Tuesday... We are surrounded...

Tuesday... We are surrounded. Yes we are.

Everywhere we turn in this New Year there are problems and concerns and difficulties and pandemic and violence and discord. It seems like it would be a good time to surrender, but is it? It is all in what we see.

We truly are surrounded here in Las Vegas. This is Sin City but it is also surrounded by mountains. As we open our blinds each morning we see mountains to our west, south, east and north. We are surrounded. And that is the picture that Psalm 125:2 (NLT) paints, "Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem [Las Vegas], so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forever." And that means 2021. Yes it does!

This is not the time to surrender. We are surrounded by the Lord no matter when it is and where we are.

Verse 1 say, "Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever."

Verses 1-5 in the Message Paraphrase says it like this, "Those who trust in God are like Zion Mountain: Nothing can move it, a rock solid mountain you can always depend on. Mountains encircle Jerusalem, and God encircles his people-always has and always will. The fist of the wicked will never violate what is due the righteous, provoking wrongful violence. Be good to your good people, God, to those whose hearts are right."

Yes, we are surrounded. God's good people are surrounded by God. Let's open our eyes each morning and see that God is a rock solid mountain that we can depend on, that nothing can move! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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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...

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless. It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...

Todays Beginning

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