Thursday... It is both wonderful and beautiful..

Psalm 133:1 (MSG), "How wonderful and beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along."

Thursday... It is both wonderful and beautiful.

Here is what King David says in Psalm 133:1 (MSG), "How wonderful and beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along." And he knows what this is all about. He even at one time had one of his sons trying to kill him. Absalom wanted to be king and he set out to kill his dad. Yes in places where we need to live together we have so many problems. The NIV says, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together." And in these days in which we are living and will live we really do need each other.

Now I am also reading in the book of Deuteronomy and in 13:3b-4 (NLT) Moses writes, "The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul." The Message says, "God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you. You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him - hold on to him for dear life!"

Now in verses 1-3a (NLT) Moses writes, "Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dreams dreams about the future, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, 'Come let us worship other gods' - gods you have not known before - do not listen to them."

Could it be that disharmony in our homes, in our churches, at our work are times of testing? That we get our own ideas and we set out to make others follow us. Do it my way or else.

During covid we had some of that in our church. Maybe covid was a test. The NLT says, "How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers and sister live together in harmony!"

What about in your home, how do you handle disagreements? Maybe those are tests.

Psalm 133:3 says, "Harmony is refreshing as the dew from Mount Harmon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting.

Listen our love for God is shown by our love for each other. Even those we disagree with. All of this is a test. Do you think heaven will be filled with disagreeing people? Of course not. It will be with people who have learned to live in harmony with each other.

Deuteronomy 13:4 says, "Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him." And God is serious about this. Heaven will be filled with people who have passed this test.

So how do you handle disagreement in your family? "God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you." Or do you love yourself and your way of doing things or what you think more than God's way?

Psalm 133:1-3 (GNT) says, "How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony! It is like the precious anointing oil running down from Aaron's head and beard, down to the collar of his robes. It is like the dew on Mount Hermon, falling on the hills of Zion. That is where the Lord has promised his blessing - life that never ends."

Yes, that is what heaven is all about. And our life here is a test. And it can be both wonderful and beautiful when we "Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him." or a life of disunity and disharmony because we serve ourselves and our ideas alone.

Let's let the Holy Spirit deal with those false prophets. He knows how to do it. Remember heaven is a place of harmony and unity and life is a testing of us. I'm afraid on many issues we are failing.

1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (AMP) says, "For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God]. And now remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectations of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others out of God's love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love."

Yes life is a test, a test of our love. 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. ...

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 ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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