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... 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 ...

Friday... So what is it that you really fear?

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT), "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Friday... So what is it that you really fear? Yes, fear holds us back. It seems to take hold of us so that we can't even really enjoy living. Now I have found that one of the best ways to handle fear is to solve the problem of what we fear. Let's say that death is what we really fear. Everyday we wake up afraid to get up because we are afraid to do anything because we are afraid to die. And that is so understandable. Now I have found the solution to fearing death. I have through faith taken care of my fear to die. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) says, "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 22 (CEV) says, "Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us." Death was not God's plan. Adam was created for an eternal life but he and his partner, Eve blew it and sin a...

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