Today's Beginning

John 10:10 (AMP), "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [to the full, till it overflows]." Thursday... So, lets be on the watch? We live in a community where we have no real fences and we do all we can to protect us. There was a gang of thieves who broke into homes even in the middle of the day. They were caught but changes happened to make our homes more secure. We have a dog that we really love and he is a great protector for us but we also must protect him. There are coyotes that wander through our community so we do all we can to protect him from them.  Now Jesus here in John 10 is talking about his sheep and of how he has them in a place that the only way in is through a door. Now some can climb over the stone walls but if they do it is for no good. Yes, inside that wall is safety and an abundant life in other words a more and better life. Jesus says in John 10:10 (AMP), "The thief comes ...

Psalm 110:7 (AMP), "He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head [triumphantly]." Wednesday... Such great pictures! David in Psalm 110 gives us two pictures that helps in times of difficult battles, and David it seems was always in a battle. Now, much of them came from his time of disobedience. Yes, our battles sometimes come as consequences of our disobedience but if we repent God also gives us encouragement, strength and victory. In verse 1 (AMP) David writes, "The LORD (Father) says to my Lord (the Messiah, His Son), 'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet [subjugating them into complete submission].'" Yes, God is on His throne looking down. But then at the end of this short Psalm David writes in verse 7, "He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head [triumphantly]." And both of them are great pictures that maybe we need to stop and picture an...

Psalm 109:4 (NLT), "I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them." Tuesday... So, how is it going? David writes in Psalm 109:4 (NLT), "I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them." So, how is your life going? Is something like that happening to you? Yes, life can be tough. People around you may be constantly trying to bring you down. And it is important for us to see that we are not alone. Now I love the Bible, the honesty of God's Word. Here in Psalm 109 David was having some problems with people. They were people he loved but they were putting him down, they were accusing him. Verse 3 says, "They surround me with hateful words and fight me for no reason." Maybe that is what you are going through. Well you are not alone. And maybe that is important for you to really understand today. The Amplified Bible says in verses 2b-5, "They have spoken against me with a lyi...

Psalm 108:12-13 (AMP), "Give us help against our adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope]. With God we will do valiantly, for it is He who will trample down our enemies." Monday... So, is it all up to us? Good question. Some say, yes, some say they are not sure and others say Psalm 108:12-13 (AMP) "Give us help against our adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope]. With God we will do valiantly, for it is He who will trample down our enemies." Now David starts this Psalm by saying in verse 1a, "O God, my heart is steadfast [with confident faith.]" So from David's standpoint the answer is no. But in this day in which we live many answer, yes it is up to me and others. And therein lies so much frustration. I am so glad that I believe that it is not all on me and on others. We have had so many come knocking on our door striving to get us to vote for them. Now it is a good thing to have people voting from our vi...

John 6:9 (NLT), "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd." Friday... Let's not minimize what can be done through us. It is so easy in life to minimize what we do. It really is. Now there was this woman who got up early on this particular morning and probably every morning. She knew that her son had a great adventure planned for his day but she also knew that he had to eat so she went into her kitchen and got a few loaves of bread and some fish for her son to take on his adventure. Listen, don't ever minimize what you do. She did it because she knew her son would need it. Do you wake up each morning and minimize what you do? Well, it is so easy to do, isn't it? So, this young man headed out. He was going to see Jesus but when he got there, there was a huge crowd. John 6:10a says "The men alone numbered about 5,000." And of course there were way more than that. But this young man had som...

John 5:6 (NLT), "When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, 'Would you like to get well?'" Thursday... Would you like to get well? Now I can ask you that question. I can, but my asking it is totally different from Jesus asking it because he can do something about what is wrong with you. Now friends are great to have, they really are. There is so much they can do for us. The same is true of our family. They can in so many ways make such a difference in our lives and it is so great to have them but Jesus can do so much more and this man here in John 6 had been lying there sick for thirty-eight years. And the fact that Jesus knew that shows how different he is from us. We celebrated last night my daughter's birthday. Now Margaret, my wife and I were the only ones around that table who were at her birth. We did all we could to make sure she wasn't born on Friday the thirteenth and we made it. She was born in the first hour of Saturd...