Thursday... But it stays clean.

The writer of Proverbs writes in 14:4 (NLT), "Without oxen a stable stays clean." Now staying clean is a good thing, isn't it? If no one lives in a house, then it says clean. If you never take your car out of the garage it stays clean. If you never let your kids go outside and play they will stay clean.

He goes on, "But you need a strong ox for a large harvest." But it's a good thing when you live in the house. It's a good thing when you go places, maybe work or church. It's a good thing for kids to play. Yes we may have many levels of desires but then there is always the greater ones that supersedes the lesser ones.

Over in Acts 26 Paul is in big trouble. He is a prisoner. Now if being free, if being back home in Jerusalem was his greatest desire then he wouldn't have been standing and sharing the Good News to King Agrippa and governor Festus. Verse 32 says, "And Agrippa said to Festus, 'He could have been set free if he hadn't appealed to Caesar." But being free wasn't his greatest desire. Something inside him said he was to go to Rome even if he was a prisoner. And there in prison Paul wrote a big portion of the New Testament. But if freedom was his greatest desire then he wouldn't have made such a difference in sharing the Good News to generation upon generation.

So what is driving you? Yes your stable could be clean "but you need a strong oxen for a large harvest." Make sure what you are living for will make the greatest difference. Proverbs 14:8 says, "The prudent understand where they are going but fools deceive themselves." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

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 ...

Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT), "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute. This time of the year is so exciting. We get our paycheck from work and then we head to the store or Amazon and buy and buy and buy all those presents and then our check is gone Proverbs 19:2 (NLT) says, "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." But buying gifts can be so much fun and seeing how happy they are when opening those presents makes us feel so good. But then verse 3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Now for some that is their life. They get money and they spend it on their wants with no thought of what needs to be paid. An important lesson that we have learned is just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you must spend it. But our enthusiasm takes over. But the problem is when it is gone and there is no money to pay th...

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