Today's Beginning

Proverbs 9:8 (AMP), "Do not correct a scoffer [who foolishly ridicules and takes no responsibility for his error] or he will hate you; Correct a wise man [who learns from his error], and he will love you." Monday... We want to make a difference in everyone. But... Now I know Jesus wanted to make a difference in everyone but each one of us has a choice. Over in Matthew 23:37 (NIV) Jesus says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." And Jesus did not give up. Solomon writes in Proverbs 9:8 (AMP), "Do not correct a scoffer [who foolishly ridicules and takes no responsibility for his error] or he will hate you; Correct a wise man [who learns from his error], and he will love you." Yes, that is the wise thing to do but what if the scoffer is someone we love. We want to make a difference in everyo...

Matthew 22:29 (NLT), "Jesus replied, 'Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.'" Friday... There is power in knowing! Even up to the end of Jesus' life he was having trouble with the religious leaders. They were always trying to trick Jesus. But they couldn't trap him. In this particular situation in Matthew 22 in verse 29 (NLT) it says, "Jesus replied, 'Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.'" Now these religious leaders should have known. They had access to all the Scriptures at that time but they were coming from a wrong perspective. They were using it to lift themselves up and put others down. They used the Scripture for control. But Jesus knew all the Scriptures. It was all preparing for his coming to earth. As someone said, the Old Testament was His story. Yes Jesus got them. And after another time of trying to trick Jesus v...

Psalm 35:1 (NLT), "O LORD, oppose those who oppose me, fight those who fight against me." Thursday... Each day is different. Yesterday was a beautiful day. It really was but today the wind is blowing and the clouds are hiding our mountains. Yes, we can praise God on the beautiful days but we also need him when the wind is blowing and we can pray, "O LORD, oppose those who oppose me, fight those who fight against me." (Psalm 35:1 NLT). Now we can expect each day to be beautiful but the wind does blow in our lives. David's prayer continues in verse 2, "Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid." And maybe that is the prayer we need to pray today. I love verse 3. It says, "Lift up your spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Let me hear you say, 'I will give you victory!'" There may be a battle in there but know this, listen to God when he says, "I will give you victory." The NIVR...

Psalm 34:1 (NLT), "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." Wednesday... Let's keep at it. Well, it's a new day. We have never lived this day. Now how we face it at the beginning of our day goes a long way in how we will handle it. David said in Psalm 34:1 (NLT), "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." There are four words that will make a difference in this day. The first three are, "at all times" and then "constantly." And that last one hit me this morning. It was definitely a word of encouragement. Of course at all times and constantly are saying the same thing. They are reinforcing each other. So how do we normally wake up most of the time? Rick Warren said that we wake up each morning with "Good Lord it's morning" or "Good Morning Lord." We do have choices in how we start each day. Yes, we have no choice in what we will face but we do have a...

Psalm 33:18 (AMP), "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspiring reverence and obedience], on those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness." Tuesday... We can hope with confidence. Now hope is more than wishing. Wishing says, "That would be nice." Hope says, "I believe this can happen." I can say, "I hope the Dodgers win their 3rd World Series Championship in a row." If you don't know, the Dodgers are a Major League baseball team out of Los Angeles, California. I have been a Dodger's fan for almost 70 years. Now my hope is more on the wishing side, "That would be nice.". So I do wish, I do want. In my reading today I came across Psalm 33:18 (AMP) which says, "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspiring reverence and obedience], on those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness." Hope and ...

Matthew 18:21-22 (AMP), "Then Peter came to Him and asked, 'Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered him, 'I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.'" Monday... It is so important to Him. Now I'm not sure if we realize how important forgiveness is to God. Well Matthew 18:21 (AMP) says, "Then Peter came to Him and asked, 'Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him." It's a number's thing and Peter is our hero. He asked for a number. He asks, "Up to seven times?" And that really seems reasonable, doesn't it? I mean, seven times is a lot of forgiveness. But not to Jesus. Verse 22 says, "Jesus answered him, 'I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven." But that is way too much. That is unreasonable because of what they did to me. Now I left a phrase out at the end of ve...