Wednesday... He is so good but.

Wednesday... He is so good but he is not easy.

He is definitely a good God. Just the opportunity to have someone in our life who will always love us is so good but love doesn't mean easy.

Let's say I'm in school and I have a test tomorrow and I don't study but when I get up I pray that God will help me with my test. Or let's say, that I need a job but I don't put in the effort to find one, but I do pray or I do have a job but I just don't want to get up and do it so I pray that God will supply my needs.

Proverbs 20:4 (NLT) says, "Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest." God honors our diligence, our effort and he gives us opportunities if and when we pray. He also will give us strength but he does not honor laziness.

Verse 12 says, "Ears to hear and eyes to see - both are gifts from the Lord."

Every morning when I start my daily systematic reading in Psalms, Proverbs and the New Testament, I start my time by praying, "Lord, open my eyes to see, my ears to hear, my mind to comprehend, my heart to comply and my hands to communicate so that someone will be encouraged, enlighted, inspired, invited to a deeper relationship with you or invited to a new relationship with you and then I start reading. Now it may mean that I read these three chapters in five different translations before that word comes to me and I start writing. And yes, God always answers my prayer but I must also do my part and many times it is not easy but it always is a privilege and an opportunity.

Verse 13 says, "If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat." The Amplified Bible says, "Do not love [excessive] sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes [so that you can do your work] and you will be satisfied with bread."

It called work. And it isn't always easy. Now work started in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. God gave Adam a job. He was to name all of the animals. Work is a part of God's plan.

Now it is true that if something is too difficult, if troubles come, God is only a prayer away.

Over in John 2, Jesus was at a wedding and the wine ran out, there was no more, and Mary, Jesus mother came to Jesus and told him, "They have no more wine." Now Jesus took care of the problem but there were things that the servants had to do. Yes, this was Jesus first miracle, he turned water into wind but the servants had a hand in it. They had something to do and they did it. And it wasn't easy for them but they weren't lazy, they did what he said and there was a miracle.

Psalm 80:3 (CEV) says, "Our God, make us strong again and save us." We don't need to be strong if we are in bed but if we are up and doing our part then we need to be strong and God will answer that prayer and he will save us. Now there are situations where we need to be in bed and God will give us the strength to handle those times. He really will.

Yes we must pray and yes we must do. This is just a reminder, God is so good but he is not easy. Life can be hard, but he will be with us and leading us and strengthening us. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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 ...

Wednesday... It is amazing what we can see.

Psalm 3:3a (NLT), "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me." Wednesday... It is amazing what we can see. And what we see does make such a difference in our day. Now David, he writer of Psalm 3 starts this Psalm this way. He says in verse 1 (NLT), "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me." Yes, he is saying this to the LORD, the one he serves. Verse 2 says, "So many are saying, 'God will never rescue him!'" And that is so true with that outlook. So many of us get out of bed with that outlook every morning. It is amazing what we can see. Now I woke up this morning and eventually found myself outside on my couch with my Bible and I read this outlook in verses 1-2 from David. But I didn't stop there and neither did David. But that is an easy place to stop, isn't it? And it is true. Yes, David didn't stop there. Verses 3-4 says, "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I...

Today's Beginning

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