Friday... It starts and then it cannot be stopped.

It many times starts with a thought. You're listening to someone tell what they think and a thought goes through your mind that you disagree. You have a different opinion. Now what they are saying isn't really something that is totally wrong but it is different than what you think so you state what you think.

Proverbs 17:14 (AMP) says, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water [as from a small break in a dam, first it trickles and then it gushes]." The Message says, "The start of a quarrel is like a leak in a dam."

Think about the last quarrel that you had with your spouse or your kids, your parents or just a person you didn't really know. Was what they said really that wrong and what you said was really that right? Was it really that important what you said. But you did and it started as a small comment and ended with hurt feelings and a broken relationship. Was it really that important?

The rest of the proverb tells us what to do. Verse 14b (AMP), says, "Therefore abandon the quarrel before it breaks out and tempers explode." The Message says, "So stop it before it bursts."

People are more important than our passing opinion.

Oh God, Please help us to see people as you see them.

Of course, there are some things that we need to take a stand for but in reality there aren't as many as we think. It needs to be done in the right time and in the right way. People matter to God and they need to matter to us. Especially our family and our closest friends and those that God has put in our lives to show what real love is all about. Maybe God wants you to show them what love and acceptance is all about.

Verse 14 in the NLT says, "Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out." We need to put that in our mind each morning before we face our family. 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. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

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 ...

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