July 7 - Proverbs 20,21
Some mornings it is harder for me to wake up for my time with the Lord than other mornings. This morning it was harder, partly because I was kept awake later by the storm we had last night. I had to drink three cups of tea instead of two, and I had to do something else, too. After I read the two chapters in Proverbs, I realized that I had not really allowed what I read to sink in, so I read them again. The second time God was able to get my attention. Has that ever happened to you? I hope we will not just go through the motions of having an unhurried time with the Lord, but I pray we will do what it takes to really commune with Him each morning.
Upon my second reading I found so many things that spoke to me, there is no way I could mention half of them in these notes. I want to pick out a few for you to consider, though. Look at the question in Proverbs 20:6b. Is that a skeptical question or an honest question? I think it is an honest question. I believe it is much harder than we might think to find a person who is truly faithful to the Lord and to other people. There are too many people who are putting on a false image for everyone to see. This does not mean that there are not faithful people. It is just the realization that they are harder to find than we might think. Proverbs 20:24 has another question. How can a person understand his or her own way, when we know that God is in the background of everything we do? We must know ourselves, and we must know the Lord well. Then, we can know God's ways and our own ways. Hopefully, we can grow to have our ways match up with God's ways, so we are not fighting against His plans for us.
Please, remember Proverbs 21:3. God is looking for us to practice righteousness continually, not just to bring Him a sacrifice every once in a while. Don't be a scoffer. Arrogance leads a scoffer not to listen to wisdom and to cause destruction. Don't be an angry contentious woman (or man). Isn't it a shame how such a lovely, loving lady can be transformed into an angry contentious woman? God does not want that to happen. In everything realize that our deliverance comes from the Lord, not from our own efforts, so we must trust Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 22 and 23.
Upon my second reading I found so many things that spoke to me, there is no way I could mention half of them in these notes. I want to pick out a few for you to consider, though. Look at the question in Proverbs 20:6b. Is that a skeptical question or an honest question? I think it is an honest question. I believe it is much harder than we might think to find a person who is truly faithful to the Lord and to other people. There are too many people who are putting on a false image for everyone to see. This does not mean that there are not faithful people. It is just the realization that they are harder to find than we might think. Proverbs 20:24 has another question. How can a person understand his or her own way, when we know that God is in the background of everything we do? We must know ourselves, and we must know the Lord well. Then, we can know God's ways and our own ways. Hopefully, we can grow to have our ways match up with God's ways, so we are not fighting against His plans for us.
Please, remember Proverbs 21:3. God is looking for us to practice righteousness continually, not just to bring Him a sacrifice every once in a while. Don't be a scoffer. Arrogance leads a scoffer not to listen to wisdom and to cause destruction. Don't be an angry contentious woman (or man). Isn't it a shame how such a lovely, loving lady can be transformed into an angry contentious woman? God does not want that to happen. In everything realize that our deliverance comes from the Lord, not from our own efforts, so we must trust Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 22 and 23.