Today's Beginning

Psalm 81:13-14 (MSG), "If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes." There can be those times. So many times we have those times of desperation when if we would turn to God then something could happen. But in those times when we do come to God we must also really listen to Him. Psalm 81:13 (MSG) says, "If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes." Yes, the listen part is very important when in those times of desperation we do come to God. Verse 7 says, "You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from a cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Now there is a story here. In Numbers 20:2-3a it says, "Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. The people quarrelled with Moses....

Galatians 2:21 (NLT), "I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." Friday... There is definitely a difference in the two. But we needed both. When in Genesis our two representatives headed in a different direction than God's plan so he then set out to get us back on his plan. In the Old Testament there was no Jesus on earth as a human but it all was laid out to bring God's Son into the world to get us back on track. But a lot had to happen before he came. It is said that the Old Testament is His story so we do need it but it has a different purpose than the New Testament. It was built upon laws and obeying them and their were major consequences in disobeying those laws. I read today Psalm 78 and Jeremiah 48 in the OT. Yes there were consequences. But I read also Galatians 2 in the NT and Paul showed the difference that Christ's death and Resurrection made. The Jews ...

Psalms 77:19 (NLT), "Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters - a pathway no one knew was there!" Thursday... We just don't always know. We think we do but we really don't but we can stop and remember by looking back. Psalms 77:19 (NLT) says, "Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters - a pathway no one knew was there!'" We just don't know it all. So what is it you are facing and you have no idea what to do? The writer of Psalms 77 in verses 1-3 said, "I cry out to God; yes I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God and moan." Verses 9 says, "Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion." It can be so easy to blame God. Verse 10, "And I said, 'This is my fate; the Most High has turn...

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT), "I close this letter with these words: Be joyful, Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." Wednesday... Let's encourage each other. Paul had some problems with one of the churches he had planted so he sent them two letters to deal with the problem. It is so difficult to correct someone you love but you know you have to and Paul was having a problem doing it. Now Jeremiah, a prophet in the Old Testament wrote down what God told him to say to His people who were totally disobedient to God. It was very tough stuff. God eventually had a nation attack them and destroy their city and then take those who had not been killed but left a few and they too did not follow God's commands. They left were God told them to stay. Now this shows what kind of God we serve. In Jeremiah 46:28 it says, "'Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,' says the LORD. ...

Psalm 75:1 (NLT), "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." Tuesday... We each seem to need to do it. Yes, we seem to want or need to boast but God has some problems with it. In Psalm 75:4 (MSG) God says here, "I said to the arrogant, 'Do not boast.'" So what do we do? Verse 1 says (NLT), "We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds." But I did it. But are you sure? Paul over in his second letter to the Corinthians in chapters 11 & 12 tells of all the different things that he went through and did. In 12:1 he says, "This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord" and especially one unbelievable one but in verse 5 he says, "That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses....

Psalm 74:12 (NLT), "You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth." Monday... So, who is it we really are reminding? Now Asaph in writing Psalm 74 seems to be reminding God. But is that really the one he needs to be reminding? In our situations in our lives where things are not going the way we want we use whatever methods we can to have hope. Maybe that is where a lot of us are today and we need some reminders and that is why I spend time in the Bible every morning. I need to be reminded and reinforced in my faith. Now Asaph starts this Psalm out by saying in verse 1a (NLT), "O God, why have you rejected us so long?" Could that be a question that a lot of us have at the beginning of this day? I love the honesty of the Bible. Maybe some of you are saying that and this is a great place to come. Here is a reminder. Verse 12 says, "You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth." Verses 16-17 says, "Both...

Psalm 71:5-6a, (MSG), "For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on You since birth." Friday... A day of remembering. Yes, this is a day of remembering. I remember where I was 25 years ago when I heard the news. On September 11, 2001 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes to carry out coordinated suicide attacks in the United States. I was living in Las Vegas at the time but we later moved to Long Island in New York where we knew people who were affected by the attack on the World Trade Center. Yes I remember where I was when I heard about it. That was definitely a difficult day. But at my age there are so many memories. Now David writes in Psalm 71:5-6a (MSG), "For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on You since birth." Even in days like 9/11 that is true. And in so many times I have leaned on God. "Yes, I have leaned on You since birth." And that is such a privilege...

Psalm 70:1 (NIRV), "God, hurry and save me. LORD, come quickly and help me." Thursday... Two words that say a lot about us. David writes in Psalm 70 verse 1 two words that we say a lot. In verse 1 (NIRV) he says, "God, hurry and save me. LORD, come quickly and help me." He says these two words that tell a lot about us. The words are "hurry" and "quickly". Now I am a person who really does not like to stand in line. I have these apps on my phone and I can go to the front of the line to get my coffee. But that is not a good thing when we reach out to God. His clocks keep perfect time. He knows what is ahead. And He knows what is best for us. We have a situation in our life that we are having to wait and it is not easy. Yes even in old age we can be impatient. Even though we have experience with God we still can be impatient when we have to wait. Well God knows us and He loves us and He still knows what is best. But we still think we know best and m...

Psalm 69:32 (NLT), "The humble will see their God at work and be glad, Let all who seek God's help be encouraged." Wednesday... So this is how we turn it around. Life has its negatives and some of us don't know how to turn them around. We are controlled by our negatives. Now I read a Psalm in the Old Testament of the Bible every day. King David wrote a big portion of these Psalms and his personality comes through. Here is what he says in the first verses of Psalm 69. In 69:1-3 he says, "Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can't find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me." It is so good to read his honesty. Yes as we read David's story we do see that he really had it rough and this was his response but he doesn't stay there. He turns his view a...

Psalm 68:3 (AMP), "So let the righteous be glad; let them be in good spirits before God, yes, let them rejoice with delight." Tuesday... There is so much more. Some would say that they will not read the Old Testament of the Bible because all it tells us is that God is angry. Ok, ok, I can understand that attitude but if you have read the whole OT you will see there is more to it than that. Look at Psalm 68:3. Here is what the Amplified Bible says, "So let the righteous be glad; let them be in good spirits before God, yes, let them rejoice with delight." Now if you just read verses 1-2 this is what they say, "Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered; Let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked and guilty perish before [the presence of] God." But if we stopped there then we would miss verse 3 which says, "So let the righteous be glad; let them be in good spirits ...

Psalm 67:6-7 (NLT), "Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God bless us, and people all over the world will fear him." Monday... Do we really know what to do? We think we do, but do we really? I love how the Psalmist puts it in Psalm 67:6-7 (NLT). It says, "Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God bless us, and people all over the world will fear him." We think we do, we really do think we know what to do. We think we have the answers and that all our blessings come because of us. We think we know what to do. Over in the book of Jeremiah the kings of Judah and Israel would bring Jeremiah a prophet of God to them to tell them what God said to him about their situation. I think they wanted affirmation that they knew what to do but they never listened to what Jeremiah said. Jeremiah 37:2 says, "But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in th...

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT), "For we live by believing and not by seeing." Friday... We want to know exactly. We want so much to have a picture that we can see. Now there are a lot of questions about our future life and also about heaven. So many books have been written from what people think than from what God has said. But this is important for us to see. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT) says, "For we live by believing and not by seeing." We too many times want an exact picture, we want to know exactly. And heaven is one of those things we want a picture of but that is not how God works. If he wants us to know exactly then he will tell us. And he hasn't given us a specific view about what heaven will look like but we still want to know exactly. Some want to know how we will look in heaven. What kind of body will we have. Now there are some things that God will tell us. Here in 2 Corinthians 5 he says in verse 3, "For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spir...

Psalm 63:7-8 (NLT), "Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely." Thursday... Life has its complications and opportunities. Yes it does but we don't need to go it alone. We really don't. I love how David puts it in Psalm 63:7-8 (NLT), "Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely." David tells us in verse 1 who he is talking about. He says, "O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land." And I love how he puts it in verse 8, "I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely." Yes, life has its complications and opportunities but we don't need to go it alone. Over in Jeremiah 33 the prophet writes in verses 1-3, "While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the...

Psalm 62:11b-12 (NLT), "Power O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done." Wednesday... Yes, He is what we need. As individuals, we each have different needs. A lot of times they come from what we got or didn't get from our parents. But we do have needs. Now some want power. They had parents who stood up for them no matter what or some who didn't. They backed away because of fear or weakness. Or maybe it is love. They don't know what real love is or they had loving parents. Yes we have different expectations and needs. David in Psalm 62 in verses 11b-12 (NLT) says, "Power O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done." Yes, God is powerful and he is not just loving, He is love. And it is amazing when this is true, where we turn for our needs to be met. Jeremiah prays in 32:17-19, "O Sovereign LORD! You ma...

2 Corinthian 2:8 (NLT), "So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him." Tuesday... There is more to correcting. For some, it is so easy to correct. They can have an I am better than you attitude and that definitely isn't good. But there are times that we need to correct and here in the church in Corinth, Paul in his first letter had to encourage the church to do some correcting of a man they loved but who needed to be corrected because he was hurting the church. He was a definite problem. Sometimes because of love we want to let things slide because of the hurt correcting would cause. Yes, there can be pain. Here in his second letter Paul says in 2:5-6, "I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough." As I said, for some it is easy to correct but for others it isn't. But there are times when we have to correct and they did and now Paul co...