Read Pr. 27:1-2
Humility is a difficult walk. Peter said for the young person to submit to the older and for everyone to be subject to one another. Then he said to be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Another name for humility is modesty. We love to talk about ourselves and all our accomplishments. Who wants to listen to how great we are? Noone but our mother and I bet she gets tired after a while. Proverb tells us twice that to be honored we first have to be humbled. Today's Proverb warns us not to boast about what we are going to do in the future because we don't know the future and anything can happen. If we want praise it should not come from us. Our walk should so look like Jesus that people would praise us and we shouldn't have to seek it ourselves.
Lord, help us to walk in humility knowing that there is nothing good in us except you and there is nothing praisworthy about ourselves except what you do through us. Thank you for the gifts you give us to bring glory to you.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tues.'s Devo - The Mouth... Again
Read Pr. 26:22-28
Proverbs speaks so much about out words because our speech is so important. It can cause a curse and be our worse enemy or it can bless and be our powerful advocate. Whispered slander will hurt a person down to their womb where they reproduce life. When we hear some slander spoken against us it can cause us to stop moving in our destiny. When we hate someone we won't speak truth because hate is of Satan and he is the author of lies. He distorts things in our mind so that we say things out of the distortion that are not true. Love believes all things and covers a multitude of sins. A person of hate cannot love and even his mercy is deceptive because his heart is full of idolatry. He will be exposed before his accusers and brought down. It's the promise of God that we will reap what we sow. A person who lies really hates the person he is trying to deceive even if he does it by flattery. Flattery is just a lie in a prettier package. Jesus said to let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no" and whatever is more than that comes from evil. In other words, we don't have to add a lot of adjectives to our yeses. If we are a person of integrity then people will believe our simple "yes" and we won't be tempted to exaggerate.
Lord, let your love flow from our mouths and let us be simple and truthful in all we say. May our speech edify you.
Proverbs speaks so much about out words because our speech is so important. It can cause a curse and be our worse enemy or it can bless and be our powerful advocate. Whispered slander will hurt a person down to their womb where they reproduce life. When we hear some slander spoken against us it can cause us to stop moving in our destiny. When we hate someone we won't speak truth because hate is of Satan and he is the author of lies. He distorts things in our mind so that we say things out of the distortion that are not true. Love believes all things and covers a multitude of sins. A person of hate cannot love and even his mercy is deceptive because his heart is full of idolatry. He will be exposed before his accusers and brought down. It's the promise of God that we will reap what we sow. A person who lies really hates the person he is trying to deceive even if he does it by flattery. Flattery is just a lie in a prettier package. Jesus said to let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no" and whatever is more than that comes from evil. In other words, we don't have to add a lot of adjectives to our yeses. If we are a person of integrity then people will believe our simple "yes" and we won't be tempted to exaggerate.
Lord, let your love flow from our mouths and let us be simple and truthful in all we say. May our speech edify you.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Mon.'s Devo - Stomping out the Fire
Read Pr. 26-21
It takes coal to make burning coals and it takes wood to make a fire. In the same way, it takes a contentious man to make a fight. If you have one piece of coal then it won't stay burning long and if you only light one piece of wood it will soon go out. That is the same way it is with a person bent on picking a fight. If they can't find anyone to fight with they will be forced to cool down. When I encounter a situation that is ripe for contention I have to remind myself that if I don't play their game then there is no game. If I return kindness for strife and love for hate then I have disarmed the enemy. It also helps to realize that we don't fight people but principalities and things unseen. Our enemy is the devil and all his demons. Jesus put it this way, "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."
Lord, remind us of this when we encounter strife and debate. Let us bring a cup of cool water to our enemies.
It takes coal to make burning coals and it takes wood to make a fire. In the same way, it takes a contentious man to make a fight. If you have one piece of coal then it won't stay burning long and if you only light one piece of wood it will soon go out. That is the same way it is with a person bent on picking a fight. If they can't find anyone to fight with they will be forced to cool down. When I encounter a situation that is ripe for contention I have to remind myself that if I don't play their game then there is no game. If I return kindness for strife and love for hate then I have disarmed the enemy. It also helps to realize that we don't fight people but principalities and things unseen. Our enemy is the devil and all his demons. Jesus put it this way, "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."
Lord, remind us of this when we encounter strife and debate. Let us bring a cup of cool water to our enemies.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Fri.'s Devo - The Rewards of Deceit
Read Pr. 26:19,20
Wow, this is a scary promise! If a person betrays or deceives another associate then he is like a demon who hurls fiery arrows of ruin at him. I wonder what his reward will be. Unfortunately this kind of thing happens daily. People embezzle from the business they work for, corporations lie to their competitors to sell the most, people defame their coworker so they will get the promotion, husbands and wives deceive each other with other relationships. God sees it all and he has this rule: you reap what you sow. The thing is he is not in a hurry to punish you because he is hoping you will repent and lighten your sentence. The trouble with that is, we as humans think that time means we have gotten away with it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We WILL reap what we sow here on this earth. That is the mercy of God that we reap here on earth and not in heaven. We want to be judged here so we can repent and enter into God's rest when we die.
Lord, show us any deceit in us so that we can repent and be restored. We forgive those that have betrayed us. Have mercy on them.
Wow, this is a scary promise! If a person betrays or deceives another associate then he is like a demon who hurls fiery arrows of ruin at him. I wonder what his reward will be. Unfortunately this kind of thing happens daily. People embezzle from the business they work for, corporations lie to their competitors to sell the most, people defame their coworker so they will get the promotion, husbands and wives deceive each other with other relationships. God sees it all and he has this rule: you reap what you sow. The thing is he is not in a hurry to punish you because he is hoping you will repent and lighten your sentence. The trouble with that is, we as humans think that time means we have gotten away with it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We WILL reap what we sow here on this earth. That is the mercy of God that we reap here on earth and not in heaven. We want to be judged here so we can repent and enter into God's rest when we die.
Lord, show us any deceit in us so that we can repent and be restored. We forgive those that have betrayed us. Have mercy on them.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thurs's. Devo - In the Waiting Room
Read Pr. 27:18
The fig tree is symbolic in the Bible for Israel. If we protect it with our loyalty and prayers then we will eat the fruit of all the promises God gave to Israel. After all, we are spiritual Israel and our roots spring from Abraham. In the same way if we wait for God to fulfill his promises then we will be loaded down with the fulfillment of the promise. Waiting on God is a fundamental requirement of Christians. God is never, never, never in a hurry but never late. We just don't understand the process. God plants us as a seed on this earth and it takes much watering of His Word, and much walking out of the Word before we can carry the weight of the promises. The scripture says that he that waits on his master will be honored. In the Hebrew it reads, "He that guards and protects and attends to his sovereign controller or master will be heavy with riches. Ps. 37:9 says that those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. Is. 30:18 says that those who wait will receive mercy and blessings from God. Is. 40:31 says that those the wait on God will renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles. They will run, and not be weary, and walk and not faint. Good things come to them that wait. Israel has had to wait for God's promises to come but God has always come through just as he promised and he will for you too.
Lord, teach us how to wait and what to do while we are in the waiting room. Show us the principle of watering the words you have given us with the word and the word of our testimony. May our words and yours align together.
The fig tree is symbolic in the Bible for Israel. If we protect it with our loyalty and prayers then we will eat the fruit of all the promises God gave to Israel. After all, we are spiritual Israel and our roots spring from Abraham. In the same way if we wait for God to fulfill his promises then we will be loaded down with the fulfillment of the promise. Waiting on God is a fundamental requirement of Christians. God is never, never, never in a hurry but never late. We just don't understand the process. God plants us as a seed on this earth and it takes much watering of His Word, and much walking out of the Word before we can carry the weight of the promises. The scripture says that he that waits on his master will be honored. In the Hebrew it reads, "He that guards and protects and attends to his sovereign controller or master will be heavy with riches. Ps. 37:9 says that those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. Is. 30:18 says that those who wait will receive mercy and blessings from God. Is. 40:31 says that those the wait on God will renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles. They will run, and not be weary, and walk and not faint. Good things come to them that wait. Israel has had to wait for God's promises to come but God has always come through just as he promised and he will for you too.
Lord, teach us how to wait and what to do while we are in the waiting room. Show us the principle of watering the words you have given us with the word and the word of our testimony. May our words and yours align together.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Wed.'s Devo - Boundaries
Read Pr. 26:17
God gave the tribes of Israel boundaries that they were suppose to live in. They were purposed by God for a reason. We have been given boundaries that we are to possess. We are safe inside our boundaries but we get in trouble when we go beyond them. Today's verse talks about what happens when we get beyond our boundaries and meddle with someone elses contentions. It is like taking a dog by the ears. "Taking" means to attack. This dog is not the pet but more like a male prostitute or someone who is extremely base. It would not be wise to attack the most evil man in prison. That is the picture. In the Old Testament many countries would hire soldiers from other nations to fight with them. It rarely turned out to be a good thing. We are trained the fight our own battles but not the battles of others. God has given us authority over our family, our state, our nation, but not others families, etc. We can advise them in the Word but they need to put on their armor and fight.
Lord, show us our boundaries and help us to stay in the safety of our land.
God gave the tribes of Israel boundaries that they were suppose to live in. They were purposed by God for a reason. We have been given boundaries that we are to possess. We are safe inside our boundaries but we get in trouble when we go beyond them. Today's verse talks about what happens when we get beyond our boundaries and meddle with someone elses contentions. It is like taking a dog by the ears. "Taking" means to attack. This dog is not the pet but more like a male prostitute or someone who is extremely base. It would not be wise to attack the most evil man in prison. That is the picture. In the Old Testament many countries would hire soldiers from other nations to fight with them. It rarely turned out to be a good thing. We are trained the fight our own battles but not the battles of others. God has given us authority over our family, our state, our nation, but not others families, etc. We can advise them in the Word but they need to put on their armor and fight.
Lord, show us our boundaries and help us to stay in the safety of our land.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tues.'s Devo - The Lazy Person
Read Pr. 26:13-16
In these 4 verses we see the personality of the lazy person.
(1) The lazy person only sees the obstacles. He lives his life out of fear which keeps him from doing anything or taking any risks. The Christian life is full of risks. You must lay down your life for Jesus and walk in total trust and faith in Him.
(2) The lazy man is like a door turning on hinges. The door never leaves its place and goes anywhere. Neither does a man who sleeps his life away. Depressed people spend a lot of time in bed because they have no hope. They just turn over and over like the door. We are called to go out to the world and influence them with the gospel.
(3) The lazy person thinks he knows more than those who are out there in the midst of what is happening and seeing it face to face. These lazy people love to sit back and complain about what is going on yet don't want to "get involved".
(4) The lazy man hides his gifts and tries to shirk his responsibilities. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts and others the same way. We can't shirk our responsibilities if we love others with all our heart.
Lord, help us to be diligent and always about your business of the kingdom.
In these 4 verses we see the personality of the lazy person.
(1) The lazy person only sees the obstacles. He lives his life out of fear which keeps him from doing anything or taking any risks. The Christian life is full of risks. You must lay down your life for Jesus and walk in total trust and faith in Him.
(2) The lazy man is like a door turning on hinges. The door never leaves its place and goes anywhere. Neither does a man who sleeps his life away. Depressed people spend a lot of time in bed because they have no hope. They just turn over and over like the door. We are called to go out to the world and influence them with the gospel.
(3) The lazy person thinks he knows more than those who are out there in the midst of what is happening and seeing it face to face. These lazy people love to sit back and complain about what is going on yet don't want to "get involved".
(4) The lazy man hides his gifts and tries to shirk his responsibilities. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts and others the same way. We can't shirk our responsibilities if we love others with all our heart.
Lord, help us to be diligent and always about your business of the kingdom.
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