This Fool's Hope Proverbs 26:12

 

Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 

We all have the potential to be a fool. The best prevention is prayer. When we fail to pray it's usually :because we are either in a hurry or because we don't see the need for it. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is exceedingly wicked and deceitful above all else. We can't walk in the Spirit without prayer! By asking the Lord's direction in all that we do we are getting ourselves aligned with His will. We are in fellowship with Him.  Jesus said if we would abide in Him we would bear much fruit and apart from Him we could do nothing. What did Jesus mean? Did He mean we would literally turn to stone and be incapable of doing anything? No, but what He did mean is that we would not be in fellowship with Him. 

I don't know about you but I don't want to miss out on that fellowship. In His presence is fullness of joy. He is the Prince of Peace. I need Him every day because His sweetness , kindness and gentleness is the only way I can be kind and gentle. 

Thoughts on Proverbs 23

 

Some thoughts on this chapter:

Verses 1-3 are a good reminder that it may be time to fast when I'm finding myself unable or unwilling to resist that second helping of my favorite food. Because fasting prayerfully, seeking the Lord is teaching my flesh to sit down and shut up. Because I know that my flesh wants to dominate but my mother once said, "If you cannot accept the word 'no', you will never be able to say 'no'." I didn't understand that at the time but I am getting a clue.  Also reading some commentaries it is good to realize that this can apply to anything that keeps us from seeking Jesus. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't enjoy our food or hobbies or entertainment, it just means Jesus first!

I noticed something else this time around the command words, "Do Not" are mentioned 11 times! That must mean it is important. But since we already have our minds made up that God is not a big bully who just wants to say "No" there must be an important reason. So then I am reminded about how often I crave things that are not good for me like salt and sugar but how I rarely crave broccoli or water melon.  It doesn't mean one cookie or a serving of a salty food is bad but if it is out of balance it can reek havoc with the bodies systems. 

Those commands are not designed to harm us but to make us realize how much we need saving from the dictator of the flesh. Don't know about you but when my body decides she wants a cookie she can be really bossy! Then by realizing I can't resist her I can ask for help and make the choice to follow the Helper. Those "do-nots" remind me what a natural born rebel I am. 

 

I love what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8-9 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

Some important take aways from today's reading:

1. A common problem that I see is that many in today is that many who claim to be Christians have a view that the Bible is old fashioned and out of date. They have their own unbiblical views of what sin and sexuality are.  But we have to remember that Jesus said that in the end times that people would not be able to endure sound teaching.   We shouldn't be shocked or surprised by that.

2. Another important thing to remember is that sanctification is personal and we can never force our convictions on others. Diamonds speak only in the language of shinning. How we live matters.  

After we read Proverbs we began Philippians

How comforting to know that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it! 

An important take away is it was He who began the good work and if He did the work He will bring growth.  He implants the seed of His word. But there are some who are deceived because they never received the love of the truth.

Father I pray for the ones who will read this that they have a love for the truth and that love will abound more and more in the knowledge and discernment of your will. In Jesus name, Amen!

Fruit/Flesh Meter- Deception Prevention

The prophet Jeremiah said that our hearts are deceitful and wicked.(Jeremiah 17:9)  Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak (Matthew 12:34) . Jesus also said that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart would bring forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things (Luke 6:45) 

This may sound hard and confusing but keep in mind it takes time, prayer and study to learn discernment. It can't come from a teacher, but teachers can help us learn. Discernment comes from a willingness to allow the word to live in us and form the image of Christ in us. 

It means we can't rely only on our intellect. We don't check our intellect at the door and become fools, but we learn in humility that God knows everything and we don't. 

Simple childlike.. not childish prayer is  something like, "Lord let the good guys win and the bad guys lose and trusting Him to decide who is who. Otherwise we may be operating in our own wisdom and that's just arrogance hiding in the shadows.

Our feelings are not dependable. They are highly subjective but truth is not. So when our hearts ... the emotional part of us,  are not in sync with the Holy Spirit we can see it as an opportunity for us to invite Jesus right into our feelings and into the light. 

Feelings are not bad. They are only bad when we are governed by them. 

It takes time to develop discernment. I grew up in a household of coffee drinkers and over time I learned to enjoy it, but as a little kid. Heck no way! That stuff was hot and bitter.  Now I can take it with cream and sugar or without it. I prefer it with cream and sugar and for me that is like learning that wisdom is received best from sweet lips.  Lord help me to speak the truth in the meekness of His wisdom!

Please Father let us be governed by Your Spirit and help us to  be aware of our thoughts especially when we wander into thoughts that don't glorify You. Help us to remember that for the believer there is no difference between the sacred and the secular and invite you into every hobby, movie, video, book, game and all conversations. Wash us and make us new.  We love You, Jesus and ask these things in Your mighty name, Amen

Fruit-filled Thoughts!

                

Following Jesus isn't easy but it is simple. Proverbs 16:3 says: "Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established." 

Each day when we come before the Lord we commit whatever we do to Him. We do this knowing that He is either good or He isn't. Can't have it both ways. He is either in control or He isn't, He is either trustworthy or He isn't, He either loves us or He doesn't. 

So as my husband and I come before the Lord our minds are already made up that He is good, He is trustworthy, He has everything under control, He is good and we are loved.  That's already starting out our seeking time in truth fully committed to Him. Perhaps that is our way of standing strong in the Lord and His mighty power. We have also made it our practice to speak a verse out loud every morning first thing. Before coffee or news or anything. It's a simple little discipline that places truth in our minds before any other information bombards the day. It's fun to start out the day that way and see where the Lord will use that verse. The verse we have been reciting, contemplating and chewing on is John 15:5  (Jesus us talking here) " I am the vine and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing. "

We've been doing this for about a week now and its funny because our thoughts are more peaceful, joyful, loving. We are recognizing the fruit of the Spirit in our thoughts. If you think about it that makes sense because if we don't have good thoughts we won't do good things.  So the fruit of the Spirit has to be in us before is shows up on the outside of us. We are learning together to let the sweet, fruit of the Holy Spirit be our gauge. When we find ourselves getting grumpy or grumbly we are learning to invite Jesus right into our dark places and He is lighting them up.  We don't deny our anger or frustration that wouldn't be honest before Him. We are learning to speak kindly and respectfully to each other and even set healthy boundaries. We do not have this all figured out but we are learning and it is fun, exciting, challenging and rewarding. 

Father, I pray right now for the ones who will read this. Please help my brothers and sisters to have juicy, fruit filled thoughts as they walk with You. In Jesus' name. Amen

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Cooperating With The Holy Spirit Is A Choice

 

Galatians 5:16 I say then; Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

When we go to the grocery store often times the very first department we see is the produce department. Think about all of the colors and fragrances. I love to smell fresh strawberries and apples! So many different colors and fragrances. 

We choose fruits and vegetables that are ripe and healthy. They are good. But what if there is rotten fruit or unripe melon? We have to make a choice. It's pretty obvious that we would choose the good and not the bad. 

On a spiritual level we also have choices and this is why we really need to be aware of our own thoughts. We have many opportunities every day to either be irritated or forgiving. We have the choice to yell at people or overlook their mistakes. Life is full of choices and whether or not we realize it we make them all the time. The difference in walking in the Spirit is that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. It starts with baby steps. We learn to listen to that inner voice that may say something like, "that wasn't kind." or "that was selfish". It could be any number of things but the important thing to remember is to learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. 

Always remember though that we will mess up. When we mess up, we fess up, we get up and walk on. We are like little children. Jesus doesn't beat us up. He helps us up. Satan on the other hand wants to keep you down. (1 John 1:9)

Its important to realize too that if we aren't willing to listen to correction we aren't going to be able to receive direction. Feelings are not direction. The point is that when we get in tune with the correction of the Lord we can then be confident in the direction He is leading.

Ps. 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd.  He is good and kind and loving and lovely. He is the bread of life, living water. His word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. 

If Jesus is guiding our thoughts they will always bring us to the paths of righteousness. This not necessarily the righteousness that He gives us but more like the righteousness of thinking and doing the right things. Jesus will always lead us to think right and do right. All actions begin with thoughts. Pay attention to where your thoughts are taking you and also what is feeding those thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.

Jesus said in John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

This tells me that He gives me the opportunity to choose whether or not to be troubled. Don't be discouraged this takes practice.

Life isn't always peaceful, joyful or happy. So don't look for happiness in your circumstances. Look to Jesus. He will honor silent prayers. Even the very simplest of prayers like Peter as he walked on the water. He was doing ok until he took his eyes off of Jesus and onto the wind and the waves. Then he said Lord, help! Immediately Jesus did two things. He corrected and He helped, but He didn't condemn.

A couple other things to consider is that in John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow me. One of the hallmarks of a child of God is that we are comforted and corrected by His word. We must have a willing heart to be corrected by the Word.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

He is God and we are not. He knows what's best and loving correction is the hallmark of good parenting. Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.

Finally... take comfort when you are corrected by the shepherd's rod. It is because you are hearing the heart of the Father's love for you!

Freedom of Self-Control

 

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Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law

 In every place where it is hi-lighted in red place your name. This is a picture of spiritual warfare.

There may be a plate of cookies on the table. If it is there I may be tempted to take one every time I pass by it. But because I am filled with the Spirit I am free to not place a plate of cookies on the table in the first place! If it is there I am free to only eat one. I am free to eat more but the Holy Spirit gives me the power to only eat one. The task master of the flesh demands that i eat and eat and eat.

Here is a tool that can help. Please take the time to memorize this verse:

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

One of the things that helps is to pray without ceasing like it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. That's also what I think Jesus meant when He said to abide in the vine. In John 15:4. This is what He said: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Another thing that is helpful is to be aware of our thoughts.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will direct your paths.

When we become aware of our thoughts its very easy to acknowledge Jesus in them. One prayer that impacted my life is this, "Lord I don't feel spiritual right now, but I know that You are with me right now." That prayer changed my life!

My prayer for you today is that you be saturated with the awareness of His presence and that in those moments when you are aware of your thoughts that you may talk to Him in your every decision. He loves you and wants to fellowship with you!

 Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

A Word About Impulses

 

Let's be honest. Who hasn't made an impulsive purchase? Who hasn't spouted off something silly or hurtful. I have been there and done that way too many times to count. 

One of the things that I am learning is that we always can wait a few seconds and test that thought. How does that work? Just talk to Jesus! Take a breath. "Lord, should I (fill in the blank)?" Then if you don't have peace leave it alone.

He that the Son sets free is free indeed! We are no longer slaves to hasty feet, words or deeds. The only thing we have to do is co-operate with the Holy Spirit!

Victory in Jesus

 

This is  a happy picture that came to mind this morning after a time of prayer and praising. I like to dance around the house will cleaning and praise the Lord. While I do that my head tends to nod in agreement and in my minds eye I could see a horse marching in victory. 

We praise God for what He has done, for what He is doing and what He will do and that praise is putting us into agreement with His word! Remember this... Jesus never loses. Never!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 There is a line in one of my favorite movies that says, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Life may very well be like a box of chocolates but God  knows what is in each piece.

The prophet Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine  heart.” Jeremiah 15:16  

God’s word is the source of our joy if we belong to Him. That is one of the hallmarks of true followers of Christ. The book of James tells us that even demons believe and tremble at the mention of His name and many of us don't even do that and yet we claim the name of “Christian.”

God has secrets that He wants to reveal to us and that is part of the joy of our pursuit of Him. Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

I know. I know some people are going to just freak out and scream, “GRACE!’ But hear me out. It’s true we are saved by grace not by work. We no longer must  observe all of the dietary, Levitical, ritual laws but are to live the moral law. As believers we should be law abiding citizens. So add some common sense to your criticism please. And realize we are saved not by good works but for good works Ephesians 2:8-10

 

If we aren’t enjoying that pursuit it could be that our motivation is not based on our relationship with Him but rather to do it out of a sense of duty. That is not to say it doesn’t take discipline because it surely does but it is a discipline born out of our love for Him because He first loved us. 

What a blessing it is to realize that He wants to be known! The Father is looking for those who are looking for Him. And He will reveal His secrets but not to casual readers.

In John chapter 4 Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman. He didn’t do a miracle per se, He just told her everything she’d ever done. See we think we can hide and we can’t We think we can manipulate His word and many do.  

 When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman He told her, You worship what you do not know, We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is looking for such to worship Him. John 4:22-23

The Righteous Guardian

 

Proverbs 13:6

Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.

Remember the name Jehovah Tsidkeneu The Lord Our Righteouseness?

It is Jesus who guards those who belong to Him. When we belong to Him, we are safely in His great big, safe hands. John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. And I give   them eternal life and no one can snatch them out of My hand."

We have to remember that salvation is instant. It happens the moment we give Jesus our life. But sanctification is a lifelong pursuit. We will mess up along the way. That's when we need Jesus to use the believer's bar of soap: I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Jesus in Proverbs?

 

In a word, yes! Yes the Lord Jesus is indeed in the book of Proverbs. My husband and I took a little trip in the paths of righteousness today.

Jesus promised His sheep that He would lead us in those paths and so He did. 

Notice that one of His names is Jehovah Tsidkeneu, the Lord Our Righteousness. As we were reading this morning

in Proverbs 10 we noticed how many times  “righteous” or “righteousness” is mentioned. 

Turns out there are 14 verses in one chapter! So we decided since we know His name to place it in those verses and

see where we landed. Here is some of what we found.

Proverbs 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness,  (Jesus) delivers from death.

(Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.)

Proverbs 10:3 The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish but He casts away the desire of the wicked.

(Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Jesus) for they shall be filled.

Proverbs 10:6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous. But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

(Try reading it this way: Blessings are on the head of Jesus but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

And think about the Seed war in Genesis 3. Jesus crushes Satan’s head but Satan only bruises Jesus’ heel.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns on His head so that I can take my thoughts captive!)

 10:7 The memory of the righteous (read it this way: the memory of Jesus): is blessed but the name of the wicked

will rot.  (John 1:1 Jesus is the Word. His name is above every name! Demons believe and tremble at the mention of

His name. Sin has no more power to rule our lives if we follow Him. We hide the Word in our heart and He gives us

victory!)

10:11 The mouth of the righteous, (the mouth of Jesus); is a well of life but violence covers the mouth of the wicked

. Jesus is the Bread of life, Light of the Word. Living water. The inspired Word made flesh to dwell among us.

Emmanuel.  Also an interesting side note is that the word “covers”  in this verse comes from a root word that means

to fill the hollow (empty) places. An empty mind is a place that is highly susceptible to demonic activity.

10:16 The labor of the righteous,( Jesus) leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin.  (John 15:5 Apart from Him

we can’t do anything for God.)

Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little. (The tongue of

Jesus… silver in the Bible always represents redemption. Jesus’ name. And there is no other name by which men

can be saved Acts 4:12)

 

Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous (Jesus) feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom. (self-explanatory the

caution is that if there is no spiritual appetite it should absolutely be a red light. We should ask Jesus why not and

also seek Him to see if in fact we are saved. A spiritual appetite is a signature of a healthy Christian. Not a perfect

one, but a healthy one. Because none of us are perfect!)

Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked will come upon him and the desire of the righteous (Jesus) will be granted.

(At the name of Jesus every knee will indeed bow. (Philippians 2:10 Jesus can never be defeated. He has won! Life

conquered death! The tomb is empty! Because He lives we too can live. But as many as received Him, to them He

gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name John 1:12)

10:25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous, (Jesus) has an everlasting foundation

. (Ephesians 4:14-15 we don’t have to be tossed by everything we hear, if we listen to Jesus and grow. God gives us

His word, teachers and pastors, sisters and brothers. We are a community of believers!)

10:28 The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. (We who follow

Jesus wear His armor and part of that armor is the helmet. (1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us who are of the day be

sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. Christians should be the

most hopeful and joyful people on the planet!)

10:31 The lips of the righteous (Jesus) know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

(Again, He is the Word, if we want to live right,  we must renew our minds. Sin will keep us from our Bible and

our Bible will keep us from falling into sin. If you miss a day don’t let Satan lie to you and tell you Jesus doesn’t

love you any more because you were unfaithful. That is a lie from the pit of hell!  When we mess up we should

immediately repent and confess our sin, get back on our feet and walk on. We will mess up but Jesus doesn’t beat

us up. He loves us and knows we are weak and loves us so much anyway, but too much to leave us in a lifestyle of

unrepentant sin. Brothers and sisters this is why it is so important to renew our minds every day! It is how The Lord

our Righteousness speaks to us!

Grace + Faith = Relationship

 

As I was reading in Exodus the past few days I can't get out of my mind something that is a difficult things to articulate. In chapter 19:4-5 I think I am seeing grace with fresh eyes. God is talking to Moses here. He is giving Moses a message for the children of Israel: " You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me about all people; for all the earth is Mine.  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." These are the words you are to speak to the children of Israel."  This is really interesting to me because God brought them out of Egypt to bring them to Himself. He wanted to be with His people! The law wasn't given yet, but He still expected them to listen to His voice and keep His covenant. 

Abraham is listed in the hall of faith in Hebrews. He believed in God and it was counted as righteousness. It's true we are saved by grace through faith. We don't do anything to earn God's favor or our salvation through Christ. It's a gift we can't possibly earn. Think about this. If someone wants to give a  gift do we not have to respond? If we hold our arms tightly to my sides that gift will never be received.

All of these people in Hebrews 11 responded to God's voice. 

Father I pray now for the one reading this. Please be very real to them and call them into a personal relationship with You. 

The Book That Talks

 

In David Guzik's commentary on Proverbs chapter 6, he quotes Spurgeon. It touched my heart and made me smile. I hope that it will encourage you too.

"This Bible is a wonderful talking book; there is a great mass of blessed talk in this precious volume. It has told me a great many of my faults; It would tell you yours if you would let it.  It has told me much to comfort me, ad it has much to tell you if you will but incline your ear to it. It is a book that is wonderfully communicative it knows all about you, all the ins and outs of where you are and where you ought to be, it can tell you everything."

Grace - From the Beginning to End

GOD’S

RICHES

AT

CHRIST’S

EXPENSE

Ephesians 2:8-10 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.     

As we ponder the word, "grace" may we always keep "God" in the beginning and "expense" at the end because grace starts with God in the beginning and it does in fact end with the sacrificial blood of Christ.

If we keep God first in our thinking, first in our praying and first in our doing, it may help us have the right kind of godly fear. My pastor said something about the fear of God that greatly helped my understanding of it.  He said, "Part of fearing God is being unwilling to offend Him." I never want to offend Him because I love Him and He loves me. 

To be honest with you I came to Christ because I was afraid of going to hell. It is a valid reason. Jesus spoke often about hell being a place of torment. I stayed in that kind of fear for a long time and now realize that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. 

God loves us so very much! He doesn't love us because of anything that we could ever do to earn it. His word starts with these words. "In the beginning God " May we remember God at the beginning of each day, so that we can walk in His riches throughout the day and keep in mind the great price of that grace so that we don't cheapen it in our thoughts or deeds.

May we all be saturated with the awareness of His presence today.

The Most Precious Commodity

 

Our most precious commodity is our heart. We can't live without that special muscle that beats in our chest its true but that isn't what I am talking about right now.  We are complex beings. We are spirit, we live in a body and we have a soul.

Psalms 119:9-11 

9.How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.10. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11. Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

This is important because the word of God is living and powerful and it is that part of us that connects us to Him. (See Hebrews 4:12 Proverbs 16:2-3)

Our spirit, that eternal part of us was always designed to connect with the Lord. Jesus is always looking for us, longing for us. (See  Proverbs 20:27 and John 4:23)

Our soul is that part of us that makes up our will. It is the realm of the flesh and it is that part of us that has to be redeemed. It is that part of us that is most often governed  our appetites and all that goes with it.  Think of that old Frank Sinatra song, "I did it my way," and you can catch the drift. Think about Eve in the garden of Eden. We can clearly see Satan's strategy. He first cast doubt, then he lied, than appealed to her sight and senses.

Our heart is the inner man. It is the place where emotions and feelings reside and decisions are made. It is the place where ideas are and why we must renew every day so that we are not conformed to the world's way of thinking. We are the called out ones. Because we think differently, we walk differently and even talk differently. We aren't perfect we are works in progress. 

Hebrews 4:12

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Proverbs 16:2-3  2. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits, 3.Commit your works to the LORD and your thoughts will be established. 

Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart.

Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart diligently for out of it spring the issues of life

John 4:23 But the hour is coming and now is , when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

27 

When Life Doesn't Make Sense

 

When life doesn't make sense there is a Person we can go to. Our heavenly Father is totally honest, trust-worthy and He wants to be known. 

I have gotten a lot of really bad advice from well meaning people saying things like, "Just trust your heart," or "Follow your heart" or things like that. The problem is that feelings change and Satan will use anything he can to cause you to be unstable. But God never changes. Satan says, " I will, I will I will." (see Isaiah 14:13)

Jesus says, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."(Matthew 6:10)

It only stands to reason if Jesus being God had to go off my himself to pray and He was sinless that we as sinners must also spend time alone with God and we too must ask for guidance and strength. Prayer is a two way street. We pray and then we listen as He speaks His Word.

The first time I remember hearing from the Lord as during a time of prayer and meditation. I had been memorizing Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.

I had been studying the meaning of words just to make sure I understood the meaning and then I prayed. This is that prayer:  "Lord I do not feel spiritual right know, but I acknowledge that you are with me right now."

I was standing at my kitchen window and in my mind's eye the window changed into a road map. The Lord spoke to my mind, "Do you see the thick roads? Those are your major decisions and you are faithful to inquire about those. Do you see the thin roads? Those are your little decisions. If you will acknowledge me in them I will direct those also." 

Call me crazy if you like.  I know Jesus is real and that He wants to have fellowship with us. There is a phrase my sister used to sing and it resonates with me. "You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart."

Christianity is not about doing religious things it is about having a relationship with Jesus!

Messy Sheep with Dirty Feet -Intimacy With Christ

 

In John 13 we read about Jesus washing the disciple's feet. Can you just imagine the scene. The disciples had been talking about who was the greatest in the kingdom of God.(See Luke 22:14-30) Jesus takes off His outer garment and girds Himself with a towel. He pours water into a basin and begins to wash their dirty feet. 

Peter doesn't want to let Jesus wash his feet. It's a pretty humbling thing if you think about it. We really don't know what Peter was thinking or feeling but we do know this:  Peter had preached the good news and cast out demons and still needed to have Jesus wash his feet. Peter had walked on water and still needed Jesus to wash  his feet. Peter had healed the sick and he still needed Jesus to wash his feet. 

That's intimacy with Jesus. Every day we mess up. Believers are not perfect, we aren't sinless we just sin less. And when we do we hate it.  We use the Christian's bar of soap: 1 John 1:9  

John 13:8-10

8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”  

1 John 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Praying Through Proverbs

 

Lately this thought of praying through proverbs has come to my mind. Each day I read a chapter that corresponds to the day of the month. That works really well because even if I miss a day I can pick up the next. Because God's word is alive and powerful and sharper than any double edged sword and His mercies are new every morning. I do this in concert with reading through the Bible chronologically. Its so much fun to see How the Bible fits together. The other thing is that our church is praying through some verses this year in anticipation of seeing God move. One of those passages is Jeremiah 9:23-24 which I am trying to memorize.

 It's interesting because in the practice of memorizing it kind of causes you to think about the word and that is where the fun begins.

So keeping this thought in mind I read Proverbs 17:3 which reads The refining post for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.

**That made me think about silver because silver in the Bible represents redemption and that means Jesus! Judas was given 30 pieces of silver. It was the price of a slave. Jesus paid for me so that I am no longer a slave to sin. Also when silver is refined it is heated up until the refiner can see his own reflection.  We want Jesus to be seen in us don't we? 

**Gold is associated with kings. One of the gifts the wise man gave to baby Jesus was gold. Gold is pliable. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo were in the firey furnace because they would not compromise and worship the way Nebuchadnezzer  demanded. Jesus was that fouth man in the fire! Gold also made me think of old movies where I have seen men bite into a gold coin. They did this to test the metal because pure gold is soft.

**Testing the heart. God is not a big bully doing mean things. He isn't up in heaven giving us a whole bunch of rules to follow. He wants us to have peace. He knows whether or not we will pass the test. He tests us to show us where our loyalties really are. Sometimes we fail. It's part of the process. Just like when we are in school we have tests. It is a way to measure what we know and don't know. Did you think that God didn't know that Adam and Eve would fail? He did know! Jesus was always plan a. God wants children not robots. 

Proverbs 17:24  Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 

** This made me think of Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

**That brought  this thought: Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord searching all the inner depths of his heart.

**That made me think of John 14:23 Where Jesus says, " If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him and We will make our home with him."

Proverbs 17:27 He who has knowledge spares his words and a man of understanding has a calm spirit.

**So this makes me see that I need help in this area. The Lord knows I am a wordy person. I have always been a chatter box and love to share information. So please pray for me as I seek to follow Him.

I am just a little nobody with average intellect, who loves Jesus and wants to follow Him with every fiber of my being and I want you to walk with me as I walk with Him.

Fruit from the Root

 These days that we are living in are crazy for sure but what is more sure is that God is still on the throne. Jesus warned us that coming deception would be a really big deal before He returns. 

Maybe this will help someone today. That is my prayer!

Proverbs 12:12 The wicked covet the catch of evil men,
But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

It takes a long time for  an apple tree to grow and bear fruit. It has to grow a really good root system. That's kind of like spiritual life. Some people have big instant transformation. Everyone has joy even if it takes a while for that to become consistent. But the other things like peace and faithfulness and goodness, sometimes those take longer. It did for me. Think of being born again as the seed of the Word.  If you claim the name of Christ but you don't have any spiritual appetite, you may not be saved.  You could be in deception. As with natural life, so with spiritual. I am beating this drum because somebody reading this needs to consider very carefully why there is no hunger. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24

23 Thus says the Lord:

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

15 Proverbs 12:15-16

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But he who heeds counsel is wise.
16 A fool’s wrath is known at once,
But a prudent man covers shame.