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

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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