Monday... Now this is a great way to start a Monday morning.

Psalm 128:1-2 (AMP), "Blessed [happy and sheltered by God's favor] is everyone who fears the LORD, [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you."

Psalm 128:1-2 (AMP) says, "Blessed [happy and sheltered by God's favor] is everyone who fears the LORD, [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments. For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you."

Yes, that is a great way to start a Monday morning.

Look at these words, blessed, happy, sheltered by God's favor, eat the fruit of the labor of your hands, and it will be well with you. And all you need to do is worship God, be obedient, walk in His way and live according to His commandments and it will be well with you.

Now verse 2 is also important for us to see. If you do verse 1 then verse 2 says, "For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you."

The Message Paraphrase says, "All you who fear God, how blessed you are! how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!" Now that is what we want from God but maybe we are not sure about verse 2. I mean if I fear God I will be blessed and I will happily walk on his smooth straight road but then comes verse 2, "You worked hard and deserve all you've got coming. Enjoy the blessing! Soak in the goodness!"

Wait a minute, I have to work hard? Yes. Now even in Genesis Adam before the Fall was given by God a job. He had to name all of the animals. Do you realised how many animals God created and what a job it was to name them all? Again verse 2 says, "You worked hard and deserve all you've got coming. So, enjoy the blessing! Soak in the goodness!"

Again verse 2 in the Amplified Bible, "For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you."

The New Living Translation says, "You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be."

New International Reader's Version, "Your work will give you what you need. Blessings and good things will come to you."

Now I have carried that over into my retirement. I get up every morning at 5:50 am and spend up to 3 hours and write an encouragement from God's Word for you and I definitely find, blessings and good things. God gave me this job and he has a job for each one of us.

Now God has a plan for each of our lives. I had as a church planter people who would call me and tell me that God woke them up to pray for me and they wondered what I was going through. "You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be." Yes, God has plan and a purpose in each of our days.

Verses 9-10a in Exodus 20 (NLT says. "You have six days each week for your ordinary work but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God."

Yes, ordinary work is in God's plan. Again claim this verse, "For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands, you will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you."

Now that is a great thought at the beginning of a new week, a new day, a new hour. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

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 ...

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