Thursday... Remembering is so important!

Mark 8:21 (NLT), "'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them."

Thursday... Remembering is so important!

My dad said a lot of different thoughts that have stayed with me, that I have remembered and striven to live by. One of them was, "Too high expectations brings about frustration." Well, Jesus said something to his disciples that seems like he was frustrated with them and I'm sure he could say it about us. Yes, He has grace but also expectations.

Mark 8:21 (NLT) says, "'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them." Now I'm sure it was a way to motivate them but there may have been some frustration in there.

Now Jesus in just a few weeks had done some tremendous miracles. Two of them were feeding over 9,000 people from nothing and then having twelve leftover baskets at one and seven at the other. Well they were out in a boat and the guys were arguing with each other as verse 16 says, "because they hadn't brought any bread."

Verse 17 says, "Jesus knew what they were saying so he said, 'Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in?'"

He goes on in verses 18-20, "'You have eyes - can't you see? You have ears - can't you hear? Don't you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterwards?' 'Twelve', they said. 'And when I fed 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?' 'Seven' they said."

They did remember. And then verse 21, "'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them."

I was in my car headed over to Aspire, a coffee shop where I write and I was feeling some emotions about an important situation in Margaret and my life and it came to me, "Why are you getting so emotional? Don't you remember who is in your life and all he has done before?" And then after I had gotten here and after getting my coffee, I starting reading Mark 8 again in the New Living Translation and read verse 21, "Don't you understand yet?" And verse 18, "You have eyes - can't you see? You have ears - can't you hear? Don't you remember anything at all?"

Oh God, thank you for your Word.

Before I started at home this morning reading my three chapters from the New International Version I had prayed, "Open my eyes to see and open my ears to hear." and he did that.

Yes we need to be reminded that God knows what he is doing and also what he has done in our lives. I want to live up to his expectations because he is working through us in so many ways.

David writes in Psalm 56:3-4, "But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?" And verses 9-10 says, "My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what he has promised."

O God, may we remember what you have done, what you have promised and who you are? "This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what he has promised." Remembering is so important! 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...

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