Thursday... But I really want to know what is happening.

Psalm 42:11 (NLT), "Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Savior and my God!"

Thursday... But I really want to know what is happening.

There are many reasons why we wake up discouraged and why we are so sad. Many times it is because our life is not living up to our expectations. We aren't getting what we want.

The writer of Psalm 42 asked the why questions. In verse 5a and again in 11a he asks, "Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?" Now if this is true of you as you wake up this morning these too might be good questions to ask? Why am I discouraged? Why am I so sad?

Well the writer didn't answer his questions but he did say what he was going to do. The rest of this verse says, "I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Savior and my God!" So he must have been putting his hope in the wrong thing. And maybe that is true of us too in our discouragement and sadness. Asking these questions really can help.

I am finding that the problem comes from my wanting to know what is happening. But I am also finding that in what we are going through it is best to take one day at a time and give God that which we can't control. The whys come from what we are putting our hope.

The Amplified Bible says, "Why are you in despair, O my soul? Why have you become restless and disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him. for I shall praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God."

Hope in God and wait expectantly and praise him for what he has done, is doing and is going to do.

Verse 8 (NLT) says, "But each day the Lord pours out his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing songs, praying to God who gives me life." Now that is the way to go to sleep and that will make such a difference in how we wake up.

I have found out that when problems wake me up in the middle of the night then I give them over to God. "Here, God. I know you know what you are doing. And you are greater than any problem that I am facing and I really do trust you."

The Amplified Bible says, "Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song will be with me, a prayer to the God of my life."

Now this Psalm starts this way. Verses 1 & 2 says, "As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, so my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God. My soul (my life, my inner self) thirst for God, for the living God."

And that is the way to handle the whys. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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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

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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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