Todays Beginning

Wednesday... God knows us and understands us. He can get frustrated with us but he loves us.  Psalm 30:4 (NLT) says, "Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name." The MESSAGE says, "All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face!" Now that is a great way to start our day. That is a great way to respond through these difficult days, isn't it? The Psalmist goes on, verse 5 (NLT), "For his anger lasts only a moment." I know during this time we are going through we too can get angry but it needs to be only for a moment. When God looks at our ungratefulness, our grumbling, our judgmental attitude toward others, even our sins he has a right to get angry. The MESSAGE says, "He gets angry once in awhile," but it continues "but across a lifetime there is only love." The NLT says, "but his favor lasts a lifetime!"  He goes on, "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning....

Tuesday... Details, details, God is a God of details. Now the book of Leviticus in the OT is a book of details.  In the beginning it tells how to prepare and how to present and why and how to give offerings to God by the children of Israel. Here is how it starts, Chapter 1 verse 1 (NLT), "The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, 'Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present an animal as an offering to the Lord, you may take it from your herd of cattle or your flock of sheep and goats.' " And then he goes into greater details. This lets us know what God is like and how he set out to bring us back to him. When we drive a car we don't really like to know all the details of what makes it work and how it was made but without the details the car wouldn't run. We need to know what is important to God. As we have headed out of the time of the Law into the time of Grace we need to still really know what is important to ...

  Monday... Intentions do not always turn out the way that they are intended. Everything that the evil one throws at us to hurt us must first go through God's love for us and God changes the purpose from bad to a purpose of good. There are so many benefits of being a follower of God and this is one of them. As you remember the story of Joseph, his brothers hated him and when he was young they tried to hurt him by selling him into slavery. Eventually they found that he had become the key leader in Egypt during a time of famine and they with their families and their father came to Egypt to live because God was using Jospeh to take care of the problems of the famine. But after the death of their father they were afraid that Joseph would repay them for what they had done to him. Genesis 50:18 (MSG) says, "Then the brothers went in person to him, threw themselves on the ground before him and said, 'We'll be your slaves.'" Verses 19-20 (NLT) continues, "Joseph ...

Sunday... Here is what we need to see in the time that we are living in.  Genesis 45:4-6 (NLT), "And he said again, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will never be plowing or harvesting.'" I know, I know, we want so much to play the blame game, don't we?  It sounds a lot like this pandemic that we are going through, doesn't it? We really don't know how long it is going to last. But God has sent his messengers to lead us. He has. Verses 7&8 (NLT), "God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you."  David says in Psalms 27:1 (NLT) says, "The Lord is my light and salvation-so why ...

Saturday... The story of Joseph in the OT has so many twists and turns, something like what is happening to us. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and his father had been told that he was killed. But God used the situation and moved Joseph into great power in the land of Egypt. And the brothers in later years stood before him, not knowing it was him. They needed food because of a great famine. Now Joseph knew who they were and he took them on an emotional journey before the great reveal. Now the brothers didn't know it was Joseph and of how he was leading them along. Genesis 44:7-9 (MSG) says, "What is my master talking about? We would never do anything like that! Why, the money we found in our bags earlier we brought back all the way from Canaan-do you think we'd turn right around and steal it back from your master? If that chalice is found on any of us, he'll die; and the rest of us will be your master's slaves." Joseph was the cause of all of...

Friday... As you face today, who is your guide, where do you turn for direction or do you just go it alone? David in Psalm 25 verses 4 & 5 says, "Show me the right path, O Lord;" That's a great place to start. "point out the road for me to follow. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you" Start each day in prayer then head to God's Word. Ask him to open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your mind to understand, your heart to do. We need God to bring his direction and his truth into focus as we head out to a new day. David then says in verse 6, "Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past." We need to be reminded of his compassion and his love that he has shown in his Word over and over. And then we also need to be reminded of this, verse 7, "Do not remember the rebellious sins of our youth." As we have confessed he has ...

Thursday... God is in the dream business. He has dreams for each one of us but they may not just happen the next day, but that doesn't mean they aren't for real. There is always trust and obedience involved. God gave a young impetuous seventeen year old man named Joseph in the OT a couple of dreams that he then shared with his brothers. Genesis 37:8 (NLT) said, "And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them."  One day he was out looking for his brothers, his father had sent him out to see how they were doing and Genesis 37:18-19 says, "When Jospeh's brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 'Here comes the dreamer!' they said." They didn't kill him but they did sell him to some Midianite traders and verse 36 says, "Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh, the king...

Wednesday... So what do you need today? Good question, and I'm sure your have a good list. Well, David in Psalm 23 looks at his list and he says in verse 1 (MSG), "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing." God is at the top of his list and everything else falls into place. Now a sheep is an interesting animal. It seems all they need to do is eat, sleep and let their wool grow. And the shepherd is the one who finds their food. Even at night he takes them to a safe place to sleep and he lies at the entrance and protects them from anything that would harm them. They then wake up and are taken by the shepherd to where their food is and they eat. Even if they might wander away he comes after them and finds them. A sheep has it pretty good. He doesn't a need a thing! Psalm 23:1-3 (MSG) says, "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from, true to your word, you let me catch my breath and se...

Tuesday... Is this you? Is this how you are feeling today?  The Psalmist writes in Psalm 22:1 (NLT), "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away?" And it is so easy for us to get to that place, especially if our focus is on the situations around us. But David, the writer of this doesn't stay there. Later he says, verse 11, "Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near and no one else can help me." Pray, pray, connect with God, don't stop praying and then in your praying turn to worship and to praise.  Verse 23-24 (MSG), "Shout, Hallelujah, you God worshipers; give glory, you sons of Jacob; adore him, you daughters of Israel. He never has let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do his own thing; he has been right there listening." And then David says in verses 27-28 (MSG), "From the four corners of the earth people are coming to their senses, are running...

Monday... "Show your strength, God, so no one can miss it." Psalm 21:13 (MSG) Do you realize how He does that? He does that through you and me. He shows His power, His might, His strength, His love, through us, His followers. And the rest of this verse says, "We are out singing the good news!" Now each Monday begins a new week. We just went through another weekend. Weekends usually are in our control. We choose what we will do but usually we don't have as much control over our work days and that can bring some anxiety as we start a new one. Now what if we looked at every seven days being under God's control. He has a plan for each and everyday and He wants to use us to fulfill that plan. We can also fight that but we can also relax in it. And that is where this verse comes in. What if we start this new week with this as a prayer. "Show your strength, God, so no one can miss it. We are out singing the good news." What if we see that as His purpose f...

Sunday... "The Lord kept his word..." You know that He does that, don't you?  It is sometimes hard though for us to really believe that He does, but He does. Genesis 21:1-2 (NLT) says, "The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age." Back when an angel told Abraham that God was going to bring about a great nation through him, Sarah has laughed. No way was that going to happen. She was too old for it to happen through her, but it did. How are you handling all of this that you are going through? Have you in your reading the Bible had a promise from God jump out at you. You knew it was God but you knew it couldn't happen to you.  Psalm 20:4-5 (NLT), "May he grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers....

Saturday... Here it is, a new day to be alive. It is such a good gift from God. He also gives us, His Word. David in Psalm 19:10 (MSG) says, "God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries."  He goes on in verses 11-14, "There's more: God's Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way?" Good question. "Or know when we play the fool?" And then he encourages us. Each day is a new day and the Psalmist writes, "Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar." No...

Friday... We have this month moved from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the desert of Nevada. In the mountains of Colorado, you see the rocks, they are right there but here in the desert, you don't see them, but they are also there. Just below the surface there is a sedimentary  rock, it is a hardened natural cement of calcium carbonate that binds other materials-such as gravel, sand, clay and silt. It is called caliche.  In Psalm 18:1&2 (NLT) David says, "I love you Lord; you ar e my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior. The Lord is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety." The story behind this Psalm is that David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from his enemies and from King Saul who was trying to kill him.  Now you don't really know about caliche until you start digging. You don't really know sometimes that God is your rock until you start diggin...