Todays Beginning

Psalm 30:5 (AMP), "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor for a lifetime." Tuesday... But it is for a moment. Now here is a great example for us, especially if we are fathers and husbands. David writes in Psalm 30:5 (AMP), "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor for a lifetime." But only for a moment Now I would have had a real problem if my father was angry even if it was just for a moment. I know there were times when he was disappointed but not angry. That wasn't who he was. But I'm sure there are times that God has a right to be angry with us but it is just for a moment. I'm sure there are some kids whose parent are always angry with them. And that is not good. Now they may deserve it but it still isn't good. Proverbs 30:33 (NLT) says, "As the beating of cream yields butter and striking the nose causes bleeding so stirring up anger causes quarrels." Yes, anger causes major problems. Maybe for a moment it can be necessary but...

Proverbs 29:18 MSG), "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed." Monday... Stumbling gets in the way of being blessed. Now God gives each one of us opportunities that bring blessings. Proverbs 29:18 MSG) says, "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed." Real easy to stumble. Earlier in this chapter in verse 13 (NIV) it says, "The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both." God has made it so that we don't need to stumble and he will bless us. At my age I do have greater potential at stumbling but I just need to be more careful. Now in our spiritual lives we all need to attend to what God reveals and if we do he will bless us. Now I also read this morning in the NT book of Ephesians about something that does cause us...

Proverbs 26:8 (NLT), "Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot." Friday... And David wasn't a fool. I know you have heard the story from the Old Testament of young David killing the giant Goliath with five smooth stones. Now some would call him a fool as a young teen picking up five stones and going out to kill this giant. Even his own brothers thought he was a fool. But he did it. And he really only needed one stone and one God. And therein lies the difference. David was no fool. And for sure he did not tie a stone to his slingshot. In fact he was very wise, and he has been honored. Now the key was not that he used a slingshot to kill this giant. The key is he had God on his side. And that is what it means to be wise. What giant are you facing today and do you have God on your side? We get so caught up in our abilities thinking that we can do anything. Yes, humans have great abilities and they can accomplish so much. And we were created in God's ...

Psalm 25:3 (NLT), "No one who trusts in you will be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." Thursday... There are a lot of methods that can be used. Have you found that disgrace is one of them? David writes in Psalm 25:1-2 (NLT), "O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemy rejoice in my defeat." The Evil One and those who follow him use so many methods to defeat us and disgrace is one of them. Have you watched YouTube lately? Now David doesn't stop. In Verse 3 he says, "No one who trusts in you will be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." Verse 2 in the Amplified Bible says, "O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on you with stedfast confidence], do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed; do not let my enemies triumph over me." That is a very good prayer. Yes, unwavering trust gives stedfast confi...

Ephesians 1:2 (NLT), "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." Wednesday... Yes, we also need it today! The Apostle Paul is sitting in prison and he is writing this letter "to God's holy people in Ephesus who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus". Now in the 2nd verse of the first chapter of this letter to the Ephesians he writes, "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." Now we need someone to pray this prayer for us today, don't we? We need to pray this prayer for us as individuals. Yes, we too need grace and peace and to give it to others. Our homes need grace and peace. Did you know that your spouse is not perfect and they need grace and peace from you. We have no control over them but we do over us. I don't know what is happening in your home but I pray for grace and peace for you. The home is being attacked outside and inside. Yes we need more peace in our homes and for sure ...

Psalm 23:1 (NLT), "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all I need." Tuesday... Now our wants can be turned into needs. And doing that can become a major problem. David writes in Psalm 23:1 (NLT), "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all I need."  Now our basic human needs are: air, water, food, shelter, clothing, sleep/rest and safety/security. And here in the 23rd Psalm David starts by saying, "I have all I need." Now what happens too many times is that our wants have a way of becoming our needs. And that can be a problem. The Amplified Bible translates verse 1 this way. It says,  "The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want." And that is so important for us to get to, to not be controlled by our wants, to not turn then into needs. Now God does loves us and His loves does a lot of things for our pleasure. A Sunset is beautiful. He does that for our pleasure. The Ocean is beautiful, that also is for our pleasure. All th...

Psalm 22:26 (NLT), "The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy." Monday... God allows us our Monday mornings. Yes he does and he understands. Now David writes in Psalm 22:26 (NLT), "The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy." But that isn't the way he started this Psalm. In verse 1 he writes, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help." He even looks to the future when Jesus will be on the cross. He says in verses 16-18, "My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothings." Yes David knows how we feel and so does Jesus, God's Son. The Psalms let us...

Psalm 19:2 (NLT), "Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known." Friday... We so many times miss it. Yes, so many times we miss hearing God speak to us. We just are so busy to hear what He says. In our last home we had a large fence in our back yard. There wasn't a whole lot that we could see but we could see the sky. Where we live now we can see out over our valley. The nights are great to see all the lights and then the back yard view is filled with mountains so we don't spend as much times looking at the sky. David writes in Psalm 19:2 (NLT), "Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known." And we so many times miss it.  Verses 1-3 says, "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard." In this world in which we live t...

Galatians 3:22 (NLT), "But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promises of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ." Thursday... Yes, there is division. We see it all through the Internet, on our TVs, in our families, in our schools, in our lives but if we were all together as Liberals or Conservatives, rich or poor or the same in our colors or race or gender we would still be divided. Paul in his letter to the Galatians in 3:22 (NLT) wrote, "But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promises of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ." Now the fact that we are prisoners of sin is shown through our divisions. But we can receive God's promise of freedom only, only, only by believing in Jesus Christ. But we even in the church spend all of our time with the wrong message. The right message is, "But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive G...

Psalm 17:3b (NLT), "I am determined not to sin in what I say." Wednesday... It is amazing the impact from what we say. And how we say it. Our words have so much power and David prayed this prayer that it seems would be a great prayer for each one of us to pray as we are getting ready to face each day. In Psalm 17 David starts in verse 1 (NLT) by praying, "O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help. Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips." Again he says. "for it comes from honest lips." and that is so important. And then verse 3 says, "You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night. You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong." And here is the thought that caught my attention, "I am determined not to sin in what I say." Yes, it is amazing the impact from what we say and we need to start each of our days with this prayer, "I am determined not to sin in what I say." First of...

Proverbs 16:1 (NLT), "We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer." Yes, I know what I am doing. At least, I hope I do. Do you have it all planned out? Do you really know what you are doing? Last year at this time, my wife, Margaret and I had a plan. We had it all laid out. Yes, we're old, Yes, we have experience and yes we have confidence. But we can't see one second ahead of us. There are many reasons why I am a Christian but this is one of the great benefits and this is one of the great teachings. Proverbs 16:1 (NLT) is one of the great principles to live by. It says, "We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer." Now verses 2-3 (AMP) says, "All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions], but the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth]. Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], and your pl...

Proverbs 15:1 (MSG), "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire." Monday... It really is hard to deal with some people. It really is. But the truth is, it really starts with our response. Proverbs 15:1 (MSG) says, "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire." And the important word in there is response. We have no control over the other person. We only have control of ourself. Now we may be right but how we respond determines how we come out of the situation. How we respond is so important. Psalm 15:1 asks a question and then verse 2 gives a response. It asks, "God, who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your guest list." And that is a pretty important question, isn't it? Verse 2 responds, "Walk straight, act right, tell the truth." The NLT says, "Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbor or speak evil of their friends." We can do so much harm...

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 ...

Psalm 11:1a (AMP), "In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]." Thursday... So what can we do? Good question. We are going through such difficulties, such anger, such destruction.  David in his day writes in verse 2 (NLT), "The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right." And then in verse 3 he writes, "The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?" Now verse 1b says, "Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!" But David says in the first part of that verse, "I trust in the LORD for protection. So why do you say to me, "Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!" And for some who don't have a relationship with God they would think that running would be a good thing, And I'm sure some today feel like running to the mountains. Verse 4 says, "But the LORD is in his holy Temple; the Lord still ...

Psalm 10:17 (NLT), "LORD, you know the hopes of the hopeless, Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them."  Wednesday... But is He really real? We do have so many questions. When we stop and look around at what we see we can question what is really real? Yes, when we see what is happening in our world we may wonder if God is really real and that is understandable. Now David in writing Psalm 10 (NLT) started by saying in verse 1, "O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?" And some would ask, is He really real? Yes, we live in a disturbing time, don't we? And David is honest in what we could think. Verses 4-5 says, "The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead. Yet they succeed in everything they do." And because of that "They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies." And yes they think that God isn't really real.  Yes, God lets us lamen...

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NLT), "Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop." Tuesday... So how is the seed business going? We say we live this life by faith but we don't put in what we are to put in it. You see, we are in the seed business, the planting seed business. I was talking with a barista friend who is in college and has been accepted into Harvard but that is next year. She still has some work to do here at UNLV and isn't too excited about the time of study she needs to do here. Yes, studying for classes is planting seeds. 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NLT) says, "Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop." We take for granted that it is all upon God and is dependent upon our faith. But how can a crop grow without us planting seeds? We want good marriages but we leave it up to our mate...

Psalm 8:3-4 (AMP), "When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of [earthborn] man that you care for him?" Monday... When we see and consider the comparison.  Our city, Las Vegas is it seems a bowl with mountains all around it and man has done so much with this bowl. Our daughter called us last night and said for us to go out and look up at the moon. It was fantastic. Now we live a little higher on this bowl and we have a great view of what man has built and what God has created. There is no comparison. Yes man has done wonders but in no way does it compare with what God has done. Now man has built great buildings but we have also created great chaos. This is an evil city. It is so easy to live in fear. Man is not God. They think they are but they aren't and seeing what man has built and what God has created is a good thing to consider and compare. D...

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...

2 Corinthians 4:16 (MSG), "So we're not giving up. How could we!" Thursday... You see, not a day goes by without grace. I know, I know we blow it. Each day it seems we blow it. But 2 Corinthians 4:16 (MSG) says, "So we're not giving up. How could we!" Oh, I know it would be so easy to give up. We just aren't perfect. Now Paul the writer of this letter doesn't stop. He goes on. Verse 17 says, "Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace." Now that is what we need, isn't it? Again, "not a day goes by without his unfolding grace." Yes, not a day goes by without his grace. Now that may not be true of us. Psalm 4:4a (NLT) says, "Don't sin by letting anger control you." Someone does something to us and we get angry and we hold on to our anger. As we go to bed all we can think about is our anger....

Psalm 3:3a (NLT), "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me." Wednesday... It is amazing what we can see. And what we see does make such a difference in our day. Now David, he writer of Psalm 3 starts this Psalm this way. He says in verse 1 (NLT), "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me." Yes, he is saying this to the LORD, the one he serves. Verse 2 says, "So many are saying, 'God will never rescue him!'" And that is so true with that outlook. So many of us get out of bed with that outlook every morning. It is amazing what we can see. Now I woke up this morning and eventually found myself outside on my couch with my Bible and I read this outlook in verses 1-2 from David. But I didn't stop there and neither did David. But that is an easy place to stop, isn't it? And it is true. Yes, David didn't stop there. Verses 3-4 says, "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I...

2 Corinthians 2:8 (NLT), "So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him." Tuesday... Yes, there are those who cause problems in our lives. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthian church in the second chapter dealt with a problem. In verse 5 (NLT) he writes, "I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me." Verses 7-8 says, "Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him." But our response usually is, "But he hurt me." We too many times look at the hurt we have felt. They were hurt by him but Paul is saying that "it is time to forgive and comfort him." And you are to "reaffirm your love for him." We live in a world that is all wrapped up in their hurts, their pain and their discouragements. Paul goes on. Verses 9-11 says, " I wrote to you as I did to test you a...

1 Corinthians 16:14 (AMP), "Let everything you do be done in love [motivated by God's love for us]." Monday... Now we may not love all that we must do. But! But, 1 Corinthians 16:14 (AMP) says, "Let everything you do be done in love [motivated by God's love for us]." Now if you go back to the beginning of time you will see that Adam was given a job and it was a great, exciting job. It was for sure an impossible job but he had what it took to do it. He was created in God's image. His job was to name all the animals and he had to do it without a computer without AI. But he had what it took in himself until he blew it. Sin brought him down from genius to human in his ability and negatives were added to work. Now earlier in this chapter of Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth he wrote of an opportunity that he had in the town of Ephesus. Verse 9 (NLT) says, "There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me." Yes,...