Todays Beginning

Thursday... So let's be restored, renewed and reassured, today. Thank you so much, God for giving me something worthwhile to do in my retirement. I love getting up and knowing that I have an opportunity to share with people, to give them encouragement, and to show them how you can make a difference in today in their lives. Thank you so much for your Word! Psalm 119:37 (NLT) is a great prayer for each of us as we face a new day and the beginning tomorrow of a new month. It says, "Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word." The Amplified Bible says this verse this way. It says, "Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly things that distract - let your priorities be mine], and restore me [with renewed energy] in your ways." Those distractions that come across our path even as we start our day can really drain our energy to face a new day, can't they? I many times am awakened early by thoughts that are there to start by day of

Wednesday... There are blessings out there. Thank you so much, God for the opportunity to follow you today and for the blessings that come from our steadily staying on your path.  Psalm 119:1-3 (MSG) says, "You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That's right - you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set." And then verse 4 says, "You, God, prescribe the right way to live; now you expect us to live it." And we want to know what he expects, don't we? Verses 5-6 (NLT) says, "Oh that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands." And we don't want to be ashamed, do we? The writer goes on in verse 7 and here is the action that we have been celebrating and striving to put into our lives. It says, "As I learn your

Tuesday... Those mountains are just a reminder. Thank you, so much God for the beautiful view this morning. I love those mountains. They are an expression of your might, of your greatness, of your dependability, and of your enduring faithful love which will last forever.  Psalm 118:1 (NLT) says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever."  Verses 5-6 says, "In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" And then verse 7a, "Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me." He has done it before and he will do it again. "His faithful love endures forever." I have looked out on those mountains for many years and they are still there, they look the same and they have not moved.  Verse 8 says, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in

Monday... There is no way that one day is enough. Thank you so much, God, for the very good time Margaret and I had this weekend with our Vegas family, for the safe trip to California and back and for all that happened there and also for working in an amazing way in our Colorado family's life. You definitely do make a difference. You really do. Again, thank you. The writer of Psalm 116 in verses 1-2 (NLT) says, "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath." That is so true and so amazing. We had a problem last weekend and by this past weekend, it was solved. We prayed and God bent down and listened and did something about it. It was amazing. Yes, "I will pray as long as I have breath!" Verse 5 says, "How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours." There is no way that one day set aside to give thanks can take care of all that you, God, do

Wednesday...  It really is a beautiful sight. Does doing something everyday get to the place that it loses meaning? I guess it can but still thank you,  God for the good night's rest and moving and working in my life yesterday and now for the opportunity of a new day and with you at my side. Thank you, thank you so much. Also, I just checked in to Aspire Coffee Shop for the 406th time where I have spent time in your word and sharing uplifting thoughts out to others. Thank you so much for the desire and the privilege of fulfilling this commitment. Thanks for the opportunity. Look at what the prophet Isaiah writes in 52:7 (NIRV), "What a beautiful sight it is to see messengers coming with good news! How beautiful to see them coming down from the mountains with a message of peace! How wonderful it is when they bring good news that we are saved! How wonderful when they say to Zion, 'Your God rules!'"  Now that is a tremendous privilege, isn't it? The world wants u

Tuesday... It is another day to delight in and for him to deliver. Thanks! Thanks so much, God for the beauty of a new day. A little cold but the sun is out and my anticipation is there about this new day. Thank you so much for preparing the way. You have a plan and a purpose. Thanks for the privileged of being a part of it. It has started. Psalm 111:2-3 (NLT) says, "How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails." At the Starbucks I go to a guy was telling me yesterday all about the fact that our country is falling apart. He was so discouraged. I don't think he started his day with focusing on the deeds of the Lord and that he didn't delighted in him as he pondered them. And I felt so bad for him. His focus was bringing him down. I did share with him that I had a different perspective and that I had hope. So what is your focus today? Yes, if this world w

Monday... They are so honest and uplifting. It is windy and cold this morning for this desert rat but thank you so much, God for the opportunity of a new day and a new week and for the great weekend we just had. God, you are so good.  I love the Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible, I really do. They are so honest and uplifting and they show us what could happen and what does happen when we put our trust in God and when we thank him for what he does in our lives. I always want to be faithful in thanking him. It is the way for us to remember what he does for us daily. Yes, we are starting thanksgiving week but it is something we need to do continually. Here is how King David ends Psalm 109. In verses 30-31 (NLT) he says, "But I will give thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone. For he stands beside the needy, ready to save them from those who condemn them." I'm sure you realize that in our life Satan wants to keep us in despair. That is the way he keeps us in his

Saturday... There is no end to it. Thank you so much God, for the beauty of the mountains that surround our city. You created those and you create places for us that are above the cares and concerns of the world. Verse 4 in Psalm 108 (NIV) says, "For great is your love, higher than the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the skies." And then verse 5, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens: let your glory be over all the earth." I love coming to my two coffee shops and looking out the windows at the beauty of the mountains but I also love to sit in my backyard. I have tall cinder block walls that keep me from seeing the mountains but the open skies are there to see. I love looking up and seeing the clouds and seeing the planes and seeing the birds and I love what the Psalmist in verse 4 says, "For great is your love, higher than the heavens, your faithfulness reaches the skies." Yes the mountains are great but where they end the sky takes over and it goes

Friday... It is such a very good thing to do. Thank you so much, God for the time you and I spent this morning in our backyard with Turner our dog at my side and my Bible on my lap. Thank you for the personal focus time with you speaking through your word to me and the time I spent connecting with you through prayer and for the uplifting time of looking out on your creation. Thank you so much God for being involved in my life and for the one on one time I had with you and for the personal relationship we have. Thank you so much. Psalm 107:1-2 (NLT) says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies." And that is such a very good question and such a very good thing to do. The NIRV says it this way, "Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good. His faithful love continues forever. Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story. He has set them free from the power of the

Thursday... Even so, shows so much about him. First of all, thank you God for the desire and the opportunity to be in your word. Thank you for bringing Margaret and I through Covid and that we both have tested negative. And thanks God for the miracle of a new day and the privilege of living for you and experiencing your love and your greatness. The writer of Psalm 106 says in verses 6-9 (NLT), "Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord's miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea. Even so, he saved them - to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power." And I'm sure that many times when it seems we are not impressed with what God is doing around us and for us, even so he saves us, he takes care of us, he loves us because of who he is and what he is like.  We are headed into thanksg

Wednesday... This used to be impossible to do, daily. Psalm 105:1 (NLT) says, "Give thanks to the Lord..." now that hasn't been impossible. We even have a day next week set aside to give thanks. Yes, we really can do that and we need to do it everyday. And giving thanks to the Lord is a great way to start and continue our day. So, why not stop right now and give thanks to God for three things he did for you yesterday and today.  Here are mine. Thanks God that I was able yesterday to get back to writing after having Covid. Thanks God, that Margaret is closer to getting over Covid. Thanks God that I was able to check in to the coffee shop, Aspire where I write, for the 400th time today. Oh, God, you are so good to me. And he is to you, too. "Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done." Now that has been impossible. But now I can set down at my computer and share what he has done and anyone, anywhere can click on t

Tuesday... And that is what I want to do. Last week I mentioned that I had tested positive for Covid. Well, yesterday I tested negative. And as my son, Brett said yesterday, "I'm sure you are thrilled to have your freedom back." And that is so very true.  Now the first line in today's Psalm is what I want to do today. Psalm 104:1 (NLT) says, "Let all that I am praise the Lord." I have no doubt that he has had a hand in freeing me in so many areas of my life and for sure from this prison of Covid. Do you have some area in your life where you feel shackled and you found that with God in your life that if and when you came to him and asked him to that he would free you? And as you think about what he has done in so many areas of your life do you also want to stop and praise him? So "Let all that I am praise the Lord." Maybe you still feel shacked. Margaret tested positive a few days after me and she is still positive but she should test negative real

Monday... This is such a special week. It really is. Today is my wife, Margaret's birthday and on Thursday, it will be our anniversary. I won't say how many years for both because it might come out that we are old. But we have had some very good years and also a few problem ones but we have stayed together.  Now these days are reminder days just as everyday can be. As I look back I am reminded of how great it is to have a relationship with God and to see how he has worked in our lives and to see the blessings he has given to us when we have put our confidence in him. Even in those days where we wavered some. Psalm 95:6-7 (NLT) says, "Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care." And in this week we can revel in the truth of the fact that God has watched over us and that we have been and still are in his care.  I was reading this morning in Isaiah 36 and of how

Saturday... I wish you could have known him. My father, B. Ivan Williams was a very special person. The day he was killed threw my life into a tailspin. He definitely was my hero.  There are three of us who saw him from a totally different view because we were his children. He was our father. Now our father would do anything for us, his children. He wasn't wealthy but he showed his love in so many different ways. Now the Apostle John tells us some great news in 1 John 3:1 (AMP). He says, "See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us," Now there are so many fathers who have never shown to their kids any quality of love. Some fathers show no love to their children. They abuse them, they ignore them but God is not like that. Our heavenly Father really does love us and he gives us an incredible quality of love John says "See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted

Friday... So, is it ok to hate your brother? And you might say that you have your right to hate him. But do you? There are some truths that we as Christ followers believe that comes from the outside world that just don't hold for us and hating your brother who might be is a fellow believer is one of them. And some of us may need a reminder. 1 John 2:9-11 (NLT) says, "If anyone claims, 'I am living in the light,' but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble." Have you ever thought about the fact that the stuff we sometimes put on the internet that shows our dislike of other believers can cause someone who is young in the faith to stumble? Again, "Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble." We need to be reminded of that sometimes, don't we? He goes on, "But anyone who hates a

Thursday... Oh, if this would only happen. We look at our lives but we don't really see. Oh we see just enough to discourage us, to take away our hope but there is more to this life than that.  The prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible says this in Isaiah 32:3 (NIV), "Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen." This is what we need in this day in which we live. Oh, God open our eyes to really see what is happening, to see what you are doing and to open our ears so we will listen to you. He goes on in verse 4, "The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear." This is what happens when we open our eyes and see from God's perspective, and we really listen to His Spirit leading us and speaking to us. He has so much more for us. Here is what will happen when we see and hear. Verses 5-7 says, "No longer will the fool be called noble nor the sco

Wednesday... It is really hard sometimes.  It really can be and it can be hard to understand but life is built upon decisions we make and many times there are consequences that goes with those decisions. But as Christ's followers we must see that there is a light ahead in this tunnel of life that we are living in. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 91:1-2 (NLT), "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him." I remember once when I was young and we were on a trip to somewhere and I woke up and found that we were in a tunnel but I wasn't afraid because my dad was driving our car and I trusted him to get us out. Now we were in that tunnel because of the choses he had made but he also knew the way out. He had a map that showed him where to go. Now we may have struggles and tunnels and difficulties in this life but it is not the