Read Pro. 14:28
Kings all want the same thing: power over a multitude of people. That is why kings are not satisfied with just their kingdom, they want to take someone else's kingdom. They want to rule more people and have more influence which will give them more honor. But if a king's kingdom is small then he has little influence. This is not good for the prince who will soon be the king because he knows that other kings will try to conquer his little kingdom and he will probably fall. This is the way it is in God's kingdom. He wants all the power and all the people but he has an enemy who wants the same thing: Satan. We, as subjects in his kingdom should not be satisfied with the kingdom as it is, but we should want to take people from the kingdom of darkness into our kingdom of light. We should be advancing God's kingdom on the earth. Jesus came preaching "Repent because the kingdom of God is near." They just didn't realize how near it was. We, like Jesus, carry this kingdom inside of us.
Lord, teach us what it means to carry your kingdom inside us.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Fri.'s Devo - Our Living Testimony
Read Pro. 14:25-27
If our testimony is built on Jesus, then our lives will draw people out of bondage and into freedom. When I first moved to Monroe I met a neighbor who wasn't a Christian. I rarely spoke of Jesus but just lived my testimony. One day she came over crying and said that she knew I had something she didn't have and wanted it. I was so nervous but I somehow muddled through something that changed her life. She now knows Jesus and has become a Christian.
When Jesus becomes your Lord then you have a confidence that you don't even realize you have. Your confidence is not about the here and now, it's about the future. You don't worry because you know your God. You carry the fountain of life that everyone is looking for. God is a refuge for his children and anyone who comes to him. He is the life both now and forever. There are people who are the walking dead. They are only alive physically but their souls are dead and they only exist. We have the transfusion they need and it is the blood of Jesus.
Lord, help us to live our lives as a testimony of who you are.
If our testimony is built on Jesus, then our lives will draw people out of bondage and into freedom. When I first moved to Monroe I met a neighbor who wasn't a Christian. I rarely spoke of Jesus but just lived my testimony. One day she came over crying and said that she knew I had something she didn't have and wanted it. I was so nervous but I somehow muddled through something that changed her life. She now knows Jesus and has become a Christian.
When Jesus becomes your Lord then you have a confidence that you don't even realize you have. Your confidence is not about the here and now, it's about the future. You don't worry because you know your God. You carry the fountain of life that everyone is looking for. God is a refuge for his children and anyone who comes to him. He is the life both now and forever. There are people who are the walking dead. They are only alive physically but their souls are dead and they only exist. We have the transfusion they need and it is the blood of Jesus.
Lord, help us to live our lives as a testimony of who you are.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thurs.'s Devo -Riches
Read Pro. 14:23-24
Proverbs makes it clear over and over that you can't just sit around and expect to get rich. You must work for it. Riches are the reward of those who are wise and we have learned that the only people who are wise are those who follow God and his leadership in their business. You can have great plans but if your plans stay as plans they won't benefit you. It is like having faith without works. To ask God to heal you then act like you are still sick is not faith. Faith is praying, then acting on the prayer as if what you prayed for happened. Your works will expedite your results. What about those who are foolish and still get rich. All I can say about that is that it will not give them the joy and satisfaction they were looking for and it will be a curse instead of a blessing. I was reading about Ben Affleck in the paper yesterday and he was telling about his life. He was raised by a foster parent and when he became famous he went wild. He ruined his reputation and fell but now has mellowed and realized what is important in the world. He seems happy and settled but he will never know real joy and real peace till he knows Jesus. He did find that riches could not satisfy him.
Lord make us a people who desire you above all the riches of the world; you are truly the greatest riches of all.
Proverbs makes it clear over and over that you can't just sit around and expect to get rich. You must work for it. Riches are the reward of those who are wise and we have learned that the only people who are wise are those who follow God and his leadership in their business. You can have great plans but if your plans stay as plans they won't benefit you. It is like having faith without works. To ask God to heal you then act like you are still sick is not faith. Faith is praying, then acting on the prayer as if what you prayed for happened. Your works will expedite your results. What about those who are foolish and still get rich. All I can say about that is that it will not give them the joy and satisfaction they were looking for and it will be a curse instead of a blessing. I was reading about Ben Affleck in the paper yesterday and he was telling about his life. He was raised by a foster parent and when he became famous he went wild. He ruined his reputation and fell but now has mellowed and realized what is important in the world. He seems happy and settled but he will never know real joy and real peace till he knows Jesus. He did find that riches could not satisfy him.
Lord make us a people who desire you above all the riches of the world; you are truly the greatest riches of all.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Wed.'s Devo - Devises of Evil and Good
Read Pro. 14:22
It has always been a mystery to me why God would want to kill so much in the Old Testament and then totally change and want to save in the New. God raised up Noah to build a boat so he could destroy the people of his day. Many of the people of his day were the half demon, half human creatures that were the result of the sons of gods (angels) coming to earth and having sex with the daughters of men. (Gen. 6) He told Joshua to go into the promised land and kill all the inhabitants of the land. Why didn't he tell Joshua to go in and convert them? Then I looked at the origin of these people. The Ammorites and the Moabites were the results of Lot's daughters having sex with him. So the seed of these people was incest. We now know that incest causes all types genetic problems physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So this whole generation of people were the result of a curse. There were also giants in the land. I looked up giants in the Hebrew and it means a feller, that is, a bully or tyrant. A feller is a person who makes another one fall or die. These were the inhabitants of the promised land so is this why God says to destroy them and build up a new race that would follow him? I don't think so because I look at the line that Jesus came from and it is full of prostitutes, murderers, deceivers, etc. I don't understand God's selection but, I do know this, that God IS the same and he doesn't change even though his covenant with his people did after the priesthood changed from man to Jesus. God has always had the same plan which is to save ungodly men who don't deserve it by his grace.
So the verse today says that the evil create evil and the good produce mercy and truth. So we who know Jesus and are chosen to be his people and should be people of mercy and truth. Lord, let it be so in us.
It has always been a mystery to me why God would want to kill so much in the Old Testament and then totally change and want to save in the New. God raised up Noah to build a boat so he could destroy the people of his day. Many of the people of his day were the half demon, half human creatures that were the result of the sons of gods (angels) coming to earth and having sex with the daughters of men. (Gen. 6) He told Joshua to go into the promised land and kill all the inhabitants of the land. Why didn't he tell Joshua to go in and convert them? Then I looked at the origin of these people. The Ammorites and the Moabites were the results of Lot's daughters having sex with him. So the seed of these people was incest. We now know that incest causes all types genetic problems physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So this whole generation of people were the result of a curse. There were also giants in the land. I looked up giants in the Hebrew and it means a feller, that is, a bully or tyrant. A feller is a person who makes another one fall or die. These were the inhabitants of the promised land so is this why God says to destroy them and build up a new race that would follow him? I don't think so because I look at the line that Jesus came from and it is full of prostitutes, murderers, deceivers, etc. I don't understand God's selection but, I do know this, that God IS the same and he doesn't change even though his covenant with his people did after the priesthood changed from man to Jesus. God has always had the same plan which is to save ungodly men who don't deserve it by his grace.
So the verse today says that the evil create evil and the good produce mercy and truth. So we who know Jesus and are chosen to be his people and should be people of mercy and truth. Lord, let it be so in us.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tue.'s Devo - Mercy to the Poor
Read Pro. 14:20-21
Another definition for poor is needy. We might not know many poor people but we all know people who are needy. They may have all the money they need but are still needy. Needy people are draining and few people want to be around them unless they too are needy. But then the next verse says that if you utterly despise your neighbor it is a sin. So, if our neighbor is needy we must love them with healthy boundaries. Everyone loves a person who is emotionally stable. That person can have mercy on the poor and not let theirselves feel responsible. When Jesus walked the earth he didn't try to right all the injustices in the world, he just tried to right the injustice in the church. The only people he came down on were the piously religious. He didn't give out money, he gave out love and healing and salvation. His concern was the inner man, not the outer one.
Lord, help us to freely give your mercy to the poor and have proper boundaries. Help us to concentrate on the higher gifts like salvation and love.
Another definition for poor is needy. We might not know many poor people but we all know people who are needy. They may have all the money they need but are still needy. Needy people are draining and few people want to be around them unless they too are needy. But then the next verse says that if you utterly despise your neighbor it is a sin. So, if our neighbor is needy we must love them with healthy boundaries. Everyone loves a person who is emotionally stable. That person can have mercy on the poor and not let theirselves feel responsible. When Jesus walked the earth he didn't try to right all the injustices in the world, he just tried to right the injustice in the church. The only people he came down on were the piously religious. He didn't give out money, he gave out love and healing and salvation. His concern was the inner man, not the outer one.
Lord, help us to freely give your mercy to the poor and have proper boundaries. Help us to concentrate on the higher gifts like salvation and love.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Mon.'s Devo - Discernment
Read Pro. 14:15-19
To be gullible is not wise. 1 John 4:1 says, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." When Jesus sent his disciples into the world to evangelize he told them to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." He wanted them to have the slyness of a wicked person yet keep the integrity of the innocent. We are to be wise as far as the world goes but not be tainted by their trickery. We don't play their games. If we remain transparent and truthful and there will be no way their lies can stick.
The ungodly are not only gullible but they can not control their temper so they act foolishly. They are arrogant and think they know the answers to life but one day every knee is going to bow before Jesus and proclaim him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The wise man who fears and worships God will be surrounded with wisdom. He will have discernment to know good from evil and will have the heart to choose the good.
Lord, surround us with your wisdom and may we be a beacon to those who have lost their way.
To be gullible is not wise. 1 John 4:1 says, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." When Jesus sent his disciples into the world to evangelize he told them to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." He wanted them to have the slyness of a wicked person yet keep the integrity of the innocent. We are to be wise as far as the world goes but not be tainted by their trickery. We don't play their games. If we remain transparent and truthful and there will be no way their lies can stick.
The ungodly are not only gullible but they can not control their temper so they act foolishly. They are arrogant and think they know the answers to life but one day every knee is going to bow before Jesus and proclaim him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The wise man who fears and worships God will be surrounded with wisdom. He will have discernment to know good from evil and will have the heart to choose the good.
Lord, surround us with your wisdom and may we be a beacon to those who have lost their way.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Fri.'s Devo - Reaping and Sowing
Read Pro. 14:14
This is just another way of saying you reap what you sow. If you stray from Jesus and fall into a life of sin you will reap the seeds you are sowing. If you live a life of promiscuity and end up pregnant and then turn to the Lord for help, He will help you but you will still be pregnant. The seeds you sow will sprout and produce a harvest. But the same goes for the reverse: if you live a life of righteousness you are planting good seeds and these will grow into good things and will bless you and others. What you produce is always larger than the seed. That is why the things we instill in our children will be much greater in their lives than in ours. I pray that my children will go much further than Dave and I have in the spirit because they are the product of the seed we have sown.
This verse says that "the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." This tells me that he never had a heart for God; his heart was to stray away. Was he ever "saved"? I don't know; but I do know that the scripture says, "those who endure till the end will be saved."
Lord, help us to sow seeds of righteousness so that we might reap souls for your kingdom.
This is just another way of saying you reap what you sow. If you stray from Jesus and fall into a life of sin you will reap the seeds you are sowing. If you live a life of promiscuity and end up pregnant and then turn to the Lord for help, He will help you but you will still be pregnant. The seeds you sow will sprout and produce a harvest. But the same goes for the reverse: if you live a life of righteousness you are planting good seeds and these will grow into good things and will bless you and others. What you produce is always larger than the seed. That is why the things we instill in our children will be much greater in their lives than in ours. I pray that my children will go much further than Dave and I have in the spirit because they are the product of the seed we have sown.
This verse says that "the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." This tells me that he never had a heart for God; his heart was to stray away. Was he ever "saved"? I don't know; but I do know that the scripture says, "those who endure till the end will be saved."
Lord, help us to sow seeds of righteousness so that we might reap souls for your kingdom.
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