Tuesday... There are so many ways that God shows he is God.

Psalm 67:1-2 (NLT), "May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. May your ways be knows throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere."

Tuesday... There are so many ways that God shows he is God.

Now we have a hand in this. How we respond, how we share, how we act is one of the many ways that God shows he is God. But so many times we don't make God look good. But we can.

Yes, we pray for his mercy, but do we give it? We want his blessing but do we bless those in our family, in our friends, with those we have coffee with each morning? And how about our smiling?

We are Christ's example.

Verse 1 in The Message Paraphrase says, "God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile!" That is so good. "Mark us with grace." Now we are good at judging but we need to work on grace, especially at home. I know I do. I am very good at the thus saith the Lord but grace is another thing. Oh God our families need grace.

And then this matter of smiling. If we showed how much we love life it could make all the difference in how we show that God is in our life and how much he has made a difference in our life. Smile. I know we are going through many difficulties in our lives but showing a smile in the midst of these difficulties can be a tremendous example.

Now blessing is also something that we need to give out. Yes, we give judgment but we are not too good at blessing. Now we want it but do we give it?

One definition is, a favor or gift bestowed by God which brings happiness. Oh if we would realize what a difference we would make if people felt good after they had been with us.

Another definition says that blessing has to do with approval. We are so good at condemning but not so much approval. But so many hurting people needs some affirmation, they need for us to affirm them. We are so good at pointing a finger but not in affirming, of letting people know how special they are.

Yes, we pray verse 1 (NLT), "May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us." and verse 2 says, " May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere." And how is that known? It is known through us.

Verses 2-4 (MSG) says, "The whole country will see how you work, all the godless nations see how you save. God! Let people thank and enjoy you. Let all people thank and enjoy you. Let all far-flung people become happy and shout their happiness because you judge them fair and square, you tend the far-flung people."

Yes, how we as Christ followers respond to others is one of the ways that God shows he is God. "God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile!" And it starts at home with our spouse and our kids. 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...

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...

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...

Todays Beginning

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