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. But it can also come from a protection situation. That person is doing all they can from being criticized. They live at a level of low self-esteem and that also is not a good thing. God created us and He doesn't make junk.

The MESSAGE Paraphrase puts it this way, "For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it is too late."

And then the NIVR says, "Whoever still won't obey after being warned many times will suddenly be destroyed. Nothing can save them."

Over in Psalm 119:2-8 (NLT) the Psalmist says, "Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. And I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me!"

And that is such a good thing to say to God. But it is also a good thing to say to that person who really loves us and who shares with us those things that we need to change. Please don't give up on me and may that person say the same thing to you. 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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