Today's Beginning

Psalm 150:2 (AMP), "Praise Him in His mighty acts; Praise Him according to [the abundance of] His greatness." Friday... Such a great way to strengthen our faith. We need to sometimes be reminded of who is on our side, who is always with us, who has more knowledge and power than anyone else. Praising and thanking God is a great way to do that and they really do strengthen our faith. They are great ways to be reminded of who He is and remember what He has done in our lives. This was my fifth month in reading a Psalm a day and it ended with Psalm 150. Thirteen times in this Psalm it says the word praise and verse 2 (AMP) says, "Praise Him in His mighty acts; Praise Him according to [the abundance of] His greatness." Yes, It tells us to praise God for His mighty acts and the abundance of His greatness. This great reminder will help strengthen our faith in handling what is going on now and in our future. Proverbs 30:1b-3 (NLT) may say what you are feeling today. It says,...

Psalm 149:4-5 (NLT), "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds." Thursday... He really does and he really will. This is such a great reality that makes all the difference. Psalm 149:4-5 (NLT) says, "For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds." Yes, yes, God delights in his people. He really does. He, the Lord takes pleasure in his people. Now that is a great way to wake up every morning but it is also great when we go to bed each night with that thought going through our heads. Now my mom was so special. She was a great mom for Connie, Larry and Bill, that's me. But she did one thing that some would say wasn't good. Now it was to me. As a young boy it didn't have a negative affect, it was a positive. Here is wh...

Psalm 148:13-14 (MSG), "Let them praise the name of God - it's the only name worth praising. His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky; he's built a monument - his very own people." Wednesday... Yes, this is the truth. There is so much condemnation and praise going around about our nation and leaders and I'm tired of it. Oh I know we all have our opinions and ideas but is that what we really need at least from His church. Here is what Psalm 148:13-14 (MSG) says about praise, "Let them praise the name of God - it's the only name worth praising. His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky; he's built a monument - his very own people." Verses 5-6 (NLT) says, "Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked." And then verse 12 (NIRV), "Praise him, young men and women. Praise him old men and woman."...

Psalm 147:5 (NLT), "How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension." Tuesday... Yes, today is ... And we can finish that. Yes, today is bad or is good. And no matter what is happening, Psalm 147:5 (NLT) says, "How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension." Yes, there are times when we just cannot comprehend what and why something is happening. But we do have the choice to live by faith or live with anxiety. So where are we today? Yes, these are difficult times and we really can't comprehend what is happening or yes, they are great times because we are not in Covid and we do have a choice in how we respond. We do have some power. Verse 5 in the Amplified Bible says, "Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless]." Now later is this Psalm in verses 16-18a (NLT) it says, "He sends the snow li...

Psalm 146:5 ((NIRV), "Blessed are those who depend on the God of Jacob for help. Blessed are those who put their hope in the Lord their God." Monday... So where do I put my confidence? In this day in which we live where do we put our confidence, who can we really trust? Now it really does depend upon who we listen to and each of us can have a bias. Now Psalm 146:5 (NIRV) makes it perfectly clear who we are to listen to. It says, "Blessed are those who depend on the God of Jacob for help. Blessed are those who put their hope in the Lord their God." Right before this, verses 3-4 (NLT) says, "Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them." Now the Psalmist goes on. In verses 5-8 in the New Living Translation of the Bible he says, "But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God....

Psalm 143:8 (NLT), "Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk for I give myself to you." Friday... We want to be ready. We have no idea what is ahead but God does. So we need to spend time with Him to get ready. King David writes in Psalm 143:8 (NLT), "Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk for I give myself to you." And a Psalm every morning is a great place to start. You see, we need to know today that we are loved with an unfailing love. The Evil One knows what we need so he does all he can to keep us from getting it. I think one of the real bad things about Covid was that we couldn't be close to each other. I mean, we couldn't even get a hug. At the beginning, my wife and I both got it but Margaret was in the hospital and I couldn't be with her. That was so difficult. We couldn't be together and for sure we couldn't give each other a hug...

Psalm 142:3 (NLT), "When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go my enemies set traps for me." Thursday... There are so many different personalities. There really are. And our tendency is to build up who we are and put down those who are different but I believe God sees and accepts each one of us in our differences. The writer of the book of Psalms, David was a man after God's own heart and he was a musician and a warrior and usually those don't go together. Yes, David was unique but so are you and I and probably your mate is different from you. Yes, God made us unique and He really does love each one of us.  Yes, David wrote a big portion of the Psalms and it shows his uniqueness. Psalm 142:3 (NLT) says,  "When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go my enemies set traps for me." Now, there are some who would say that they don't understand how that feels. They are never overwhelmed and they nev...