Good Tuesday morning - I pray your Monday was great and your Tuesday will be even better. God is for you and not against you and He is watching out for you where you go and whatever you do!!! Be encouraged today as you go about your business, knowing He loves you and cares about your every concern. In fact, I care!!! That's right, He causes His Body to pull together as we care for one another. We need each other - that's how He made us!!!
I am sure that you are picking out the same theme in these verses of Proverbs as I am - discipline is great (verse 1 of yesterday's chapter (12) and we should LOVE it!!! Again in vs 1 of 13 discipline is something parents who love their children give them and that child should accept it!!! Discipline is a continuous theme through out Proverbs. Again in vs 24 of 13 -" Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them." It isn't always easy to love your children that way! In fact, you have to forget about you and think of them - that is the only way to discipline correctly. It's about their future and not about how you are being affected at the moment.
I love vs 7 of 13 "Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor."
Isn't that so true??? We are always wanting to be seen as what we think others are looking for. I have really rich friends and relatives that would never, never, never let you know they are rich. And I have poor friends that try so hard to make you think they are rich. They never want their kids to feel left out so they give them so much and do so much for them so they will look like they are rich. It just seems so hard to be content with what we have when it doesn't matter if we are rich or poor in things, we have to know in our hearts we are rich if we have the Lord!! He provides all we have need of. Easier said then lived I think!!! Again, it has something to do with our heart and where we look for contentment.
Which verses were "highlighted" to you today as you read this chapter???
2 comments:
One of the verses that spoke to me today was verse 3 "He who guards his mouth preserves life..." That is very good. I am learning this in my own personal life through the past and also just in life. It is so hard to "put a lid on it" so often. It can be especially hard in marriage or with people we are close to, to just let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit instead of us trying to say every little thing that needs to be fixed in another person. Or, sometimes just "praying not saying" is a good motto. I know my husband notices and appreciates it when I keep a guard on my mouth and don't nag him or criticize him, especially when he notices that something in particular is driving me crazy! Sometimes we just need to pray, not say, to keep a guard on our mouth, to not say just every old thing that pops into our minds at any given moment. Guarding our mouth guards life...both ours and for others. Sometimes this can even be our confession b/c what comes out of our mouth can become what we believe in our heart. I know most of you reading this either have small children at home, or had children at home at some point, and some days I'm sure we have all had a bad attitude or maybe needed a little more patients. Sometimes it helps me to keep a guard on confessing some of those emotions like "I'm so frustrated" or "I'm overwhelmed" or "I'm tired" and turn it into "I'm going to have a good attitude today" or "I have all the patience I need" or even pick a verse and speak it over myself. There is so much power in words, and that helps me sometimes to keep my heart on track through what comes out of my mouth!
Hey, Kirsten, I am right there with you!!! I think this is something we deal with all the time for the rest of our lives. As we walk in this more though, I think we see our choice to react quicker. And it IS waiting for the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us instead of just taking care of those things ourselves. I am learning, even at 56, that when the Lord says He is concerned with our WHOLE being, He means it!!!
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