Saturday... A prayer by someone in deep trouble...

Saturday... It is so good to see how others have handled difficult times in their lives. And here is a prayer by someone who was in deep trouble.

King Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:17 (NLT) prayed, "Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words of defiance against the living God."

Sennacherib was the King of Assyria and he was coming to destroy Judah and he sent a letter to Hezekiah who was the king of Judah and in verse 10 he said, "Do not let the god you depend on deceive you."

Do you have people when you are going through difficult times put you down and ridicule you and they tell you, you're waisting your time believing in God? They not only put you down but also God. They say you are being deceived. And maybe it starts to get to you and it damages your faith. The evil one is great at put downs especially at your faith in God. He knows how effective it can be, especially during difficult times.

But Hezekiah went to the temple and prayed. He goes on in verses 18-19, "It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned then. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all-only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands."

Now in verse 20, Hezekiah gets down to business. He said, "Now, O Lord, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God." Then the the earth will know that you alone are God.

Could it be that the trouble we are in is there to show who is God? Could it be that the difficulty you are going through is there to show that the God you serve is the real God? That serving Him does really make a difference? That He wants those are are putting you down for your faith to see that they are deadly wrong, that your God is the only God? Could it be that you are an instrument to show that to be true?

In verse 36 it says, "That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyrian broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Ninevah and stayed there."

So who is the god you serve? Could this be a time for all the kingdoms of the earth to know that you alone, O Lord, are God? Could it be? Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is!

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is! Look at this, Proverbs 5:21-23 (CEV) says, "The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control." That is true of so many. Now look at this, Luke 15:1-7 says, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, 'This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this story: If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, 'Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep.' Jesus said, 'In the same way there is mo...

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Todays Beginning

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