Today Our Daily Bread Rom 16:19-20 & Psalm 90

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Isn’t it cool how Paul starts with compliments and praise before giving even an exhortation? I had heard before that it takes 9 words of praise to bring someone back up after every criticism. Yesterday, I heard that it actually takes 1,000 words of affirmation for every harsh word. WOW. There is something to lace our conversation with as Paul shows us here. He’s not even being critical or harsh, but he’s bringing an instruction for life change. Many people do not like change, so he in wisdom offers it as a package sandwiched with love and a promise!
Psalm 90 : 1-17
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were created, before you made the earth and the world, you are God, without beginning or end.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust!"
4 For you, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours! or like grass that springs up in the morning.
5 You sweep people away like dreams that disappear
6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury.
8 You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.
9 We live our lives beneath your wrath. We end our lives with a groan.
10 Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone.
11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Natural time fades and passes away so so quickly in light of eternity. Any promise I’ve waited for is not long, no matter the years, yet when it is fulfilled time has passed in barely a wink. What he is speaking of here is the use of the time given us for the purposes given us. WHAT are we spending it on? So one has 70 or 80 or even if another had up to 120, what are we doing with it? It was given us by God for God’s use and how much of it do we spend on with or for God? REALLY, Be honest now. If we gave Him 30 out of the 80, it would barely be enough. I believe when we enter eternity we will instantaneously see what everything we wondered about was about. We will instantly know why we were here, we will instantly feel the compassion for any we did not bless. Even if we ourselves reach eternity and are with God, rather than separated from Him, we will find ourselves somewhat dissatisfied in what we should have seen or known and did not do while we had the time here to do it. What better than to see it now and DO something about it, something great like living for and with God now!
I really believe we will see Him as He is, the Savior of the whole earth, the King of our hearts, the Lord of ALL, we will stand in instant amazement of how any human could deny Him or refrain from doing His will. The fear- honor and respect of God will be upon us oh so clearly and we’ll know who he is. What great joy to know Him now in even a measure of that. If we know Him now and serve Him now and lie with and for Him now, we will merely cross over to the other side to continue our fellowship with Him. Any thought, any thing we tried to hide here will be openly displayed there, and truly, you must know in the deepest parts of your being, that not one thought or anything is hidden from Him now. It is childish to think that is we hide it it is not there. Let’s willingly bring out in the open what only God can change or heal or lift off of us for forever. Let’s deal with it now so that there is no regret at all then.
Begin eternity, TODAY.