Love and Faithfulness

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

Continuing on from last week, Proverbs 3 is giving us instructions on how we should live in order to have a good life as God intended for us.  Here we are told to love and be faithful.  To bind them around our neck and write them on the tablet of our heart.  In other words, be clothed in love and faithfulness.  If we are clothed in them, others will surly see that in us. 

Being liked by others is often something we want in life.  Here we are told that by clothing ourselves in love and faithfulness, we will win favor and a good name in the sight of both God and man.  This is something that I know I find to be a desire of my heart. 

So how do we cloth ourselves or bind them around our neck and write them on the tablet of our heart?  What this really means is that you live it in all things.  It sounds so simple yet it can really be a challenge. 

How can you show others that you are clothed in love and faithfulness?    

His Marvelous Works

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

     Psalm 9:1 (NKJV)

Throughout the Bible, we are exhorted to praise God because He alone is always worthy of praise--not only for what He does but for who He is.  In the above passage, we’re told to tell of all His marvelous works and I’m here to do just that.

I just finished a very challenging project at work—filling in for another attorney editor on a book that I’d never worked on before. To make it even more daunting, the book was in a substantive area of the law that I didn’t know, working with authors I didn’t know and the book was quite large with a pressing deadline.  Needless to say, I was nervous and felt more than a bit overwhelmed when I started this project a couple months ago.  But God was faithful, as always. 

I committed myself and the work to God each day, and prayed for His help and guidance so I could do my best on it, that He would be glorified. He didn't fail but was there with me, day by day, each step of the way.  Oh I made mistakes, but He helped me make the necessary corrections and even to apologize when I needed to.  My heart overflows with gratitude to Him!  It is humbling and awesome to serve such a faithful, gracious Lord!

I’d like to invite others to share in the comments something that God has done in your life:  

Let’s tell of His marvelous works!

Let’s testify to His goodness and His greatness! 

Let’s sing His praises together! 

Doing so will encourage us and bless our gracious and worthy Lord.

Thursday Devotional - Chasing after the Wind of Accumulation

I’m a natural saver. As a kid, I even saved candy for years and years. However, when my sisters or Mom would find my “saved” candy and eat a piece, it wasn’t very good because of how old it was. There is such a thing as saving too much or too long. 😊

We’re to be wise stewards of the money God enables us to earn. However, a focus on accumulating and saving and hoarding more and more isn’t beneficial to us or others around us.   

Ecclesiastes 5:8-15      ⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. ⁹ The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.

¹¹ As goods increase,
    so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
    except to feast their eyes on them?

¹² The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
    whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
    permits them no sleep.

¹³ I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
¹⁴     or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
    there is nothing left for them to inherit.
¹⁵ Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,

    and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
    that they can carry in their hands.

A focus on accumulation isn’t satisfying or beneficial in this life or the next. Those focused on accumulation are never satisfied. It’s never enough. Let’s prayerfully be generous with what God has provided, while wisely saving just enough.

Alice

Have A Talk With God

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
    I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
I will praise you forever, O God,
    for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name

    in the presence of your faithful people.  Psalm 52:8-9

Trusting in God is not an easy thing.  One of the things I enjoy is listening to others and their life stories.  I laugh at their follies, and cry with them in their pain.  Everyone should be heard in my world.  We all want someone to hear us, don’t we?  I think of what God must hear when we talk with Him.  My conversations range between the very same things I hear people speak to me of.  Sometime, God is trying to teach me in a humorous way, and I look up to the heavens with a grin on my face saying, “God, you’re funny.”  Other times, I am tired and weary, and look to God to just help me get through the day.  Then I think of my wife, and am often overcome with emotion in how He blessed me with her.  I say, “God, I do not deserve this wonderful woman.  Thank you for putting her here and loving me so much.”  These are the things I talk about with God, and in hindsight, those are the reasons I trust Him.

However when I lose focus on these things, I am not so trusting.  I rely maybe too much on my wants and not what God wants.  These are dangerous times where doubt creeps in and sinfulness may be at hand.  It is then that I need to realize that doubt is the work of the Satan.  I must trust God and sometimes, that means I must pause.  This is where I stop, and God starts.

It is vital to have open communication with God.  A simple truth in any relationship is that the better the communication, the better the relationship.  I read this 52^nd Psalm of David, and initially thought this was about trusting God against your enemies.  But as I got to the end, David spoke about thriving in the house of God.  It was more about His relationship with God than all that was going on around him.  He spoke glowingly not only in front of others but also and more importantly to God Himself.  It gave me comfort realizing that we too have that same access to God.  Reading, going to church, and prayers all constitute as ways to communicate with Him, and as we talk more with Him, we gain confidence that builds the trust David speaks of.  Paul wrote in the opening of 2 Corinthians, “We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.” (2 Corinthians 1:10b)  This is what a growing relationship in Christ sounds like.

Our relationship with God is real.  It is not one where we either go through the motions or read just to check off a box of a ‘To Do’ list.  It is motivating and often convicting.  It’s hard.  But if we are willing to search deep in our hearts and soul and share with God all that is our life, He will listen.  He will hear.  And most important, He will answer.  A song by Stevie Wonder speaks to this saying:

Many of us feel we walk alone without a friend
Never communicating with the One who lives within
Forgetting all about the One who never ever lets you down
And you can talk to Him anytime, He's always around

Let us continue to speak freely to our Heavenly Father with consistency and without fear or hesitation.  What will you talk with Him about today?  What joy, fear, or pain can you share with Him?  My prayer is that we break free of our stagnation, and simply as the title of Stevie Wonder’s song says, “Have a Talk with God.”  Amen.

Prolonged life of peace and prosperity

Proverbs 3:1-2

My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.

There are so many places in the Bible that teach us how we are to listen to our Heavenly father.  At the same time, we can relate these verses to how we as children or parents are to follow the teaching of our parents.  As we read these verses, you will never find it saying, do this because I said so (which by the way, I find myself telling my son too often).  Instead, it always says to obey the commands because it will prolong your life and guild you on the path that will be best for you.

I don’t know about each of you, however I do know that in my own life, I have struggled with understanding why God wants me to follow a specific path sometimes however I do know that it always leads to the correct destination.  Is there something in your life that you struggle to obey God’s teaching?  Today I just want to encourage you to search for where God is trying to lead you.  Keep his commands in your heart and he will lead you to a life full of peace and prosperity.

Watch and Work

“For the Lord Himself will descend

from heaven with a shout, with the

voice of an archangel, and with the

trumpet of God. And the dead in

Christ shall rise first. Then we who

are alive and remain shall be caught

up together with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air. And thus

we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another

with these words.”

     1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NKJV)

The older I get, the more I think about heaven and that’s understandable.  But the return of Christ should be on the minds of all believers, young and old alike!  It’s so exciting to think about when the Lord will descend from heaven and we will be caught up with Him and never leave!

We’re told to comfort one another with these truths, and that’s what one dear sister and I do after church almost every Sunday. For example, she’ll say, when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there – and I’ll smile and say me too! Or I’ll say, we need to keep looking up, it could be any day now — and she’ll smile and say amen!

Remembering the promise of Christ’s return is encouraging not only on good days but especially on days that are a struggle.  When you can hardly bear to read the headlines in the news anymore, when you see the moral decline in our society getting worse, when you're weary of all the sin and pain in this world ---that’s when it’s truly a comfort to think about the Lord coming for us.

We should be waiting with expectation for Christ to come again, but that doesn’t mean we check out and just sit around until His return. No, this is a time to be busy serving the Lord and sharing His good news to a lost world.  Because we don’t want to be ashamed when He comes; we want to be found busy doing His work. 

So watch for Him and work while there is still time.  Come Lord Jesus, come!

Thursday Devotional - Chasing after the Wind of Sounding Good

Some of us are naturally bigger talkers than others. Even those of us that don’t talk as much still need to be careful what we say. In fact, when it comes to talking to God, we’re to listen more than we speak.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7        ^]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

² Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.
³ A dream comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. ⁶ Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

We’re to be careful when making promises before God. We’re also to stand in awe and listen to God more than speak ourselves. He does want to hear from us in prayer, but He has lots to tell us – through His word and through quiet moments. One of my friend’s favorite verses is:

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

Where can you and I go this week to be still before God? How will you and I take time to truly listen rather than spending most of our time telling Him our ideas?

Alice

Celebrate Love

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

So, this week I am on vacation, and it has been really fun.  It’s a time to forget about the hustle and bustle of work, cheer practices, and responsibilities, and take time to be thankful for the things I have.  For example, my wife and I have enjoyed spending time together like it is a second honeymoon.  She has had fun all the while poking fun at me.  I tell her how she hurt my feelings and she is why we don’t get nice things (playfully of course  😊).  I enjoy how much love there is between us.  I think of the times where we were truly upset with each other.  They were messy and ugly.  However over the years, I figured out something about love.  True unconditional love between two people is the same as love that often fails.  The difference is not the love.  The difference is what matters to them.  Conditional love focuses on those things that are not.  The insensitivity shown or failure and disagreements that occurred.  Unconditional love focuses on the things that are.  The smiles shared and the tough times we fought through.  Love is a celebration.  Not a sacrifice.

God’s love is about the beauty He sees within us.  It should not be a huge surprise that a devotion on ‘Love’ focuses on 1 Corinthians 13.  In science, it has been said that the simplest laws are often the most powerful ones.  For example, what goes up must come down is the law of gravity.  1 Corinthians 13 is exactly that way.  It is simply written but powerfully advanced.  As you read the verses, I asked myself, “When I said that I loved someone, was all of this present?”  I saw the moments in my life where I was not loving, and in each case, something from these verses was missing.  Then, I think of how God loves me.  He looks beyond my flaws and sees me as a person usable for His will.  He subtly guides me even as I may fight Him (like I had a shot  😊).  He corrects me sometimes harshly but always with a look toward the future.  It is why people say God is love.  Like the last verse, He, “never gives us, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

As I think of this week’s vacation, I have a greater drive toward righting all those things where love was lacking.  Whether it is a conversation with a co-worker or addressing a situation with my daughter, I am driven and inspired by the love I have for all of those near and dear to me.  Each of us has that within us to love.  If you feel a limitation of love then either one of two things must be true.  Either you have not let God in enough to expand your abundance of love or you may not truly love as much as you believe.  God’s love is sufficient for all, and if you happen to be a person feeling unloved I want to impress upon you these simple truths:

1. God loves you
2. Love yourself as God loves you
3. Love others, and that love will come back

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” (Matthew 22:37-40)  Where is your love abundant or lacking in?  How can you expand your love for others?  My prayer is that we see others as God sees us and celebrate our love.  Amen.

Safe spot

Have you ever been around a child that is so good for others but when they are with their parents, they seem to just break down and let go of all their built-up emotions?  Let me tell you, this is my son!  I am his safe spot.  When he goes to school, he must be on his best behavior.  He must control himself at all times.  When he gets home, he knows that no matter how he behaves, he is loved so he is not as concerned about being that perfect child.  Let me tell you, this frustrates me beyond belief.

Psalm 32:7-8

You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

How different are we?  We go to work or somewhere else and we put our best self forward.  We want others to see the best in us.  The thing is, we all have our times when we have to let go of our emotions.  Maybe it’s when you feel like you are all alone that you unleash what has been held back.  Maybe it’s simply in your head. 

Where is your safe spot?  I know that my safe spot still includes my heavenly father.  Most of the time, it’s just me in a car or maybe as I’m in bed at night.  God is there though.  Does he feel the same frustration that I feel with my son when he acts out?  I’m sure he does. 

I thank the Lord for the loving eye he counsels me with.  I pray I may do the same for my son.

It is Well

“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have

my being. . .Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!”

    Psalm 104:33, 35 (NKJV)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very

present help in trouble. Therefore, we

will not fear, even though the earth be

removed, and though the mountains

be carried into the midst of the sea;

though its waters roar and be troubled,

though the mountains shake with its

swelling.  Selah.”

     Psalm 46:1-3 (NKJV)

We were made to sing praises to God—and not only when we’re feeling good, because God is always worthy of praise.  It’s like the exhortation to rejoice always (1 Thess. 5:16) regardless of our circumstances because we rejoice in the Lord.  One good example of this is the story behind “It is Well with My Soul,” a wonderful hymn written by Horatio Spafford in 1873.

Mr. Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman until most of what he owned was destroyed in the great Chicago fire. His 4-year old son had died of scarlet fever the year before. Desiring a rest for his family, he planned a European trip and sent them ahead on a ship, planning to follow them in a few days. But their ship was struck by another vessel in the ocean and it sank. His remaining children (4 daughters) perished and his wife sent him a telegram with the words “Saved alone. . .”  Mr. Spafford supposedly wrote this hymn as he approached the part of the ocean where the ship carrying his daughters had sunk.

“When peace like a river attendeth my way,

when sorrows like sea billows roll,

whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

it is well, it is well with my soul.”

Only a child of God who trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord can have peace in the midst of such tragedy. 

We may not experience heart-breaking losses to the extent that Mr. Spafford did, but every believer will experience grief, everyday worries, and all sorts of trials and trouble in this life. Yet Jesus says we should not let our hearts be troubled (John 14:27) because He is the anchor in every storm, our firm foundation when all around us is quaking.  Yes, we grieve but not as the world does. Christ has promised to prepare a place for us and take us to Him (John 14:2). We should take comfort in knowing that the difficulties we go through here are only temporary and we are eternally safe with our Lord. 

Because of these wonderful truths, we can have assurance and peace, no matter what difficulties we go through.  Are you in a storm now? Or has the gloom of the everyday grind settled upon you?  Let not your heart be troubled; praise God because it is well in your soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHe_qmo3gX4