Todays Beginning

Thursday... Now this may be difficult to understand but it is so good. I know that we can hate the difficulties in our life. We really want things to go smoothly, don't we? But the smooth road doesn't always keep us awake. Have ever been driving and you get a little over the line and you hear the thump, thump and you slowly pull back into your lane? You hate the sound but you appreciate the correction. The writer of Psalm 119 in verses 71 & 72 (NLT) says, "My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees. Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver."  Now this may not be a prayer that we want to pray but it is a very important one. Verses 65-68 (MSG) says, "Be good to your servant God; be as good as your Word. Train me in good common sense; I'm thoroughly committed to living your way. Before I learned to answer you, I wandered all over the place but now I'm in step with your Word. You are g...

Wednesday... There are so many different prayers that each of us can pray. There really are. Do you do something and you really feel ashamed. You wish you could stop but you do it and there comes the shame?  I love the honesty of the Psalms. I don't know what the Psalmist writer of Psalm 119 has done but he is feeling shame. He says in all honesty in verse 39 (NLT), "Help me abandon my shameful ways." And I really believe he meant it. I love how we can be totally honest with God. There may be a friend or two that we can really be honest with but for sure we can be honest with God, even if we aren't even honest with our self. "Help me abandon my shameful ways."  Starting in verse 35 he writes, "Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. Reassure me of your promise, made to tho...

Tuesday... This is so hard to do. It really is. But so important. Proverbs 29:1 (NLT) says, "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery." We always seem to need to be right and in no way should anyone be critical of us. Pride will get us every time. We love to give it but we can't take it. So how do you handle criticism, how do I handle it? Now put downs are one thing but within criticism there is always a chunk of truth and that is where we need to go. But it takes humility to accept the fact that someone doesn't think we are perfect, doesn't it? We don't want anyone else to see out faults, do we? But how can we grow or mature if we don't see how others see us, especially those that we know really love us and have our best interest at heart? Now there is also a problem with the one who is always being critical but can't accept it. That too many times come from pride and God hates pride. He really does. Bu...

Monday... This is a eye-catching descriptive picture. The Psalmist writes in chapter 118, verse 7 (MSG), "I flick off my enemies like flies." I love it. We don't have flies here in Nevada where I live but I have lived where flies are real annoyances and life is full of annoyances and it can be full of enemies. We as Christ followers do have some who really don't like what we stand for and how we live so flicking them off like flies is a great picture.   Verses 5-9 says, "Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God's now at my side and I'm not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God's my strong champion; I flick them off like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities." I don't know what you are facing at work or at school or even at home but if you are pushed to the wall just call on God and He will answer. He can be at your...

Saturday... He listens, He really does. That's a very good word for today. Psalm 116:1 (MSG) starts off saying, "I love the Lord because he listened to me." I don't have to get loud to Him to make sure He listens. He even listens to me when I'm just thinking. No one else can do that, but He can. Verses 1 & 2 in the NLT says, "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath." Whatever I am saying may be long but He keeps listening and He even bends down to make sure He gets it all. Now we can tell if we are close to someone, we can tell if they are listening. Usually they are looking at us, listening with their eyes, their ears, their expressions, trying to take it all in but with God it is a matter of faith for us. We can't see Him so our believing that He is listening is predicated on what we read in His Word. That is why these verse are important to believe...

Friday... We sometimes need to do a little climbing to find that quiet place. Jesus was out with his apprentices and His ministry was drawing huge crowds and on this particular day He climbed a mountainside. When He arrived at a quiet place, He sat down and started teaching His climbing companions. Matthew 5:1-2 (MSG) Now I love that scene, both the huge crowds and the quiet place. Huge crowds are great, having success is great but sometimes we need to stop and climb to a quiet place where we can really see our life from a new perspective. We all need that quiet place, but it takes effort to get there but there is such a reward. Now He said a lot in this time of teaching. In verse 3 of Matthew 5 (MSG) He said, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." Now think of this. The apprentices had to do some climbing to get this place where they were hearing Jesus teaching. They knew and wanted more and they were...

Thursday... Two different responses to two different challenges. Matthew 4 shows us two different challenges. The first one is to Jesus. Verse 1 (NLT) says, "Then Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil."  Now this was the beginning of His ministry and He started it with a time of prayer and fasting but it was also a time of testing and tempting.  Here He was having not eaten for 40 days and He was hungry and I'm sure His desires were there to eat. And that is where temptation comes in. Verse 2 says, "For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry." Temptation comes at the point of our desires. Verse 3 says, "During that time the devil came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell theses stones to become loaves of bread." He was tempted through Jesus' humanness. And that is where we are tempted so much.   So what did Jesus do? Verse 4 say, "But Jesus told him, 'No!'" We...

Wednesday... Have you ever tried praise? It will make a difference! Now we have tried the opposite, haven't we? We've tried gripping and put downs and belittling. And that too can make a difference but it is a negative difference. But have you tried praise? Psalm 113:1-3 (MSG) says, "Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak his name is praise! Just to remember God is a blessing - now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, frown dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to God!" Focus on this, verses 5 & 6 says, "God is higher than anything and anyone, outshining everything you can see in the skies. Who can compare with God our God, so majestically enthroned, surveying his magnificent heavens and earth?" So what if in the middle of our work, in the middle of our monotonous, mundane day we would stop for a moment and just think about God. Instead of looking down and all around at our difficulties we would look up at God who is majest...

Tuesday... These are dark times, aren't they? So how is it going for you? But look at this verse. Psalm 112:4 (NLT) says, "Light shines in the darkness for the godly." That maybe is exactly what you needed to hear today. The same verse in The MESSAGE says, "Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people." I was reading this morning in Matthew 2 of the wise men who came to see the baby Jesus. For them and Joseph and Mary, Jesus' earthly parents, the birth of this child was a long awaited time but it was also in a time of great darkness. But in this time of darkness there was a star, a light that appeared to the wise men and they followed it and found the child. Now why did they see the star? Because they were looking for it.  "Light shines in the darkness for the godly." Now there was an evil man who was king over this city where Jesus was born, He was greatly disturbed when he heard from the wise men about this child. And he told them, when yo...

Monday... Nothing can get the better of Him. Nothing! We look around and see a lot of smart people, we see a lot of smart leaders. Some of them even think that they are too smart to believe in God.    But Proverbs 21:30 (NLT) says, "No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord." The MESSAGE puts it this way, "Nothing cleaver, nothing conceived, nothing contrived, can get the better of God." Oh we try, we think we can but we can't. That shows that we really aren't that smart. I finished the book of Revelation this weekend and have started the Book of Matthew today. Look at this, Matthew 1:1 (NLT) says, "This is the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendent of David and of Abraham:" and then he lists the fathers and the sons. And then in verse 17 Matthew writes, "All those listed above included fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylo...

Saturday... We are so into our rights today. We really are. But here is a right that really matters. Revelations 22:14 (AMP) says, "Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those who wash their robes [in the blood of Christ by believing and trusting in Him - the righteous who do His commandments] so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city." Now that is the right that I am living for. You may remember the story in Genesis of Adam and Eve. God had created them and He had placed in the middle of the Garden of Eden where they lived, two trees. One was the tree of life which if they ate from it they would live forever. He also placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and He told them to not eat from it and if they did they would die. But they were tempted by Satan to eat from it and they did. And because they did, God ran them out of the Garden and placed an angel with a sword to keep them from the Garden so they co...

Friday... This is a great way to start our new day. The writer of Psalm 108 says in verses 1 & 2 (MSG), "I'm ready, God, so ready, ready from head to toe. Ready to sing, ready to raise a God-song: 'Wake, soul! Wake, lute! Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!'" I love that! That is a great way to face a new day. Now there is a day when we will no longer need the sun or the moon. Revelation 21:22-25 (NLT) says, "I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all its glory. Its gates will never close at the end of day because there is no night there." For all who believe that is in our future. That is going to be unbelievable. That is in our future. But each new day today can be started with hope and confidence. Psalm 108:1-5 (NLT)...

Thursday... This is so true. Psalm 107:1 (NLT), "Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting - and conflict." And conflict. Now that is so true. And we have been and are seeing it in our world, in our nation and even in our homes. Conflict. Is your home filled with peace or conflict? We have been a nation in conflict and it is frustrating. But at least it hasn't brought us to what is happening in the Ukraine. Now that is conflict with death and evil involved.  But what about you? Verse 9 says, "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends." But we won't let it go. We have to be right so we keep telling our side trying to get the other person to say your right. But being right isn't always the right thing. Love takes over when we stop pushing our side and stop and listen to the other side. We don't have to agree but listening and striving goes a long way in resolving conflict. Verse 14 (MSG...

Wednesday... Do you want to feel good? Do you?  Psalm 106:3 (NLT) says, "There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right." We don't always feel joy in our relationships or in our actions, do we? There is no joy when we respond in a way that hurts someone and we do it too many times. The MESSAGE says, "You're one happy man when you do what's right, one happy woman when you form the habit of justice." We sure do feel better when we respond to others when we build them up and not when we pull them down. The NIRV says, "Blessed are those who always do what is fair. Blessed are those who keep doing what is right." So there is joy, there is happiness and there is blessing when we deal justly with people and we do what is right. But is is so easy to react from a selfish perspective. Proverbs 16:2 says, "Everything a person does might seem pure to them. But the Lord knows why they do what they do." He knows if t...

Tuesday... There are many names for us.  I am a husband, a son, a brother, a father, a grandfather, a papa, a friend, a blogger and I am a Christian. Each one describes me.  I am also a seeker. I really am. Each morning I get up and open my Bible and seek to find a word, a word of encouragement,  a word to share, a word of challenge, a word of guidance, a word of direction, a word of description. I am a seeker of God and His expectations of me. I am a seeker. I hope and pray that we will always be seekers. Psalm 105:4 (NLT) says, "Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him." That is what He wants from us. It is so easy to believe that we have arrived. But there is more, so much more. I've known some who accepted Jesus into their life, got baptised then said, that's it, I have arrived, I've done what I needed to do, but there is so much more. Verses 4 & 5 in The MESSAGE says, "Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert f...

Monday... There is so much that we take for granted. There really is. The time change reminds of that. I got up in the dark today. The writer of Psalm 104 in verses 19-21 (NLT) reminds us, "You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set. You send darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about. Then the young lions roar for their prey, stalking the food provided by God. At dawn they slink back into their dens to rest. Then people go off to their work, where they labor until evening." Verse 24 says, "O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all." God has made it all and it is so easy to take it all for granted, isn't it? Even the job that we head out to do five days a week, we can take for granted. Proverbs 14:23 (MSG) says, "Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table." And then back to Psalm 104, beginning in verse 31 (NLT), "May the glory of the...

Saturday... We put things off, don't we? Our lives get so hectic and filled with so many activities but somehow we need to learn to prioritize. The Psalmist in 102:1-2 (MSG), says in desperation, "God, listen! Listen to my prayer, listen to the pain in my cries. Don't turn your back on me just when I need you so desperately. Pay attention! This is a cry for help ! And hurry - this can't wait." That sounds like us so many times, doesn't it? We keep putting it off and then rush to someone and even God crying for help and we say, "And hurry - this can't wait." This is now important. Solomon over in Proverbs 12:27 (MSG) says, "A lazy life is an empty life, but 'early to rise' gets the job done." Sometimes our desperation comes from our own laziness. We just didn't want to do it.    But there is a putting it off that leads us on the wrong path. Verse 28 says, "Good men and women travel right into life; sin's detours take...

Friday... Here is a great reminder. Proverbs 11:4 (NLT) says, "Riches won't help on the day of judgement, but right living can save you from death." Now that's some choice, isn't it? The Psalmist gives some thought to this. Psalm 101:2 (MSG) says, "I'm finding my way down the road of right living, how long before you show up? I'm doing the best I can and I'm doing it at home." Right living is a good thing and it starts at home. It really does. He goes on in verses 6-7, "But I have my eye on salt-of-the-earth people - they're the ones I want working with me; Men and women on the straight and narrow - these are the ones I want on my side. But no one who traffics in lies gets a job with me; I have no patience with liers."  And then verse 8 (NLT), "My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the Lord from their grip." And a great way to do that is by being an example. Back to Proverbs 11, verse 3 (M...

Thursday... Have you noticed that life is not fair? It isn't. But have you noticed that Jesus, the One we serve took an unfairness toward Himself and turned it into a life changing event? That's what God does. Yes He does. Psalm 100:1-2 (MSG) says, "On your feet now - applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence." That's not usually the way we handle the unfairness in our lives but God has shown us a better way. Verse 3 says, "Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep." He goes on, verses 4, "Enter with the password:'Thank you!' Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him." Our password in having God deal with the unfairness in our lives is thank you. It doesn't make sense but if you really think about it you realize that thank you is a great way out of all the negatives of our life. Jesus didn't let the inj...

Wednesday... They showed us the way. So good to have examples to show us what to do. My mom and dad were such good examples. When I was really young, my mom, when my sister and I were getting ready to go to sleep would tell us story about different people in the Bible. They were great examples for a young boy and they still are. The writer of Psalm 99 did the same thing. In verses 6-8 (MSG) he says, " Moses and Aaron were his priests, Samuel among those who prayed to him" We can do that too. "and he answered them." That's a great thing to know. "He spoke from the pillar of cloud. And they did what he said; they kept the law he gave them" And that is important to see. "And then God answered them." And God is still the same today but this is also important to see, "(but you were never soft on their sins.)" The NLT says, "but you punished them when they did wrong."    We need examples to show the way. God's Word shows us ...

Tuesday... Just look out at what He is doing, what He has done, and what He will do. We so many times, even right now, can look around and really be discouraged. So much negative stuff is happening. But we can also look around and see so much good and be encouraged. Yes, life can be tough but we are not alone if we have a relationship with God and even if we don't He is still working all around us. Psalm 98:1 (MSG) says, "Sing to God a brand-new song." Each day, there is a new song to be sung. "He's made a world of wonders." Oh I know, the Evil one strives to do all he can to destroy the good but he can't. God may allow him to do his stuff but God is still at work, making a world of wonders. The verse continues, "He rolled up his sleeves, He set things right." He is always working bringing good out of bad. Just look around. Ask Him to open your eyes to see all the wonders that He is doing. I'm looking out the window at the mountains . He di...

Monday... It can be so easy to not notice. It really can. Because it is all around us. But the Psalmist writes in 97:10 (MSG), "God loves all who hate evil." He really does.  He goes on, "And those who love him he keeps safe. Snatches them from the grip of the wicked." It is so easy for us to get so complacent and not see and react to the evil that is around us. I mean, we might be more frustrated about the higher gas prices than the evil that is happening toward the people in the Ukraine or evil toward women, men, children, those different than us, the poor and the addicted. Again, "God loves all you hate evil." Verse 11 says, "Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God's people, joy-seeds are planted in good soil." There is something different about those who love God. There really is. Verses 10-11 in The New Living Translation says, "You who love the Lord hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the ...

Saturday... He does, He really does. And that makes such a difference. We get in those times when we look around and think that nobody cares. And that is not a good place to be. Many times it is because of our focus. It is all on us, our needs, our wants, our feelings and that is a very lonely place to be. So what should we do? Well, we need to change our focus. In Psalm 95:7b (NIVR) it says, "We are the people he takes care of." Focus so many times is the problem. Verses 6 & 7 (NLT) says, "Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care." So why not give that a try. Verses 1-7 in the MESSAGE says, "Come, let's shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafter with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods. In one hand he holds deep cav...

Friday... Let it shine forth! Yes, let it shine forth! We need to understand that we are not alone and that we can turn to God in these troubling times.  I like what the writer of Psalm 94 says in verse 1. It is something that we can and need to pray today. He says, "O Lord, the God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth." Verse 2 (MSG),  says, "Judge of the earth, take a stand; throw the book at the arrogant."  He goes on. Verses 3 & 4 says, "Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these people boast?" Good questions.  Verse 7, "'The Lord isn't looking,' they say, ' and besides, the God of Israel doesn't care.'" It is easy for us to think that sometimes, isn't it? He continues, Verses 8-11 says, "Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? Is he deaf - the one wh...

Thursday... Storms, they are wild and roaring. Yes they are. Yes they are. I've stood on shore and watched as the waves of a hurricane were hitting the shore. They were unbelievably. I have seen a tornado coming right at me. It was unbelievable. Psalm 93:3 (MSG) says, "Sea storms are up God, Sea storms are wild and roaring, Sea storms with thunderous breakers." It seems that we are in some wild and roaring storms in our world, doesn't it? And we need some words of encouragement, don't we? There is no way that we on our own can handle these storms. The Psalmist goes on in verse 4 (NLT), "But" I love the word "but." No matter what we are facing there is a "but." "But mightier than the violent ranging of seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore - the Lord above is mightier than theses!"  "But mightier." Say that over and over. "But mightier." "But mightier." But mightier than what we are facin...

Wednesday... Do you ever feel like a simpleton? It is easy to feel like one when your in areas you know nothing about.  Now the writer of Psalm 92:6 (NLT) says, "Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this:" And this is not what we want to not understand. He continues, "Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish they will be destroyed forever." We need to not be a simpleton in this area. We need to understand this.  In verses 4-5 he says, "You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. O Lord, what great works you do! And how deep your thoughts." And then he says, "Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: Though the wicked flourish, they will be destroyed." I think we can and do understand this. Now that is understandable, isn't it? That is easy for us to understand so let's live as if we understand. The MES...

Tuesday... This is such a good thing. And it is the truth! It really is! Psalm 91:14-16 (NLT) says, "The Lord says, 'I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them salvation.'" Now that really is more than just a good thing. And it is the truth! It really is. The MESSAGE says it this way, "' If you'll hold on to me for dear life,' says God, 'I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only trust me. Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!'" So it seems like it is a great thing to love Him and to hold on to Him for dear life. It really does. So why if we do love Him we still worry and live in fe...