Skip to main content

Thursday... It is so familiar, but life can make it new.


Thursday... It is so familiar, but life can make it new.

What is around you that you don't see anymore? I live in the desert and I can get to the place that I don't see the Sun until a cloudy winter comes to stay and then I appreciate it again and see it with new appreciation and anticipation.

Life is like that. We don't really appreciate the good things in our life until trouble strikes. 

Here is a portion of Scripture that if you have been a Christian for long you have read it with a, I really love it. But with changes in our life it can have new meaning.

Look at this, Psalm 23:1-3 (NLT) says, "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths." We read it and read it and read it and then life changes and it takes on new meaning, new importance, new significance. 

Maybe that is where you are today. You were going along and then the snow came, the river is overflowing, the job has become greater than you can bear, the COVID is still here and you and your family have it. Where did the peaceful stream go and the green meadows? This chapter takes on new meaning.

Let me share it again but from the Amplified Bible. "The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name sake."

Now read it again in light of the difficulties you are going through. It takes on new meaning, doesn't it? And sometimes we need to go through new and difficult situations to see God and His love in a new light. It is in the times of clouds that the Sun takes on new meaning. It is in times of distress that God takes on new significance and new meaning and we have a new appreciation. and a new need for Him and dependence on Him. The Lord is my Shepherd takes on new meaning, new significance and new appreciation and need.

Look at verse 6 in light of what you are going through. It says, "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life." Not just what we would call good days but also the difficult days. "and I will live in the house of the Lord." 

So go find your Bible and read Psalm 23 in light of what you are going through. It will take on new meaning. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...