Today's Beginning

Psalm 85:8 (NLT), "I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people." Friday... Yes, we must listen carefully. We really do. Now there is a whole lot of anger going on in our world even in the church. And even in the church we must be really careful. I just finished reading the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament. There is a whole lot of anger in that book because of the disobedience of God's chosen people. So it is imperative to read the whole story. Psalm 85:8 (NLT) says, "I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people." Now we first of all must know where God's anger came from. But so many who are followers of God pick up on the anger part without listening carefully. Yes, we must listen carefully even when we read Jeremiah. His anger came from their disobedience. So does he speak peace to you? In Paul's letter to the Ephesians in 1:2 he says, "May God o...

Psalm 84:12 (AMP), "O LORD of hosts, how blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation]." Thursday... So where does it come from? Now in this world in which we live it seems we need confidence and hope. So where does it come from? Paul in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 6 and verse 3 (AMP) says something that can take us back. It seems to do away with what we are taught today. It says, "For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself." So where does confidence and expectation come from? Paul goes on in verse 4, "But each one must carefully scrutinize his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another." That is very good advice. Now Psalms 84:12...

Galatians 5:16a (AMP), "But I say, 'walk habitually in the {Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance].'" Wednesday... Now, let's do it! There is something that we no longer can do. We cannot do as the Apostles did and walk with and hear what Jesus said out loud. Yes, we have the four Gospels and we can read what He said but we cannot walk with Him in human form but we still have the opportunity to seek Him and be responsive to His guidance. And this is so important for us to do. In Galatians 4:4 (NLT), Paul writes, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law." Jesus came both as a human and God. Verse 5 says, "God sent his Son to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." He came as the sacrifice for our sins. Yes, Jesus came to die but also to be resurrected and to head back to heaven to be with God. Now this is very important. Ve...

Galatians 4:7 (NLT), "Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir." Tuesday... It can now be so different. Now we who are reading this are probably not children even though life seems to treat us that way. It seems that we are slaves to life. Galatians 4:1 (NLT) says, "Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had." Paul the writer goes on. Verse 2 says, "They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set." And so many feel like they are still being treated as slaves no matter their age but in reality it can now be so different. Verse 3 says, "And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children, we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world....

Psalm 81:13-14 (MSG), "If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes." There can be those times. So many times we have those times of desperation when if we would turn to God then something could happen. But in those times when we do come to God we must also really listen to Him. Psalm 81:13 (MSG) says, "If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes." Yes, the listen part is very important when in those times of desperation we do come to God. Verse 7 says, "You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from a cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Now there is a story here. In Numbers 20:2-3a it says, "Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. The people quarrelled with Moses....

Galatians 2:21 (NLT), "I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." Friday... There is definitely a difference in the two. But we needed both. When in Genesis our two representatives headed in a different direction than God's plan so he then set out to get us back on his plan. In the Old Testament there was no Jesus on earth as a human but it all was laid out to bring God's Son into the world to get us back on track. But a lot had to happen before he came. It is said that the Old Testament is His story so we do need it but it has a different purpose than the New Testament. It was built upon laws and obeying them and their were major consequences in disobeying those laws. I read today Psalm 78 and Jeremiah 48 in the OT. Yes there were consequences. But I read also Galatians 2 in the NT and Paul showed the difference that Christ's death and Resurrection made. The Jews ...