Don't Lose or Harden Your Heart!

Romans 8:9-11  "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."
Hebrews 3:12-14  "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end."

Sweet Savior and Lord,  I praise You for who You are, not just what You have done.   You are the One God above all gods, holy, righteous, living, infinite, truth, just, merciful and gracious all rolled into one.  Only You could save us from Hell, death, and the grave and break the power of sin in our lives!
The Evil One tries daily to make us blame You for the evil in the world and for the bad things that happen to us.  We are asked by unbelievers,"How can a God be all of those wonderful things and yet still allow cancer, wars, Ebola, plagues of every kind, pestilence, and horrid atrocities, and natural disasters to happen?"  Their hearts are so hard against the truth that because of the sin of Adam, we are all under the curse.  You did not leave us without warning that the longer the earth exists the stronger sin's curse will become.  All creation groans under its weight because of the sin of rebellion against You.  In the beginning, You did not create the world as it exists today.  It was peaceful, beautiful, and perfect in every way.
Lord, there is a huge storm coming north and south across our whole nation that is causing high winds, tornadoes, torrential rain, death and disaster in its wake.  Last night we were warned there may be another Derecho here in VA tonight and tomorrow.
I need to be encouraging others within the family to not lose heart when calamity strikes, but to remember your great salvation and encourage them with the Truth that You are still on the Throne and are in complete control...and We win in the end!  I need to live with an attitude of gratitude no matter what comes my way because I do not even deserve my next breath, let alone all You provide for me daily.
Lord, I got out the piece of wood with 140 blessings written on it from the first Derecho we had and put it again in a place of prominence as a reminder...an "altar pile of stones" as it were, to Your protection and provision You provided us.  Thank You again and again for all Your wondrous works!