Todays Beginning

Thursday... Do we really know what is going to happen? I mean, did we really know what was going to happen to us when we were facing 2020 a year ago on December 31? Not in any way did we see what was going to happen to us. God was the only one who knew. Look at this. James 4:13-17 (MSG) says, "And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, 'Today-at the latest tomorrow-we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money.' You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, 'If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that.' As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact , if you know the right thing to do and don't do it, that, for you is evil" Pretty strong but so true. Now it is important to pla

Tuesday... Look at this. Is this where you are?  Psalm 119:81 & 82 (NLT), "I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me?" It is so good to be honest with God. I am sure that this that we are going through has worn you out. Verse 83, "I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, but I have not forgotten to obey your degrees." And that is the key. He goes on, verse 106, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." Yes it is! And then pray, pray these verses 116 & 117, "Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on your degrees." And Paul says in his letter to Philemon in verse 6 (MSG), "And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do and that people recogniz

Monday... You mean, today is also God's doing? We think, Saturday is such a good day and then comes Sunday. I mean, God does His best work on Sunday. It is such a special day. We set it aside. But please remember, Monday is also a very special day. Monday is also God's doing. Psalm 118:23 & 24 (NLT) says, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." But it's Monday. I have to go back to work. Yes, but it is also God's creation, His doing. And He wants your best in it. Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Today is also a very special day. We represent Jesus even in our work no matter what it is. Give Him thanks. And then verse 23, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Verse 24, "

Sunday...  It is so great to get gifts from someone who really loves you. It really is but it is also great to give gifts to those who really love you. And God wants to show His love by giving gifts to those of us who live His way.   Over in Galatians 5:22-23 (MSG) it says, "What happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard-things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeated things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." Oh how the world needs a people who live that way. The NLT says, "The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives." Oh how we need the Holy Spirit to produce those fruits in us. And He will do that in and through us i

Saturday... He listens to me, He really does. Is that important to you? The Psalmist in Psalm 116:1 (MSG) writes, "I love God because he listens to me." We love to be listened too. We love to tell someone our problems, our opinions, our interests, our fears, our angers, our needs and they listen, they really listen. But you might say, I don't have anyone like that. The Amplified Bible says, "I love the Lord because He hears [and continues to hear] my voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs)." Now we may think that when we talk no one is listening but when you talk, God is listening. He cares about you and He shows that by listening to you. The Psalmist in verse 2 goes on, "Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live." And He makes a difference. Verse 5 (MSG) says, "God is gracious-it is He who makes things right, our most compassionate God." He can make a difference and He li

  Thursday... We each one have a part to play in all of this. It is so easy for us who are strong to give glory to God for His strength and then be done but there is more to do because we are strong. Paul writing to the Romans says in Romans 15:1-3 (MSG), "Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status."  It is so easy for us to bring glory to ourselves and how we are handling such difficult times but our strength is not for our glory, no it is for our service.  He goes on, "Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, 'How can I help?' That's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles, but waded right in to help out, 'I took on the troubles of the troubled' is how the Scripture puts it."  And that is what Christmas

Wednesday... Can we really explain what is happening? Can we? Of course we all have our opinions, but can we really explain? Paul in Romans 11:34-35 (MSG) writes, "Who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?" We have such an high opinion of what we think and what we have done, don't we? We come up with so many ideas about what we are going through and why all of this is happening and we even want to specifically tell God what to do. But can we really explain what is happening? Back in verse 33 (AMP), Paul writes, "Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable are His ways!" That is where we put our trust! He is the One who really knows! Verse 38 (NLT) explains it all and gives us the why, "For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory

Tuesday... Our hope is getting bigger and bigger as we wonder if any of those presents under the tree are what we have hoped for and if our new year will be better. Paul says in Romans 8:24 (MSG), "We are enlarged by the waiting." We are so anxious. Why can't we open them today? I want to know what I got. And we do that in what we are going through each day. I hope this will end soon. I wonder what is going to happen.  He goes on, verse 25, "But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy." The Amplified Bible puts it this way, "But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure."  I know we hope 2021 will be different than 2020. This has been a very difficult but also productive year. It has been greater than I could have ever hoped. But now we wait eagerly for what is coming and we can onl

Monday... Just because we are doesn't mean He is. Let me show you what I mean. It is so easy to look at followers of Christ and see how they act and then say if that is what Christ is like then I don't want it.  In the letter to the Romans written by Paul, chapter 3:3-4 (NIV), he writes, "What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God's unfaithfulness? Not at all!" But we look at others who say that they are followers of God and say that must be what God is like. But that of course isn't true. It is true that those of us who are followers of Christ do have a great impact on what others believe Christ is like. Our witness, our life does have an impact on how others see Christ. That's why we need Him living in and through us. But just because someone doesn't act like Christ, doesn't mean that is truly the way He acts. Now this truth has two points that come from it. One, we followers of Christ must be true followers of Christ. We

Sunday... He knows what He is doing. He really does. The way He has organized our life is unbelievable. I mean He has put the years into months, the months into days, the days into hours and the hours into minuets. He has done all of that for us even though we blew up His plans in the beginning. And He knows what He is doing. Now He knows what we need and Psalm 110:3b (NLT) shows that. It says, ". . . and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew." He knows what we need and He is actively involved in what we need. With our days organized into 24 hours there is a set time for us to be awake being productive but in that time we get tired so He gave us a time to rest and then to start over with new strength for a new day and that is so encouraging to me. He knows what I need and He knows what He is doing and He will give us new strength for each new day. Not strength for tomorrow but strength for today and then strength for tomorrow, tomorrow. Now we live too m

Saturday... He is still at work... Psalm 109:26-27 (MSG) says, "Help me, oh help me, God, my God, save me through your wonderful love; Then they'll know that your hand is in this, that you, God, have been in this, that you, God, have been at work." Have you ever seen people who didn't get their way, just stop and don't do anything? They pout and go off and sit in a corner and won't do anything. But that is not God. Yes, His plan for the world got sidetracked back in the Garden of Eden. Sin came into the world. People started living as if they were in control and so much came in, such as sickness, viruses, conflict, and desperation. But God didn't stop. He didn't go off in a corner and pout. He has still been at work. He has allowed all of this evil to happen because of our choices but He didn't stop working. Yes we may not follow Him but He still works in our lives, striving to get us to come back to Him and His way of living. He has kept at it bec

Friday... My heart is confident. Now that is very difficult even a little precocious thing to say in what we are going through. But there is more to it. The writer of Psalm 108 starts his Psalm by saying that, "My heart is confident. . ." but he doesn't end there. He goes on, ". . . in you, O God." His confidence comes from the One He is connected to. And that is the foundation to our confidence. Yes there are people who are doing an unbelievable job at tackling our adversary, this virus, but they are not doing it alone.  In verse 12 (AMP), the Psalmist says, "Give us help against this adversary..." Again his confidence is in God. He then says, "For deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope]. With God we will do valiantly, for it is He who will trample down our enemies." So where does your confidence come from? Is it totally on people? Yes God does use people but it still comes from Him. He is the source of all knowledge. He is the sour

Thursday... O God, do you really mean it? It seems that when we as parents tell our kids to do something, they don't really think we mean it until we get close to our action line. And we may be like that with God. But He really means it when He says it. Psalm 107:1 (NLT) says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." But we don't really seem to believe He means it. In verses 4 & 5 (MSG) he says, "Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live. Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion."  Verse 6, "Then in your desperate condition, you called out to God. He got you out in the nick of time; He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. So thank God for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.He pored great draughts of water down parched throats, the starved a

Wednesday... There are so many thoughts that run through our mind. So what do we do with them? Some we need to grab on to and strive to live them out. Others we just need to let them fly through but too many times those are the ones we grab on to. And too many of those have to do with our self and our rights and our importance, and our pettiness and those we need to kick out, get rid of and let them pass on through.  So many times it is so easy to complacently be pleased with ourselves and look down our noses at other people. But Jesus said in Luke 18:14b (MSG), "If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you become more than yourself." The Amplified Bible translation says, "...for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted." But these thoughts go through our mind but I deserve respect but I d

Tuesday... So how do I make a second chance work for me? Over in Luke 13:6-8 (NLT) Jesus tells a story, "A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, 'I've waited three years and there hasn't been a single fig! Cut it down. It's just taking up space in the garden.' The gardener answered. 'Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.'" Where do you need a second chance? Where do you need to give special attention? Maybe this next year is the year that you get victory. Are you serious, really serious?  I know, we can really be disappointed in ourselves and other people. We want to give up on us or them.  Yes we need a second chance on different areas of our life but we also need to give special

Monday... Another day, another dollar, is that how you view this day? Could there be more to it than that? Yes, living each day a little at a time is one way to survive and it does feel like we are in survival mode, but is there more to it? The Psalmist in 104:1 (NLT) says, "O Lord my God, how great you are." And that is who we serve, and that is who has created us for a daily opportunity. And that is different than just survival, isn't it? Look at what our God has done. Verses 19-24, "You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set. You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about. Then the young lions roar for their prey, stalking the food provided by God. At dawn they slink back to their dens to rest. The people go off to their work, where they labor until evening." Verses 24 (MSG), "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderfu

Sunday... This could be a very good time to really remember. And it could really make a difference if you did. I don't know what is heavy on your heart. I have a decision to make and I am putting everything into my mental computer to help me with my decision but God has led me this morning to something that I needed to do. He led me down a path of remembering so many things that He has done for me. And I have spent an emotional time just thanking and praising Him.  He then led me to Psalm 103 (NLT), "Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me."  Isn't that an awesome desire to pray?, "may I never forget the good things he does for me." He goes on and makes a list. Verses 3-5 (MSG), "He forgives your sins-every one. He heals your diseases-everyone. He redeems you from hell-saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy-a para

Saturday... He notices everything. Not just that which is in front but that which is behind and ahead. Jesus notices everything. Look at this picture in Luke 5:1 (NLT), "One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God." And verse 2 says, "He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge." Have you ever thought about the fact that He notices what is all around you but He also notices what is empty in your life and He notices what has happened in your life to make it empty?   Luke goes on, "... for the fishermen were washing their nets." So Jesus stepped into one of the boats and taught the crowd from there. And He wants to do the same with your emptiness. He wants to step into that emptiness and fill it with Himself and use in so many different ways. He wants to get into you life and fill it with possibilities greater than you could ever imagine. The story goes on,  Verses 4-7,

Friday... In my reading of the Bible, I have jumped from the Minor Prophets in the OT to the Gospel of Luke in the NT. And I read something and made it personal and asked, What would be my response? And that is always a good response in reading God's Word. I started with the story in Luke chapter 1 of the angel, Gabriel talking to Zechariah and telling him that in their old age he and his wife were going to have a son. And here is his response, verse 18 (MSG), Zachariah said to the angel, 'Do you expect me to believe this? I'm an old man and my wife is an old woman.'" That was his response to an unreasonable thought. What would be our response? And what is our response to what we are facing today? Are we discouraged? Are we doubting the impossible?  Verses 19-20, "But the angel said, 'I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won't believe me, you'll be unable to say a word until the day of your

Thursday... It is so easy to get discouraged and to emotionally curl up and give up but He's still at it, strong as ever. He keeps at it. Zephaniah 3:5 (MSG) says, "He stays at it, day after day, meting out justice. At evening he's still at it, strong as ever." God keeps at it! The NIV says, "Morning by morning he dispenses justice." and here is the phrase that caught my attention in my morning reading, "and every new day he does not fail." Every new day God doesn't fail to keep at it. And that is what He wants from us. But I'm so tired. This pandemic is never going to end. I'm never going to make it. I hate wearing this mask. And that is where we too many times fail. We don't keep at it and so we get weak and we stop and we fail. So the encouraging word for us today is to not fail to keep at it. And verse 17 (NLT) says, "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will delight in you with gladness. Wit

Wednesday... I wonder how God views what we are going through? Does He see people who need to repent? Yes! Does He see people who serve Him and who trust Him whom He wants to bless? Yes! The Bible gives us glimpses into how God sees situations. The book of Joel in the OT describes in detail a severe locust plague that ravaged Palestine and Joel gives a call for repentance. Maybe there is something here for us to see. In Joel 2:12 (MSG) he says, "God's personal Message!-'Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!'" Then verses 13-14, "Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here's why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, this most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Maybe he'll do it now, maybe he'll turn around and show pity. Maybe when all's said and done, there'll be blessings full and robust for yo

Tuesday... These are desperate times, yes they are, but... ... He has heard us. Daniel 10:12 (AMP), "Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words." He has heard us and He will come to us. ... He is close to us. Nahum 1:7 (NLT), "The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him." The MESSAGE says, "God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help, no matter how desperate the trouble."   ... He has remembered to love us. Psalm 98:1 (MSG), "Sing to God, a brand-new song. He's made a world of wonders! He rolled up his sleeves, He set things right. God made history with salvation, He showed the world what he could do. He remembered to love us, a bonus to his dear family, Israel-indefat

Monday... We need to be reminded. Yes we do, yes He is! It is so easy to be discouraged as we face a new day. Psalm 97:1 (NLT) says, "The Lord is king!" Yes He is! "The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest coastlands be glad. Dark clouds surround him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne"  The MESSAGE says, "God rules: there's something to shout over!" We really do need to be reminded who is in charge. Then verses 10-12, "For you, O Lord, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted above all gods. You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly and joy on those whose hearts are right. May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name." "The Lord is king" even on Monday! Yes He is! And that is something to shout over! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Sunday... We seem to look at success and want to take the credit for it. We think we are the one who does it right but He is the One who does it the right way through us. Daniel 4:37 (MSG) says, "Everything he (God) does is right," It doesn't say that everything we do is right, does it? "He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or woman." I many times fight this urge to show that I have worth now that I am retired. And that can be a such a pride issue. But our worth doesn't come from being right does it? Everything we do is not right. That is where God's grace comes in, that is where humility comes in, that is where dependency comes in, that is where giving God credit comes in, that is where true worth comes in. King Nebuchadnezzar here in this chapter in verse 29 (MSG), ". . . was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, 'Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequat

Saturday... I know, I know, we wonder what is happening but God, yes, our God, the God we serve, knows what He is doing. Yes, he does! Daniel over in his book in the OT of the Bible sends us a reminder of that fact. And we need a reminder in this time in which we are living, don't we?  Daniel 2:20-23 (MSG) says, "Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever." Ours is not the first situation that God has faced. "He knows all, does all." I rest my case. Daniel goes on, "He changes the seasons and guides history, He raises up kings and also brings them down." I wonder if He had a hand in our election?  "He provides both intelligence and discernment, He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark-light spills out to Him!" Where do you think all that we know comes from? Where do you think the intelligence we have to fight this virus comes from?  Daniel continues, "God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise!" And that's

Friday...  We have so many questions in this day in which we are living and we want answers. Who will stand up for me? Is that one of your questions? Who will take my side? could be another one. But maybe it's not answers we need. Maybe we just need to remember. The writer of Psalm 94:16 (MSG) asked these same questions. but in a little difference way. He said, "Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against evil workers?" Not who will but who did? And he kept on remembering in verses 17- 19 (MSG), "If God hadn't been there for me, I never would have made it. The minute I said, 'I'm slipping, I'm falling,' your love, God, took hold and held me fast. When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up." Maybe we just need to remember. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Thursday...  It seems like this pandemic will never end.  Whatever this virus is there seems to be no end to it. That is how we start each new day. But that isn't the truth. It will end, it will be conquered but there is something that will never end. Jeremiah who is believed to be the writer of the book of Lamentations in the OT in the Bible says in 3:22-23 (NLT), "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning" But you might say, Jeremiah doesn't know what I'm going through, he doesn't know my situations. But in verses 52-54 he says, "My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird, They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. The water rose over my head, and I cried out, 'This is the end!'"  Yes he felt the way you maybe do, but he didn't stop there. He believed in God's endless love, he held on to God's faithfulness and

Wednesday... Boasting is something we do to help us feel good about ourselves. Think back on Thanksgiving and the boasting that was going on. We do it so many time to build ourselves up. We want to feel good but it doesn't usually make us look good. But it can depending on who or what we are boasting about. Jeremiah 9:23 (NLT) in the OT gives some good thoughts on this subject.  "This is what the Lord says: 'Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.'" but we feel so many times that we need to boast, don't we? I think back on some times this past week where I seemed to need to boast and it doesn't feel good to think back on it. But we seem to do it over and over. It really is so much better when someone else does it. But what if they don't? So we need to let people know how wise, how powerful and how rich we are. But here is the problem. As the Amplified Bible says, "Let n

Tuesday... Here it is. Here is a word of encouragement for today. Psalm 91:14-16 (NLT), "The Lord says, "I will rescue those who love me.' Okay, that is me. I love You. I really do! 'I will protect those who trust in my name.' I trust you, yes I do. I know that you are trustworthy. My trust is in You. 'When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.' I do call out to You, God and yes, I am in a troubling time.  'I will rescue and honor them.' And You, God, have done that over and over again. And I know You will continue doing that.  'I will reward them with a long life,' You have done that and I also know that I will live a long life after this earthly life is over. 'and give them my salvation.'" And I know that I am saved.  I thank You, God for Your Word, It is such an encouragement. You know where we are, You know what we are going through, You can be trusted and You will rescue us. Again, thank You for Y