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“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers”  Psalm 1:3 (NIV)

I like this picture that God paints in today’s verse. Even during the driest times of summer, it won’t effect a tree planted at the bank of a lively stream.

I watched an episode of Spongebob, the cartoon underwater sponge. He was put on dry land which caused him to slowly shrivel to a near death. He got to water just in time to save his life.

Being planted by a stream of water in today’s verse symbolizes someone who depends on God and His principles spelled out in the Bible. Like Spongebob, our inner joy, peace, and character start to dry out when we stop depending on God. We become harsh and ineffective. Depressed, stressed, and lacking in our social abilities.

We need to continue to confess our wrongs, ask God for strength, look to Him for guidance, and seek to learn and apply His principles. Then our roots tap into the Great Stream of Life. Affecting every area of our being from the inside out.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I need You. Redirect me when I am striving to be selfish and self-dependent. And tap me into Your strength and guidance by being more dependent on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God”   Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

Whenever I need to hear that someone cares about me and my situation, or if I need to be reassured that my wrongful actions are really forgiven, or when I feel alone and misunderstood by others, I read today’s verse. I don’t just read it, I think about Him personally talking directly to me.

We need to take time to allow God to speak directly to us as we read the Bible. He longs to comfort us, and talk to us.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You that nothing can separate me from Your true love and concern. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”  Luke 12:15 (NIV)

No matter how wealthy you are, there will always be someone richer. No matter how much shopping you do, there will always be something else we will desire. It’s like being on a hamster wheel. I always wondered if those little guys truly think they are going somewhere. I doubt if they are just doing a cardio workout.

We need to ask ourselves if we are on a hamster wheel that leads to nowhere. We then can miss out on the “inner-stuff”; joy, peace, character, social abilities… that’s probably why God warns us in today’s verse to ‘WATCH OUT‘. Then take the time to work on the things that truly matter, like relationships with others, as well as a tight relationship with Him.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, let me know when I’m on that hamster wheel. Continually remind me to take time to work on relationships, especially with You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly”  Proverbs 14:29 (NIV)

Something that I can proclaim with certainty over my 50 plus years of life is that people will bother other people. We will get upset by someone’s words or actions in the course of daily living. It’s hard to control that feeling of being bothered. But we can control our response. Being patient with others is not natural, it is supernatural. Many times, while gritting teeth, I find myself pleading with God to help me not let a certain person bother me, to help me forgive, or help me understand how to get through my anger. The more I attack these issues, the more I find myself able to endure and understand.

The most difficult times of allowing God to get me over my bitterness toward offenders are when certain people get under my skin. They don’t even have to do anything directed at me. I only have to see these certain people, and just their way of handling themselves grates at me.

One day I came home with chiggers. They are little bugs that burrow under the skin and leave a trail of small bumps. They have to be suffocated to get rid of them. Nail polish or even ammonia kills them off. Prayer to God can harden our skin so that irritating people won’t burrow under our skin. And asking God for the strength to forgive and understand our offenders will suffocate the intruders.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I need Your strength to forgive and be patient with those who get under my skin. Thank You that You promise to give me ‘great understanding’ if I work on this. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”   2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

All of us have what I call a “self talk” going on in our heads. Some refer to it as our “thought life”.

Many times we just let it happen, but we need to realize we can interrupt that stream of thinking, or stop our wandering mind, and even make an effort to “self talk” correctly.

I can catch myself complaining in my head about everything that bothers me about my wife, friends, boss, parents, co-workers, kids, or even the dog. Sometimes I keep it “in”, and sometimes I snap at those around me. My insides boil and I have no inner peace.

Continually inviting God to stop that process and sound track can change our whole outlook.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, remind me to stop those thoughts that erode my relationships. I need to give those thoughts over to You to adjust. Also, help me to put the skids on any angry, impure, and lustful thinking. I want Your blessed inner peace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”   2Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)

It only makes sense that if we sprinkle just a few seeds (‘sow’), then we can only harvest (‘reap’) a small amount. On the other hand, if we throw out a bunch of seeds, we have the potential for a bumper crop! I’m not a farmer or gardener, but I always thought the term “bumper crop” sounded like a whole lot.

The context of this verse is the Apostle Paul writing to the believers in Corinth about a gift they are planning to give. “Giving” is the sowing in God’s economy. The more we give our money, time, helping hand, possessions, encouragement, advice,…, the more seeds we are sowing. This gives God a chance to produce a bumper crop of blessings and rewards in our lives.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to look for opportunities to give of myself so that You can take care of all my needs and more. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God”  Genesis 6:9 (NIV)

When Noah was living his pre-ark, normal daily life, he “walked with God”. He did that even, pretty much, when everyone else wasn’t. As a matter of fact, they weren’t even close, which is why God wanted to do the “Great Start Over” and wipe them all out.

The people were living for pleasure, lust, greed, hate, sexual perversion, selfish ambition… Yet Noah walked with God. He had no accountability partner, bible study group, Christian counselor, Sunday school class, Pastor of Arking, or any other support in his quest to walk with God.

I guess the everyone-else-is-doing-it excuse gets all shot to heck with the life of Noah.

“Walking with” anyone infers a relationship, a comfort of being together, an intimate communication while moving through the daily routine.

Walking with God is a chance to hang out with the Creator of the universe that just so happens to long to weave into our lives.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, teach me to walk with You as I go through the pressures of life. Give me an intimate communication with You. Guide me, comfort me, strengthen me, especially when it seems, like Noah, that I am all alone in my journey. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”  John 14:27 (NASB)

When I see the word “troubled”, I think of a song written by Paul Simon, “Bridge over Troubled Waters”. I picture looking down at a cold river with choppy, swift waves, crashing into the walled banks, splashing high into the air and pouring over to the land. A ‘troubled heart’ can feel like this type of angry current.

I remember my 6th grade teacher teaching one practical lesson that I have carried with me over the years. He was a big, lanky young man that didn’t seem to be very motivated. We played a lot of spontaneous games of dodgeball that year. It was a privilege to be picked to get him his two cups of coffee from the office. Two of us came back one time with the ever present spills running down the sides of the mug. He explained to us that if you look at the coffee while walking it will spill. If you look ahead, it won’t. IT WORKED! Don’t tell me why, but it worked. To this day I use that principle.

What is interesting is that it is also a principle that God is encouraging us to use in life. If we keep our eyes up on Him, He will calm the waters. Even in the midst of hard times, He calms the waters of our hearts. Peace is there for us. We need to walk with Him without staring down. We can ask for His calm and peace, for He says, “My peace I give you”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, remind me to look to You instead of down at the problems. Give me Your peace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps”  Proverbs 14:15 (NIV)

At times it seems that we just go through our “day to day” and coast along with the crowd, or float through our routines. God cares about our daily grind, and He wants to weave into it!

A basketball coach will go home after a game and watch the game again on video. This video session helps him focus on what his team did and didn’t do well. That way he can prepare a good practice for his team to correct specific flaws and build on strengths.

We need to daily have ‘video sessions’ with God. Quietly talking to to Him and reflecting on our day. The nice thing is that we don’t have to make the adjustments on our own. And we don’t only have to go over the things that need corrected, it’s also good and refreshing to gratefully focus on the positive things about our relationships, possessions and events.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to make time to sit down with You in prayer. Show me what to confess and give me the strength to change. Also, remind me of the things I can be thankful for. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”  Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)

Many times we want things to be okay to do, or not to do, based on what we feel is best for our own interests. We can tend to twist our thinking that God would surely endorse, or at least not mind, some of our decisions and choices. A lot of students pick a major or career path based on what they think they need and want, and not based on any counsel from faith based people, persistent prayer, or biblical principles.

Old time comedian, Henny Youngman, actually had some insight when he stated, “a self-taught man usually has a poor teacher and a worse student”.

Realizing that God cares about us, even more than we care about ourselves, is vital. Pleading for His guidance is a way to show that we don’t completely know our needs and how to meet them better than He does. Sure there are many times we make good choices, but going to God grows our minds and opens us to direction that will ‘pleasantly surprise’ us in the long haul.

We need to constantly seek God’s ways(“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  Isaiah 55:8). The old comedian also said, “a doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn’t pay his bill, so he gave him another six months”. What are the basis of our choices?

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I want Your way instead of my short minded source of making decisions. Remind me to seek You in all I do. Thank You for the blessings that will follow. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.