We Love To Win

October 6, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:17-19 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

    Don’t you just love winning? This may seem like a dumb question, but it needs to be examined. The truth is we all love winning. When our team wins, we yell, scream, and act simply crazy. When our child wins at sports or any competition, we are as proud as if we had won ourselves. Winning is wonderful. However, whenever someone wins, it usually means someone else has lost. 

    Our passage in Proverbs today is not speaking about friendly competitions; rather it is about the struggles of real life. Nevertheless, the competitive nature of our hearts will often join in life’s arena as well. It may be when a neighbor does not do as well as we have, that we almost feel as though we somehow have won something. It could be when someone hurts us either intentionally or accidentally, and then we see him or her get hurt in a similar fashion. We somehow feel better and almost glad for their dilemmas. It’s that competitive, I must win nature.

    As much as God warns the lost to beware of oppressing the righteous, He also warns the righteous about wishing evil on their enemies. God hates it when we gloat. Why should we feel a need to? To gloat means we feel we have won, but that is not true. We won when we accepted Jesus as Saviour. We have no need of continually winning as we now live on the winning side. We need not wish that anyone else should fail to make us any more of a winner. We are as much a winner today as we will ever be. We have the grand prize in our possession today. We have Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit in our heart, and Heaven waiting as our home. What more do we need to win?

     
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    God saved us when we did not deserve salvation. There is no one who deserves salvation, but all the lost need salvation. God does not need us to be His judges here below, just His witness.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 6, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Matthew 26 – 28     /   Proverbs 24:17-19

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 19-22           /     Eph. 6

Living In His Word Ministries

Bullies Never Really Win

October 5, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:13-16 My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

     Wouldn’t it be great if all the evil hearted folks of the world would just read the Bible? It plainly warns them against trying to destroy the righteous people of God.

     We might often wish that the Bible said the wicked would fail at their attempts to hurt the righteous, but that is not what it says. In fact, it implies that in their attempts to destroy us they will succeed in bringing problems into our lives.

    Can the wicked of this world hurt the righteous? They sure can, and often do. They can inflict physical pain if they take a notion to. However, often more scaring is the mental and emotional pain they will cause. They bring up our past and try to destroy us with it. They bring up our present failures and magnify them in the presence of others to try to tear us down. 

    Does ridicule hurt? We would like to be hard as stone and say, “no way.” However, truthfully is it does. The playground chant of, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is not really true. When it happens, the pain and anguish is real. Even so, we must also remember that the promise God makes to the righteous is just as real. God will strengthen us, and we will not stay down, nor should we feel defeated. The just man spoken of in today’s verses are those who have placed their life in Jesus Christ and are made righteous by His blood. We need to understand, we have an advocate with the Father. A representative if you will, who stands to pleads our cause. His name is Jesus. What better defense against the world could you have than the creator of all things? Those who attempt to destroy what is truly His, have no defense. Ultimately their devices come back to get them.

   
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

  When trials come, and do not pretend they won’t, remember the verses found in Proverbs 24:13-16. There is a brighter tomorrow just around the bend. Jesus said He was not only the author, but also the finisher of our faith.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 5, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Matthew 24-25     / Proverbs 24:13-16

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 15-18   /   Eph. 5

Weekend Review

October 3 & 4, 2020

Proverbs 24:3

Through wisdom is an house
builded;
and by understanding
it is established:

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 39 – Day 6

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

Proverbs 23-24

WEEK 39 – 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 5, 2020      Matthew 24 – 25  Proverbs 24:13 – 16
October 6, 2020      Matthew 26 – 28  Proverbs 24:17 – 19
October 7, 2020      Mark 1 – 3             Proverbs 24:20 – 23
October 8, 2020      Mark 4 – 6             Proverbs 24:24 – 26
October 9, 2020      Mark 7 – 9             Proverbs 24:27 – 29
October 10, 2020    Proverbs 24 – 25              
October 11, 2020    No Passages Assigned    

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY

October 5, 2020      Isa. 15-18             Eph. 5
October 6, 2020      Isa. 19-22             Eph. 6
October 7, 2020      Isa. 23-25             Phil. 1
October 8, 2020      Isa. 26-28             Phil. 2
October 9, 2020      Isa. 29-31             Phil. 3
October 10, 2020    Isa. 32-36             Phil. 4
October 11, 2020    No Passages Assigned

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY

October 3, 2020       Isa. 11-14        Eph. 4
October 4, 2020       No Passages Assigned

 Speak Up!

October 2, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:11-12 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

    Over time, the methods of execution for those convicted of such crimes worthy of death have changed. Our verses today seem to point back to a time in history when, if a person was found guilty of such a crime they were led to the executioner in front of the entire city. As they would walk down the street, a town crier would go before them loudly proclaiming the accusations against this person. They would cry out, “if anyone has any evidence that would change this decree to speak up.” If they did, the prisoner and the witness would be led back to the tribunal to see if this would change the outcome of the convicted sentence. If not, the process would once again begin. 

    The questions in today’s passages tend to talk more of an eternal judge. One who keeps the soul and ponders the heart. The reference could well be to the lost man who is being taken to the edge of eternity. On his journey, the cry is going out “is there any reason this man should not go off into hell’s flame? Is there any salvation for such a one?”

    Yes, there is salvation available. As a Christian, you have the evidence that can save this person. It is Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the soul. Nevertheless, sadly we stand by and watch as one by one, people march off into eternal torment. No one is saying a word, and no one answering the cry. Now the question is asked. Does the one who pondereth the hearts and keepeth the soul not know you had evidence that would save the lost?

    It is still up to the convicted to accept the pardon for their sin. However, it is up to the child of God to proclaim such a lifesaving truth. The question rings true today. “Shall not he render to every man according to his works?”

     
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    We are all called to go into the world and preach the gospel, The Good News. There is a pardon for the condemned. It was a good enough pardon to save you, and it is still good today. Share the good news. It’s time to SPEAK UP!

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 2, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Matthew 21 – Matthew 23     /   Proverbs 24:11-12

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 8-10           /     Eph. 3

Living In His Word Ministries

Let’s Go Sailing

October 1, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 24:7-10 Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate. He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

Imagine for a moment that you have taken several months and built a sailboat. You studied many books and drawing to be sure that you know how to build it. You have looked after every detail. The materials you have used were selected with great care. All the joints have been sealed and inspected repeatedly. The sail is the right size for the craft you have made. All the rigging is working and in good repair. You are finally done.

  So, what do you most want to do with this sailboat? Well, anyone who put that much time into building a sailboat would surely want to use it, right? It may look great sitting in the yard, but if it never is tried in real water, you will not know if it will really sail. You most likely will put it in a calm lake at first. However, after a few times of floating close to shore, you begin to venture out further and further. The waves get bigger and the water gets rougher, but this is where the boat shows its best abilities. All the time of study and work that went into building such a craft is tried and trusted in the turbulence around you.

  It is much the same with the Christians life. “Wisdom is too high for a fool.” Most people want nothing to do with preparing for life here, or an eternal life to come. Studying the Bible to find out the details of preparing for such a life seems like a waste of time, and the majority will scoff and scorn those who do. However, on the open sea of life, as the winds of adversity pick up, the waves of trials get rough and they are tossed to and fro, it is there they know not what to do. The true believer however has prepared and in a day of adversity, he will not faint, but rather he trusts in God and His Word.


THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    Every good ship needs a compass to lead them into a safe harbor in times of storm. Let God’s Word be your compass and guide. Then your final destination will be sure even in the midst of a troubled and stormy sea. 

GOD TALKING TO ME:  October 1, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Matthew 18 – 20    / Proverbs 24:7-10

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Isa. 5-7    /   Eph. 2