.  But God is not necessarily looking for sophisticated people. God wants a simple heart in His people.   A simple heart trusts God as a child does.  It laughs as a child does.  It rejoices in simple pleasures and is free.  Praise you, God, for the sunrise this morning! A simple heart is content.  It does not require…

Father, may I trust you as a three-year-old would.   No one can experience God unless he has faith.  Faith believes what is unseen, and without faith it is not possible to please God (Heb 11:1, 6).  This is basic.  Faith deals with our beliefs, and since it deals with our beliefs, one may think that it does not belong in a discussion about the heart.  But faith is first and foremost a matter of the heart.  “If you … believe in your heart that God raised [Jesus] from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). Faith does have…

Praise you, Father, for you are incomprehensible.  You are God.   God once asked me to start a church.  The church closed.  As I sought God after the church had closed, He gave me a very clear sense that, yes, He really had called me to do that.  In other words, He had called me to fail, or at least it looked that way.  And why not?  God called the King of Kings to die.  If that is how God operates, He is not going to be easy to predict. An agnostic man once told me that he would like…

Father, let me not become so casual with you that I forget who you are.   Everyone fears something.  If you do not fear God, you will fear men.  And if you do not fear God or men, you will fear death or disease or poverty or rejection or loneliness or some other thing. It is unavoidable.  Fleeing fear is like fleeing your shadow. We do not control the universe and deep down we know it.  We cannot shake it.  And we fear that some of our thoughts might actually be true.  Fear touches our deepest desires and unites them…