324 year old words that can change your life

What do you devote your time to? What do you spend your extra time doing? Where do you go, what do you see? What holds your attention? Whatever holds our undivided attention surely becomes something that can end up being our devotion. For some it might be work, a hobby, money, a car, children or numerous other things. Brother Lawrence understands this and wrote:

“We should put life in our faith. We should give ourselves utterly to God in pure abandonment, in temporal and spiritual matters alike, and find contentment in the doing of His will, whether he takes us through sufferings or consolations.”

He urges that our devotion should be targeted towards God no matter the consequences. This devotion should be a complete abandonment to Him.

What holds your attention? What consumes your time? Who or what has your devotion?

324 year old words that will change your life.

In the last 5 years the art of conversation has diminished through the used of Social media tools and apps. Many young christians struggle to have a consistent prayer life and thus struggle to truly know who God is. Nevertheless, we are encourage to have constant prayer life. Brother Lawrence writes:

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”

In order to experience this sweet and delightful life, we need to have a continual conversation with God. Have you spoken to him today?

324 year old words can change your life

“The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.”

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

Knowledge begets knowledge. When this knowledge is centered on God then this knowledge is transformed to love, genuine love. This love is not swayed by time, or situations. It is a constant love. After all, God love. The more we know about God, the more we know about love and the more we know about love the more we understand the type of love God has for us.

Why should we forgive?

There is a lot written in the Bible about forgiveness, a lot. One verse speaks of not letting the sun go down while still angry at your brother. Another speaks of forgiving just as God forgave us while another explains the amount of times we need to forgive someone (seventy seven times seven, in other words countless times).

Many have a hard time forgiving for past offenses and carry the weight of resentment for a life time. This weight can manifest itself in physical, emotional or psychological symptoms. Nevertheless there are some real benefits of choosing to forgive rather than living with a life long grudge.

What do you guys think – Why do you think is hard to forgive? And, can forgiveness have a physical and psychological affect on our lives?

The link below is a story of two brothers that took to different paths after their mother was murder during a robbery. One chose to forgive, while the other was not able to let go.

The Forgiveness Boost

Apple’s Christmas Commercial tugs at the heart.

Apple’s commercial are creative, fun, energetic but seldom do they tug at the heart. Their latest commercial is an exception. This commercial plucks at the heart and creates an emotional song that all of us can relate to.

Enjoy!

One Thing

What is that one thing that you wish you can change? That one thing you wish you can get rid of, or you can be more like? Maybe your one thing is being a little bit taller, or maybe a little bit smarter. Maybe that one thing is wishing you were a little less… you get the point.

Isaiah 43:18 states –“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past”

This word came to the Israelites while they were thinking about their past, their struggles while in Egypt and while crossing the desert in seach for the promise land. God’s message is clear — “Forget the former things…” The one thing that many of us struggle with, that One Thing should be a thing of the past. Verse 19 continues to say – “See, I am doing a new thing!” Once we begin to forget the former things, we are able to see that God is doing a new thing in our lives. I believe that we should live our lives the way we drive a car. The windshield takes up almos the entire width of the car to see what is coming towards us. While the rearview mirror is a fraction of the size of the windshield. In other words we need to look forward to see how God is blessing us. Nevertheless, the rearview mirror is smaller and it should be only be glanced once in a while. This mirror is not used to get our bearing and is not used all the time.

God is doing a new thing!

Proverbs Daily Devotional Day 2

One day I found myself speaking with a brother from church, and after a couple of minutes he made a reference to wisdom having something to do with the amount white hair someone might have. I am sure that many of us have heard this before, having white hair means that you are wise. If this was the case, I am on my way to becoming a wise man (not a wise guy) at my young age. Scientifically speaking, this is not the case. The cause of white hair is color-producing cells stop producing pigment. Therefore wisdom does not come from the color of your hair, but from another source. Wisdom comes “from the LORD who gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” We all desire to be wise because wisdom can help us out in times of need.

According to verses twelve and sixteen, “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse… Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words,” These verses speak of being wise when it comes to making sure we don’t fall in the path of the wicked and perverse people. Perverse, according to the dictionary, means someone who shows a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences. It is not hard to see that many are living this way. We watch the news and hear of stories of people who commit crimes and atrocities because they so desired. We might have encounter others in our daily walk which fit the description of a perverse person, someone who is obstinate and acts in an inappropriate way based solely because they feel like it. However, Proverbs says that wisdom comes with great benefits.

Wisdom can be the light in the midst of darkness, the life preserver that keeps us afloat in the ranging sea of wickedness. Wisdom will allow us to “walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.” With the amount of sexually explicit images everywhere, it is almost impossible not to be tempted. Nevertheless, wisdom will save us from adulterous people, from the wayward man or woman and their seductive words. Wisdom will help us to know right from wrong, to keep us holy and pure in a perverse and unholy world. Wisdom comes from God, not from the amount of white hairs we might have. Therefore, ask God for wisdom, listen to His words, read the Bible and allow the Spirit to guide you.

Proverbs Daily Devotional Day 3

We live in a time in which we have any and all types of information at our finger tips. With the technological advances of the past ten years we are able to do research, acquire knowledge and learn many things. This false sense of wisdom can lead us to rely more on our understanding than that given by God. Verses five to seven address this concern, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.”

Trusting is hard to do, especially if you have been previously disappointed. Truthfully, who has not been dissapointed? Trusting with your heart is even harder to do and we reserve that privilege for the few people who have a special place in our lives. This is understandable, since our feelings are tied in to our hearts. Nevertheless, if we trust in The Lord, if we do not rely on what we know or on what we learn from Google, wikipedia or Youtube then He will help us to make the right decisions. Understanding this danger, of not trusting God but trusting on our own knowledge, enables us to make the right choices and gain the right perspective on our knowledge in comparison to the knowledge that God gives.

There are benefits to not relying on our own understanding and to trusting in God with all our hearts. Verse eight reads, “This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” In choosing to trust in God we are believing that He will protect us and keep us safe. We are saying that He knows exactly what we need, better that we do, and He is willing to give it to us if we trust Him. Pride can sneak up on us especially if we have accomplished much, but it leads to our destruction. God is saying that He will bring health to us and we will live a life pleasing to Him.

Proverbs 1 Devotional

The book of Proverbs is an interesting book that is seldom used in churches to preach with or used for Sunday school lessons. This is partly because at first glance the book of Proverbs might seem like a book full of scattered wisdom, sayings and practical advice. The purpose of this book can be read in the first couple of verses. The book was written by Solomon the son of David for the purpose of “gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young.”

The text state that “the fear of The Lord is wisdom,” but “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This sentence encapsulates the purpose of the book of Proverbs. It also highlights the sentence structure which juxtaposes a blessing or wisdom with a curse or consequence or rebuke that is use prominently throughout the book. This fear is not one of intimidation but one of reverence. It’s not the type of fear that we experience when we are afraid of the unknown or of consequences. This fear is more like awe, similar to standing in the presence of someone great, knowing the power and authority this figure holds. Is this type of fear. As we explore this book we will see that many of the passages revolve around a father bestowing his wisdom towards his son. This however, does not mean that the wisdom found here is only for sons. Wisdom is wisdom and it is meant for everyone.

The first exhortation in the book is to not follow the invitation of sinful men. Verse fifteen and sixteen reads,“my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.”

How easy is it to do the wrong thing. How easy is it to join in on something that we know we should not do. It is easy to justify our actions “because everyone else is doing it,” finding nothing wrong with our actions and how it might affect others. How easy is it to laugh at an inappropriate joke, or lend our voice to criticism, course joking or “white harmless” lies. Nevertheless, there is a warning for us if we go along. If we follow those that are doing this, if join in, calamity will come to us and we will surely share the same fate found in verse eighteen, “These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!” In other words they will rush into their own destruction. If we are to be wise we need to heed the advice and wisdom written in this book, for if we do we “will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

My question to you today is, are you following those that will lead you to the path of destruction? or is your life characterized by peace and without fear? Are we not only tolerating the sin around us but being complicit to it? or are we making sure that we live holy and righteous lives?

Take time to examine your life, your actions, your surroundings and those who are around you. Let’s take stock in what we are holding on to and what we are doing. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if there is anything that is not pleasing to Him and allow God to cleanse you. The promise is that we will live in peace…I want to live in peace. Do you?

31 days in the book of Proverbs

The Bible is a practical book that helps believers in their character formation, spiritual formation and how to live a life pleasing to God. In other words the Bible is a book that informs and instructs a believer in how to live life and it does this through different types of writings. One of these types of writings, which is unfamiliar to most modern Christians is that of the wisdom books. There are three Old Testament books that fall under this category, Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. These books provide readers with wisdom in which they can make godly choices in life. The book of Proverbs is clear on it’s purpose as we read in the first seven verses. It is for gaining wisdom and instruction, to receive instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair, to add to the learning of the wise and to let the discerning get guidance. As we begin to read Proverbs we can see that much of the writing presents a clear contrast between choosing the life of wisdom and choosing the life of folly.

One thing that we need to keep in mind when reading the book of Proverbs is that some of the wisdom presented in the writings is not universal. In other words, the wisdom presented in some of the passages are meant for a specific times and certain events but they are not to be acted on or used in all situation and at all times.

In the next 31 days I will be posting a short devotional on a chapter of the book of Proverbs. They will not be exhaustive devotionals, but just some musing and insights that might help you to understand and see the wisdom contain in this book. Feel free to comment, to share and to engage in the readings and the writing.