Today's Beginning

Monday... Oh to start today with a quiet heart and to be content. We start our days with so much anxiety and pressure, don't we? And we long for a quiet heart, to be calm and to be content. King David wrote Psalm 131. As you read his story you see all the pressure he lived under and its great to see how he handled it. He writes (MSG), "God, I'm not trying to rule the roost, I don't want to be king of the mountain. I haven't meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans." Here is the the key, "I've kept my feet on the ground, I've cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in his mother's arms, my soul is a baby content." And then verse 3, "Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always!" The NIRV puts it this way, "Lord, my heart isn't proud. My eyes aren't proud either. I don't concern myself with important matters. I don't concern myself with things that are too wonderful ...

Friday... Here is a word we may need for today. It is the word content. Here is what Psalm 131 (MSG) says to us today, "God, I'm not trying to rule the roost. I don't want to rule the mountain." Now this is what a lot of us need to work on to be content, isn't it? There is so much for us to accomplish but the reason what and why is so important for us to see and reevaluate.  He goes on, "I haven't meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans. I've kept my feet on the ground. I've cultivated a quiet heart." And here is the picture. "Like a baby content in its mother's arms, my soul is a baby content." The NIRV says, "Deep down inside me, I am as content as a young child." Now that is what we need, isn't it? And then verse 3, " Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore." Now that is the path to being content. It's not all on me, the reason I live each day is based on w...

Monday... In spite of my not knowing, I can still do what I do know to do by faith. Job in the OT of the Bible during his difficult times, could not seem to find God. In Job 23:8 & 9 (NLT) he says, "I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed." Maybe that is where you are today. But in spite of that fact he says by faith in verse 10 (NLT), "But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out pure as gold."  Now why can he say that? Because he did do what he did know to do. In verses 11 & 12 he says, "For I have stayed on God's paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food." And this Job also knows and lives by faith, verses 13 & 14, "But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to ...