Saturday... There can be comfort in remembering.

Saturday... There can be comfort in remembering. We don't want to stay there but we can be strengthened in remembering how God worked in our lives in the past.

David writes in Psalm 40:1 (GNB), "I waited patiently for the Lord's help;" Whatever he was going through at the time he was writing this Psalm he needed to remember how he handled other times of difficulty. He said, "I waited patiently." He goes on, "then he listened to me. He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of deadly quicksand." Can you remember when God came and helped you through a difficult time? Also, it helps to read other people's stories. That's why it is good to read the Psalms.

Verse 2, "He set me safely on a rock." I've never been in quicksand but I can visualize the fear and anxiety and then feeling the exhilaration of being pulled out and placed on a rock. Can you feel the emotion of that? I know that down in the quicksand I would be singing a different song than what I was singing on that rock. David said, "He taught me a new song, a song of praise to our God."

He then gives a word of encouragement, "Many who see this will take warning and will put their trust in the Lord." The NLT translation puts verse 3 this way, "He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord." We need to remember, to trust, to praise and to share.

Let's not waste the memory of what God has done in our past and let's remember to continue to trust him in our now and also to let other people know what he has done in our past and will do in our now and in our future. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

Today's Beginning

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