Wednesday... Let's keep at it.

Psalm 34:1 (NLT), "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises."

Wednesday... Let's keep at it.

Well, it's a new day. We have never lived this day. Now how we face it at the beginning of our day goes a long way in how we will handle it.

David said in Psalm 34:1 (NLT), "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." There are four words that will make a difference in this day. The first three are, "at all times" and then "constantly." And that last one hit me this morning. It was definitely a word of encouragement. Of course at all times and constantly are saying the same thing. They are reinforcing each other.

So how do we normally wake up most of the time? Rick Warren said that we wake up each morning with "Good Lord it's morning" or "Good Morning Lord." We do have choices in how we start each day. Yes, we have no choice in what we will face but we do have a choice in how we face it.

Again, "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises."

So how does this make a difference? Well praise is a focus on what God is like. Thanks is a focus on what He has done.

Verse 1 in the New International Reader's Version says, "I will thank the LORD at all times. My lips will always praise him."

Yes, it is so good to give thanks. Thanks give us confidence in our relationship with God. Yes, He is working in my life. Thanks you, thank you, LORD for doing this yesterday. And praise is focusing on the fact that no matter what we are facing He can handle it. He is greater than anything we will be facing.

Veres 2 (NLT) says, "I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart." "Let all that are helpless take heart." We may think that we can handle anything that we will face but in reality we are all helpless apart form God. Yes, He is out ahead of us working on what we will be facing and what we are facing and He can handle it.

Verse 3 says, "Come, let us tell of the LORD's greatness; let us exalt his name together." The Amplified Bible says, "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us lift up His name together."

And then verse 4 (NLT) says, "I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears." I thank him for what he has done, I praise him for who he is and I prayed, I connected with him through prayer and "he freed me from all my fears."

The Message says, "God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears." and that is so important in facing what we are facing today.

Verse 6 (NLT), "In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles."

And then verse 7 (AMP), says, "The angle of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspiring reverence and worship Him with obedience], and He rescues [each of] them."

So let's keep at it. "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." I was emotional as I read that verse this morning and I looked out the window at Mt. Charleston with some snow on it and the sky and I praised the LORD who is great than all of that. 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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