Monday... There can be those times.

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." They were out in a wilderness headed from Egypt to God's Promise Land but at Meribah they were tested by God. They were thirsty.

We must stop in our times of desperation and turn to God and realize that it could be a time of testing. Yes, here in this time at the waters of Meribah it was not only a time of testing of the people but also of Moses and Aaron the leaders.

Now Moses and Aaron did what they needed to do in times of desperation, they went to a quiet place and fell facedown and God came to them. Verse 7 says, "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.'"

Back to Psalm 81:13 which says, "If only My people would listen to Me." Yes, calling out to God in our distress is so important but so is listening. And also remember that "at Meribah they were tested by God." And that was also true of Moses and Aaron.

In verses 10-11a it says, "Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them , 'Listen now, you rebels, must we bring the water out of the rock?' Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink."

Fantastic, but wait a minute, verse 12 says, "But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.'"

God said, "speak to the rock" but "Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff,"

Yes, we want God in those times to listen to us but He also wants us to listen to Him. He may have something to say to us in those times of desperation. When we know in reading in our Bible or through His Spirit what God is telling us to do then we must listen and do it.

Yes, "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, yes! #todaysbeginning

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 ...

Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT), "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute. This time of the year is so exciting. We get our paycheck from work and then we head to the store or Amazon and buy and buy and buy all those presents and then our check is gone Proverbs 19:2 (NLT) says, "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." But buying gifts can be so much fun and seeing how happy they are when opening those presents makes us feel so good. But then verse 3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Now for some that is their life. They get money and they spend it on their wants with no thought of what needs to be paid. An important lesson that we have learned is just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you must spend it. But our enthusiasm takes over. But the problem is when it is gone and there is no money to pay th...

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