Today's Beginning

Mark 8:21 (NLT), "'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them." Thursday... Remembering is so important! My dad said a lot of different thoughts that have stayed with me, that I have remembered and striven to live by. One of them was, "Too high expectations brings about frustration." Well, Jesus said something to his disciples that seems like he was frustrated with them and I'm sure he could say it about us. Yes, He has grace but also expectations. Mark 8:21 (NLT) says, "'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them." Now I'm sure it was a way to motivate them but there may have been some frustration in there. Now Jesus in just a few weeks had done some tremendous miracles. Two of them were feeding over 9,000 people from nothing and then having twelve leftover baskets at one and seven at the other. Well they were out in a boat and the guys were arguing with each other as verse 16 says, "because they hadn't brought any bre...

Psalm 55:22 (NIRV), "Turn your worries over to the LORD. He will keep you going. He will never let godly people be shaken." Wednesday... What do you do with them? What worry did you wake up this morning with? What was it? What about yesterday? Was it the same worry? So what do you do with it? Psalm 55:22 (NIRV) says, "Turn your worries over to the LORD. He will keep you going. He will never let godly people be shaken." The Amplified Bible says , "Cast your burdens on the LORD [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you; He will never let the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail)." We don't use the word, cares much but we do, worries. We live with them, day after day after day. Now in the New Testament, Peter writes in his first letter in 5:7 (NIV), "Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you." Pick one. What speaks to you this morning? Is it worries, burdens, anxieties? I guess it really doesn't matter but is there so...

Psalm 54:7 (NLT), "For you have rescued me from my troubles and helped me to triumph over my enemies." Tuesday... There really is a difference! There really is. King David the writer of many of the 150 Psalms knew this to be true and I have been reading them daily for over 40 years. He wrote this Psalm, Psalm 54 while he was hiding from King Saul who wanted to kill him. He had been in trouble it seemed all of his life and he finishes this Psalm in verse 7 by saying, "For you have rescued me from my troubles and helped me to triumph over my enemies." So many can't say that. They face their troubles alone. David starts this Psalm by saying in verses 1-2, "Come with great power, O God, and rescue me! Defend me with your might. Listen to my prayer, O God. Pay attention to my plea." I have prayed that prayer in my life so many times and it has really made such a difference. Now the verse that caught my attention this morning was in Proverbs 24. A big portio...

Proverbs 23:26 (NLT), "O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes delight in following my ways." Monday... So what do we see? Proverbs 23:26 (NLT) gives some great advice. It says, "O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes delight in following my ways." It seems that our heart has a great deal to do with what we see. I read this morning over in Mark 5:10-17 of a time when Jesus took 2,000 demons out of a guy and put them in a herd of pigs and they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. The sheepherders ran and told the people in the town what had happened and they came running. Verses 16-17 (MSG) says, "Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. At first they were in awe - and then they were upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back." They demanded that the one who had done the miracle needed to leave. They saw the dead pigs and not the madman and Jesus ...

Proverbs 20:12 (AMP), "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the [omnipotent] LORD has made them both" Friday... Let's go to One who knows. Proverbs 20:12 (AMP) says, "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the [omnipotent] LORD has made them both." The all-knowing LORD knows what He is doing. He really does. Verse 13 says, "Do not love [excessive sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes [so that you can do work] and you will be satisfied with bread." Yes, our all-knowing God knows what he is doing. Our body which he has created does need sleep but at some point we need to open our eyes even in retirement. I open my eyes at 5:50 am each morning and here I am writing today's blog. Now the hearing ear, over in Mark 4:23, "Jesus says, 'If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed my words.'" That is great advice. Jesus goes on. Verse 24 says, "Then He said to them, 'Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard ...

Proverbs 19:8 (NLT), "To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper." Thursday... There is so much more. There really is. Even at 78 there is so much more for me. Proverbs 19:8 (NLT) says, "To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper." The Amplified Bible says, "He who gains wisdom and good sense loves (preserves) his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good and prosper," Now this doesn't just happen. Verse 27 (NLT) says, "If you stop listening to instructions, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge." Psalm 49:1-3 says, "Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, everyone in the world! High and low, rich and poor - listen! For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight." Over in Mark 3:7a it says, "Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him." They came from all over. Vers...