Friday... Now this is the way to start a new day.

Psalm 46:1 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." Did you catch that? He is "our" refuge? The "our" makes it personable. Now we have to reach out and rely in order to realize it that he is always ready. But it is the truth. Again, he is always ready in times of our being in trouble.

The writer goes on. Verse 2 says, "So we will not fear." So many times we go to bed afraid and then we wake up in fear. Again, "We will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea." Verse 3, "Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!"

I live 4 hours away from the ocean but I do live in a valley that is surrounded by mountains. But maybe it isn't mountains or the ocean that makes us afraid. But no matter what it is, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." So are you in some type of trouble?

The Amplified Bible says, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very present and well-proven help in trouble." I love that, God is mighty and impenetrable and he is always present and he is well-proven. No matter where you are or what your are going through he is close and he is competent. He can take care of it. And he is well-proven.

The Message says it this way, "God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, before the rush of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains."

He has it covered. He has that trouble that we are facing covered and he wants us to realize that and rely on that. Now that is a great way to start our day, isn't it? Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

Today's Beginning

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