Tuesday... What does an elephant look like?

Let's say you ask someone that question and they give you a description of the tail of an elephant. That in no way tells you what an elephant really looks like, does it? But so many say they know what God is like and they describe him as an angry being who kills people that he doesn't like. But that isn't a valid description of who God is but because that is their picture then they say that they don't want to serve someone like that. And that is understandable if that is your only picture of God.

Now Proverbs 2:22 (NLT) does say, "But the wicked will be removed from the land and the treacherous will be uprooted." Now that isn't the whole picture just like describing the tail is the whole picture of an elephant.

But in the beginning of Proverbs 2 in verse 3 it says, "Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding." And then verses 6-7 says, "For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest." There is so much more about God than just one verse.

I was also reading this morning in John 11 in the NT and it tells about a very special friend of Jesus who died. Now Jesus had been told that his friend was very sick and his sisters thought that he would come and heal him. They really didn't understand what Jesus could do and what he was all about. By experience they had seen him heal people so they knew that he could do that. And we are also like that. We have a difficult situation happen to us and we have an expectation of how God will handle it but when he doesn't do it they way we think he should them we get upset and our faith weakens.

Verse 21 says, "Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.'" Earlier in verse 4 it says, "But when Jesus heard about it he said, 'Lazarus's sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.'"

In situations that happen different than our expectation we need to, "Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding." Now that comes through his Spirit and through spending time in his Word.

Back to John 21. When Jesus finally got to the grave of his friend Lazarus, verse 39 says, "'Roll the stone aside,' Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, 'Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.'" Remember, "Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding."

Verses 40-44 says, "Jesus responded, 'Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?' Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.' Then Jesus shouted, 'Lazarus come out!' And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in a headcloth. Jesus told them, 'Unwrap him and let him go!"

Now this gives us a another glimpse of what God is like and how he works and why he might do things in our life and why situations in our life don't go the way we expect. God has a plan, a purpose and he can be trusted.

Back to Proverbs 2 in verses 6-8, "For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him." Just a little more to be added to our picture of God. And there is so much more! 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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