Morning Musing: Psalm 131:1-2

“Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me. Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How are you feeling these days? If you’re like most people, the answer to that is probably not as good as you’d like. You’re overburdened and under-resourced. You feel like you have the weight of the world pressing down on you and there’s no one to help you hold it. You’re stressed out and just wish you could rest, but there’s no end in sight to the busyness. Where can you find some relief? Take some comfort this morning in knowing you’re not alone in any of this. The ancient Israelites experienced it too and prayed about it when they went to worship. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Proverbs 17:28

“Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent – discerning, when he seals his lips.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Most mornings when I sit down to write, I have a pretty good idea of what I will be writing about. I make it a point to be in the Scriptures every day, and as I read and study, when something catches my eye, I write a little blurb that gives me enough to go on later. Those blurbs get saved in the notes section of my Bible app (the YouVersion Bible App whose website is here) and become the kernels of ideas that get fleshed out into blogs later. Sometimes what you are seeing on here is an idea I first had two or three weeks prior. Fridays, though, have become days to reflect more intentionally on where the Scriptures intersect with culture, usually in the form of a review of a recent TV series or movie I’ve watched. This morning I’m going to shake things up. While I am still planning on writing up a review of the latest Spider-Man movie, and had initially planned on that being today, this morning, I’m hopefully excited about NFL Playoff Football this weekend. Here are a few fun thoughts I’ve had this week with all of that in mind.

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Morning Musing: Acts 17:26-27

“From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever felt like you were searching for God? Maybe that’s too on the nose right out of the gate, especially if you’re not really much of a Jesus person. Have you ever felt like you were searching for something in life? Perhaps you were simply looking for more out of life. All people everywhere and in all times have a built-in awareness that there is more to life than our normal get-up-go-to-work-go-home-to-bed-and-do-it-again-the-next-day routine. But we don’t always have a clear sense of what this more should be. This morning, with the help of Paul’s attempt to teach a group of Greek intellectuals this same idea, let’s talk about what this more might be for you.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 12:2

“…keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Think for a minute about the last time you had to do something you really didn’t want to do. How was that experience for you? Enjoyable? Boring? Unbearably awful? How did it leave you feeling afterwards? Were you glad you did it? Were you grateful it was over? Did you regret you had to give any of your precious time to it? Sometimes in life we have to do things that aren’t our first choice. Occasionally they are our last choice. And then there are times we face the prospect of doing that and God is the one leading us to do it. Not wanting to do something God has called us to do may bring guilt – especially in light of what we see in this verse – but let’s take a look at it this morning because there’s something here we don’t want to miss.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 1:12-14

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when things aren’t going like you planned? Maybe you’re the kind of person who is able to fairly well roll with it. But I suspect you are at least a little disappointed in that moment. Perhaps, though, “a little disappointed” doesn’t really cover it for you. Rolling with it isn’t a resource in your repertoire. This may be especially true when your plans were to help someone else or do something good. In that moment, you’re ready to simply throw up your hands and give up. Paul, here, though, offers us another approach to consider.

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