Feelings

• We all have conflicting, doubtful thoughts and feelings sometimes. They seem to come from "nowhere" at the most inconvenient or challenging times.
  
  But to willfully, intentionally speak against God is another matter.
  
  We cannot keep a thought from fleeting across our mind--it's the way we are wired. But we can refuse to linger on it. And we absolutely can keep inappropriate words from our mouth: what we speak is a choice of our will and we are accountable for every single word.

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He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the desert? (Psa 78:13-19 NIV)

Trust God

• 
   I believe It is a time for us to be sober, focused, certain in Whom we trust, and strong in our relationship with Him.
  
  I remember my grandparents speaking of being"prayed up". Yeah. It's time for that.

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Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. (1 Cor 7:27-31 NIV)

Real Talk

• This is as real as it gets:
  
  You are in a "situation". You read Scripture seeking answers, and you get... nothing.
  
  Don't feel alone in this; nothing is wrong with you. It happens to everyone at times.
  
  If I can find a situation in Scripture similar to my own, I can apply the principle to my life and believe God will do it for me because He did it for someone else. So, as in today's verses, we can ask Him to open our minds and rightfully, in faith, expect Him to do it.

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He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the 

Balance

• Undesirable consequences occur when things get out of balance.
  
  I once had a ceiling fan that was out of balance. I ignored it. And it worked--for a while. Eventually it worked loose and fell (on my bed in the wee hours!). Learned a good lesson from that experience!
  
  So with our lives. If we live out-of-balance, we risk having a "come apart" or even a crash. Better to prevent a problem than to fix one.

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What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17 NIV)

THE POWER OF LOVE

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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 that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39 NIV)

The Word Above All

• When I read Scripture, I like to "make it real". (Of course, if you have read Today's Seed for a while, you already know that.)
  
  So many situations we read about are the same kinds of emotional conflicts we deal with. Take David's circumstances in today's verses for example.
  
  Has anyone ever responded with hostility to something you did in kindness? It hurt, didn't it? Perhaps you felt anger rising. That was natural. So, how do you think David felt?
  
  We have those natural feelings--and we also have the Holy Spirit to help us respond in a better way than our emotions would drive us.
  
  He will if we ask.

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David thought, "I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite nobles said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?" So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away. (2 Sam 10:2-4 NIV)

Don't Lie

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:1-4 NIV)