Tuesday... Two four letter words that are far apart.

Both of them are found here in Proverbs 23:17-18 (AMP). The first one is the word envy. It is such an empty word. It has no power in it except to make us depressed, discouraged and dissatisfied.

Here is what it says, "Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation]," And there is the other four letter word. It is the word hope. Here it is again, "Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation], but [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord day by day. Surely there is a future [and a reward], and your hope and expectation will not be cut off." And there is a big, big difference in the two.

So what is envy? It is a discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. In no way does envy lift you up.

But hope is another thing. It is a feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing to happen. There is power in hope. There really is. Especially if your hope is in God.

I love the word expectation. The last part of verse 18 says, "Surely there is a future [and a reward], and your hope and expectation will not be cut off." Now the key here is to "[continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord day by day." The NIRV says, "But always show great respect for the Lord." The CEV says, "always honor the Lord." If your hope is connected to God then there is a future and a reward. And that is not true with envy.

I hope to have a good life. Well if my hope is connected to God then I know that if I continue to submit to God in humility and faith day by day then whatever happens I can believe there will be a future reward, and that my hope and expectation will not be cut off.

So there is our choice. Let's choose hope. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

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 ...

Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT), "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute. This time of the year is so exciting. We get our paycheck from work and then we head to the store or Amazon and buy and buy and buy all those presents and then our check is gone Proverbs 19:2 (NLT) says, "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." But buying gifts can be so much fun and seeing how happy they are when opening those presents makes us feel so good. But then verse 3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Now for some that is their life. They get money and they spend it on their wants with no thought of what needs to be paid. An important lesson that we have learned is just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you must spend it. But our enthusiasm takes over. But the problem is when it is gone and there is no money to pay th...

Today's Beginning

Search This Blog