Wednesday... You know, you really do.

Psalm 139:1 (NLT), "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me."

Wednesday... You know, you really do.

David wrote this. Psalm 139:1 (NLT) says, "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me." He really does. It doesn't matter what we strive to be or what we act out, God knows all about us. He really does.

Over in Mark 3 there were these guys who were the religious leaders of their day but Jesus knew all about them, he knew their hearts. Verses 1 & 2 says, "Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath." These guys were the religious leaders.

Now they knew what had been written about a Messiah coming to his people but their hearts were very self-centered. They should have been open to Jesus but they hated him. And Jesus knew their hearts. He really knew them.

Verses 5-6 says, "He looked at them angily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, 'Hold out your hand.' So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with their supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus." These were the religious leaders.

What an opportunity these leaders had but they had hard hearts.

We can't fool God. You see, he created us. Back in Psalm 139, David says in verse 14, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it." But if the heart isn't right it really doesn't matter how wonderfully complex we have been made. It doesn't even matter if we are religious leaders. It's our heart that matters.

So verses 23 & 24 are so important for us. David writes, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." And we need to do that on a regular basis.

The Amplified Bible says, "Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

I don't want God to be angry with me so "Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts." Those anxious thoughts show that I am not totally believing and trusting in him.

Verses 17-18 (NLT) says, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!"

No matter what others may think of me, God knows all about me from the inside out. And yes, he knows my heart. So, "Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." And he will do it. He really will! 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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