Saturday... Our view of who we are drives us.

Saturday... Our view of who we are drives us. It really does. So who are we?

Paul in writing a letter to he coworker and friend, Titus reemphasizes who he, Paul is. In Titus 1:1 (NLT) Paul says, "This letter is from Paul, a slave..." Now that statement can bring a lot of different reactions from us. He's a slave? Poor guy. We've got to do something about that.

But he goes on, "a slave of God." Ya, look what it got him. He is in prison. But Paul was saying this as the beginning of his introduction. He wasn't feeling sorry for himself or ashamed. He knew what that really meant. He had given his whole life over to God. He didn't see it as a put down but a tremendous opportunity.

Too many people say that I am a slave to my wife, my husband, or to my work and see that as something negative, a put down. But in reality, it is a tremendous opportunity to be married and to have a job. Your attitude toward your life makes such a difference.

And then Paul says, "and an apostle of Jesus Christ." Yes, I am in prison, I am a slave but God is using me to change the world. I am "an apostle of Jesus Christ."

The whole verse says, "This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know how to live godly lives."

I was just thinking, I am a slave of God in my old age, I am in my 70's and I could see that as being a major hindrance but I see that He wants to show me that it is a tremendous opportunity to make a difference. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ and I have been chosen even in the prison of old age "to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know how to live godly lives." I love it. It is so amazing what God can and wants to do through His slaves. I don't want to be anything else.

Verses 1-2 in The Message says, "I, Paul, am God's slave and Christ's agent for promoting the faith among God's chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago - and he doesn't break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I have been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself."

We Have a choice. Proverbs 12:27-28 (AMP) says, "The lazy man does not catch and roast his prey, but the precious possession of a [wise[ man is diligence [because he recognizes opportunities and seizes them]. In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death [but immortality - eternal life."

Now that is a great view of what God gives His slaves. 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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