Monday... I'm back and ready to go.

We have gone from Vegas to Colorado, to Maryland, Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico and back to Vegas. Well we weren't in Cuba but we cruised close to it. Yes we have been flying and cruising and now we are back home and I'm sitting here in my special coffee shop, Aspire, ready to write a word of encouragement for us.

So how are you doing? What is your Monday like? Are you ready to face another day, another week or are you ready to give up. Yes, yes, life can be difficult. It really can be tough. So how are you handling what you are facing?

There is a phrase in Psalm 119:8b (NLT) that says, "Please don't give up." And that is a very good word of encouragement. But that is not what it says here. Yes, it is so easy sometimes for us to want to give up, to just want to stay in bed and not get up. It does say that in many other Psalms but that is not what is says here in verses 7-8.

Verses 7-8 says, "As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you for living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me." And that is maybe what we could be saying in the midst of what we are going though. But here is the truth. He will never give up on us, on you and me. He may step back and wait on us to learn and lean on his righteous regulations and to thank him for giving us the desire to obey what he says but he will never give up on us.

So no matter what you are facing today, he has not given up on you.

Over in Exodus 15 the children of Israel were on the other side of the miracle of walking through the Red Sea on dry ground, of escaping their slavery in Egypt but they couldn't find any water and they were complaining. No they weren't thanking, they were complaining. Now they did find some water but it was bitter. Verse 25 says, "So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him."

Verse 26, "He said, 'If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you."

As you continue the story of the children of Israel they didn't follow this but God didn't give up on them and he hasn't give up on us. Now God used a tree to fix the bitterness in that water. And throughout the Bible as we read it we will see that a tree represents the cross of Jesus. The cross provides the main form of healing that we all need most: healing from sin. That tree, the cross, means we get to live and it means that God has not and will not give up on us, on you and me.

So don't give up doing what he says for us to do and remember that he hasn't given up on us.

Verses 5-8 (MSG) says, "You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me."

So, let's do what he wants us to do and believe that he hasn't given up on us. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is!

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is! Look at this, Proverbs 5:21-23 (CEV) says, "The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control." That is true of so many. Now look at this, Luke 15:1-7 says, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, 'This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this story: If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, 'Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep.' Jesus said, 'In the same way there is mo...

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Todays Beginning

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