Will Power.

FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY,
Please give me the strength to say NO. I do NOT want to go down that road. Protect me with your never ending LOVE and PRESENCE. Etch me to become more and more like me. God, You are so good to me!

It's so much to ask, but please pray for me for the next two days. Thank you!

I remember during the near end of summer a dear friend of mine shared with me this exhortation in Yosemite when I was going through several trials. After some efforts to pursue a friendship, losing a friend of about a year and a half is such a painful sight. There is no doubt in my mind of how much this friendship meant to me, but I know that whatever the will of God it is, I must and will abide in God. And now facing an unbearable amount of trials without this friend makes it all the more difficult. Even as I write this, I am reminded that although friendships are gone, the WORD OF THE LORD STANDS STEADFAST. Christ is sufficient.

James 1:2-18 (English Standard Version)

Testing of Your Faith

²^A)">(A) Count it all joy, my brothers,^a]">[a] when you meet trials^B)">(B) of various kinds, ³for you know that^C)">(C) the testing of your faith^D)">(D) produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be^E)">(E) perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵^F)">(F) If any of you lacks wisdom,^G)">(G) let him ask God,^H)">(H) who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But^I)">(I) let him ask in faith,^J)">(J) with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like^K)">(K) a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸^L)">(L) he is a double-minded man,^M)">(M) unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and^N)">(N) the rich in his humiliation, because^O)">(O) like a flower of the grass^b]">[b] he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and^P)">(P) withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²^Q)">(Q) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive^R)">(R) the crown of life,^S)">(S) which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire^T)">(T) when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and^U)">(U) sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷^V)">(V) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from^W)">(W) the Father of lights^X)">(X) with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^c]">[c] ¹⁸^Y)">(Y) Of his own will he^Z)">(Z) brought us forth by the word of truth,^AA)">(AA) that we should be a kind of^AB)">(AB) firstfruits of his creatures.

I was doing devos in Psalms 31- Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

Psalm 31 (English Standard Version)

Psalm 31

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹^A)">(A) In you, O LORD, do I^B)">(B) take refuge;
^C)">(C) let me never be put to shame;
in your^D)">(D) righteousness deliver me!
²Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be^E)">(E) a rock of^F)">(F) refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!

³For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your^G)">(G) name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴you^H)">(H) take me out of^I)">(I) the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my^J)">(J) refuge.
⁵^K)">(K) Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD,^L)">(L) faithful God.

⁶I^M)">(M) hate^a]">[a] those who pay^N)">(N) regard to worthless^O)">(O) idols,
but I trust in the LORD.
⁷I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have^P)">(P) known the distress of my soul,
⁸and you have not^Q)">(Q) delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in^R)">(R) a broad place.

⁹Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am^S)">(S) in distress;
^T)">(T) my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and^U)">(U) my bones waste away.

¹¹Because of all my adversaries I have become^V)">(V) a reproach,
especially to my^W)">(W) neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street^X)">(X) flee from me.
¹²I have been^Y)">(Y) forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like^Z)">(Z) a broken vessel.
¹³For I^AA)">(AA) hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
^AB)">(AB) as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I^AC)">(AC) trust in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
¹⁵My^AD)">(AD) times are in your hand;
^AE)">(AE) rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
¹⁶^AF)">(AF) Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
¹⁷O LORD,^AG)">(AG) let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go^AH)">(AH) silently to Sheol.
¹⁸Let the lying lips be mute,
which^AI)">(AI) speak^AJ)">(AJ) insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.

¹⁹Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
^AK)">(AK) in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰In^AL)">(AL) the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you^AM)">(AM) store them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously^AN)">(AN) shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in^AO)">(AO) a besieged city.
²²I had said in my^AP)">(AP) alarm,^b]">[b]
"I am^AQ)">(AQ) cut off from^AR)">(AR) your sight."
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.

²³Love the LORD, all you his^AS)">(AS) saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful
but abundantly^AT)">(AT) repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴^AU)">(AU) Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!

AMEN.