Friday... How to survive in a swamp.

I found two words that caught my attention as I was reading in Proverbs 12. The first one was in verse 3. It is the word swamp. I don't like swamps. And that is a good thing. There are a lot of things that can hurt you in a swamp. Verse 3 (MSG) says, "You can't find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm." Such a simple truth.

The NLT says it this way, "Wickedness never brings stability, but the goodly have deep roots."

There is a swamp down in Louisiana that we have gone through many times. At some point there were some workers who built a long bridge through that swamp. I'm sure that they had to go deep to find something solid to build that bridge on and they did and we flew through that swamp with no trouble. And we can go through life if we have a firm foundation built on God and His Word.

There's another word that I found in verse 26, it is the word survives. The verse (MSG) says, "A good person survives misfortune, but a wicked life invites disaster." Are you a survivor? How are your making it through this swamp of a pandemic, this misfortune that we have been going through? Are you sliding all around or are you on a bridge that is built on a deep foundation?

Paul over in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (MSG) writes, "I was given the gift of an handicap to keep me in touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he did in fact was push me to my knees." Now that is the way to handle misfortune, isn't it?

He goes on, "At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me. My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into it own in weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size - abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." Now that is the way to survive the swamps of our life, isn't it? 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...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Todays Beginning

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