Thursday... We use so many different methods at this time of the year.

We use the method of you better watch out a whole lot. They even sell the Elf on the Wall to get our attention. I mean having someone sitting on a shelf and watching us and sending messages to Santa can really help on motivating us to being good. But the rest of the year we don't have the Santa Claus is coming as a mode of motivation but at this time of the year we use it a whole lot.

Being rewarded for being good or bad and the Santa Claus is coming to town is a tremendous motivation. But the reality is that God is always here. Proverbs 15:3 (NLT) says, "The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good." And I love that fact.

Psalm 75:1 says, "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." I love the fact that is is near and that He is watching out for me and what I am doing and what is happening all around me. That is such an awesome thing.

I love the fact that He is near my kids and my grandkids and that He cares for them and He is there not to scold them unless they need it but to encourage them, to give them guidance and to protect them. That is a tremendous thing to a father and a grandfather. Every morning I connect with God and pray for each one of them by name because I know He is near them. No matter what is happening He can handle it. He is near and He does wonderful deeds.

Now the positive aspect of the fact that He is near comes from my having an up-to-date relationship with Him. Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God tried to hide from Him. They couldn't but they tried because they felt guilty.

Now we can't hide but we can turn to Him and confess whatever it is that causes us to want to hide. He is always there ready to forgive. And Him being near is a tremendous motivator at keeping me on track. So the Elf on the Wall can be a tremendous motivator to be good. But I like the fact that I really love Him and He really loves me and I really want to please Him and live for Him and to do what He says. And He is near to help me and to reward me and to show me what to do.

So, "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

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

Search This Blog