So, confession . . . . . I have a tendency to talk to myself. How this typically manifests itself is when I am at the youth club on Wednesdays and Thursdays playing table tennis or pool with the young people. I often say to myself "Come on Chad, focus" or "Let's go Chad, you need to hit that shot" etc. The young people I work with think it's hilarious and sometimes really take the mick out of me saying "Oh, here he goes again" and just generally have a good laugh. This is something I've done my whole life, especially with sports telling myself to keep my head down and my eye on the ball or to keep my elbow in or that I need to watch the runner on first etc.

This has non-sports related application in my life as well. I often tell myself "watch your words, use your filter, where are your eyes at, should you be thinking that" and also God saying to me  "you're my boy Chad, you're my boy."

I think sometimes in life we just need to be reminded of things and truths.

This morning I was reading Psalm 102-104 in my time with God. Psalm 103:1-4 it says:

Praise the Lord, I tell myself; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He ransoms me from death and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

Now, if you were to look this passage up, most of you will find in the NIV, KJV, or NASB versions that the passage says "O my soul." You might even be reading from the NLT as well and find your version is still different. I'm reading from the 1st edition of the NLT. A 2nd edition was released shortly after the first and many things were changed. Sorry for the random note and rabbit trail . . . . . back to the verse.

Whether or not your version says, "I tell myself" you can clearly see that David is reminding himself of things and truths in his life. David tells himself or reminds himself not to forget the good things of God, that he is forgiven, that he has been healed, that he is ransomed, and surrounded with love and mercy. This continues throughout the whole of Psalm 103.

Our FYM team has three full weeks of ministry and a few days of debrief before heading back for Christmas break on December 15th.  These next few weeks are very busy with the various churches, schools, after school clubs, youth clubs, and personal relationships etc. that we invest in each week. We are spread very thin and our schedules are very full. This morning I reminded the team that what happens over these next few weeks is very much dependent on what they choose. They can choose to complain and argue or they can say to themselves "Do everything without complain and arguing . . . ." (Phil 2:14). They can choose to veg out or they can say to themselves, "push through and do your preparation" or "finish the assigned reading for today" etc.

Please be in prayer for our team over these final weeks of the fall semester.

We are all faced with these simple yet significant choices each day. What do you choose?

"Praise the Lord, I tell myself . . . ."

Chad