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 if 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 Amplified Bible says, "Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] and discovering the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives [skillful and godly wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

And verse 7, "He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him] He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage."

And verse 8 (NLT), "He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him."

Just read through the ifs again and see the reality of the thens.There are such great benefits if we do the ifs! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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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...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Todays Beginning

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