Today's Beginning

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT), "I close this letter with these words: Be joyful, Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." Wednesday... Let's encourage each other. Paul had some problems with one of the churches he had planted so he sent them two letters to deal with the problem. It is so difficult to correct someone you love but you know you have to and Paul was having a problem doing it. Now Jeremiah, a prophet in the Old Testament wrote down what God told him to say to His people who were totally disobedient to God. It was very tough stuff. God eventually had a nation attack them and destroy their city and then take those who had not been killed but left a few and they too did not follow God's commands. They left were God told them to stay. Now this shows what kind of God we serve. In Jeremiah 46:28 it says, "'Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,' says the LORD. ...

Psalm 75:1 (NLT), "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." Tuesday... We each seem to need to do it. Yes, we seem to want or need to boast but God has some problems with it. In Psalm 75:4 (MSG) God says here, "I said to the arrogant, 'Do not boast.'" So what do we do? Verse 1 says (NLT), "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." But I did it. But are you sure? Paul over in his second letter to the Corinthians in chapters 11 & 12 tells of all the different things that he went through and did. In 12:1 he says, "This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord" and especially one unbelievable one but in verse 5 he says, "That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses....

Psalm 74:12 (NLT), "You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth." Monday... So, who is it we really are reminding? Now Asaph in writing Psalm 74 seems to be reminding God. But is that really the one he needs to be reminding? In our situations in our lives where things are not going the way we want we use whatever methods we can to have hope. Maybe that is where a lot of us are today and we need some reminders and that is why I spend time in the Bible every morning. I need to be reminded and reinforced in my faith. Now Asaph starts this Psalm out by saying in verse 1a (NLT), "O God, why have you rejected us so long?" Could that be a question that a lot of us have at the beginning of this day? I love the honesty of the Bible. Maybe some of you are saying that and this is a great place to come. Here is a reminder. Verse 12 says, "You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth." Verses 16-17 says, "Both...

Psalm 71:5-6a, (MSG), "For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on You since birth." Friday... A day of remembering. Yes, this is a day of remembering. I remember where I was 25 years ago when I heard the news. On September 11, 2001 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes to carry out coordinated suicide attacks in the United States. I was living in Las Vegas at the time but we later moved to Long Island in New York where we knew people who were affected by the attack on the World Trade Center. Yes I remember where I was when I heard about it. That was definitely a difficult day. But at my age there are so many memories. Now David writes in Psalm 71:5-6a (MSG), "For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on You since birth." Even in days like 9/11 that is true. And in so many times I have leaned on God. "Yes, I have leaned on You since birth." And that is such a privilege...

Psalm 70:1 (NIRV), "God, hurry and save me. LORD, come quickly and help me." Thursday... Two words that say a lot about us. David writes in Psalm 70 verse 1 two words that we say a lot. In verse 1 (NIRV) he says, "God, hurry and save me. LORD, come quickly and help me." He says these two words that tell a lot about us. The words are "hurry" and "quickly". Now I am a person who really does not like to stand in line. I have these apps on my phone and I can go to the front of the line to get my coffee. But that is not a good thing when we reach out to God. His clocks keep perfect time. He knows what is ahead. And He knows what is best for us. We have a situation in our life that we are having to wait and it is not easy. Yes even in old age we can be impatient. Even though we have experience with God we still can be impatient when we have to wait. Well God knows us and He loves us and He still knows what is best. But we still think we know best and m...

Psalm 69:32 (NLT), "The humble will see their God at work and be glad, Let all who seek God's help be encouraged." Wednesday... So this is how we turn it around. Life has its negatives and some of us don't know how to turn them around. We are controlled by our negatives. Now I read a Psalm in the Old Testament of the Bible every day. King David wrote a big portion of these Psalms and his personality comes through. Here is what he says in the first verses of Psalm 69. In 69:1-3 he says, "Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can't find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me." It is so good to read his honesty. Yes as we read David's story we do see that he really had it rough and this was his response but he doesn't stay there. He turns his view a...