Good Morning!

Then Ezra said to them, “Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.”  -Nehemiah 8:10 AMP

Too often we make our day about us and we think our strength and stronghold come from what we have accomplished for the day. In this community, and I am sure this is true in more communities, we tend to measure the our success or the success of someone else by what they are able to get a accomplished in a short period of time, it becomes our strength and stronghold. Now while I am all about getting stuff done and I fall into this trap probably more than anybody, there are days that I reflect on the day and I realize all the missed opportunities to further the Kingdom of God. The conversations I cut short because I was in a hurry, the nudge I felt to share a Jesus nugget with someone but told myself they don’t have time or I don’t have time. Like the above verse says, this day is holy to our Lord, do not be worried for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold. Let’s put our trust in God, let Him be our strength when we feel like we have to carry the load ourselves, let Him be our stronghold when we feel we are the ones that the world (or at least our world) depends on.

“When weak and tired, and the road seems long, remember…God is our strength.”

“When God is our strength, it is strength indeed; when our strength is our own, it is only weakness.”  -Saint Augustine

Dad Joke of the Day:

I made a playlist for hiking. It has music from Peanuts, the Cranberries, and Eminem.

I call it my trail mix.

Have a great Friday!