Today's Beginning

Proverbs 3:11 (NLT), "My child, don't reject the LORD's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you." Tuesday... We so strive to be perfect. For sure we don't like to be wrong. Even as children we had trouble when we were corrected and even punished by our parents but sometimes we blow it, don't we? The book of wisdom, Proverbs, understands this problem that we have and in Proverbs 3:11 (NLT) it says, "My child, don't reject the LORD's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you." But it is so easy for us to be upset. Especially if we are perfectionists and so many of us are. We don't like making mistakes and for sure being corrected for them. The Amplified Bible translates verses 11 & 12 this way. It says, "My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the LORD [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline]; nor despise His rebuke. For those whom the...

1 Timothy 6:6 (NLT), "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." Monday... Yes, it is great wealth. Now 1 Timothy 6:6 says, (NLT), "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." Paul also says to Timothy in verse 8, "So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content." That is very very interesting. But contentment can be very difficult in the world in which we live. Ii seems that everything on the TV and the Internet is telling us what we need and it is not contentment. "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." Proverbs 2:4-5 (AMP) says, "If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver and search for her as you would hidden treasures; then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the LORD [that is worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] and discover the knowledge of God." Back to 1 Timothy 2 and in verse 9 (NLT) it says, "But people who long to be r...

Psalms 119:34 (AMP), "Give me understanding [a teachable heart and the ability to learn], that I may keep Your law; and observe it with all my heart." Friday... I wonder what that means. We face situations in life and we wonder why they are there. Did I cause it? Was it from something that I did? Or was it from God? Or did it just happen? Now the writer of Psalm 119 give so much good advice. Now it is so easy to come to this Psalm and decide to skipt it. I mean, it has 176 verses. It is the longest chapter in the Bible but it is organized in a way that we don't need to read it all at one time. But some of us don't have the patience so we skit it if we are striving to read all the Psalms. But if we do then we will miss verse 34 and it may be exactly what we need. Here is what it says, "Give me understanding [a teachable heart and the ability to learn], that I may keep Your law; and observe it with all my heart." What about what you are going through right now...

Proverbs 29:6 (AMP), "By his wicked plan an evil man is trapped, but the righteous man sings and rejoices [for his plan brings good things]."  Thursday... This is the way to good things. The writer of Proverbs in 29:6 (AMP), says, "By his wicked plan an evil man is trapped, but the righteous man sings and rejoices [for his plan brings good things]." And so many people in their lives are trapped. They really are. And they don't get out of the trap. Now in his first letter to the young Timothy, Paul says in 4:4 (NLT), "Since everything God created is good, we should not reject it but receive it with thanks." And in verse 7 he says, "Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly." But so many think that is a waste of time. Verse 8 says, "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life to come." Now physical training is go...

Psalms 118:5-6 ((AMP), "Out of my distress I called on the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can [mere] man do to me?"  Wednesday... Is this what we need for today? We are getting close to a midterm election here in the USA and all we hear and see is how much we need these people to take care of us. And for sure we don't need those other people. Yes, there is a whole lot of negativity going on so this is what we need for today. Here is what the writer of Psalms 118 (AMP) says to us. Verses 5-6 says, "Out of my distress I called on the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can [mere] man do to me?" Vese 6 says, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can [mere] man do to me?" I think we need to hear that today. But the evil one doesn't want us to hear it, to read it. No, we can't avoid hearing all that the Republicans and Democrats ...

Proverbs 27:2 (NLT) says, "Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth - a stranger, not your own lips." Tuesday... Low self-esteem has some real benefits. I heard Jay Leno say in an interview that he had low self-esteem. He said that as a comedian it is a good thing. How a crowd responses to him doesn't make a difference. It doesn't get him down. And that made sense to me. We constantly are told that we need high self-esteem and for people without Christ I can see how that can help them in handling life but we have Christ, we have God. He is our source. He is who we depend upon. And in anything we do He is to get the credit. He is to get the praise. Now Proverbs 27:2 (NLT) says, "Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth - a stranger, not your own lips." But it is so easy for us to always be praising ourselves for what we do. Like it is all because of our talents, our abilities. So where do our abilities, our talents come from? They came from God ...