Todays Beginning

  Psalm 59:17 (AMP), "To You, O [God] my strength, I will sing praises; For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower], the God who shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness." Thursday... We are not perfect but... Yes, I am not perfect but God "shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness." Yes he shows love and kindness. Psalm 59:17 (AMP) says, "To You, O [God] my strength, I will sing praises; For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower], the God who shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness." I really enjoy reading the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament. I am reading right now in John and this morning I found this encouraging situation in John 14:8 (NLT), "Philip said, 'Lord show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Now if we were just newbies to following Jesus that might be understandable but Philip was one of his 12 disciples who had been following and listening and living with Jesus. And that was a du...

Proverbs 28:25-26 (AMP), "An arrogant and greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be blessed and prosper. He who trusts confidently in his own heart is a [dull, thickheaded] fool, but he who walks in [skillful and godly] wisdom will be rescued." Wednesday... This is so important to know and have. You will find this word two times in Proverbs 28:25-26 (AMP). It says, "An arrogant and greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be blessed and prosper. He who trusts confidently in his own heart is a [dull, thickheaded] fool, but he who walks in [skillful and godly] wisdom will be rescued." The word is trust. Now our trusting in the Lord is so important but totally trusting in our own heart can have problems. Yes, trust is so important to know and have but in the right who makes all the difference. I just read in John 13 of a very special time that Jesus had with his 12 disciples. It was in this time that he revealed that one o...

  Psalm 57:2 (AMP), "I will cry to God Most High, who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan]." Tuesday... So here is where our worth comes from. King David was sitting in a cave after running from King Saul who was wanting to kill him but David wrote while in that cave Psalm 57:2 (AMP) which says, "I will cry to God Most High, who accomplishes  all things  on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan]." Now that is where our worth comes from. We as an individual are a part of God's plan and He will accomplish all things on our behalf.  So if you do not have a relationship with God then it is all on you. So many get their worth and their plans from themself. So I wonder how that is going for them? Yes at the time that David was in that cave it looked like Saul had the upper hand but it wasn't over yet.  The New Living Translation says, "I cry out to God most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me...

John 11:4 (AMP), "When Jesus heard this, He said, 'This sickness will not end in death; but [on the contrary it is] for the glory and honor of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Monday... May this be the best thing. We so many times get confused at what we are to pray. Let's say we are praying for a job and we ask God to give us the best job for us, one that fits us, one that meets all our needs but it hit me that that is the wrong prayer to pray. Yes, we want to pray, :"May this be the best job for me" when in reality we are to pray, "May this be the best job for you, God" Now there is this story in John 11 about the death of Jesus' friend which shows how we can be confused in our prayers. Jesus got the message that Lazarus was sick and his sister asked him to come as soon as he could. Verse 4 (AMP) says, "When Jesus heard this, He said, 'This sickness will not end in death; but [on the contrary it is] for the glory ...

John 10:10 (NLT), "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." Friday... Yes, we still can believe. Sometimes our life gets all messed up. Our platform at church has been a mess. It needed to be torn down and rebuilt so for a few Sunday our Worship Team and Pastors used the space out in front of the platform. The mess didn't stop our worship and feeding on God's Word. Now that wasn't a thief who came in and stole our platform but that is an example of what the evil one does sometimes in our life if we don't keep in focus. Yes, God's purpose is different and we need in those times to be reminded of his purpose. And that was what Jesus was doing here in John 10:10 (NLT). He was reminding us. Here is what Jesus says, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." Yes, our life can seem to be in a mess. God will al...

John 9:25 (NLT), "'I don't know whether he was a sinner,' the man replied. 'But I know this: I was blind and now I see!" Thursday... Our beliefs control us. It doesn't matter if they are true or not, our beliefs control us. John 9 starts in verse 1 (NLT) by saying, "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth." Verses 6-7 says, "Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. He told him, 'Go wash yourself in the Pool of Siloam' (Siloam means 'sent'). So the man went and washed and came back seeing." There must have been something about all that happened for the blind man to do what the man he didn't know told him to do. He showed his belief by doing what he told him to do. And he was rewarded for his belief. Now the blind man was taken to the Pharisees who were the religious leaders of the day. They had a belief that controlled them. ...