Today's Beginning

John 16:7a (AMP), "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage." Friday... Yes, there is an advantage. It can be very difficult for us to really see an advantage when to us it is a disadvantage. Now here in John 16, Jesus is telling his twelve disciples that he was going to be leaving them and they were having real problems about it. I mean, they have been with him for three years. And he has been and was making such a difference in their lives but he was going to leave them. For some of you, your child has grown up. They have been with you all of these years but here they have just graduated from high school and they are going to be leaving you and you are not sure they can handle it without you and for sure you know that you can't make it. And at least 11 of these disciples were having problems with Jesus leaving. But Jesus said here in John 16;7a (AMP), "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage." But how can that be true? Again these guys had b...

Isaiah 28:12a (NLT), "God has told his people, 'Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.'" Thursday... There is so much, if we would just listen. There really is. But we think we are so smart and we know what is best. The Prophet Isaiah over in 28:12a (NLT) says something important that we need to stop and listen to. He says, "God has told his people, 'Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.'" But he goes on. He says all of that and then at the end of this verse he says, "But they would not listen." Right before this Isaiah writes in verses 9-10, "'Who does the LORD think we are?' they ask. 'Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned? He tells us everything over and over - one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little here and a little there!'" Again 12b, "But they would n...

Psalm 117:2 (AMP), "For His loving kindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him], and the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!)" Wednesday... Yes, we really will overcome. When we have someone who loves us, really loves us, it seems that we can handle anything. Here in Psalm 117, the shortest chapter in the Bible, the writer in verse 2 (AMP) says, "For His loving kindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him], and the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!)" But what if something changes? Now, God the Father showed how much He loved us by sending His Son to earth. He came to be the sacrifice for all who were lost, who had turned their backs on Him and of course it started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him and that changed every plan that God had for us so He had to do something about it because of His love for us. Over in John 14 the disciples were ha...

Psalm 116:5 (NLT), "How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!" Tuesday... It is so amazing! Now we each came into this world with unique personalities. There is no one else who is like us and therein are some problems. There are some with certain personalities that we just do not like but Psalm 116:5 (NLT) says, "How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!" Yes, that is so amazing! Now verse 2 (NIRV) says, "Because he paid attention to me, I will call out to him as long as I live." And then verse 4, "Then I called out to the LORD. I cried out, LORD save me!" Yes, each one of us are unique but if we call out to him he will save us. That also is amazing. Now Jesus had a unique personality among his twelve disciples. And I'm sure he annoyed a lot of people but God saw something special in him when he called him into his circle. Here is an example. In John 13 Jesus wanted to give his disciples a...

Psalm 115:3 (AMP), "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." Monday... He is, so He can! And it is so important for us to see that we can't because we aren't. Psalm 115:3 (AMP) reinforces that fact. It says, "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." We are not God! And we really do need to realize that especially in our homes and in our relationships. Yes, Psalm 115:3 (AMP) reinforces that fact. "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." Now the Psalmist starts this Psalm in verse 1 (NLT) by saying, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness." And there is where we need Him. He has unfailing love and He is faithful and that isn't true of us, if we don't have Him in our life, living through us the way He would live and expects us to live through His help and His example. Have you found that it is so easy to become so petty? T...

Psalm 112:4a (NLT), "Light shines in the darkness for the godly." Friday... We each have our own perspective. We really do. David starts Psalm 102 by saying in verse 1 (NLT), "Praise the Lord." and no matter what we are facing today that is a great place to start. And then he says in verse 4a, "Light shines in the darkness for the godly." I read this morning in Facebook of the death of one of our friends. It was sudden and I am so sorry to those of her family. That is definitely a dark place. And again, I am so sorry. Now death may not be a part of your situation that you are facing today. Yes, we each one have our situation and for many they are dark. But David says "Light shines in the darkness for the godly." And that probably is hard for us to see as we face our dark situation. I also in my reading this morning read in John 11 of some bad news that one of Jesus' good friends was very sick and about to die and his sister had sent a message...