Come Up, Put Down

October 14, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 25:4-7 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

    Have you ever been embarrassed? If we were honest, we would all have to say we have been embarrassed about something at one time or another. What is the cause of embarrassment in the first place? Do we get embarrassed when we are alone and we sing a wrong note, or spill our coffee? Do we get embarrassed when we are by ourselves and we make a bad stroke in golf or trip over the edge of a rug? No, normally the emotion felt at those times would not be called embarrassment. If anything, we get angry with our self or frustrated, but not embarrassed. Why is that? It is because there is no one there by which to be embarrassed. 

    So, what then is it that causes us to get embarrassed? It must be we do not want people to think less of us, to find us incompetent, or goofy in some way. It is sort of a pride issue. We all take pride in being good at what we do. Embarrassment comes when we mess up at what may seem then to others to be a simple thing. Nevertheless, eventually we all mess up.

    One thing we do not have to mess up at is arrogant pride. That type of pride which says, “Hey look at me.” That boastful, bragging, self-elevating pride that drives people away. Nobody wants to be around a bragger for too long. Today’s passage says it’s better to have someone else recognize you and your abilities and say, “come up hither,” than to be embarrassed or  “put lower” in front of everyone else.

     
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    1 Peter 5:6,7 says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” As Christians, we must let God be the one to exalt us in His own way and in His own time.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 14, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Luke 1 – 2     /   Proverbs 25:4-7

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 42-44           /     Col. 3

Living In His Word Ministries

I Will Tell You Later

October 13, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 25:1-3 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

     “Mommy, why does the dog bark?” “Daddy, why does the rain disappear the next day?” “Mommy, why is my hair brown?” “Daddy, why did the neighbor call you a weirdo?” Ok, so maybe you can answer the last one, but we don’t have all the answers.

    Sometimes children will bring us questions we are not at all prepared to answer. Occasionally it is not because we do not know the answer, but rather we are afraid they would not understand. The answer that we would give them might cause them to be more confused than if they were just left with the question. Have you ever had to say, “Ask me in a few years and I will tell you, but for now you have to trust I am right.”

     Sometimes God treats us in this same way. It is within His right, and by His wisdom that He does not tell us everything. For example, if people knew exactly when they would die, some would live a sin filled life like the world until that day, and then expect to get everything straightened out just before they died. The outcome would be people living like the devil and then wanting God to forgive that behavior at the end of life. Living that way not only robs that person of God’s love and blessings, but may also cause others watching you, who might have accepted Christ, to ignore God’s saving grace as well.

     God wants us to love Him and live for Him all of our days. Living like the devil will cause us to miss all the blessings that God has planned for us now in this life. So, in God’s wisdom He sometimes says, “Wait child, I’ll tell you later.”

    
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

     It is an honor for any leader, or parent, when they find the truth of God, and are able to give it to someone else. It is then that they experience the joy in serving God for them self. What a joy to hear someone say, “Thanks for sharing Jesus with me, you really made a difference.” When in reality it was God who made the difference in their life, we just shared Him.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 13, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Mark 14 – 16    / Proverbs 25:1-3

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 40-41   /   Col. 2

Living In His Word Ministries

By Their Fruit

October 12, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:30-34 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

     “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “A stitch in time saves nine.” “Make hay while the sun shines.” What do all these statements have in common? They all instruct us to be diligent with our time and treasures. Using what God has given us to the absolute best of our ability.

    In today’s verses Solomon says he went by the field of the slothful and the vineyard of the man void of understanding. Simply put, he visited a place where the owner was either lazy, or an extremely poor manager of his time and treasures. What did he see? He saw a place that was not taken care of. It was a place broken down and falling to pieces because of lack of attention by the occupant. Does it say he saw the man, NO! Did he observe him being lazy, NO! So how does he know he is slothful and lacks understanding? He drew his conclusion based on the evidence of what this person’s life had produced.

    When we as Christians are not good stewards of what God has entrusted to us, the world not only looks at us in a negative way, but our poor stewardship also reflects on our God. The Bible, in identifying believers says, “Ye shall know them by their fruit.” The world thinks so too. They will not care what we say if it does not match how we live. 

    This can also be applied to our life in general. Our outward living should display an inward change. If the outside does not match the inside, then something is wrong.

    
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    What do people see when they look at us? Is the life we live filled with the sinful weeds of the world? Are there unkempt walls of resistance to sin? Or do they see Jesus in us? What they see in us reflects on the image of our God. The bible says in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 12, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Mark 10 – 13    / Proverbs 24:30-34

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 37-39   /    Col. 1

Weekend Review

October 10 & 11, 2020

Proverbs 24:27

Prepare thy work without,
and make it fit for thyself
in the field;
and afterwards build
thine house. 

Work Week Devotions
Through the Book of Proverbs

      As you know by now, with WORK WEEK DEVOTIONS, we only publish our Devotional Thoughts on Monday – Friday. On Saturday we suggest you re-read the entire chapter we have been studying this past week, and if we will be going into the following chapter the next week, we encourage you to read that chapter as well.       

There are never Devotions on Sunday. 

Thank you for joining us as we
journey together
Through Proverbs in 2020.

WEEK 40 – Day 6

     On Saturday, we suggest you re-read the Proverb we have written from this past week and the week to come.

Proverbs 24-25

WEEK 40 – Day 7

     Today we suggest you read and study whatever the Lord has laid on your Pastor’s heart. Whatever Scripture he uses for today’s messages were given to him by God for your specific needs.

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS

October 12, 2020     Mark 10 –   Mark 13       Proverbs 24:30 – 34
October 13, 2020     Mark 14 –   Mark 16       Proverbs 25:1 – 3
October 14, 2020     Luke 1     –   Luke 2         Proverbs 25:4 – 7
October 15, 2020     Luke 3     –   Luke 5         Proverbs 25:8 – 10
October 16, 2020     Luke 6     –   Luke 7         Proverbs 25:11 – 13
October 17, 2020     Proverbs 24 – 25                     
October 18, 2020     No Passages Assigned    

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY

October 12, 2020      Isa. 37-39                      Col. 1
October 13, 2020      Isa. 40-41                      Col. 2
October 14, 2020      Isa. 42-44                      Col. 3
October 15, 2020      Isa. 45-48                      Col. 4
October 16, 2020      Isa. 49-52                      1 Thess. 1-2
October 17, 2020      Isa. 53-58                      1 Thess. 3-4
October 18, 2020     No Passages Assigned

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY

October 10, 2020     Isa. 32-36        Phil. 4
October 11, 2020     No Passages Assigned

Where Is Your Cart?

October 9, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:27-29 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

  My dad had another way of saying what verse 27 says. He would say, “Don’t get your cart before your horse.” In other words, do things in order. I guess a horse could push a cart, but not too fast, not too far, and not very often. In life, we often want to get ahead of ourselves. Before we have taken the time to get ourselves well equipped for something, grounded with knowledge and truth, we run off half-prepared. We at times can still do it, just as a horse can push a cart, but it is harder than it was meant to be.

    This happens at times in churches with new Christians who want to help. Because churches need helpers, these young believers are often allowed to fill positions they are not really prepared for. This also occurs in business, when people dream today, but do not envision the hurdles of tomorrow. It happens in marriages as well. A man who is unstable in his morals, manners, money, and with his maker wants to lead a home. However, he has not prepared himself to stand on his own two feet before he takes on the responsibility of building a home.

    I am not trying to say we need to have all the answers to all of life’s questions before we do anything. If that were true, no one would be doing anything. However, we need to have the important issues of life covered. Such as…

• Who is the real leader in your life?
• Where do you go for direction, especially when things seem to get out of whack?
• How are decisions made?
• What, or who is the final authority?
• Or, when I make a mistake, where do I need to go to fix it?
• Then finally, if someone asked me these questions, can I show them where to find the
   answers in writing?


THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    The answers to all the questions above are “God and His Word.” God is the final authority in everything. He has written the answers to life in the Bible. Now it is up to us to study to show ourselves approved unto Him.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 9, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Mark 7 – 9     /   Proverbs 24:27-29

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 29-31           /     Phil. 3

Living In His Word Ministries