Friday, August 21, 2009

August 21 2009

August 21, 2009—Daily Journal


Woke up to the weather alarm in the house warning us of a flash-flood warning. Not in Drew County, though. The warning was for someone else, somewhere else. How often do we hear those types of warnings and not respond? Oh, that persecution is somewhere else....oh, that's the Florida Government prosecuting the principal for praying...oh, that's a decision made in Washington. Do we even respond with compassion to those affected? Or just rejoicing that it's not us?


Proverbs 21:1 →And we saw with Pharaoh and others that God intended to send them to judgment. This isn't saying the king's way is always righteous, but that God is in control anyway.


Proverbs 21:2 →Why you do what you do is a large part of what God is watching and wants that driven by His word. If we will adjust our hearts to be motivated by the things that please God, then our ways will be right before Him.


Proverbs 21:5 →Profit? What does Proverbs consider profitable? Wisdom, compassion, and the fear of the Lord.


Proverbs 21:6 →Same with complex market derivatives.


Proverbs 21:9 →Husbands, if you seek to change your wife from nagging, live this out. Move up onto the corner of your roof. Then explain why. Or, perhaps, learn to communicate and listen to her before she nags. Either one. But you'll certainly make your point climbing a ladder with a sleeping bag.


Proverbs 21:17 →Pleasure seeking will destroy your wealth, because pleasure will always increasingly cost you.


Proverbs 21:18 →So let the wicked pay for universal healthcare for the righteous. Get out your checkbooks!


Proverbs 21:19 →Future husbands, be careful what type of woman you marry.


Proverbs 21:27 →Do not think that your 'sacrifices' please God if your life is against Him. Move your heart, then your wallet.


Proverbs 21:31 →We must prepare ourselves and our material for the battle, but victory comes from the Lord.


James 4:6-10 →Do we resist the Devil? I think we don't. We spend so much time claiming he's attacking us and that we're beat down by him, that we must not resist. We must just roll over. We must develop the habit of drawing near to God instead. We cannot do one without the other. And just as the best way to resist an enemy in war is to do the work of the stronger opponent (just as the best way for the French Resistance in WWII was to help the British and Americans), we should do God's work and so resist the Devil.


James 4:13-17 →What do we boast in? How often do we say we have this plan or that for the future, and God's will is merely an afterthought? We have our plans and expect God to bless them when we haven't included His word in the origination of them.

1 Peter -> And this is my summary of 1 Peter: It's not going to be easy to be a follower of Christ. People not of the faith will hate you. People that are loosely attached to the faith will scorn you. People that think they know the faith better than you will disrespect you. Why do you care? Follow Christ.


Doug

1 comment:

  1. Oh James always get me! Especially the part about "our plans." I am SUCH a control freak, and total Type A personality that it can truly be a daily struggle to give up control and trust God has me. Right now we've found the PERFECT peice of land that we both want to buy... we're working so hard to pay off debts so we'll be in a smart situation to make an offer on it. I keep trying to convince myself that it won't be the end of the world if someone else buys it before we can... that if we don't get that, it's simply because God knows what's really perfect for us and that isn't it. Easy to say - hard to feel!

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