Thursday... It's no fun when someone is angry with you.

There was a lady who was really angry at another lady at Starbucks yesterday. Not a fun time. Have you ever felt that God was angry with you? Well, the children of Israel knew he was angry with them. He had done so much for them and they still didn't follow him. That was not a fun time.

Well, Isaiah was given the task of telling them what God was feeling about them but then in Isaiah 12 he tells of what will happen in the day that they come back to God. In verse 1 Isaiah writes, "In that day you will sing: 'I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not anymore. Now you comfort me.'" Now that is a great feeling, isn't it? Knowing that someone was really angry with you and it was your fault but then they aren't anymore. A great load is lifted, isn't it?

He goes on in verse 2. He says, "See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song, he has given me victory." Now that is the way a relationship with God is suppose to work out and it does if we are obeying him and following him.

Let's say, you have a great relationship with your spouse but you blow it. You do something that really hurt them and they are angry with you and you deserve it. It wasn't their fault, it was your fault. Now you can set back and make excuses but in no way does that make a difference. The only way that you are going to be able to diffuse the anger is to really show that you know that you were wrong and that you will repent. In other words, you confess to them that you were wrong and you ask them to forgive you and you tell them that you will do everything you can to not do it again. And that will make all of the difference.

Now it may take a while for their anger to subside and for you to prove to them that you won't do it again but with God it is an instant happening. You see, he knows if you are really repentant. He knows your heart and he is in the second chance business.

Hebrews 10:17 tells us, "Then he says, 'I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.'" Verse 23 says, "Let us hold tightly to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise."

And then verses 35-36 says, "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised."

Earlier it says that if you (vs. 26), "deliberately continue sinning", then, verse 31 says, "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God." We must do everything we can to not have him angry with us.

And we can. It is not up to him, it is up to us. And there is so much for us if we do. Isaiah 12:2 says, "See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

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 ...

Todays Beginning

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