Tuesday... Let's be encouraged together.

And a great place to look is God's Word and Proverbs 3 is a great place to start.

I love verses 5 & 6 (NLT). They are life verses for me and they are a great place to start in this new year. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." That is a great place to start, isn't it?

But I kept going and I found verse 26 (AMP) and it says, "For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong. And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap]." He will show you which path to take and then He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap and He will be my confidence.

And then verse 34, "Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorner, yet He gives His grace [His underserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance]."

Now we can have all the confidence in the world. We can trust ourselves to do something great in this new year but we can only go so far. Look how we handled Covid on our own. For many that wasn't a great path that we took. And no way did we have grace in the midst of all the division. And some are still at odds with others who didn't agree with them. And we for sure don't want to look at how we handled the election. Both sides were caught in a trap. No grace there.

But the humble, the ones who gave up their self-importance are a different story. The same is true of those who put their trust, not in themselves but in the Lord and then those that put their confidence in the Lord. And His grace comes to those who are humble. Who don't have all the answers.

So let's be encouraged as we face a new year of opportunity no matter what is ahead, to be humble, to set aside ourselves, to give up our self-importance and to put our trust in the Lord and let Him be our confidence. So let's be encouraged together and see what happens. I believe He will show us the path to take, He will keep our foot from being caught in a trap and He will give His grace, His undeserved favor to those who give up their self-importance. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is!

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is! Look at this, Proverbs 5:21-23 (CEV) says, "The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control." That is true of so many. Now look at this, Luke 15:1-7 says, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, 'This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this story: If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, 'Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep.' Jesus said, 'In the same way there is mo...

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...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Todays Beginning

Search This Blog