Pray this Lazaroo with Banzai belief: 

“I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him…”
(1 John 2:8)

That’s the thing I love about Your commands, Jesus –

You didn’t just give them
You lived them.

You didn’t have to. You could have stayed in heaven and kept issuing them.

But in love, You left heaven
shed the royalty of Your majesty
became a human being

and showed us exactly how to live
by carrying out Your commands.

I don’t merely have a law to obey

I have an example to follow.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Deuteronomy 4:36; Micah 6:8; Luke 9:23; John 13:15; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:21

 Pray this Lazaroo with sold-out surrender: 

“He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
(Isaiah 2:3)

Teach me Your ways, Jesus

so I will walk in Your paths.

I’ve walked in my paths long enough.

I’m weary of the paths of others, too.

It’s sad that I had to waste so much time running in all those other directions.

Did I say running?
Make that hobbling, tripping, falling.

I intend to stay on Your path for the rest of my life

no matter how long, challenging and narrow it is.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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2 Samuel 22:37; Nehemiah 9:19; Job 22:15; Psalms 16:11; Proverbs 4:18; Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 1:79

 Pray this Lazaroo in lavished love: 

“…the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love…”
(2 Peter 1:17)

Oh, how Your Father loves You, Jesus!

which – since He sacrificed You on the cross to save my sorry soul –
reveals how much He – and You – love me.

That’s impossible for me to grasp – even with Your help, Holy Spirit!

I keep coming back to this one inarguable fact:

I don’t deserve to be loved like this!

But I am. I am. I am!

You love me – warts and all –
just as I am.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Psalms 77:13; Psalms 103:11; Lamentations 3:32; John 3:16; Romans 8:39; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Titus 3:3-7; 1 John 3:16

 Pray this Lazaroo in mind-blown adoration: 

“Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.”
(Song of Songs 2:9)

Pulling her words out of context makes Solomon sound like a peeping Tom, Jesus –

instead of honoring the man she loves with all her heart.

But that’s the danger with everything I hear, isn’t it?

It’s all out of context.

No one but You sees the whole –

the evolving, intertwining story of billions of us
interacting with trillions of other creatures You’ve created.

Maybe that’s why You counsel me not to judge.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Psalms 58:1; Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; John 8:16; John 12:47; 1 Corinthians 4:3-5; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Colossians 2:16

 Pray this Lazaroo with pure devotion: 

“…you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially…”
(1 Peter 1:17)

That doesn’t mean what many of us think it means, Jesus

and I’m grateful.

Most people think impartial judgment means there’s one standard.

Meet it and I pass.
Fall short and I flunk.

But that’s not impartial

because we all have different backgrounds and abilities.

You alone know everything of which I’m capable.

That’s the standard You hold me to…

then make up the difference
everywhere I lack.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Ezekiel 20:11; Psalms 103:14; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Romans 14:1-4; 2 Corinthians 10:12; Galatians 5:4-6; Hebrews 10:4; James 2:13; James 3:2; 1 John 1:9

 Pray this Lazaroo in stunned appreciation: 

“Then I turned my thoughts…”
(Ecclesiastes 2:12)

That’s an empowering principle, Jesus:

I can turn my thoughts.

How much of the time do I allow my thoughts

to turn me?

Sometimes I behave as though I have no control over my thoughts
believing they come and go as they please.

But they don’t.
Not if I take charge of them.

I can think the thoughts I choose to think!

Wow.

That’s good…but while I’m choosing my thoughts, here’s one better:

to turn all my thoughts
into Yours.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Psalms 13:2; Psalms 19:14; Psalms 55:2; Psalms 139:2; Proverbs 1:23; Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 12:3; Daniel 7:28; Matthew 12:25; Luke 9:47

 Pray this Lazaroo with growing gratitude: 

“…the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom…”
(James 1:25)

That’s just the opposite of what most of us think, Jesus.

We view laws as restrictions, limits, freedom-killers.

Some are.

But not Yours!

Every one of Your commandments I obey

breaks another of the links on the chain
with which Satan has bound me.

It’s the ultimate irony:

The more completely I surrender myself to You
the freer I become.

You didn’t die on the cross to imprison me

but to set me free.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Psalms 119:45; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 10:23; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1

 Strengthen your resolve, as you pray this Lazaroo: 

“Wisdom will save you…from men…who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways…”
(Proverbs 2:12-13)

That’s my clue, isn’t it, Jesus?

When my friends begin to walk in dark ways
it’s time for me to act.

Yes, I need to do my best to pull them back into the light

but I dare not join them in their dark journey.

The best way to help someone out of a pit

is to stay on top
and throw them a rope.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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1 Samuel 24:13; Psalms 1:1; Psalms 26:5; Psalms 59:2; Psalms 64:2; Psalms 119:115; Matthew 15:14; 1 Corinthians 15:33

 Pray this Lazaroo all the way to the marrow of your bones: 

“I will declare your name to my brothers….”
(Hebrews 2:12)

Those are the toughest ones to witness to, Jesus…

brothers
sisters
close friends
those who know me all too well.

They know my faults. They see my shortcomings.

When I try to tell them how much You mean to me
I’m afraid they’ll smirk.

But I have to, don’t I?

I love them.
They need You.
Desperately.

I suspect they’re more likely to listen to my words

once they see the change
You’re making in me.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Matthew 5:16; Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:3; John 1:41; John 7:3-5; 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:1-7

 Enjoy a fresh start with God, as you pray this Lazaroo: 

“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
(Psalms 5:3)

There’s something about the morning, Jesus

with You.

No matter what happened yesterday, You’re there for me

again.

When I start my day with You…for You…in You…

everything is better
the day before me takes on so much more meaning.

I don’t want to do this day without You, Father.

I don’t want to do any day
without You.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning 212-LAZAROO…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Exodus 34:2; Psalms 30:5; Psalms 59:16; Psalms 88:13; Psalms 90:14; Isaiah 26:9; Ezekiel 12:8; Mark 1:35; Luke 24:1-8