Wednesday... Yes, we can be connected with someone who knows.

Revelation 2:3 (NIRV), "You have been faithful and have put up with a lot because of me. You have not given up"

Wednesday... Yes, we can be connected with someone who knows.

And that can be good and that can be bad especially if it is someone who really matters to us.

My wife and I know each other. We have been married for 51 years. We have been through a lot but I have also been connected with someone a lot longer who really does knows it all.

I am reading now the book of Revelation. It is the last book in the Bible and it was written by John while he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos. While he was on this island he received a vision from Jesus and he was told to write what he saw and experienced in that vision. Now it was sent to the seven cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor. And it begins with words of warning and encouragement for each of those seven churches.

Chapter 2:1b starts by saying, "Here are the words of Jesus." Yes, he was the one who knows and we can also connect with him.

One of the cities was Ephesus and in verse 2 (NIRV) John writes to the church there, "I know what you are doing." And that could be said about us if Jesus was talking to us personally. Now he goes on and says, "You work long and hard." And then in verse 3 he says, "You have been faithful and have put up with a lot of trouble because of me. You have not given up." And that is great to know that that matters to Jesus. And that could be said of a lot of us. No matter what we have gone through or are going through the fact that we haven't given up matters to God, to Jesus. So let's keep at it.

But he then says something that tells us that we may need to work on this and that is such a good thing because we still can make such a difference. It tells us that this really, really, really matters to him.

In verse 4 John writes, "But here is something I hold against you. You have turned away from the love you had at first." Verse 5, "Think about how far you have fallen." Yes, we may do what is right but we have lost our love and love is what it is all about.

Verses 4-5 in The Amplified Bible says it this way, "But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me. So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self - your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior - seek God's will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place - unless you repent."

We may have lost our love in our relationships, in our marriage, in our family, in our church and in our relationship with God. Again, we may do what is right but if we have lost our love that is a problem, because love is what it is all about.

The Bible is so great because it is God's way of letting us know what is important to him. Love is why he created this world and you and me. And we need to be reminded how important love is to God, to Jesus! 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. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

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 ...

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