Tuesday... Here are two very interesting words.

Matthew 6:31 (MSG) has the first word. It says, "What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving." The first word is preoccupied. It's so easy to get preoccupied with getting, isn't it?

Now this is Jesus speaking and He goes on. Verses 32-33 says, "People who don't know God and how he works fuss over these things," They are preoccupied. "but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."

When we are so preoccupied with getting we spend a lot of time worrying, don't we? But here He says that if we steep our life in "God-reality, God-initiative, God- provisions" we don't need to worry and we will find that all of our "everyday human concerns will be met."

And then verse 34 gives us the other word which is when. Here is what this verse says, "Give you entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up" or preoccupied "about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up" and here is the other word, "when the time comes." Hard times will come. They will but don't get preoccupied with getting what you need to take care of them because God is out ahead taking care of them and He will give us what we need when they come.

God has our tomorrow's hard times taken care of. We don't have to worry. Worry comes from being preoccupied with getting. Listen, God has our "when the time comes" taken care of. So let's give our entire attention to what God is giving, what He is doing right now. And relax because He is taking care of the rest. 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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