Today's Beginning

Psalms 106:2 (N:LT), "Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD? Who can ever praise him enough?" Friday... So we can try and see what happens. Now there are lists that we are really good at making. I mean, we can really list our needs, can't we? And the LORD wants us to bring them to Him. He says so over and over. But we also need to strive to remember the glorious miracles of the LORD in our life and that will lift us in our hope and our faith in times of difficulty. And Paul needed that. Over in 1 Thessalonians 3 the writer of this letter, Paul was going through troubles himself and he was worried about how the new Christians in Thessalonica were handling the troubles they were going through so he sent Timothy to find out. Now Paul was definitely a man of faith. He could make a list of times that God had brought him through trouble but he was concerned about these new Christians in Thessalonica. And verse 6 says, "But now Timothy has just returned, bringing u...

1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NLT). "We wanted very much to come to you, and I Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us." Thursday... He thinks he is so smart. And we think we know what is best. Now the Apostle Paul had a great desire. In 1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NLT), he writes, "We wanted very much to come to you, and I Paul, tried again and again." We are too many times controlled by our wants and they may be good wants. We think we know best and we come to God with these wants, and we don't hear from him so we think it is Him not letting them happen. Yes, we blame God for a lot of our disappointments. But I really wanted it. Paul really wanted to see his friends in Thessalonica. In verse 2 he says, "You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition." In verse 8 he says, "We loved you s...

Psalms 104:10-11 (NLT), "You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down the mountains. They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst." Wednesday... Does this fact make any difference to you? There is so much in the Bible that really does make a difference but when we don't read it we lose the potential encouragement. That is what I strive to do each morning. I find a verse and share it as an encouragement to people who need it for that day. Now Psalms 104:10-11 (NLT) says, "You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down the mountains. They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst." Does this fact make any difference to you? Now my wife and I and our daughter and her family live in the Mojave Desert. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now there are these wild donkeys who live in the desert. We call then burros. They were left here when prospectors quit looking...

Colossians 4:2 (NLT), "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart." Tuesday... So what prayer is all about? Yes, the Apostle Paul knows what prayer is all about and here in chains he writes in Colossians 4:2 (NLT), "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart." Yes in prayer we are talking to God so be alert and thankful. Yes, God is who we are talking to when we pray. Now verse 3 is very interesting. He writes, "Pray for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ." He starts with, "Pray for us too." So what we would want others to pray for us too? Understand, we are asking them to talk to God. Yes it is important for us to be alert and also to be thankful. We are talking to God. So what did Paul ask them to pray for? Now the whole verse says, "Pray for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan...

Psalms 102:2 (NLT), "Don't turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly, when I call to you." Monday... He really wants us to be honest. I really love the honesty of the Psalms. Psalms 102 is a prayer of someone who is overwhelmed with trouble, and they are pouring out their problems before the LORD. Could that be some of us today? Now verse 1 (NLT) starts out by saying. "LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea!" And maybe that is where some of us need to start. Just be honest. We need God. We need help. The Psalmist goes on in verse 2, "Don't turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly, when I call to you." We are in distress and we need help right now. Have you ever been in a situation that you can't handle but your pride gets in the way and so many times we turn to other things instead of God. Colossians 3:5 says, "So put to death the sinful, earthly things...

Colossians 2:3 (NLT), "In him lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Friday... Yes, we can know him. There is so much for us to know. We have unlimited potential and who we know makes such a difference. The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:3 (NLT), "In him lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Yes, that is really a great friend to know. Now Colossians is a letter from Paul to the church in Colosse. They were having some trouble with outsiders coming in and trying to convince them that they needed to change what they believed and Paul is counteracting what these outsiders are saying. In verses 1-2 he says, "I want you to know how much I agonized for you and for your church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself." And ver...