Today's Beginning

Psalm 25:4 (NLT), "Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow." Wednesday... So where do I go? I had a friend in the coffee shop I go to who asked me to pray for them and their planting a new church and that brought me so many memories. I was a church planter. I have even in my life headed out the door asking God what coffee shop do you want me to go? That is a great place for planters to go. Now here is the scripture today that caught my attention. King David in Psalm 25:4 (NLT) said to God what we also can say and need to pray. He said, "Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow." Yes, God is in the right path business for all those who turn to him. I turned my radio off in my car this morning and talked to God about some paths that Margaret and I have to go on. That is such a tremendous opportunity. Now The New International Reader's Version says, "Lord show me your ways. Teach me to follow you." Ve...

Psalm 24:1 (AMP), "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness of it, the world, and those who dwell in it." Tuesday... He really does use people. He really does. Yes God does. Over in Psalm 24:1 (AMP) it says, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness of it, the world, and those who dwell in it." We are here for a purpose. God created this world for us and then Proverbs 24:3-4 says, "Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation." Again He wants to develop and use us. And then over in Matthew 14:14a (NLT) it says, "Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat." And verse 19, "Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people." Now the...

Psalm 23:4 (NIRV), "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff comfort me." Monday... Even though, I will not. There are so many even thoughs in our life and yes, we can be so afraid. But David writes in Psalm 23:4 (NIRV) of an even though that only happens once but he also shows us how to handle it. He says, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid. You are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff comfort me." Of course, one of the darkest valleys is death and it seems that we face the possibility of it every day. The News loves to reminds us of the reality. But there are other dark valleys that we also face, aren't there, but death is the ultimate, isn't it? Now David says, that even though we walk through those dark valleys, we don't need to be afraid but so many of us are. Why? Because we don't follow and realize that we are not facing those...

Proverbs 20:24 (NLT), "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way." Friday... But I want to understand and be understood. My wife, Margaret is a doer. So many times I will share something with her and she is ready to do something about it. But the problem from my standpoint is that I just wanted her to understand, I want to understand and be understood. Yes, there are lessons for me to learn from reading God's Word. God has created each one of us to be unique but for many it is so important to understand and to be understood. Now Proverbs 20:24 (NLT) says, "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way." That is so good. I needed that. David over in Psalm 20:1 says, "In times of trouble, may the LORD answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm." Now in these times of trouble we can wonder and strive to understand why in the world is God allowing this in...

Psalm 19:1 (AMP), "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the works of His hands." Thursday... So how do we keep from believing? We right now live in a place where we have tremendous views. Out the back we see hills and then mountains. I open our shades every morning to read my Bible and pray looking out on that view. And then at night we see what men have built. We see the city lights. Now the house we had before this one did not have views like that. We had walls all around our backyard and one was really high. Yes, they blocked our views except our view of the sky and I really loved that view. It was so unlimited. I could never see the end. It was a great place to connect with God. So how do we keep from believing there is a God? David in Psalm 129:1 (AMP) says, "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the works of His hands." Yes, yes, yes. That is so true. This verse in...

Psalm 18:2 (NLT), "The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I feel protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me." Wednesday... They really can be tough to move. I don't know if you watched many of those old westerns on TV. I loved them. We now live in Nevada but we go across the desert to get to Los Angeles. Now as you head down the Pass to LA you will see road 395. If you take that road north you will see so many big boulders. If you head up to the town of Lone Pines you will see where they filmed a lot of those old Westerns. There are boulders all over the place. Those cowboys were filmed all over them. We also lived in Colorado looking up at the Rocky Mountains. Yes, those boulders are tough to move and they can be a great place to hide from your troubles. Now David was being pursued by King Saul who wanted to kill him and during that time he wrote Psalm 18. Here is what verse 2 says, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress, a...