Pastor’s Corner

Trivia:

What were the original names of Tom and Jerry? Max and Moritz; Fred and Barney; Oscar and Felix; Jasper and Jinx? Make a guess.

Hey, have you heard the rumor about butter? Never mind, I shouldn't be spreading it, but it's so juicy.

Challenge:

Psalm 5:1,2 "O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you."

Here in this phrase the writer begins by emphasizing the level of his groanings. He uses a word emphasizing the intensity of his words, which is used only here and in Psa. 39:3.

If you remember when Israel was traveling across the wilderness, God provided manna for them to eat. Amazingly it was good for both animals to eat and mankind. It was also available for the people to gather in the morning, but when the sun rose in the sky it began to melt and disappear. (Exodus 16:21)

In the same way I have discovered that if I fail to begin my morning with the Lord, I spend my evening in mourning with the Lord. If I don't get direction for the day before the sun comes up, I miss out on His blessings for that day. It really is a vital thing to do to begin your day, talking with our Lord. Just as David developed the morning discipline of calling on the Lord for guidance, most of the past saints who were used of God, shared in this same experience.

In my life it seems that fresh in the morning is the time that all of lifes busyness is shut out, and my mind can best be stayed on Him. Once the many pressures of life gather around me my mind can easily become shadowed by these earthly concerns, rather than maintaining the eternal viewpoint.

When I would spend the night with my Uncle Ray, as a young boy and then man, he would first thing in the morning, while setting on his bed, open his Bible, and read the next verses of his daily reading. Then he would open his prayer list and pray for the concerns of the day. I noticed the same was the beginning for dad. Every morning without fail he wold begin his morning with this same practice. As a young man beginning in my early ministry, I experienced this very same practice with Jack Wyrtzen, a powerful evangelist. (I would drive him to the next ministry opportunity while he worked out the details of his ministry efforts)

Also, I notices as I read the biographies of many of those people who were used by God in their lifetime, they exercised this same practice. God points this out to us in His provision for Israel, then David also points out to us the value of this same practice in our lives.

SO GO WITH GOD my dear one, begin your day reading His words to you, then call out to Him asking for clear direction from Him. He yearns for us to exercise this practice, for then we will daily be moved by His words and thoughts.