Thursday... But then can make all the difference.

It is so easy to let the cares of the world get us down. We look at a new day with a heavy heart, knowing that nothing good is going to happen. How do we know that? We know it because that is what we keep telling ourselves.

Asaph the writer of Psalm 77 must have been going through a very tough time. In verses 4-5 (NLT) he continues down his dark road that we too many of us also drive. He says, "You don't let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray. I think of the good old days, long since ended." We could say that and many of us do about what we are going through. Verses 6-9, "when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever?" That is a word that comes up a lot in our times of deep anxiety. The word forever, forever, forever. He goes on, "Will he never be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Has his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious?" And this is a good one for us to remember, "Has he slammed the door on his compassion?"

And then verse 10, "And I said, 'This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.'" Now that really sets us into our deep dark mood. But then, but then. Verses 11 & 12, "But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty acts." Now that is a totally different way of thinking. That is thinking and remembering with hope, with anticipation, with a grain of excitement.

I love the Psalms. I love their honesty. They allow us to lament but they don't allow us to stay there.

Aspah writes in verses 13 & 14, "O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations." Just focus on the but then. And that will make all the difference. 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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