Monday... Winning and love seem to go together.

Proverbs 14:20 (MSG) says, "An unlucky loser is shunned by all, but everyone loves a winner." Last night was the Super Bowl and at the end there was a team that will be remembered as the winner. Now a lot of different situations came about to make them the winner but history will tell everyone they won. And the Proverbs says that everyone loves a winner.

But that may not be a good thing. Verse 21 says, "It's criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor - what a blessing."

The NLT gives another slant to these two verses. It says, "The poor are despised even by their neighbors, while the rich have many 'friends.' It is a sin to belittle one's neighbor; blessed are those who help the poor."

Granite in sports there is always a winner and loser but in God's view of a winner and loser is different. An unlucky loser could also be a winner depending upon how they handle it or how I reach out to them with understanding and love. Yes the poor are looked down on because they are poor but God says it is a sin to belittle one's neighbor even though they may be poor or an unlucky loser and blessed are those who help the poor. God's definition of a winner is different.

Verse 22 (MSG) says, "Isn't it obvious that conspirators lose out, while the thoughtful win love and trust."

The NLT says, "If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness." Now that is the kind of winner I want to be. 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...

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...

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...

Todays Beginning

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