August 16 :: Psalms 94-96; Romans 15:14-33

Psalm 95:7-10

"Today, if you would hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,

When your fathers tested Me,

They tried Me, though they had seen My work.

Fort forty years I loathed that generation,

And said they are a people who err in their heart,

And they do not know My ways."

* To Hear - includes the idea of obedience
* Meribah means "argument" / "strife" - root word "Massah" - exodus 17:2

It seems the Lord wants to remind us with this scripture not to harden our hearts during "strife," because even in that time, His voice will come to us and we are to praise Him and be obedient listeners. 

August 15 :: Psalms 91-93; Romans 15:1-13

Sometimes we are afraid to ask for good things, because we believe God has us just where we're at for a reason; that to ask for joy, peace, or hope would be selfish, because maybe we're supposed to be feeling a certain way. But in Romans 15:13, Paul asks that the Holy Spirit would fill up the followers of Christ, simply because they believe in Him.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

God doesn't want you to feel like this...

...so don't be afraid to ask God why you're lacking hope and to ask to be filled with hope through the Holy Spirit!