Today's Beginning

Acts 4:13b (NLT), "They also recognized them as being with Jesus." Thursday... Yes, it came from the one they had been with. We work so hard at our confidence and our reputation. We so want to be respected, looked up to, and acknowledged. But we don't realize how important it is for us to who we spend our time with. Yes, that is really important. I am now reading in the book of Acts in the New Testament. This book could be called the Acts of the Apostles or the Acts of the Holy Spirit. I have just finished the last of the four gospels which are all about Jesus and his time on earth but he has been crucified, resurrected and has now gone on to heaven to be with his Father so this book is about the ones who had been with him, who had been left behind with a great task. Now Peter and John two of Jesus' Apostles who had spent three years with Him had done what Jesus would have done on the way to the temple. They had healed a lame man and the religious leaders didn't l...

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT), "But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagle. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Wednesday... So, how are you doing today? Now Isaiah gives some real encouragement to me as an old-timer. In Isaiah 40:30 (NLT) he writes, "Even youth will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion." Now I have forgotten what it was like to be a youth. That was a long time ago but Isaiah reminds us that they too have problems with becoming weak and tired. And, yes our LORD cares about each one of us no matter our age. He cares about you and me and he really does understand what we are going through. Verse 28 says, "Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary, no one can measure the depths of his understanding." He really does understand. Now verse 31 is one of my...

Acts 2:21 (AMP), "And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invocking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Jesus] shall be saved (rescued spiritually)." Tuesday... We have listened and done His instructions. There are definitely a lot of fears in our life. And death is one of them because we have never personally experienced it. But if we have listened and done God's instructions then we will not be held in death's power and that is definitely a good thing, isn't it? Now it is an unknown that we haven't personally experienced. Yes in others but not us personally. Now in Acts 2:21 (AMP) Peter is speaking and he says, "And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invocking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Jesus] shall be saved (rescued spiritually)." Verse 38 says, "And Peter said to them, "Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah]...

Psalm 128:1-2 (AMP), "Blessed [happy and sheltered by God's favor] is everyone who fears the LORD, [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you." Monday... Now this is a great way to start a Monday morning. Psalm 128:1-2 (AMP) says, "Blessed [happy and sheltered by God's favor] is everyone who fears the LORD, [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you." Yes, that is a great way to start a Monday morning. Look at these words, blessed, happy, sheltered by God's favor, eat the fruit of the labor of your hands, and it will be well with you. And all you need to do is worship God, be obedient, walk in His way and live accord...

Psalm 119:133 (AMP), "Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word; Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You]." Friday... There can be unrest. Yes, there can be. Now the importance of it depends upon where it comes from. I as a child moved all over the place so moving is in my blood. Yes, moving can come from unrest but it is so important where the unrest comes from. Now at my age moving is not an easy thing to do and that can be a good thing. It keeps me settled. So, unrest can be a good thing or a bad one. Depending on where it comes from. Now, Psalm 119:133 (AMP) is a very good prayer for us to pray. It says, "Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word; Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You]." That is so good. Yes, unrest can be a human weakness but also a way for God to speak to us and to establish our footsteps in the way of His word. The Message Paraphrase sa...

Psalm 124:7 (NLT), "We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!" Thursday... Yes, we know who broke the trap. Now that is true of me. There have been traps set into my life where I was rescued. Yes being trapped for some is the end of the story. But not the writer of Psalm 124:7 (NLT). He writes, "We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!" Now too many times on my own that would not have been true. T here are so many who are still in that trap and it hurts. It really does. Now verse 8 says, "Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." That has been true of me. Over in John 20 one of the twelve disciples was in the trap of seeing before believing. Jesus had been resurrected and he had been seen by a few of the disciples but not Thomas. Verse 25 says, "But they told him, 'We have seen the Lord!' But he replied, 'I won't believe it unless I se...