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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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...

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless. It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...

Todays Beginning

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