For those who find me find life

(I have been isolating verses as I work my way through Proverbs. I settle on a verse each morning and then write thoughts that come to me regarding the chosen verse.)

God’s garden

“For those who find me find life.” – Proverbs 8:35

I have found God.  He dwells within me.  He MUST live through me.  I yield control entirely to Him. 

How does a person in love act?  They act lively!  They are NOT passive.  They do not let the world go by unnoticed.  They see others.  They hear others.  They are more interested in others than they are in themselves. 

I have eternal life.  What is going on now is the beginning.  There is an “ahead,” called heaven. 

I was lost.  I needed to be saved and He saved me.  His Son died for what separated me from Him.  Christ took my place.  He was that Way I needed, to find eternal life.  PTL. 

‘Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.’ 

God is good all the time. 

Without God, everything is terminal.  It will pass away.  With Him, there is eternal. Bask in it! 

Bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me

(I have been isolating verses as I work my way through Proverbs.  I settle on a verse each morning and then write thoughts that come to me regarding the chosen verse.)

“Bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me.” Proverbs 8:21

God’s garden

My goal is to love God. 

I must want Him. 

I must seek Him full-time. 

I must long to hear from Him.  To talk to Him. 

I must be well-aware of His presence.  I look and know that He is there. 

I don’t leave the door open and allow the Adversary to come into my life.  I resist the Devil.  I call him out.  I ask for God’s protection.  I recognize my weaknesses on my own. 

I will mess things up with fear or pride.  I will make obstacles of things and get distracted by them.  I will forget to call for Help from the One Who loves me and is nearby. 

Our front door is not working right.  Have I called for Help?  I am now. 

Before, I was worrying about how I would take care of it.  I was spending too much time on that trail. 

Being close to God brings peace.  That DOES NOT mean that things will smooth out as I fashion “smoothing out.”  It means that I have realized that there is One who knows and I’m deliberately bringing Him onboard. 

Because of God’s love, the consequences of my sins are forgiven, and I will have an after-life with God.  What an inheritance that is! 

To love Him right is to eliminate my “love” competitions.  ‘Do you love me more than these?’ 

Jesus died for me, a sinner.  Loving Him back is the only way I can repay Him.

Those who seek me find me

(I have been isolating verses as I work my way through Proverbs.  I settle on a verse each morning and then write thoughts that come to me regarding the chosen verse.)

God’s garden

“Those who seek me find me.” – Proverbs 8:17

How comforting!

God is not unfindable.

How do I find Him?

There are visuals. I see Him as the only One who could have created the flowers in our yard.  The colors.  The design. The fact that they emerge from a glacier, frozen and out of sight.  And it happens annually.

When I turn my attention to Who could do such a thing, I know that there is God.

I see His Workings in the hummingbirds that visit our feeder.  Nowhere near here for months yet able to fly great distances to join us.

I have times when words come to me. I clear away the haze and cry out to Him.

I don’t place Him in a geographic location.  I don’t think of Him eternally away from me in heaven.  He is in my midst.

My issue is realizing His proximity and persisting in interaction.

How do I know I’ve “found” Him?  The seeking ends. 

I can all-day-long find Him.  He is near me.  His eyes and ears have such quality that my seeking will result in His finding.

What a Savior!

What a God!

To fear the Lord is to hate evil

(I have been isolating verses as I work my way through Proverbs.  I settle on a verse each morning and then write thoughts that come to me regarding the chosen verse.)

God’s garden

“To fear the Lord is to hate evil.” Proverbs 8:13

Why am I spending any time watching Chicago PD?  If I swim in those waters, I’m going to get covered with what I see. There is a barrage of evil. 

I love God.  I MUST immerse myself in Godly things. I want to come away from the time stronger, not weaker.

I should be troubled by the evil I see in me.  Fearing God shines a bright light on everything.

Fearing God will help me choose the roads He want me on.  Loose from God lessens my care about the choices I make.

I rationalize that I can revert and resist the consequences of impulsive choices.  I can’t. I am a product of the choices I make.

I cannot live rightly without His guidance.  I want His guidance before I choose a course of action.

My relationship to Him must be ongoing.  Separation does NOT make the heart grow fonder. Separation, instead, makes the heart wander and wandering sets me up for Satan’s guidance.  Enough of that!

God knows what you’ve been up to

“If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.”  Proverbs 28:9.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 28-29, Psalm 60, and Romans 16.

I believe that God tunes us out when we ignore Him.

We know His Word well enough to know that we shouldn’t do something……..and we do it.  Then we try our usual prayer routine.  God is not mocked!

Even in our most casual relationships, if we treat someone rudely they aren’t going to want to listen to us.

We need to be right with God to have Him hearing us.  That is a pretty stern warning and not one to be taken lightly.  I want to always be able to communicate with Him.  To lose that capability would be a disaster.

Solutions?  First, I must walk in step with Him.  Second, when I mess up I MUST own up to it and get it corrected so that my relationship to God is restored.

“Lord, forgive me for behaving as if You are unaware of what I do.  You are aware.  Thank You for the warning about my behavior impacting our relationship.  I want to be tight to You.  Help me.  Prick my conscience when I am off course.  I want nothing to mess up on our relationship.  I love You, Lord.”

If my behavior effects my connection to God, I must be tuned to disconnections and keen on corrections.

 

Plans

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 27:1.

“But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.”  Romans 15:23-24.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 25-27, and Romans 15.

We all do it; we make plans.

Paul is planning to go to Spain, but he will never get there.

We don’t know the future.  God does.

In James it says that if the Lord wills, we’ll do this and that.  When we start saying, with certainty, what will happen, we miss Who is in charge.

I have often been guilty of starting something and THEN asking God to bless me.  How does God feel about my approach?

Planning something without involving God is folly.

A better approach is to present my blank schedule to Him and ask Him to guide me in filling it in.  That approach makes me open to His changes and His better ideas.  Apart from Him I can do nothing Godly.

“Lord, direct me.  Show me the way; Your Way.  Forgive me for going my own way.  For asking for blessings without being assured I am doing what You want me to do.  What a fool I am!  I love You, Father.”

If I plan without God, I have created a counterfeit god; me.

Apply yourself

“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.”  Proverbs 23:12.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 22-24, and Romans 14.

You want it.  Here’s how to get it.

“It” being a better understanding of God.

I want to know God.  I don’t want a casual understanding of Him.  I want as much as is possible……at least that’s what I say!

The reality is that my approach is less than the best.

I have a library of reference books covering every book of the Bible.  I am also building a stack of partly-read, contemporary books by Jim Cymbala, Tim Keller, and on witnessing techniques.  Yet the distance between those books and my understanding of God is great.  How come?  The books aren’t getting read!  I’ll start the contemporary ones and bog down.

I do find, however, that when I get into a book that keeps my attention, I will read it a second time at the expense of finishing other books I have started.  This is currently happening with RT Kendall’s “Why Jesus Died.”

I usually find time to read Scriptures daily and produce what I hope are God-given findings.  I need to find time to do more reading, especially at night when the combo of fatigue/television infringe on what I really want to do.

Life is a struggle and our time here is short.  We have no guarantee of tomorrow.  We must redeem our time that is left.

“Lord, my intentions and my fruitions are far apart.  You have provided me with many written resources that will increase my understanding of You.  Help me to intentionally make time to read what will be spiritually profitable for me.  I need Your guidance.  I need You running my ENTIRE life.  Help me, O thou great Jehovah.”

How diligently are you going about learning more about God?

You’ve been offended. Now what?

“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”  Proverbs 19:11.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 19-21, and Romans 12.

Nothing mentioned here about taking revenge!

I have declared before that I can be very impatient.  I get fed up with deficiencies in myself and in others.  I want the world to operate in a certain way……and it doesn’t always do that.

I guess, according to today’s verse, that makes me an unwise person.

If I am filled with the Holy Spirit I will handle offenses wisely.

I must start each day tight to God.  I must declare to Him that I want to do His Will.

I must have Him beside me as I go through my day.  I must pray (to Him) without ceasing.

But I don’t act wisely so often.  I have presented the solution.  Will I turn completely to Him?

“Lord, have Your Way with me.  Take me over.  Guide me.  Direct me.  Prick my conscience when I am off-course.  Forgive me for wandering off on my own.  Nothing Godly happens when I do that.  When will I learn?  Help me, Lord.  I love You, Father.”

How are you doing handling offenses?

How to get along with others

“Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”  Proverbs 13:10.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 13-15, and Romans 11.

When there is strife, at least one of the participants has an overdose of pride.

Also, sadly, the know-it-all has stopped learning.

Been there and done both of them, way too many times!  How about you?

I assume that I deserve my way.  That I know best.  And then someone comes along who thinks otherwise.  Trouble comes in volumes thereafter.

Taking advice?  Not in my house!  Why are there so many domestic struggles?  Too many know-it-alls in households.  Too many folks willing to give advice and too many folks unwilling to accept it from others.

All this doom and gloom sits nicely on a life that is godless. But what about those of us who see ourselves as Godly?  We shouldn’t be on the wrong sides of today’s verse.  We shouldn’t be causing strife.  We should be willing to be advised.

Our sinful natures necessitate today’s verse.  The Godly are not immune to sin’s traps.  Solution?  Persistent relationship to God.  I cannot let Him out of my mind and heart.  I need Him.  I need direction from Him.  The evidences of His command of my life will be that I will get on the “right” side of today’s verse.

“Lord, forgive me for being a troublesome know-it-all.  I know better.  Fill me with You.  Take every inch of me over.  I want to reflect You everywhere.  I want to rightly represent You.  I cannot do it without Your Holy Spirit guiding me today.  I cling to You.  I love You, Lord.”

How are things going at home?  He can make them better.

Down the slippery slope

“Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.”  Proverbs 1:30-31.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading; Proverbs 1-3, and Romans 7.

Proverbs is a book of wisdom.

Today’s verses are the classic case of reaping what you sow.

If I choose to separate from God, and go my own way, I can expect an unpleasant consequence.

I am certain if I was asked if I wanted to separate from God, I would loudly declare that I don’t.  So how does it happen?  For me, it is when I have loosened my attachment to Him.

When I am detached from God, I go places I shouldn’t.  Sometimes I quickly figure out the mistake I’ve made and re-attach myself.  Other times I get down the wrong road apiece before the alarms go off and a turn is made and the long road back begins.

I believe that God at times puts me in situations to test my attachment to Him. Peter had numerous occasions in which his declared attachment to Jesus was asserted and then found limited.

I need to acquire the ability to discern right from wrong.  Some not-so-good things are so attractive.

Walking right with God is positively an ongoing relationship.  It cannot waver to be effective.  How can I dare to live a second apart from Him?

“Lord, thank You for Proverbs.  I am desperate for a full dose of Your wisdom and knowledge.  You gave Solomon both.  I beg You for them for me so that I will live pleasing to You in ALL things.  So many failures on my resume.  How You can love me mystifies me.  What a Savior!”

Spending too much time on the godless slippery slope?  I am.