Proverbs 3:9-10 - Honoring God with Your Wealth

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Message: Honoring God with Your Wealth

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

This makes me think of people that need money, that I talk to through the online ministry. People are always asking for a huge windfall of money. Are they honoring God with their wealth? Are they buying things that honor him? Are they giving? It reminds me that giving is a priority. We haven't been giving correctly and we need to change that. I am pledging to get that started right at the beginning of the year. We need to get to 10% because we aren't there right now. And we need to save more properly as well. We are giving a lot of our savings right now to the kids, for college. It is hard, but that is where it is going. 

There is a promise here, as there is in other verses in Proverbs. In 3:5-6, he will make our paths straight when we trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding. In 3:7-8, there will be refreshment to our body when we are not wise in our own eyes, not thinking that we know it all, turning away from evil. And now in 3:9-10, we will have a lot when we are giving properly. We will not have this quest of want. I need to share these verses with the kids. They are promises from the Lord. The first 10 verses have a command and a promise once that command is followed. This is great and I need to share it. 

Promise:

 

Psalm 106:6-48 - A Call for Us to Remember

Psalm 106:6-48

We have sinned like our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, that He might make His power known. Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness. So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed His words; they sang His praise. They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. So He gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them. When they became envious of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and engulfed the company of Abiram. And a fire blazed up in their company; the flame consumed the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham and awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them. Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe in His word, but grumbled in their tents; they did not listen to the voice of the Lord. Therefore He swore to them that He would cast them down in the wilderness, and that He would cast their seed among the nations and scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, and so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to all generations forever. They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, so that it went hard with Moses on their account; because they were rebellious against His Spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, and played the harlot in their deeds. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people and He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were subdued under their power. Many times He would deliver them; they, however, were rebellious in their counsel, and so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion in the presence of all their captors. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!

Message: A call for us to remember

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

The words of the first 5 verses of Psalm 106 yesterday, in my reading, can basically be summed up with the proclamation that "God is great; His deeds are mighty; His ways are true; so God, show Your favor on us." 

The beginning focus, from this Psalm, is on the greatness of God and the only reason He would show favor to us is because He is great. I was reminded yesterday of my need to speak of His greatness, but also to remember the things that He has done in my life. I began a writing in which I would document those things. I must remember. We must remember. Without remembering, we forget what has occurred and the blessings that we have received. They happen and occur constantly. 

As a kid and even as I got older, I always the theme of that 80s song from Edin-Adahl singing, "Bring back the joy of my salvation." It was a stark reminder that I remember the thrill that I experienced embracing the Gospel and its reality upon my life. 

The rest of this Psalm, is dark, as it speaks to a people that did not remember God. It begins with the memory that we sinned, repeating iniquity (We have sinned like our fathers), and yet God saved us in order to show His power (Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name), rescuing them from their foes (redeemed them from the hand of the enemy). For a moment, they believe and sang his praise, but then forgot, got selfish, and blamed God (tempted God in the desert). But they did not simply forget, but they replaced their Love for God with a Love for something else (They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image). God said He would destroy them, but Moses intervened. But they still did not surrender, but continued in their march away from God (They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt) and a plague resulted and their doom was near; but then Phinehas intervened (Phinehas stood up and interposed, and so the plague was stayed). But they continued abandoning God and their descent continued (they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, and served their idols) and even as they spiraled down, He remembered His covenant with them (He remembered His covenant for their sake). We must praise God. Praise the Lord. He restores us and saves us despite our constant attempts to run the other way. We must stay close to Him and remember what we have received, and be thankful and not forget.

Promise: Remember what the Lord has done in my life. Don't forget.

Psalm 106:1-5 - A Call for God to Remember

Psalm 106:1-5  

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord, or can show forth all His praise? How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times! Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people; visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance.

Message: A call for God to remember

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:  

I am noticing that some Psalms seem to be a direct prayer to God while others are a proclamation about who He is. They are a praise testimony of Him and His attributes. This one seems to be sort of a mix of the two as it, in a way, helps us to know what to pray for when we pray. 

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. I do need to remember when I pray to give thanks to the Lord first. Even the Lord's prayer begins with "Hallowed be thy name." The model of prayer is to thank God for who he is first. The passage that I love and think about often in Romans 1 begins with the person that begins to live their life away from God in verse 21 and it says, "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks." The first thing to go in a person is giving thanks to God. I am always amazed at that verse, for it says that people knew God, but they didn't give thanks to Him. Lord, this must not be forgotten in my life. I must remember to thank God for what He has done, like we did at Thanksgiving time. We spent time thanking God for what he had done. Lord, help me to be more thankful. I should be thanking you more versus asking you for more. 

Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord, or can show forth all His praise? Also, in my praying is remembering the things that God has done in our life and for us. We are people of want. We are people of need. We are people that desire something different about our current situation. But, we need to also remember what God has done in our life. There are good things that he does all the time and they should be remembered. Lord, remind me of what you have done for us. 

How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times! Lord, it is a privilege to be able to walk in your ways, to live according to Your promises, to be called by You. It is the only way to live in life. I am so thankful that I get to walk with You, by your side. Your ways are not a burden, but are the best ways to live. 

Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people; visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance. Then the Psalmist makes a request from God. He asks God to show Him favor and to visit us with salvation. He asks him to come alongside him and be with him and the grace that God provides. In the mode of experiencing God, he wants to join God in what He is doing. Help me to see life from your perspective, to walk in Your ways. It is no problem wanting life to be different, but should not our ideal be to walk with the Lord instead of just getting our constant Christmas list met? 

Promise: Praise Him, Remember our Calling, Remember what he has done in our life and then we can rightly see Him in us, working in us.

Proverbs 5:21 - Our Ways Before the Lord

Proverbs 5:21- For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths.

Message: Our Ways Before the Lord

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

I have heard some say that God merely starts the engine and then lets it run, referring to a description of God over this universe. But, this is not what Solomon is expressing here, but rather mans ways are before the Lord and he is fully aware of his every step. God is so concerned about the decisions that we make in this life and how we conduct ourselves.  

I need to remember this as I go through my day. I need God's wisdom and grace throughout my days. 

The Lord sees all we do, whether good or bad. This should haunt us but also comfort us.

Promise: I do not have to be on the front page because the One that matters most is watching what I do, see's it, and he will give me what I deserve as far as rewards, but ultimately I am accepted into heaven because of the righteousness, not of me, but of Christ.

 

Proverbs 22:24-25 - Choosing Friends Wisely

Proverbs 22:24-25
Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.

Message: Choose your associations with people wisely

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

Hmm. I am prone to anger so maybe my family should avoid me. And this verse says that they will learn his ways and I think my kids now struggle with dealing with anger properly. So, guess what, they have learned something from me that they shouldn't have learned. It is now snaring them; messing up their soul; unwelcome. 

A person should learn to have restraint and a willingness to hold back and not to fly off the handle at every single provocation. 

Well, to be honest, I do not think there is anything that I have struggled with more than anger since I have been married and had kids. It has wreaked havoc on my life and it moves me to sin in ways I deeply regret. But, it continues to be a sore spot in my life. I think as the kids have gotten older, I do not fly off the handle as much. To be honest, reading this verse and thinking about my past really makes me sad for the way I have dishonored God, but also for how I believe I have trained my children to react to events in their lives that are unwelcome. 

Proverbs 14:29 - People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

James 1:19-20 - Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 

I do not know how to conclude this lesson or entry.

 

Promise: Be careful

Psalm 139:13-24 - God's Loving, Personal Knowledge

Psalm 139:13-24
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
O that You would slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, and Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

Message: God knows me, the wicked should be far from me and I need to be careful of who I am

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

My reading for 12/15/15, what stood out to me was how near the Psalmist was to God. And then how the Lord was not simply near but also desired to lead. And now as I turn to the rest of Psalm 139, I see further the intimacy the Lord has with the Psalmist, and me. 

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I notice the words here. This isn't simply knowledge of us, but this is forming of us. Every person is fearfully and wonderfully made. How sad that some people won't to make a change to what God has done, calling it a mistake. And yet I suppose there are defects that may occur, but even in this, there is a struggle in identifying what is a defect. I guess when I think defect, I think born with a cleft palate. And yet many now are saying they were born the wrong gender. The bottom line is we are each fearfully and wonderfully made and I can take that to mean that I am not a mistake. I am valuable. 

In Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me. This is most interesting. God has ordained days for me. He knows the time of my beginning and when I will depart this earth. Do I really walk around in life realizing that this is His knowledge? It may not change my day to day behavior, but I can trust in Him. 

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. Again here is that reminder of how valuable I am to God. He thinks of me. He has thoughts of me. I try so hard to remember God and yet, it says, He remembers me. That is so wonderful. I am valuable.  

O that You would slay the wicked, O God. To see others that want to do nothing with God is a mystery. My atheist friend actually just became an agnostic because he thought that God was possible, but he didn't believe in any of the religions then defining God. It is one thing for there to be a God, but no man gets to carve out and decide how that God is defined. But, the Psalmist clearly says that those that hate God are our enemies. I am to avoid them. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. On the heels of talking about those that are enemies of God, I need to make sure that my life does not mirror that persona in any way shape, form, or way. I am to be led in the everlasting way. 

Promise: God has loving and personal knowledge of me. 

Psalm 139:1-12 - Our All-Knowing, All-Seeing Lord

Psalm 139:1-12 - O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

Message: He is there, I don't understand, but He wants to lead me.

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

As I think about the Psalmist, as I think about him stopping for a moment and capturing these words, they actually seem very familiar. The Psalmist is expressing thoughts and ideas that have enveloped me at various times. The Psalmist has a union with the Lord and in his words, denotes a familiarity and closeness to the Lord. The Lord is not a distant creator, but the Lord is near. The Lord is present with him. As he lives, the Lord is there, by him. It doesn't matter where he goes in life or what he experiences, God is there. There is a simple way about these verses. 

Our time is busy and filled with so much. My body screams for rest, like it did last night, with my stomach hurting and back hurting, as the day had too many stresses associated with it. I was cloudy with worry and anxiety, that did me no good. I had work thoughts, child thoughts, commitment to preparing for a party thoughts, family together thoughts; there was so much going through my head. And yet, was the closeness of God in those situations of life there? 

What stands about regarding these verses is the simple idea that yes God is all-knowing and all-seeing, but He is that way, because He is near. He cares. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. God is present with me. As one person on this earth, he is making me feel like I am the only person on this earth. No one values me more. No one knows me better. He is there with me. 

It is words like this that, undoubtedly, I do not comprehend. Knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain to it. This recognition that the Lord is this close to me, where I am, what I am saying and thinking, that is the kind of idea that is hard for me even to realize. That anything would be near to me like that. It is hard to comprehend. 

But, God is not simply present and near me and listening and knowing of my thoughts. Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. He is beside me to direct me. He knows me so that he can show me what to do. Lord, this is what escapes me so often. This is what I have difficulty capturing. That by being close to me you will lead me. Lord, the events of my day are too much for me to handle. I do not simply want to learn to be more efficient and more self-sufficient. My ideal is to not learn to stand up for myself, all the more. To be honest, that is not my ideal because then I will think I can do it all without you. Yes, I am a hard worker and yes, I care about my work and people and quality, but Lord, I need Your help. I need Your leading. I need Your right hand to lay hold of me. 

You are not nearby to just keep up. But, you are there to guide me. I need this guiding Lord. Forgive me for thinking I can do it on my own. 

 

Promise: God is greater than we are; he is not like us; he has not just more knowledge but a different type of knowledge. Learn to know Him and depend on Him.