Todays Beginning

Friday... We face the unknown of another day and we're not alone. So much that can happen can make it so that we face a new day alone. But are we?  The choices we make can bring us to a point that we face life needing help, needing someone with us to help carry our heavy load but we feel all alone or the one with us doesn't have what it takes to help us.  I just finished reading Psalm 150 and each of the 6 verses gives us a reminder that we are not alone and we reinforced that fact by saying "Praise him". In the days of deep feelings of being alone and feeling inadequate to facing a new day it is important to "Praise him." Now verse 2 (NLT) is a great reminder when facing the unknown of a new day. It says, "Praise him for his mighty works, praise his unequaled greatness." We are not alone and there is nothing in the unknown of another day that is too great for God to handle. We can't do it by ourself but we are not by ourself, He is with us. We...

Thursday... It had its place. The law of the OT had its place. Yes it did. Galatians 3:19 (NLT) says, "It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins." And it did that. It really did that. But the Word continues, "But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised." Now back to verse 5, "... does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ." Now Christ was promised by God to come to this world and be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. And He came and He died as a sacrifice. Now in His coming the sin problem can be taken care for us through confessing our sin and asking for HIs forgiveness and in turn we are forgiven and we are justified to the point that it is just as if we had never sinned. The law couldn't do that but Christ's death did.  But something else happened with Christ's ...

Wednesday... Look at this. Psalm 148:7-12 (MSG) says, "Praise God from earth. you sea dragons, you fathomless ocean deeps; Fire and hail, snow and ice, hurricanes obeying his orders;" did you catch that? "hurricanes obeying his orders; Mountains and all hills, apple orchards and cedar forests; Wild beasts and herds of cattle, snakes, and birds in flight; Earth's kings and all races, leaders and important people, robust men and women in their prime, and yes, graybeards and little children." He is God, He is sovereign God, He is all powerful God, He is everywhere God, He is all-knowing and all loving God. And then verses 13-14, "Let them praise the name of God - it's the only name worth praising. His radiance exceeds everything in earth and sky; he's built a monument - his very own people! Praise from all who love God! Israel's children, intimate friends of God, Hallelujah!"  "His radiance exceeds everything in earth and sky; he's bu...

Tuesday... Some carry such a heavy load. The writer of Proverbs 27:3-4 (NLT) says, "A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the weight of resentment caused by a fool is even heavier. Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous." The weight of resentment, anger and jealousy is so heavy and even dangerous. They really are. But look at what this prayer in Galatians 1:3 says. "May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." Grace and peace takes care of resentment, anger and jealousy and God through Jesus Christ offers them to you. He wants to give grace and peace to you. He goes on in verses 4 & 5, "Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God the Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen." Just make an exchange today. Give Him your resentment, your anger and your jealousy. Just give Him that heavy load. Yes, you may thi...

Monday... Total trust and dependency in the right one makes such a difference. The Psalmist in Psalm 146:3 & 4  (NLT) writes, "Don't put your confidence in powerful people; When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them." We need to remember that in the time that we live in.  But He goes on. Verses 5-8 says, "But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly." There are many who say they will do all of that but there is only one that we can put our total trust and dependency on and He will live forever. Verse 10 says, "The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusal...

Saturday... It really fits together. Proverbs 24:10 (MSG) says, "If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn't much to you in the first place." Ok, that makes sense. Then 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 says, "Satan's angel did his best to get me down, what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! 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 in your 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." So the crisis can make me in my wea...

Friday... In no way is it a waste of time for His servants. Psalm 143:1-2 (MSG) says, "Listen to this prayer of mine, God; pay attention to what I'm asking. Answer me - you're so famous for your answers." I love the way that is put and it is so true. We do so many things that don't work but prayer is famous that it works. Of course the key is the One we pray to has the power and the ability and the desire to answer the prayers of those who have a relationship with Him. He is famous for His answers. We had a very difficult situation this week and we prayed. The day started with great anxiety by one of the members of our family and ended with great excitement, God is famous for His answers of prayer. Now some are sceptical. Over in 2 Corinthians 11:14 - 15 it says, "Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. ...

Thursday... Have you found that it doesn't fight fair? Over in Proverbs 22:24-25, there is some very good advice. It says, (NLT), "Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul." And then over in 2 Corinthians 10:3 (MSG) it says, "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair." And there it is. Satan doesn't play fair. He is using anger as a means to bring discord into the church today. He is very smart but somehow we need to see his method and run away from it. Paul goes on in verses 4-6 (MSG), "But we don't live or fight our battles that way - never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting ever...

Wednesday... A prayer that gets to the point. David in writing Psalm 141 must have been in a tough place. We get into tough places, don't we? And we need to pray this prayer that David is praying. He starts out in verse 1 (AMP) saying, " Lord, I call upon You, hurry to me. Listen to my voice when I call to You." That is right to the point. He goes on in verses 8-10, "For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord. In You I take refuge, do not pour out my life nor leave me defenseless. Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, and from the snares of those who do evil. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by and safely escape [from danger]." And that's the prayer that we need to pray each and everyday. The NIV says it this way, "while I pass by in safety." The NLT, "but let me escape." The MESSAGE, "while I walk off without a scratch." And the NIRV, "But let me go safely on my way." Now ...

Tuesday... Is it true? Is it? Psalm 140:12b (NIRV) says, "He stands up for those who are in need." Do you know that to be true? Are you in need right now and do you know that to be true? The world knows what we are against as Christians. And that is a part of our task, to stand against the wrongs of this world but there is also the benefits of being a Christian and there are so many and this without a doubt is one of them. "He stands up for those who are in need." Are you in need? "He stands up for those who are in need." Now if you have never been in need then you don't need anyone to stand up for you. But all of us have needs, they're just different needs. The Amplified Bible says it this way, "I know [with confidence] that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted." Now how do they know that with confidence? Because God has been there in their times of affliction and been what they needed to take them through those times. That ...

Monday... No one else can do this. The Psalmist in Psalm 139:5 (NLT) says, "You go before me and follow me. "I may want to do that with my granddaughters but I can't but I can give them over to the One who can. God can, yes He can and He does. He knows what's ahead and He uses what's behind. He takes what I have just gone through and uses it to prepare me for what is ahead.  And then it says, "You place your hand of blessing on my head." He has me covered as I begin this day. Verse 6 is so true, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand." And that is so true. So I start today by thanking Him for what He has done for me and through me and I accept and revel in His blessing on and His presence in my life and I look ahead with confidence knowing that He is out there preparing the way for me. These v erses in The MESSAGE Paraphrase says, "I look behind m and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, to...

Saturday... Accept this gift. Yes accept it. It is so easy to lament over lost opportunities. Paul writing to the church of Corinth says in 6:1 (NLT), "As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of kindness and then ignore it." The NIV puts it this way, "As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain." Our God is such a good God. Each morning we need to wake up with a thankful heart for all that God has done and is doing for us and through us.  Now over in Psalm 137:1 (NLT) it says, "Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought about Jerusalem." You see, God had given his Children, chance after chance to follow Him but now they have been captured and their home Jerusalem had been destroyed. God gives us so much each day and we really need to be thankful. Again Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, "As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness a...

Friday... It is so easy to do. The writer of Proverbs 16:5 (NIV) reminds us, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished." Have you ever been going a long and all of sudden your in an argument and your day goes in a different direction. Now if you would stop and look at what happened you would probably see that it came from a proud heart on both sides. Verse 2 says, "All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord." We are so proud and we think we are right and it is all their fault but God knows. Verse 18 (NLT) says, "Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall."  It is so easy to be haughty, to think so highly of yourself. The MESSAGE says, "First pride, then the crash - the bigger the ego, the harder the fall." Now look over at 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is cr...

Thursday... It brings such joy. Yes it does. The Spirit of God wants to use each one of us in times of need of others. He wants us to be His voice. There was a word that caught my attention in my reading this morning. It was the word "apt" in Proverbs 15:23 in the New International Version. The verse says, "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply - and how good is a timely word." And that is so true. Each morning I go out to my Adirondack chair in my backyard with my Bible and a cup of coffee and start reading with the desire to find an apt word for the day. And when I find it through the Spirit's leading I know there will be someone who needs that word today and I get such joy in that fact. And God wants to use you in giving that apt reply to someone in your world who needs it.  The NLT says it this way, "Everyone enjoys a fitting reply, it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time." And The Message Paraphrase says, "Congenial conve...

Wednesday... Where does your confidence come from? If you have any, of course. I have confidence or I wouldn't be here writing to you. Confidence is very important, it gets us out of bed and off to make a living and to live our life but where does it come from? I have messed up so many times that if it came just from me I would have none, but I do have it. Paul in writing to the Corinthian church says in 2 Corinthians 3:4 & 5 (NLT) "We are confident of all this because of our trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God." He goes on in verse 6, "He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death, but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life."  Now that is where real confidence comes from. So my hope and prayer is that you have a relationship with God the Father through ...

Tuesday... There is power in it. I just heard a leader of our country say that we needed to get together and find a remedy for Cancer. He said that Republicans and Democrats can be unified on that. And that is true. There is power in unity. It would have been great if we had come together to find a solution for Covid. It would have made such a difference. Erin, our speaker Sunday said that two horses pulling together have four times the power of one horse by itself.  Proverbs 13:1 (NIV) says, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" And the Evil One knows that. That is why he uses every method he can to keep us from being unified. Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth in chapter 2:10b-11 (NLT) says, "And when I forgive this man" this man had brought a lot of unrest in this church. Paul goes on "I do so with Christ's authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his ev...

Monday... It can hold us back and weigh us down. Just as we headed out to go to church,, yesterday, I realized that I didn't know where one set of my keys were but I went on out to the car and headed to church. Now I didn't know where they were and the worry of not knowing went with me to church. Proverbs 12:25 (NLT) says, "Worry weighs a person down, an encouraging word cheers a person up." And both of those are so true. I could tell that as I stood to sing that I had a battle going on that was going to affect my time of Worship but as I started singing the song there was an encouraging word in it and I was able to set aside the lose of my keys and the worry of that and change my focus. Satan knew the power of the worry but God knew the power of encouragement. The Spirit in worship lifted me to the fact that God was greater than some lost keys and He would help me with the problem later so I set the worry aside.  Worship was great and the Message was so uplifting but...

Saturday... It's amazing how this works. Proverbs 10:24 (NLT) says, "The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted." The NIV says, "What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted." This is the power of focus, the power of faith, the power of choice. One of my father's phrases that I will always remember is, "What your faith covers you now have." And that is both negative and positive. What is your focus today? Is it dread or hope? Now the one you serve makes a lot of difference. Are you living a wicked life or a righteous life?  The NIRV says, "What sinners are afraid of will catch up with them. But those who do right will get what they want." Now maybe you understand that this life that we are living here on earth is just a blurb on the longevity of our life but it does have a say on the place we will live after this life here on earth is over.  But you might say, I...

Friday... There must be more. Here is an interesting thought. Psalm 129:6 (NLT), "May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop. turning yellow when only half grown." It is easy to start a relationship with God and feel better but don't continue to grow. You feel better but you just don't do what needs to be done to grow. I know of some who come to church, ask Jesus into their life, even get baptized but never enter again the door of a church, pick up the Bible to study, never spend time in prayer and with other believers and they are turning yellow because they are not growing. It takes more than praying the prayer to grow just like it takes more than just being born to grow into a healthy individual. Even at my age it takes much more than living off my past experiences for me to grow in my relationship with God. I need time with Him as I do with my wife to grow in our relationship.  Verses 6-8 (MSG) says, "Let them be like grass in shallow ground that withers be...

Thursday... And it was the right choice. Back at the beginning of the pandemic I made a choice. I choose to live and make my decisions based on wisdom instead of fear. And it was the right choice. There were so many ways to go and fear was a definite option but never one that I have used. Fear just messes up one's ability to make the right decision but wisdom, that is another story that is why one of my reading destinations each morning is the book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs in the OT of the Bible. Now in reading Proverbs 8 today I found this. Verse 1 (NLT) says, "Listen as wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice!"  Verses 4-9 says, "I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding. Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome. There is ...

Wednesday... But what is really important, what is really real? We have these ideas and these words that we throw around as important. Over in Proverbs 7:18 (MSG) a seductress says to a young man, who isn't her husband, "Come let's make love all night, spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking." Now love is so very important but it must be real and that isn't real. Without a doubt, that isn't real. 1 Corinthians 13 starts out in verse 1 (MSG) by saying, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate." Love is so very important but it must be real. I love the English language but it can be so confusing. Here are two places where the same word is used but they do not mean the same. In the day that we live in today the word love is misused over and over. But not in God's world. Verse 2 says, "If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all the mysteries and making every...

Tuesday... Let's choose the other. Proverbs 6:16-19 MSG) says, "Here are six things God hates, and one more than that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath," and the last one, "a troublemaker in the family." And we have had a lot of troublemakers in the family of God during this pandemic and racial unrest, haven't we? And it is good for us to know that God loathes with a passion troublemakers in His family. I also read today in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (NLT), "The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit."  He continues in verses 25-26 (MSG), "The way God designed our bodie...

Monday... We are surrounded, yes, we are. I am looking out this morning on the sunset side of the mountains that surround our valley. At certain times in the winter they will say the snow is going to come down to 3,000 feet and there will be a ring of snow clear around our valley. It is an impressive sight but no matter when it is the mountains are there as a protection over our valley. I love it. Over in Psalm 125 the writer writes in verses 1 & 2 (NLT), "Those who trust in the Lord, are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever." Las Vegas, where I live is not Jerusalem but it does have people who trust in the Lord who will not be defeated with the evil in our town and who will endure forever because the Lord surrounds his people. The MESSAGE paraphrases these verses this way, "Those who trust in God are like Zion Mountain; Nothing can ...

Saturday... So, let's just hang on to them. Proverbs 3:21 (MSG) says, "Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life, don't for aa minute lose sight of them." Now we seek to guard our money and our family but Common Sense and Clear thinking are so important that we need to guard them with our life. And we need a lot of Clear Thinking and Common Sense in this day that we are living in, don't we?  The NLT says, "My child, don't lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them. Whatever you are facing today don't just grasp hold of the first and the loudest thought that comes into you mind. Just stop and think clearly with some real common sense. He goes on, verses 22-26 (MSG) says, "They'll keep your soul alive and well, they'll keep you fit and attractive." And we want that. We work so hard at that. "You'll travel safely, you'll neither tire nor trip. You'll take afternoon naps without a...

Friday... How does your weekend look or how does it go when we have control, when it is up to us? As I sit here writing this it is Friday, the end of, for most people, another work week. Now for most people their work week is controlled by other people at least 40 hours of it but our weekend is up to us. So how does that go? The truth is if we give our total week, our total life over to another we will find it to be a wise thing to do. You see we are free moral agents. In other words, we live our life with choices and we are free to make those choices but we are not free of the consequences of those choices.  I jokingly say to my barista friends on Monday morning, how did you weekend go? Was there any jail time? They say, of course not, I'm better than that but there could be other consequences of the freedom of the weekend.  The writer of Proverbs 2 in verses 9-15 (MSG) says, "So now pick out what's true and fair, find all the good trails! Lady Wisdom will be your close f...

Thursday... Yes they do, yes it does. There are so many things that we tend to not remember. But we must and we do that by spending daily time reading God's Word in a systematic way. Look at this, Psalm 119:91 (NLT) says, "Your regulations remain true to this day" yes they do "for everything serves your plans." Yes it does. We need to be reminded of that fact as we have and are going through what we are going through right now. What we have and are going through may not be caused by God but He is using it, it serves His plan. And we need to get that and quit fighting it and search for what God is doing in and through it in our lives. Now The MESSAGE Paraphrase says this in verses 91-96, "Your word and truth are dependable as ever; that's what you ordered - you set the earth going. If your revelations hadn't delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came." And so many have but they didn't have to. He goes on. "But I...