Saturday... But it always works.

There was a book that was written a long time ago that had a great impact on the world. It had an impact on me. It was written by Norman Vincent Peale and called The Power of Positive Thinking. There is power in positive thinking but it doesn't always work the way we want it to.

Look at this verse written by Paul who was in prison to his friend Philemon. In 1:22 (NLT) he writes, "One more thing - please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon." Now the positive thinker or the prayer warrior would say it is done but Paul never made it out of prison. What happened?

We seem to be looking even in our Christian experience to find a way to get what we want, what we hope for. We say it, we claim it and it happens. We want that power, don't we? But the key is to not get what we want but to live out what God wants, what he is planning and to trust him. It's all in living out God's purpose and plan for our life. God knows what he is doing and we just need to trust him. It is not in our power but in his plan. Again, God knows best.

Verse 22 in The Message says, "And by the way, get a room ready for me. Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again."

Yes, Paul was hoping and expecting but he was also trusting. He was living not for himself and his own wants. He was living for God and his plan and his wants. Remember, trust always works. So let's pray and let's believe and let's trust God.

By the way, we can claim this, Psalm 60:12 (NIV) says, "With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our foes." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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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...

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