Reflection and Repentance Your Nightly Prayer for Apr. 8, 2025 By Sophia Bricker TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." - 2 Corinthians 13:5, NLT

 

Reflection and Repentance - Your Nightly Prayer

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Reflection and Repentance
Your Nightly Prayer for Apr. 8, 2025
By Sophia Bricker 

TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE

"Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." -  2 Corinthians 13:5, NLT

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Lots of parents enjoy recording the growth of their children. This may be through keeping marks on a special growth chart or penciling the changing heights down in a book. Each new entry is a visual reminder of the child’s gradual journey toward maturity.   

Other changes in a person’s life, though, are not as easily seen or measured – like spiritual growth. We cannot stand with backs to a wall, pencil in our progress, and see how we have become more like our Savior. Such minute marks of growth are often indiscernible to us. But this is why the Bible encourages us to regularly examine ourselves to see if we are walking in faithfulness. In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul addressed charges against him that he was a false Apostle, which is why he told the Corinthian believers to closely inspect themselves. Instead of questioning if Paul was following Jesus, they should have considered their own actions.  

Like the Corinthians, we also need to scrutinize our lives to see if we are taking steps toward Christian maturity. Healthy examination is not about condemnation, but about growth. Staying aware of where we are in the progress of growing up in the Christian life can help us make changes. We can see if we are getting off track in our walk with the Lord and make the needed adjustments to return to Him (Lamentations 3:40). Are we stunted, or are we increasingly becoming conformed to the image of our Savior?  

We can examine our faith anytime, but many of us may find the end of the day to be conducive to reflection. To pause, think back on our day, breathe, and reorient ourselves back to the Lord. Perhaps this will be in the form of a prayer, like the daily examen, or a few quiet moments before we drift to sleep. Regardless of what we do, our days will be more focused if we stop to consider if we are living in faithfulness. As David said in a psalm, “I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws” (Psalm 119:59, NLT). Reflection can lead to repentance, and spiritual growth.  

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Loving Lord, reveal anything within me that does not align with my identity as Your child. Help me this night to review the day and see with clarity the areas that need Your pruning work so I can grow and bear fruit for Your glory. Guide my steps, O God, and turn me again toward the path of obedience to follow Your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.    

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. A tool for measurement that you or your parents used when you were a child (a growth chart, tests, report cards, a baby book, etc.). How might you describe where you are in your walk with Christ using the imagery of one of these tools? 

2. Fuel for growth, such as food for human development or sunlight for healthy plants. In what ways can you feed or fuel your spiritual life this coming week?  

3.  The words of 1 John 3:20. We should honestly examine our lives, but sometimes we can be too harsh on ourselves. When we are overly self-condemning, we need to remember that God is greater than how we feel, and He knows all things, including our position in Him as a beloved child.  

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Johannes Plenio

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Sophia Bricker is a writer. Her mission is to help others grow in their relationship with Jesus through thoughtful articles, devotionals, and stories. She completed a BA and MA in Christian ministry, which included extensive study of the Bible and theology, and an MFA in creative writing. You can follow her blog about her story, faith, and creativity at The Cross, a Pen, and a Page.

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Originally published Tuesday, 08 April 2025.

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Cory Booker GASLIGHTS America – Unbelievable!l--Senator Cory Booker has decided gaslighting America about Biden’s obvious cognitive decline is worth sacrificing his last shred of credibility.

 

Cory Booker GASLIGHTS America – Unbelievable!

Senator Cory Booker has decided gaslighting America about Biden’s obvious cognitive decline is worth sacrificing his last shred of credibility.

At a Glance

• Senator Booker claimed Biden was “very compos mentis” and “fired up” during a recent phone call, despite overwhelming evidence of Biden’s cognitive decline
• Booker dismissed concerns about Biden’s mental fitness, insisting he “never saw any decline” despite what millions of Americans witnessed firsthand
• CNN’s Jake Tapper is co-authoring a book titled “Original Sin” about Biden’s decline and its cover-up after previously defending Biden’s mental state
• The book describes Biden’s decision to run for reelection as “narcissistic” and part of a larger deception of the American public
• Booker’s defense comes as numerous Biden insiders are preparing to release tell-all accounts about the administration’s efforts to hide Biden’s deterioration

Booker’s Brazen Denial of Reality

In what can only be described as an Olympic-level display of political gaslighting, Senator Cory Booker appeared on Stephen A. Smith’s podcast to assure Americans that, despite what their own eyes and ears have told them for years, President Biden is perfectly fine mentally. Following his record-setting filibuster stunt, Booker seemed eager to practice some creative fiction about Biden’s cognitive capabilities, telling Smith that concerns about Biden’s mental decline were essentially fabricated.

When Smith directly questioned Booker about the Democratic Party’s obvious concealment of Biden’s condition and how that might affect voters’ trust, Booker’s response was nothing short of jaw-dropping: “I don’t even know why that’s an issue.”

Watch coverage here.

The Cognitive Decline Cover-Up Unravels

Booker’s absurd defense comes as the dam of silence surrounding Biden’s mental state has begun to crack wide open. CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who once vigorously defended Biden against accusations of cognitive decline, is now co-authoring a book with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” The book, set for release on May 20, promises to expose how Biden’s deteriorating mental state was systematically hidden from the American public.

“You brought up Joe Biden, and you talked about what legislation he obviously signed off on. I ask this question: what about people that look at the Democratic Party right now and say, ‘You know this man was debilitating,’ and you have the Republicans leaning on the fact that you hid that from the American people? And they think that that plays a role in things that are being held against you right now as a party. To that, you say what?” Stephen A. Smith said during his conversation with Cory Booker.

The irony of Tapper’s book is almost too much to bear. This is the same CNN anchor who publicly chastised critics of Biden’s mental faculties during the 2020 election cycle, attributing Biden’s incoherent rambling to nothing more than a stutter. Now, Tapper is poised to profit from exposing the very cover-up he helped perpetuate. The book’s publisher, Penguin Press, describes Biden’s decision to seek reelection as “narcissistic” and part of a larger deception of the American people—a deception that much of the mainstream media enthusiastically participated in.

Booker’s Fantastical Biden Defense

Returning to Booker’s fantasy world, the New Jersey Senator insisted that Biden was sharp as a tack during their recent phone conversation. “He sounded very compos mentis, he got very argumentative—not argumentative with me, but very fired up when he was talking with me. I don’t know, man,” Booker claimed, perhaps hoping Americans would somehow forget the countless instances of Biden wandering off stage, forgetting names, losing his train of thought mid-sentence, or shaking hands with thin air.

What makes Booker’s performance particularly galling is that Biden’s mental decline was so severe it forced him to drop out of the 2024 race following a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump that couldn’t be explained away. Biden’s deterioration wasn’t just a Republican talking point—it was obvious to anyone who watched him attempt to function as president. The man who once bragged about outworking younger staffers now struggles to find his way off a stage or recall basic information. Yet somehow, in Cory Booker’s parallel universe, Biden is “fired up” and mentally sharp.

The Reckoning Is Coming

As more Biden insiders prepare to come clean about what they witnessed, the American people are about to get confirmation of what they already knew: they were deliberately misled about the president’s mental capacity by people sworn to serve the Constitution, not a political party. Booker’s desperate attempt to rewrite history won’t stand against the avalanche of firsthand accounts about to be published. The willingness of Democratic officials to lie so brazenly about something so serious raises the question: what else have they been hiding from the American people?

When the history of this era is written, the systematic deception about Biden’s cognitive abilities will stand as one of the most shameful episodes in American political history. And apologists like Cory Booker, who continue to insult the intelligence of the American people with their transparent lies, deserve a special place in that inglorious chapter. The gaslights are on, but Americans aren’t home to be fooled anymore.