Thursday... So how do we handle the unknown?

Psalm 62:8 (AMP), "Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us."

Thursday... So how do we handle the unknown?

So here it is a new year. We never have faced 2025 before. And looking at individuals, even Christ followers, each ones handles the unknown differently.

Now over in Genesis 32-33 we find a story about two brothers, Jacob and Esau. It seems that 20 years before, Jacob the younger brother had stolen the older brother Esau's birthright and Esau said he was going to kill him so Jacob ran but God seemed to tell him that it was time to come home and meet up with his brother. And in Genesis 33:1 (NLT) it says, "Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with 400 men."

Now each one of us are unique individuals and we each one face difficult situations differently. Even Christ followers face what is ahead differently. One will face it positively, thinking that this new year is going to be great and others have a negative and as some say a realistic view of what is ahead. And it is so easy to point our fingers at each other and condemn how they handle what is ahead.

Even the words faith and trust must go through different, unique personalities. And sin clouds the picture but being saved of our sins will go also through our unique personalities.

Now Jacob faces this situation with some anxiety. He wasn't sure how the meeting was going to go and especially when he heard that his brother was bringing 400 men with him. So how are you facing the unknown of a new year? But the key is, he did face it and he didn't run away from what he believed God wanted him to do. And that is so important. We must be obedient to God.

With who he was, Jacob came up with a bunch of plans. And he also had a wrestling match with God.

Psalm 62:8 (AMP) says, "Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us." And that is such an important verse for us as we face this new year.

Yes, we can trust God but we also because we are a unique human will handle it differently. Now the time Jacob had wrestling with God and the changes even with God changing his name changed the way he would handled this situation.

Verse 3 says, "Then Jacob crossed over [the stream] ahead of them and bowed himself to the ground seven times [bowing and moving forward each time], until he approached his brother." He humbled himself. His I am a winner personality didn't get in the way this time. He came as a humble man. And look what happened. I don't think that Jacob expected this but God did.

Verse 4 says, "But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and hugged his neck and kissed him and they wept [for joy]." Genesis 32:5 (NLT) says that Jacob was "hoping that you would be friendly to me." And what happened was way above his expectation, what he was hoping for.

Again we each one will face this new year as unique individuals but God is the same God. So "Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us."

David also writes in Psalm 62:1-2, "I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken." And verses 11-12, "God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours, Surely you repay all people according to what they have done."

Yes, we are unique but we each one need to humble ourselves before God because victory comes from him. Yes, "Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us." And that is true for each one of us no matter how unique we are. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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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