Thursday... Two tremendous gifts that shows he understands.

If we could have walked beside someone who is successful we would see that their path to success was not a straight one. Have you noticed that when we are driving a car that we are constantly moving the steering wheel back and forth? We don't just set it and never move it. And this is where these two gifts of God come in.

Paul at the beginning of his letter to the churches around the town of Ephesus while he was in prison says in Ephesians 1:2 (NLT), "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." And we all need them because we will constantly need some course correction in our life. We definitely need grace and peace, don't we?

Think of Paul who was writing this letter in prison. He was in prison. He could have thought that he had blown it but he hadn't. He needed grace and peace to not feel like a failure and to be confident in God using him when it seemed he had blown it. He was exactly where God wanted him to be. And he also needed wisdom and understanding to see that.

In verses 6-8 Paul writes, "So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with wisdom and understanding." And we need understanding and wisdom in how God is working in our lives. He corrected this sin problem with his Son's death on the cross. And through his grace he will forgive us and get us on his path as we ask him to forgive us.

We need grace and peace and understanding and wisdom to see that life is not a straight path but one with a lot of curves and hills and valleys and that is ok. That's what happened when sin came into the world but God didn't let that curve stopped him and he corrected the problem by sending his Son to earth.

Yes, we will fail but we need to fail forward. We need to use wisdom, understanding, grace and peace to correct our course and use it as a stepping stone to grow and to learn. God used Paul in prison as a way to write a big portion of the New Testament. And Paul needed grace and peace and wisdom and understanding. God used what others and even Paul would call failure to make a major difference in the world.

David over in Psalm 17:4-5 says, "I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people. My steps have stayed on your path; I have not waved from following you." And there will be some mountains, some valleys and some curves on that path and he has given us grace and peace to handle them. Two tremendous gifts that shows he understands. 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...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Todays Beginning

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