Tuesday... Life has its ways of bringing us down.

The writer of Psalm 42 ends this Psalm in verse 11 (MSG) by asking some good questions. He writes, "Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues?" Do you ever get up in the morning and ask yourself the same questions. Life has its ways of bringing us down. Satan has his ways of bringing us down.

But the Psalmist doesn't stop there. That's why I love the Psalms, I love the Bible. The Psalmist continues. He gives us the answer. He shows us what to do. He says, "Fix my eyes on God - soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God." The New Living Translation says, "I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Saviour and my God." It's all in the focus.

Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians in 2:15-17 (MSG) says, "So friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech."

That is so good. "May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech."

The NLT says, "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say."

Again the Psalmist writes, "Fix my eyes on God - soon I'll be praising again." Earlier the Psalmist writes in verse 6, "When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you." It's all in the focus. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Friday... So what is it that you really fear?

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT), "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Friday... So what is it that you really fear? Yes, fear holds us back. It seems to take hold of us so that we can't even really enjoy living. Now I have found that one of the best ways to handle fear is to solve the problem of what we fear. Let's say that death is what we really fear. Everyday we wake up afraid to get up because we are afraid to do anything because we are afraid to die. And that is so understandable. Now I have found the solution to fearing death. I have through faith taken care of my fear to die. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) says, "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 22 (CEV) says, "Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us." Death was not God's plan. Adam was created for an eternal life but he and his partner, Eve blew it and sin a...

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