Wednesday... This is very interesting.

Here is how Psalm 128 starts. It says in verse 1 (GNT), "Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands." Three words that don't seem to work together, happy, obey and commands. They don't seem to go together but they do.

Now the key here is, who is it that I am to obey and what are his commands? There are some that we obey who don't bring us joy but we can know without a doubt that the Lord loves us. He really does and that fact makes all of the difference.

The Amplified Bible says, "Blessed [happy and sheltered by God's favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments." But there is something inside of us that doesn't want to be obedient that wants our own way and that doesn't lead to a good and happy life.

Look at Psalm 1:1&2, "Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers). But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law, [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night." That word, habitually is a very good one.

Romans 13:8 (NLT) says, "Owe nothing to anyone - except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law." And then 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us when we are wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."

Back to Psalm 128:1 (NIV), "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him." The New Living Translation says, "How joyful are those who fear the Lord - all who follow his ways!" 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. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

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 ...

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