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

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... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless. It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...

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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