Friday... The abnormal turns back into normal.

The abnormal can have a lot of joy in it. It is different than normal but normal can also have joy but it can also have trouble.

I just said goodbye to our family from Colorado. I took them to Starbucks and got them some food for the road. We all had such a good time together. The ten of us had such a good time but now it is back to normal.

So what does your normal look like to you? You had such a good time eating and telling stories and celebrating yesterday but now the normal of life returns. So what is that like for you?

David writes in Psalm 55.22-23 (MSG) something that we need to realize. Yes I just said goodbye to our family from Colorado but the normal in my life is that God is still here and He is there, He is everywhere. And David says, "Pile your troubles on God's shoulders - he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people tobble into ruin." and then the very last sentence of this Psalm says, "And I trust in you." Now that is what normal is to a follower of Christ.

Yes it is hard to say goodbye to people you love but we never have to say goodbye to God. We are never alone.

Brett and Marissa have two dogs and we have one. And Margaret my wife just shared with us all online that Turner, our dog is looking all around for his buddies. And that is reality. It is hard to say goodbye when someone lives somewhere else but we never have to do that with God. Oh, we can turn our back on Him but He is still so close.

Verse 22 in the Amplified Bible says, "Cast your burden on the Lord [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail)". And that is what is normal to those who are followers of God.

So there can be peace and joy in our normal. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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