Proverbs Challenge – Day 6

Please read Proverbs Chapter 6 today:

●  1-11 : Pray for revelation of any personal unwise choices (financial, relational, etc) in the past and humble yourself, making things right between you and God, and others if needed. 2 Corinthians 7:1, 9-11; Hebrews 13:5, Galatians 6:7

●  12-19 : Ask the Lord to search your heart and if you are desiring or practicing anything that the Lord hates. We must hate it ourselves, confess it and turn from it, receiving His abundant mercy. 2 Chronicles 7:14b; Acts 3:19

●  20-35 : Pray for God to give you a love and hunger for His Word and a desire for godly wisdom which provides protection from temptations Romans 16:9b; pray that the Lord would continue to purify His Bride from spiritual adultery, all forms of lust, perversions, and idols bringing her back to her first love. Revelation 2:4-5

●  Finally, ask the Lord to transform us, individually and corporately, so that our behaviour and deeds are done in the gentleness of wisdom which promotes peace. Meditate on James 3:3-18.

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Proverbs Challenge day 5

Please read Proverbs Chapter 5.

•   1-2 : Pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit. Ask the Lord wisdom and understanding, to ‘keep discretion”. Discretion: “the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.” James 3
•   3-14 : Be careful who we listen to! The LIPS of the foreign or strange woman drip honey. Ask the Spirit to give wisdom and insight on who and what you are listening to (face to face, telephone, media, social media, etc.). Psalm 1, Judges 16
•   15-23 : Press into the life giving community of the Lord. Delight in whom the Lord has provided for you! Ask for life giving relationships. Drink deeply and be refreshed! Know the eyes of the Lord are upon you, seeking to support those whose heart is blameless towards Him. Song of Solomon 4, 2 Chronicles 16:9a

Proverbs Challenge – Day 4

Read Proverbs Chapter 4.

•   1-13 : Meditate on the lessons of spiritual fathers and mothers. Remember their council! Ask the Lord for wisdom & insight for your family, work, community and nation. Repent for turning from the ancient paths of faith and
  wisdom. Exodus 20:12, Jeremiah 18:15
•   14-19 : Believe the way of the Lord is the only way! Walk the narrow way, even when uncomfortable. Matthew 7:13-14
•   20-27 : Continually meditate on the word of the Lord, written by His
  Spirit. Watch over your heart! Ask the Lord for wisdom to do this. Fix your eyes on Jesus and His Kingdom, not allowing distractions into your heart. Isaiah 26:3, John 7:38

Called as servants

Blaise Pascal wrote – “There are only 3 types of people; those who have found God and serve Him; those who have not found God and seek Him; and those who live not seeking, nor finding Him. The first are rational and happy, the second unhappy and rational, the third foolish and unhappy”

Referring to the Apostle Paul in his commentary on Romans, Simon Ponsonby describes him as having found and now serving God; he was certainly rational and blisteringly happy.

How, he asks, do we apply this to ourselves? First, we are called to serve Jesus. There is a tendency among some to think Jesus is their personal fairy god-mother, waving a magic wand to all their wishes. Or perhaps he is their servant, running at their beck and call, there to meet their needs on demand. Not so. Like Paul, we exist to serve our Saviour. And in our prayers, how about not presenting Him with a list but occasionally starting with, “Lord, what can I do for you today?”

Secondly, Paul’s first duty is to serve Jesus and only after that to serve Christ’s body, the church. Some Christians may not assume God exists for their benefit, but they certainly think that the church and its ministers do. They are there to serve them, cater for their needs, wipe their noses and jump when shouted for. Many become dependent on their ministers, and ministers can be come co-dependent upon them, needing to be needed. No; the role of a minister is to serve Christ, and only secondarily to serve the church, and that service is intended to produce mature disciples who themselves live to serve Jesus.

 

Proverbs Challenge Day 3

Read Proverbs Chapter 3.

•   1-8 : Remember what the Lord has shown you! Trust fully in the Lord and His ways. Walk with the Lord, in His joy and might. Isaiah 58:8-11, John 14:26
•   9-12 : Honor the Lord with your resources, first-fruits! Accept the correction of the Good Shepherd. Malachi 1:6-14, Psalm 23:4
•   13-35 : Do not lose sight of the wisdom and ways of the One who formed the earth! Seek Him continually and find His refreshment, joy and provision. Do not fear; instead trust Him, walk in His ways, and bless those around you. Luke 10:25-37, Philippians 4:4-6

Proverbs Challenge Day 2

Please read Proverbs Chapter 2.

•   1-5 : What wonderful promises! Call out for insight and literally raise your voice in prayer and worship, asking, knocking, seeking for insight &
  understanding. Allow the Lord to work in any hidden places and heal your heart. Nehemiah 1:4-11, Jeremiah 29:13, Psalm 90:12
•   6-10 : Trust the Lord for wisdom and guidance, and follow Him! Trust Him for knowledge and understanding of His ways. Praise Him for a heart that delights in His knowledge and ways! Psalm 1:1-2, Psalm 23, Micah 6:8
•   11-22 : Submit all of your ways of speech and relationships to the LORD. Praise Him for deliverance from crooked speech & ungodly relationships. Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 30:18-21

 

Start of the December Proverbs Challenge (A chapter/day)

Blessings on your journey through Proverbs! Welcome to day 1, Chapter 1. Why not turn what you read into prayers?  Here are some thoughts on the passage; they’re not mine….

vv 1-7: Call out to the Lord in prayer to grant you wisdom and instruction. Ask that we would know how to live today and in this season, with the fear of the Lord. Intercede for those that we know, young and old, for wisdom. Jer 33:3, Matt7:7.

vv 8-19: Ask the Lord to reveal any ungodly covenants, agreements, partnerships etc., in your life. Break ties with these! Amos 3:3, 1 Cor 15:33, Gal 6:7.

vv 20-33: Turn away from any and all major and minor sins and receive the Spirit of wisdom, joy and counsel. Worship Him for His grace! Trust the Lord to guide and protect you in times of trouble. Isaiah 58:8-12, Psalm 46.

God bless you!   Jeff

O death where is your victory?

The sudden passing of a friend or acquaintance always faces us with something of the stark reality of life (and death). The Bible tells us that the devil holds us in slavery all our lives through the fear of death, BUT Christ came to break the power of Satan which He did by conquering death.

“Since… the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself like-wise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives”. (Heb 2:14-15)

To be free to live with God and share in all His blessings, someone had to shatter Satan’s death grip on us. Sin is what gives Satan his powerful hold on us, but the power itself is death. Because of sin, God requires death for us. If we remain in our sin we will die and go out of God’s presence into hell forever. The devil wants to hang on to us until we die because then the opportunity for salvation is gone forever.

To wrest the power of death from Satan’s hand, Christ came into the world. The eternal life of God is a greater weapon than death and with it Jesus destroys death. He rose from the dead saying –  “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). His resurrection provides those who believe with eternal life.

Nothing terrifies people more than the fear of death but when we receive Christ, through faith, death simply releases us into the presence of our Lord. We can say with Paul, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21)

He reminds us in 1 Cor 15: 50-58 that death is indeed swallowed up in the victory of Christ and as Chris Tomlin describes it in the song I Will Rise – ‘…the grave is overwhelmed’.(Listen to this fabulous song here)

In the light of this, how then should we live – “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15: 58)

 

 

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