242nd Week, Proverbs chapters 22-26 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

 Click on Title for Video Intro

Monday, Proverbs Chapter 22

Proverbs 22

Verse 2

Mindy Strayer

Verse 2:  The rich and the poor have a common bond; the Lord is the maker of them all.

THOUGHT

I have a story to tell that I think helps to illustrate this. I work with a nurse named B. She was telling me a story at lunch one day about how her and another nurse I work with, S, became friends. I’ll paraphrase B’s words but put them in quotes as if you were hearing her tell the story. To put this into context, B is an African American woman, and S is a Vietnamese woman.

“Well, S and I didn’t get along when she first came to Harbor View. Oh no, we did not. No, I didn’t like S. You see I had a Vietnamese man assault me when I was younger, and I had a prejudice against the Vietnamese that I thought was justified. I didn’t like the way she looked, the way she spoke, the way she carried herself, or the way she approached nursing. I gave her a hard time. If she did something in a way that I thought was wrong, I would reprimand her or write her up. Oh, I was awful, just awful to S. This was after I’d been saved by the Lord. You see, I used to act all high and mighty and thought I never made mistakes, thought my way was the only way. But you see when Christ gets a hold of you, you begin to change.  He opens up your eyes to show you what you are really like up next to Jesus. Well, God got a hold of me one night at home in my bedroom. I was praying to the Lord, talking with him about work and S and all of my anger and bitterness toward her.  Then I came across a passage in the scripture, the Lord spoke to me and said, ‘Well, you fool, I died for her too!’  I don’t know why I thought that Christ died only for the black people and the white people. I never thought about any of the other races before.  I just started weeping. Tears just streamed down my cheeks, and I asked for forgiveness right there.”

I don’t remember exactly when B asked S to forgive her. But she did ask her, and since that time they have become good friends.  They show so much respect for each other. There is so much joy on their faces when they get to chat with one another.

No matter how different we may seem to each other, we really do have a common bond. An important concept for us to understand is that God made us ALL, and that He loves us ALL so much that He died for each and every one of us. We are all individuals in God’s creation. We are all sinners. We all need the blood of Jesus. Casting judgment on others because of earthly characteristics is wrong.

PRAYER

Lord God, creator of heaven and earth and of the universe and everything within, thank You for speaking to us through Your Word. We pray that when we come upon situations in life that could cause us to cast judgment on another, that You would speak to our heart and help us to remember that Jesus died for them too. We love You, Lord. AMEN

Tuesday, Proverbs Chapter 23

Proverbs 23

Verses 15-16

Mindy Strayer

Verses 15-16:  My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

THOUGHT

How do we gain a wise heart? How do we learn to speak what is right? We need to know, because we love God and want to please him. We want God’s heart to be glad, and we want him to rejoice when we speak. We need God’s grace, that grace that transforms our lives and causes us to grow as Christians. In order to receive God’s grace daily, we need to keep on the pathway of the disciplines of the faith where God pours his grace out.

Bart and I heard an awesome sermon a few weeks ago on the “Disciplines of the Faith” and how you get onto that pathway. I would love to elaborate on these topics.  We were taught that God does not pour out his grace in our lives at any old time. No, it doesn’t work like that. God does it at times that bless us even when we are not walking in His ways.  

Paul says in Philippians 2:12 that we are to continue to work out our salvation. You have to do some work. You have to look for Jesus, pursue him, hunger for him, submit to him, deny yourself, and lay your life down for him. Some of the ways in which we do this are included in the following:

1. Prayer and fasting 

2. Studying God’s Word  

3. Worshipping corporately and privately  

4. Fellowshipping with other believers  

5. Stewardship  

6. Memorizing Bible verses to name just a few.

These all were designed by God to draw us into intimacy with Him, and the result is that we are transformed into the likeness of Christ. Our hearts become wise.  Our lips speak what is right.  God’s heart is glad, and He rejoices when we speak.

PRAYER

God, we are so thankful for Your gift of grace. Where would we be without it?  Lord, we pray that our hearts’ greatest desire would be You. Oh that Your Word would be our greatest treasure, which we would never cease to feel desperate for more of You, God. That even when we grow old and have grown ever stronger in our faith and love for You, God, that we would feel like the Apostle Paul and cry out, “Oh that I may know Him!!“  We pray that our lives bring glory to Your Name. In Jesus Name. AMEN

Wednesday, Proverbs Chapter 24

Proverbs 24

Verse 27

Mindy Strayer

Verse 27:  Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

THOUGHT

This verse has taken seed in my heart from the moment that I read it a few years back. It is very significant for Bart and my life together because of what God has called us to do with our finances right now. The vision that God placed in Bart’s heart is to be able to help fund various Christian ministries through a Christian organization.  This vision has caused us as a family unit to put our personal plans for a home aside. God has said that there is work to be done and fields to get ready. He is using the financial resources that He has given us to accomplish His Will. One day those fields will be ready, and they will bear much fruit for the Lord.  Many will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior because one man was obedient. He listened to God’s voice, humbled himself and got to work as God instructed.

What good are plans if they do not come from the Lord? Can we be at peace knowing that we have gone ahead of God and followed our own intuition and time outline? The answer of course is NO, but with all of the temptations, sometimes it can be hard to give up our control and let God work without restraint from us. We can find comfort in knowing that God loves us and wants to give us the desires of our hearts. He delights in our joy.  We cannot see the eternal picture. We can’t even see what will happen tomorrow, but trust in this. God’s timing is perfect. God’s plan for our lives is perfect. Trust God.

What priorities in your life and mine need rearranging? What work needs to be done before God takes us to the next step in life?

PRAYER

Father God, we thank You that You have a perfect plan for all of us. We thank You, Lord, that through prayer with You we can find out what that plan for our life is. Help us, God, to not get ahead of You, but to let You lead us. We pray that You would draw us ever closer and reveal more of Yourself to us. Prepare us spiritually, physically and emotionally to go out and do the work that You have prepared for us to do. We pray that You be glorified by our obedience to Your Will in our lives. In Jesus Name. AMEN

Thursday, Proverbs Chapter 25

Proverbs 25

Verse 19

Mindy Strayer

Verse 19:  Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.  

THOUGHT

A bad tooth probably means that it is rotting.  If it is rotting, you will experience intense horrible pain.  You will most likely not be able to nourish your body with food or drink.  And the rotting (infection) could spread to the rest of your body and actually threaten your life.  Now, with an unsteady foot it is hard to move about.  You likely have pain, and if you try to put weight on your foot, you will probably fall over.  

Now, the Bible compares these ailments, these ailments that make it really hard for you to move, and can be dangerous to your life, to relying on a person that does not have faith in God.  The unfaithful mean well.  They might very well be good-hearted, good-spirited people that are trying to help.  But, their attempts are futile because they do not speak the truth. 

We know that the truth comes only from God.  God says, you won’t feel better when they have attempted to comfort you or help you out.  He says that you will not find nourishment for your soul to be able to plow through the rough stuff of life.  We will not find true comfort from the faithless because God is our only comfort.  He is the source of our strength.  In times of trouble, we need God.  We need supportive Christian friends to remind us of God’s power and might, His love and faithfulness and His sovereignty.  We need people full of faith that will pray with us and call on God to be our Rock, to be our shelter from the storm.  We need His knowledge, wisdom, and His love.  We need God!!

PRAYER

Father, we thank You for always being at our side in good times and in troubling times.  We thank You for the family and friends that You have blessed us with-those who we can count on to speak to us about your love and faithfulness.  We thank You for Your Holy Word which brings us comfort and restores peace in our hearts.  May we as individuals grow ever stronger in faith so that we would be counted on by another as a man or woman of faith who they can come to in times of trouble.  We ask this in Jesus Name.  AMEN

Friday, Proverbs Chapter 26

Proverbs 26

Verse 17

Mindy Strayer

Verse 17:  Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.  

THOUGHT

What a great message to remember for us all.  If you try to intervene in a quarrel, you are going to get hurt or angry or both.  There is no way that you could possibly understand the circumstances in which the argument started.  There are most likely some deep dark feelings caused by bad history between the two people quarreling that you would have no clue about. “It does take two to tango.”, I believe is the saying, and if you try to defend one side, chances are you will eat your words for lack of knowledge as to what that person said or did to the person that they are quarreling with.  

Confusion for the person trying to intervene will likely occur because of the many factors that they are ignorant of.  And chances are if you try to give advice, your 2 cents won’t be worth a half peso.  Lots of times when we want to get into an argument it is for self-serving purposes  like, one of the people quarreling ticked us off, and we want to get them back, or we want to be the healer, the mediator so that we can get some “Hey thanks for that!”, or maybe we need some entertainment and/or excitement.  Well, 7 times out of 10 your involvement is a bad idea, and the other 3 times out of 10 your involvement would be a very bad idea.  Best to let them have their rough alone.  Three is a crowd.  Right?

PRAYER

Thank You, God, for providing us with the tools we need to gain wisdom.  We are so thankful for the book of Proverbs, and we pray that we can remember them and apply them to our real life circumstances and situations.  Lord, as we grow in wisdom we pray You are glorified by our choices and the lives that we lead.  In Jesus Name.  AMEN