Today's Beginning

Monday... I know, I know, you just don't want to go back to work. But let this word from God's Word encourage you. Proverbs 28:19-20 (MSG) says, "Work your garden - you'll end up with plenty of food; play and party - you'll end up with an empty plate. Committed and persistent work pays off; get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs." I am retired but I still get up each morning to do something that could be called work but without the money. And God rewards me for my diligence and He does you too. Now there is one thing that my dad and mom handed down to me that I have striven to give to my children. It is that God rewards hard work. We each one were created with a purpose in mind. Adam's first job was to name all of the animals in the Garden. He had a reason to get up each morning.  Also God gave us an example. It says that God labored for six days and then He rested. I wonder what would have happened to us if God had gotten up and said, "No, I don't wa...

Saturday... It is truly alive. It is! I don't know where you live. I don't know what is happening in your life, in your heart, in your relationships but God does. It is so amazing how you can open the Bible and start reading and there is something in it that is right where you live. But if we don't open it then it can't speak to us. Remember, it is truly alive, it is! Look at this. Maybe this is where you are today. Psalm 5 & 6 (NIRV) says, "Lord you are forgiving and good. You are full of love for all who call out to you. Lord, hear my prayer. Listen to my cry for mercy. When I'm in trouble, I will call out to you. And you will answer me." There it is, there is God through His Word speaking to you and me today. What is it in there that you needed to hear today? What is it that you are dealing with today? What is it God is reaching out to you to show you?  He cares, He knows and He is interested in you and His Word is truly alive and so is He. Here is ...

Friday... Yes, yes, that is what I want. The writer of Psalm 85 in the middle of verse 8 (NLT) says this and I want it. It says, "for he speaks peace to his faithful people." I know there are faithful believers in the Ukraine in the middle of war who can say, "for he speaks peace to his faithful people." They have peace in the middle of war. I know that there have been so many faithful believers in the midst of this war on Covid who can say. "for he speaks peace to his faithful people." There are people who are in the midst of so much turmoil all around them who can say, "for he speaks peace to his faithful people."  Now the key word is faithful. So many are faithful to the principles of their political party but do they have peace? I am faithful in my walking everyday, I am faithful in eating the right food, I am faithful in doing a lot of different things and I reap the benefit in being faithful. Keeping at it is so important. But the source of...

Thursday... What is He really like? Have you ever had to read a person's resume and you wondered if they are really like that? I mean they sound wonderful. And you might ask the same about God. Is He really like that? Psalm 84:11 (NIRV) says, "The Lord God is like the sun that gives us light." And the sun is so unbelievable in all our descriptions. I mean, it gives us light, it gives us warmth, all the solar system revolves around the sun. And it is a great picture of what God is like. And then, "He is like a shield that keeps us safe." Do you ever watch one of those police shows and whenever they are headed into danger they put on their chest protectors. They put them on to protect themselves when shots are fired at them. God is like that but in a greater way. And then it says, "The Lord blesses us with favor and honor." The NLT says, "He gives us grace and glory." He looks down on us and sees everything about us and everything we have done ...

Wednesday... It shows us how to handle it.  I love the Psalms. Look at this. Psalm 83:1-5 (MSG) says, "God, don't shut me out; don't give me the silent treatment, O God. Your enemies are out there whooping it up, the God-haters are living it up; they're plotting to do your people in, conspiring to rob you out of your precious ones. 'Let's wipe this nation from the face of the earth,' they say, 'scratch Israel's name off the book.' And now they're putting their heads together, making plans to get rid of you." That's how Asaph starts this Psalm. God is letting him get it all off his chest. I'm sure the Christ followers in the Ukraine are feeling the same thing. I'm sure some of you are facing very difficult impossible situations today and you feel all alone. And it is okay to get it all off your chest. I know that the world is full of people putting their heads together making plans to get rid of God. Just go ahead and vent. B...

Tuesday... He gives us great words of advice.  Jude, a brother of James and also an earthly brother of Jesus in his short, one chapter letter starts it off with some great advice. I love the Bible. No matter where you are in it you find something that will make a major difference in our day and in the way we live. So let me ask you, how are you doing today? Are you facing some insurmountable problem? This Covid is and has been a problem. Russia invading the Ukraine is a problem. Maybe work is a problem or family relationships. Maybe your health.  Jude wrote this letter to some Christians who were facing some real problems. He starts off in verse 1 (MSG) by saying, "I, Jude, am a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James, writing to those loved by God the Father, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ." Now we can't say we are a brother of James who was also an earthly brother of Jesus but we can say that we are loved and kept safe by Jesus Christ if we have given our lives...

Monday... Here are four important words for today. Let me ask you, do you strive to widen your vocabulary each day? Let me give you four words to dwell on and meditate on today that can make a difference for tomorrow. Here they are: careful planning, hurry and scurry. These are words that I need reinforced in my mind today. Proverbs 21:5 (MSG) says, "Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind." Now that may not make sense but it is very wise. I don't know where I'm going but I'm ahead of schedule. Now that doesn't make sense but that is the way that so many people live. They are always, always in a hurry.  This verse in the New Living Translation says, "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty." The NIRV says, "The plans of people who work hard succeed. You can be just as sure that those in a hurry will become poor." We can be in such a hurry that we c...