Today's Beginning

Friday... We really, really need to be careful. If we have been told from our beginning that we are so special and so smart then we can have an arrogance in which we need to be very careful. Oh we are special and we can do almost anything but it isn't because of us. And that is so important for us to know. Now Paul puts us in our place. Over in Romans 11:34-35 (MSG) he writes, "Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?"  Oh please God, may we not be one of those who is so arrogant that they believe they can explain You. We live in a time that people think they are so smart that they can explain God and who put us down because we believe there is a God. In verse 33 (NLT) Paul writes, "Oh, how great are God's riches and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!" The Amplified Bible says, "Oh, the de...

Thursday... I've heard you say this. Look at what King David says in Psalm 27:7-8 (NLT), "Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk with me.' And my heart responds. 'Lord, I am coming.'" I don't know what you are going through, today. For some, this is a rough day. Now, maybe you have had a good friend say to us, "No matter what you are going through, give me a call." Maybe you are in this tough spot because of something you have done and you are ashamed. I've been through a time like that. I just wanted to run and hide. But God is different. No matter what we have done we can ask him first of all to be merciful. Yes, there are some that all they want to do is tell us what we did wrong. They will tell us what we already know and feel. You blew it. You know you did. And you're also not sure that if the person you are calling and they see your name come up on their phone that they m...

Wednesday... He wasn't perfect, but. I have spent a lot of time with King David, the writer of many of the Psalms and he wasn't perfect. I have been reading a Psalm a day for almost 50 years and David has shown his feelings, his failures and his areas that he had problems but I love how he starts Psalm 26. In verses 1-3 (NLT), he writes, "Declare me innocent, O Lord for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth."  Again, "For I am always aware of your unfailing love." He was not perfect but he knew that God's love was unfailing. Now that is what we each one need, isn't it? But that kind of love only comes from a relationship with God. But how each one of us need that and each one of us needs to live with that. Yes, I am not perfect and I need that kind of love...

Tuesday... There is within us a desire to please. And it can be a very good thing or not. And it is amazing what we will do to please, isn't it? Now it is really discouraging when it seems that we can't please someone we want to please. Some have done all they can all their life to please a father and mother and they can't? And they feel like a failure. Now Paul in his letter to the Romans deals with the matter of pleasing God. He says there is this sinful nature within each of us. We were born with it. And in Romans 8:7-8 (NLT) he says, "For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are under the control of their sinful nature can never please God."  There are many who could say, "I can't please my parents and I can't please God. I am a failure." And it may be true that you may not be able to please your parents but it usually is not your fault. Oh it could be becaus...

Monday... It is so much better to impress. We really don't like being looked down upon, do we? It is so much better to impress. This verse caught my attention in my reading this morning. Proverbs 24:12 (MSG) says, "Someone is watching you closely, you know - Someone not impressed with weak excuses." But it can be so easy to make weak excuses. But they really don't impress, do they? And the one who is watching us closely is God, and for sure it doesn't impress him. Now verse 10 (NLT) says, "If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small." And there is a great excuse in there. The Amplified Bible says, "If you are slack (careless) in the day of distress, your strength is limited." We need to be at our best during distress. In other words, not making excuses. But let's go back to verses 3-4 (NLT), "A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious ri...

Friday... Such a gift, such an overwhelming gift! David writes in Psalm 21:2 (NLT), "For you have given him his heart's desire; you have withheld nothing he requested." Please note that he says, "his heart's desire." In verse 4 it says, "He asked you to preserve his life, and you granted his request. The days of his life stretch on forever." Over in Proverbs 21:1 it says, "The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases." And verse 2 (AMP), "Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord examines the hearts [of people and their motives]." And that is so important for us to know. Look at Proverbs 24:12 (NLT), "Don't excuse yourself by saying, 'Look, we didn't know.' For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people their actions." And then the verse that caught my attention to...

Thursday... He has the ability, but. And the but is very important to understand and to follow through faith. David writes in Psalm 20:1 (NLT), "In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm." And then verse 4, "May he grant your heart's desire and make all your plans succeed." Yes, God has the ability and he will answer our cry and he has what it takes to grant our desires and for all our plans to succeed. But it all must go through his love and his wisdom and his plan for us. And then the last part of verse 5 says, "May the Lord answer all your prayers." He can but he also knows what is best. Look at Proverbs 20:4. It says, "Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest." But why didn't he answer my prayer? I'm in trouble. Yes, you are because you didn't do your part. He gives us opportunities and tasks to do. Now if we are physically...