Wednesday... This is what we really need. It really is.

Psalm 4:1 (AMP), "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have freed me when I am hemmed in and relieved me when I was in distress; Be gracious to me and hear [and respond to] my prayer."

So what is it?

Psalm 4:1 (AMP) says, "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have freed me when I am hemmed in and relieved me when I was in distress; Be gracious to me and hear [and respond to] my prayer."

There is a lot of stuff there that we do need, isn't there?

But there is a need in there that is also in the last sentence in the Bible. Revelation 22:21 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus (the Christ, the Messiah) be with all [the saints - all believers, those set apart for God]. Amen." And that is what we need everyday in which we live.

Yes, I need God to answer me when I call. Yes, I need to be freed from being hemmed in and so many times I need to be relieved of my distress and for God to hear and respond to my prayer." Yes, yes, yes, yes, but but there is one more thing that is in both of these verses that we really, really, really need and it is God's grace. Yes, yes, I, we need God to be gracious to us. Yes I need to be gracious and I need the grace of God.

So what is God's grace? Well it is His unearned favor and kindness toward us - love given freely, not because we deserve it, but because of who He is.

Now up to the last sentence of the Bible God has been so gracious to all people. Yes His grace is shone by telling us in the Bible what is going to eventually happen to us if we do or don't believe. You see, God could be up there bringing judgement upon all of us because of what happened in Genesis but He over and over gave us another and another and another chance but here in Revelation He ends it all by saying, "The grace of the Lord Jesus (the Christ, the Messiah) be with all [the saints - all believers, those set apart for God]. Amen." The NIV says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with God's people." Yes God's grace gives everyone a chance but there will be a day that because of God's grace to those who have done what he asked they will be rewarded.

Yes, it is very important for us to realize that we are benefactors of God's grace but we are also to be givers and examples of God's grace to those around us. So what is it? It is His unearned favor and kindness toward us - love given freely, not because we deserve it, but because of who He is and it is to flow out through us as living examples. Yes we are to be gracious to others because He is gracious to us. That is what it means when it says, "believer". And grace is one of the best gifts we can give and it shows that we really are believers.

So, stop and think, am I being gracious to those in my family, those at work, those at church, those who are not of the same political party, those who are not believers of Christ? Good question.

Yes, grace is what we really need but so do those around us. 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...

Today's Beginning

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