Monday... We can be so needy and not know it.

Psalm 16:8-9 (NLT), "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety."

Monday... We can be so needy and not know it.

I mean, we wake us this morning and face this new day with confidence because we know that God is with us.

Psalm 16:8-9 (NLT) says, "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety." Yes that is accepting that we are needy and we know that we have someone with us who can handle anything we need. And that is a great way to live.

But there are sometimes that we really don't know that we are needy and that we really do need someone else. Now I sometimes have trouble with this. My personal confidence can be too high so I don't realize that I do need help when someone offers it.

Proverbs 16:18 (MSG) says, "First pride, then the crash - the bigger the ego, the harder the fall." I've had that happen at different times in my long life. But I can do this. I know I can.

Verse 5 (NIRV) says, "The Lord hates all those who have proud hearts. You can be sure that they will be punished."

Now there is a very interesting story over in Matthew 8:23-27. And yes, it starts with real confidence because of experience.

Verse 23 says, "Jesus got into a boat. His disciple followed him." Now the disciple saw so many miracles by Jesus but here was something they knew they could do. They were fishermen. They could handle a boat. They were very good at this so they didn't need help. "So Jesus went to sleep."

Remember, we can be needy and not know it. But verse 24 says, "Suddenly a terrible storm came up on the lake. The waves crashed over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping." Now if our confidence is in our self alone then sometimes our pride will get to us. "First pride, then the crash - the bigger the ego, the harder the fall."

But these guys knew that Jesus was in their boat so verse 25 says, "The disciples went and woke him up. They said, "Lord! Save us! We're going to drown!" And then Jesus said, in verse 26a, "Your faith is so small! Why are you so afraid?"

Now the problem too many times is that our faith is in the wrong thing. It is in ourselves. Yes, there are times when others around us can help. We don't need to do it alone but then there are also times when we need to realize that God is in our boat. Yes, our faith may not be too small on ourselves and we can be so needy and not know it. But then our faith is so small and we are so afraid.

Yes, we need to realize there are those who want to help and also that Jesus is always with us if he is in our boat. "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety." And yes, there are those around us he has put there who will help. Yes, our faith is so small and that is why we are afraid.

By the way verse 26b says, "Then Jesus got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop. It became completely calm." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginnng

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 ...

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. ...

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