Today's Beginning

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...

2 Corinthians 1:3 (NLT), "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort." Monday... So what do we do? We can go through difficult times and they can bring up a lot of questions. Now the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth starts out talking about troubles. In 1:8 (NLT) he says, "We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sister, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would not live through it." Now earlier in this chapter in verse 3 he writes, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort." And no matter what we are going though that is such an important truth for us to remember and to share. Yes in those times of trouble we need comfort and God is our source. And then Paul writes in verse 4, "H...

Psalm 58:11 (NLT), "Then at last everyone will say, 'There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.'" Friday... There are so many opportunities and rewards. There really are when we live for God. And justice is one as David says in Psalm 58:11(NLT), "Then at last everyone will say, 'There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.'" Yes, there is surely a tremendous reward. Now Paul over in 1 Corinthians 16 tells of another one. In 16:7 he writes in his first letter to the Corinthian church, "This time I don't want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me." And that phrase "if the Lord will let me" leads also to great opportunities and rewards. Of course that to us may not sound like a reward but it is. Yes, the LORD wants to have a hand in our lif...

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...

Psalm 56:8 (NLT), "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Wednesday... There are so many annoyances in life. Now King David wrote Psalm 56 and he knows all about annoyances and even more. In verses 5 & 6 (AMP) he writes, "All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They attack, they hide and lurk, they watch my steps, as they have [expectantly] waited to take my life." Now this is King David. We as ordinary people probably don't have people out to get us but we all do have annoyances in our life. For sure, I would never want to be the President but it is so good to have David tell us what he goes through and how he handles it. I'm sure we do have people who seem to twist our words and that definitely is an annoyance so what do we do? Well, David in verse 8 (NLT) gives some encouraging words. He says, in talking abo...

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 ...

Psalm 54:4 (NIRV), "But I know that God helps me. The Lord is the one who keeps me going." Monday... He is the one who keeps me going. And that is definitely the truth. Now David wrote Psalm 54. And it was during a very tough time. It seems there were these men from Ziph who went to King Saul and told him that David was hiding from him among them. Saul wanted to kill David because he knew that God has chosen David to be the new King. And these guys told Saul where he was. And David must have know it. So David started this Psalm in verse 1 (NIV) saying, "Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to my words." Now he could pray this prayer because of verse 4 (NIRV), "But I know that God helps me. The Lord is the one who keeps me going." Yes, that is a great fact to know when we are going through tough times. Do you know that? Is that true of you? Well David knew it was true because the Lord definitely was the one...

Psalm 51:1 (NLT), "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love." Friday... Now this can be ours. Psalm 51 was written by King David when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba which broke his relationship with God. This Psalm shows his guilt but then his returning to joy. Yes, there were consequences because of his disobedience to God. Yes, he did have a choice. The first verse tells of how to start in our getting back to where we can be in our relationship with God if we too have sinned. It says, "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love." And that is a where we start. We need to first realize who God is and what He is like. Yes, He can be merciful and he is unfailing in his love. Now over in Jeremiah 11:1-3 it says, "The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 'Remind the people of Judah and Jerusalem about the terms of my covenant with them.' Say to them, 'This is ...

Jeremiah 20:13 (NLT), "Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For though I am poor and needy, he rescues me from my oppressors." Thursday... He really had a bad day. So how are we tempted to handle our bad days? Over in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13a the Apostle Paul writes, "If you think you are standing tall, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience." Yes we may think we have what it takes to handle bad days but we need to be careful. We think we have what it takes to handle them but the temptations in our life are no different from what others experience. Now Jeremiah over in the Old Testament was having a very bad day. He was arrested, whipped and put into stocks and he was a prophet of God. Iin verse 7 he writes, "O LORD, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs are me." And we too can be tempted to turn ...

Psalm 49:2-3 (NLT), "High and low, rich and poor - listen! For my words are wise and my thoughts are filled with insight." Wednesday... This is what I needed. Where do you go when you need answers to your situation? I'm at that point today and after my time of focused prayer I read these verses. Psalm 49:2-3 (NLT) says, "High and low, rich and poor - listen! For my words are wise and my thoughts are filled with insight." Have you found that prayer and God's Word really do go together? It is basically a conversation with God. Yes the Lord's Spirit does speak directly to us but He also speaks through His written Word, the Bible. He quickens our heart through His Word. And that is what happened as I read this Psalm. "High and low, rich and poor - listen! For my words are wise and my thoughts are filled with insight." Now the listen part is so important especially when you are reading the Bible. Now I needed what it said, "listen! For my words...

1 Corinthians 8:2-3 (NLT), "Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes." Tuesday... Yes, we think this is so important. We live in a world where knowledge is so important. We want to have all the answers and when something comes up where there is a question we want to be there with the answer or at least our opinion from our knowledge. And this can be a problem the older we get. But Paul in writing 1 Corinthians 8 says in verses 2-3 (NLT), "Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes." Now in verse 1b he says, "But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church." And that is also true in a family or at work or with friends. But it makes us feel so important when we are the answer person. Yes, knowledge with wisdom is important but how we sh...

Jeremiah 17:7 (AMP), "Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD and whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD." Monday... Yes, we can know. Yes, there is a lot that we do not know. I know there is a heaven but I really don't know a lot about it because God hasn't told us. But there is so much that we do know because God has told us. Now God told the prophet Jeremiah this in Jeremiah 17:7 (AMP), "Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD and whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD." Now do we know exactly what blessed means? Well, do know that if we believe and trust and rely on the LORD and our hope and confident expectation is in the LORD then we will be blessed. Now he gives an example of what it means to be blessed. Verse 8 says, "For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river...

Jeremiah 14:22 (NLT), "Can any of the worthless foreign god's send us rain? Does it fall from the sky by itself? No, you are the one, O LORD our God! Only you can do such things. So we will wait for you to help us." Friday... Yes, he can so let's wait. Yes, waiting is so difficult. Now Jeremiah in chapter 14 asks some questions that I know in our honesty we sometimes have and we maybe have now. In verse 19a he writes, "LORD, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you really hate Jerusalem?" Yes, the words rejection and hate can come up in waiting. It sounds a lot like our kids and also us when we were kids when the parents didn't give them and us what we wanted. Yes waiting can be tough. And here is something else that they come up with and if we are honest, what we have too. Verse 21a says, "For the sake of your reputation, LORD, do not abandon us. Do not disgrace your own throne." Two words, reputation and disgrace. It is so hard to wait. It ...

Psalm 43:3 (MSG), "Send out your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell." Thursday... Yes, let them lead me. It is so important for us to at different times quit hiding our feelings and to be introspective and honest and ask the right questions and from that change our focus. Now the writer of Psalm 43 asks himself some very good questions. Maybe you too need to ask these questions today. In verse 5a (NIV) he asks, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?" And good questions are so important to ask but who we are asking the questions to is also important. Now the answer is so important and we need to be honest. So, why are we downcast and why are we so disturbed. Good questions Now verse 3 says what we need before we ask these questions. The Message Paraphrase says, "Send out your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to th...

1 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT), "For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power." Wednesday... So where does it come from? Earlier in this chapter Paul says in verse 3, "As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don't even trust my own judgement on this point." So where are we evaluated? So where does it come from? We, a few years back were going to buy a travel trailer and of course we needed a vehicle that could pull it. Now it is easy to evaluate the right pickup on level ground but real power is needed going up a mountain. That is where we needed the power. So that is where it must be and is evaluated. Have you thought that where most people evaluate their relationship with God is through the good times? But verse 20 says, "For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power." Those mountains you are facing is where your living by God...

Psalm 41:11 (NIV), "I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me." Tuesday... That is a different slant. I love the honesty of David. He writes in Psalm 41:11 (NIV), "I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me." Now it is important for us to see there will be enemies in our life. There will be people who will strive to bring us down because of our belief and also just because of who we are. We may have a wrong thought that because we serve a God who is all powerful that we will have no problems, no enemies. That if God loves us then he will take care of all the bad around us and that is how he shows he is pleased with us. Yes, David gives us a different slant. Again he says, "I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me." And that means there is someone out there who is striving to bring us down. And that is true during this time in which we are living. Now, there i...

Jeremiah 10:6 (NLT), "LORD, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power." Monday... Yes, He is and yes they are. I love reading the Bible. I love to read many of the books in the Bible and many Versions. Right now, I am reading three books, the Psalms, Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians. And I usually start my morning reading in the New International Version and then on to the New Living Translation.   Now here is what I found today in Jeremiah 10 in the New Living Translation. Verse 6 says, "LORD, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power." And yes He is, but verse 8 says, "People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood." And yes they are. Now have we stopped and thought about what we may worship? They may not be made just of wood but they are made many times by us, by other people but for sure they aren't the real God. Jeremiah says in verses 3-5, ...