Character Matters

A solid foundation for life is established by our character. Ponder that a moment. If you really think about it—many of life’s issues are weighed and measured by our character—it determines the paths we take and the choices we make. Consequently, it also determines the choices and opinions of other people in regard to us and our life.

Character defined as:  A combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing. Distinguishing quality and characteristic; moral force, ethical quality and integrity of a person.

Excellent character sustains the blessings in our life. I have this concept I call the “sieve theory.” It unfolds as this—God in His goodness continually pours blessings on us—His children. If our character is weak then our ability to possess, preserve and sustain these blessing is inept. A character of poor quality resembles a sieve. Unfortunately, questionable character rots the bottom out of our life and sadly, blessings fall straight through.

How many times has God blessed us with a relationship, a job, money or an opportunity where unstable character ruined all our probabilities?

The sieve theory has operated in my life more times than I choose to count or remember!

A great way to excel in good character is to notice the word nature in the definition of the word character. The definition says “A combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person.” Our nature is who we are fundamentally—at our core. Have you ever heard someone say “That’s just the way I am” this statement is in reference to the nature of a person.

One of the things I love about knowing God is the exchange He has made available to us at the cross. Exchanging our nature with Jesus’ nature is one of the first and most ongoing actions we as disciples of Christ partake in.

No matter who we are, where we come from or what we have been through—our nature does not have to stay the same. We have the amazing privilege to shed off our old nature and take on the nature of Christ. This is the essence of true Christianity—you have got to love this—how fortunate we are!

Having a house full of young adults is very interesting—we are at the stage where some are interested in finding a spouse. When it comes to my children finding a spouse, I never thought it would be such a huge process! But being on this end—where I’m a concerned parent whose been married for 31 years—knowing the intricate workings of marriage—and the sieve theory—it’s a big deal! Why? Because what we want from our kids before they marry is excellent and solid character. And the character we are looking for in a mate is nothing less than blameless and unwavering.

Fortunately, God has set my heart at ease. He’s done this by showing me that the most important character trait that we are expecting in our children and in a mate for them—is not necessarily a virtue—but what we are looking for is—how much they know and love God.

For a heart truly relinquished and sold out to God, His will and His purposes, will possess all the godly and moral character traits one could ever ask for. A person with this conviction will continually exchange their nature for God’s nature.

Thank God—all the world’s problems are solved—all we have to do is be Christ Like!

Please be encouraged to know and love God with all your heart and soul, in doing so you can’t help but to throw off your old sinful nature and take on the character of Christ.

Ephesians 4:21-23

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

1 Peter 1:3-8

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Skillful Living 101—16 Choosing the Right Path

Making decisions and choosing the right paths in life, are daily concerns. If we are not sure how to get God’s direction then we can easily get overwhelmed. The skillful living advice found in Proverbs 16 is a valuable fortune to attain; it holds truth that can help guide us in the right direction, assisting us in avoiding pitfalls that occur when taking the wrong path.

Basically choosing the right paths and or direction in life is a surrender issue.

Verse 9 sums it all up for us,

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Listen to Proverbs 19:21

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

There are two ways to go about finding God’s direction—both lead to the same ending.

1. We can make our plans and take our own steps in pursuing those plans.
2. A. We can ask God for His plans and direction. Patiently waiting, relying on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide us.
   B. We can make plans and submit them to God, asking for His will to be done. Relinquishing our desires knowing His will is best. Also patiently waiting, relying on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide us.

No matter which way we go about choosing, or what choice we make—the end result will be the same—God’s purpose for our life will prevail.

I’m half a century old, and believe me I have tried and retried over and over again to make the first way of choosing work—but it never has.

God loves us too much, to allow our plans for our life to supersede His.

This might be frustrating to some people, because they just want to do what they want, but truly God knows the beginning to the end of each situation. He knows how it will start and how it will end and every detail in the middle. He wants the best for us, that’s why He wants us to choose His paths.

Taking our own paths and following our own direction is not only disobedience, but painful. Sometimes after we wake up from a bad choice—be it years, months or days later, we have regret, desiring that we would have listened to God or the good counsel He put in front of us.

I’ll never forget these words; “Careful, that pitfall will cost you two years, oh watch out for that one, it’ll take five years to get out.” They were spoken by an older prophetic gentleman; he was talking about wanting to warn people before they charged through life, not inquiring of God’s direction.

Being a Mom of teens and young adults, I’m constantly reiterating the concept of these scriptures. My kids are visionaries with huge dreams and plans—I love this about them and believe these are God given qualities inherit within them, but that doesn’t mean every idea is God breathed. My advice to them is to submit their plans to God and find out which path He wants them to take. I desire my kids to be discerning of God’s voice and will—this will assist them in not wasting their life getting in and out of pitfalls.

Understandably the desert of some pitfalls are places God allows us to go through, where we can find Him in a new way as we learn life’s lessons, but I don’t necessarily believe they are all God ordained stops in life. We can learn just as much, if not more, by first submitting to the obedience of God’s will. There are huge blessings in seeking, finding and following God’s will.

I had an interesting conversation with a young friend, who told me a story about his relationship with a random girl—now in his life forever. The gist of the story was this; he was reflecting on what he called the ripple effect. He met a girl, knew her only a week or two and had sex with her. He said he didn’t love her, she was not really his type but it had been awhile—so he indulged himself. The relationship, loaded with issues, became one of convenience for both of them—until she got pregnant.

The ripple effect started first by living a casual lifestyle of ignoring God, second by fulfilling the lust of the flesh and having sex outside of marriage. Then pregnancy, it continued with an unwanted dysfunctional relationship, sharing a child, who will no doubt reap the consequences. He sadly said “One bad choice has caused a lifelong ripple in my life.”

Opening one door of self-will, can lead to many other doors that inevitably open more doors— leading to hardship, heartache and wasted time.

Proverbs 16 gives generous advice on this concept, it would significantly benefit us and those we influence, to listen and follow its guidance.

Verse 1—“Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word.” (MSG)
Verse 2—“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart).” (AMP)
Verse 3—“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” (NLT)
Verse 5—“The Lord detests the proud; they will surely be punished.” (NLT)
Verse 7—“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (NKJ)
Verse 9—“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (NLT)
Verse 16—“How much better it is to get skillful and godly Wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.” (AMP)
Verse 17—“The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life.” (MSG)
Verse 18—“First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” (MSG)
Verse 20—“It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God.” (MSG)
Verse 25—“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (NKJ)
Verse 33—“Make your motions and cast your votes, but God has the final say.” (MSG)

The heart breaking ripple effect can be avoided by tucking our self into relationship with God, where we hear His voice, know His will and delight in obedience.

Skillful Living Tools

• A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps
  
• You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail
• Choosing the right paths and or direction in life is a surrender issue
• Submit plans, ideas and dreams to God, asking for His will to be done
• Patiently wait on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide you
• Remember the ripple effect: choices have consequences
• The road of right living bypasses evil
• Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed
• Pride comes before a fall
• God always has the final say

Please be encouraged—skillful living comes by patiently submitting our plans to God before we proceed.

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Skillful Living 101—14 Upright

If you’ve read the Bible for any length of time, you’ve no doubt come across the word upright. A huge component to living skillfully, is to ascertain uprightness. I know it can seem as an out dated expression or concept, but truthfully, living uprightly is key to relationship with God and to blessings.

The attributes of the upright are: Integrity, blameless, prudent, virtue, honor, morality, truth, reliability, decency, discrete, honest and righteousness.

Two character traits of an upright person are wisdom, and understanding. The book of Proverbs is drenched with instruction on being wise and acquiring understanding.

Everyone with any sense—desires to navigate through life skillfully. Remember—the book of Proverbs is our guide for skillful living. A firm grasp on uprightness will assist us in living wisely.

One way to look at uprightness is to see it as freedom. Leviticus 26:13 says,

I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.

The burden of bondage causes us to slump over with heaviness, worry, condemnation and shame. Freedom looses us to stand upright, both in our stature and in our heart and soul.

Almost all of Proverbs 14 has to do with walking uprightly, but I will highlight just a few (or more) significant verses, using NKJV and The Message.

Verse 1, “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.”
This is huge and one of my favorites (being a woman and all). If we are not in unity and submission with God and His will, as well as with our husbands, we—with our own hands demolish our family! Careful ladies!

Verse 2—“He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.”
The Message version reiterates this verse very frankly. “An honest life shows respect for God; a degenerate life is a slap in his face.” Ouch!

Verse 3—“In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.”

Verse 9—“Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor.”
Upright people have a hard time sinning—God’s favor, is their reward.

Verse 10—“The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish.”

Verse 12 & 13—“There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.”

Verse 25—“Souls are saved by truthful witness and betrayed by the spread of lies.”

Verse 29—“Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.”

Verse 30—“A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.”
One way to attain good health is to align your heart with God’s.

Verse 33—“Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known.”

Maybe you’re wondering—how do I live uprightly? How do I get wisdom and understanding? These are not stupid questions!

First, start with sincerely asking God—if we seek Him we will find Him. Seeking God means to wholeheartedly go after Him.

Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

Next, if you’re seriously seeking Him, expect that He will answer and show you His will. When He does—deny yourself and obey His directives.

A lot of the time God keeps silent because He knows we won’t listen and do what He tells us, that’s why we must seek Him diligently. If we want to be wise and have understanding thus live uprightly—the first wise step is to listen and obey.

Proverbs 1:28-29
When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.  For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear (obey) the Lord.

Changing our lifestyle is not always easy and change has to start on the inside. In seeking God first, we can be confident that He will take care of all the things we are concerned about. (Matt. 6:33)

Please be encouraged to ask God to help you live your life uprightly, you will not regret it—there are many rewards for upright living!

Skillful Living Tools

• To live skillfully—ascertain uprightness
• Understand that living uprightly is freedom
• Build your home with wisdom—don’t tear it apart with un-submissiveness
• The home and family of the upright will flourish
• Respect and honor God by living an honest life
• Be slow to anger
• The first step in being wise—is to listen and obey
• Remember change starts on the inside

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Skillful Living 101—13 Correction

Correction. A common thread throughout Proverbs 13.

It seems an almost unacceptable concept and such an abrasive word these days. We live in a culture that does not want to be corrected, convicted or disciplined—no just pacified with an extreme illusion of grace.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a grace person—I couldn’t live without it. In my less mature stages of life, I used grace—basically as a pass to do what I wanted and to view Christianity from my own narrow perspective. As I’ve grown in understanding of the fear of the Lord and the Bible, I now know grace to be the wind beneath the wings, of my obedience to God’s will.

Proverbs 13 starts and ends with guidance on discipline, obedience, correction and rebuke. By now we see that the entire book of Skillful Living (Proverbs) is saturated with scriptures referring to these topics. The Lord is speaking to us— instructing us, for our own good, to be wise and embrace understanding, discipline, correction, rebuke and instruction.

The following six verses from Proverbs 13 portray the importance of submitting to correction.

Verse 1—A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

Verse 10—Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.

Verse 13—People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.

Verse 14—The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

Verse 18—Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored. (NKJ)

Verse 24—Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

Proverbs 13:24 bluntly states, if parents do not discipline their children—then they hate them! Pretty drastic don’t you think? Let’s face it—God’s Word is radical. (To be honest that’s one reason I love it so much!)

Some may protest—how can God the Father, the God of love, discipline or rebuke His children??? Essentially it’s because of love that He disciplines us—otherwise He’d hate us!

God the Father cares enough for us that He will discipline, convict, correct and rebuke us, so that we can be humble and wise. Please do not get caught up in the devil’s plan and get offended by this.

Hebrews 12:7
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

Proverbs 3:12
My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.  For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

It’s truth—it’s Bible!

Be encouraged to embrace God’s love by accepting correction—you’ll be all the wiser if you do!

Skillful Living Tools:

• Embrace God’s correction
• View grace as that which helps you obey God’s will
• Be humble—take advice
• Respect a command
• Accept instruction—avoid the snares of death
• Regard a rebuke and be honored
• Love your children enough to discipline them
• Stay clear of offense
• Endure divine discipline
• Don’t get upset when God corrects you

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Skillful Living 101—12 Get WIsdom!

Have you ever tried to wake a sleeping teenager up? If your life is anything like mine…you give the first call…then the second…by the fifth, your voice is raised. Finally, our darling teen raises their sleepy head and says, “Why are you yelling at me, you’ve only asked me to get up once?”

In thinking and praying about Proverbs 12, wisdom—once again is the main theme. It’s not exactly stated over and over as in some of the Proverbs, but it is highly implied. And in reading this Proverb you just know, if only one had wisdom all the truths written here could so easily be applied to life. Essentially this is true of all the Proverbs.

It reminds me of waking my sleepy, almost comatose teenagers. In Proverbs we are urged, warned, advised, counseled, directed and yes bluntly told to get wisdom, to secure understanding, to desire righteousness; basically we are told to “Wake up!!”

You know that feeling when you look someone in the eye and give them detailed instructions? They’re nodding yes they understand, yet you know it’s just not sinking in? I’m getting the inclination that this is how the book of Proverbs is—God’s alive and active Word is reiterating what we should do. We nod in agreement, then walk away and say “Now what was that again?”

What’s interesting about obtaining wisdom, is that the moments of forgetting what God’s Word says will lessen and the ability to obey will increase with the more wisdom we attain.  

Thankfully God is very long-suffering and offers periods of grace to us, but I do believe we need to wake up and acquire wisdom.

For the most part wisdom is free; however it is costly in the sense that, as we apprehend it, we can no longer walk in our former foolishness. And to some that’s the deal breaker.

I want to encourage you to desire a crown of wisdom. A crown brings honor to the one who wears it. It encircles the head reminding us of its presence. It also surrounds our mind with protection. We should think of a crown of wisdom as we would a wall of protection surrounding a city; it will protect us from invaders, as well as our own harmful decisions and from speaking foolish words we may regret.

The beauty of wearing a crown of wisdom is that it will give us the ability to follow God’s ways.

Following are a few ways from Proverbs 12, that a crown of wisdom will benefit its recipient.

• Verse 1—“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” Wisdom will assist us in loving instruction and knowledge and will help us heed correction—wisdom will help you us not to be stupid.
• Verse 4—“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.” Wisdom will help wives to be a delicately beautiful addition to her husband. Instead of a burdensome weight a wife can be of value. Her husband will benefit from her wisdom and both will prosper.
• Verse 11—“He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.” Wisdom will aid us in being productive and help us stay on task; it can keep us free from the trap of laziness.
• Verse 17 and 22—“He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness, deceit.” “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” Wisdom will cause us to be the Lords delight and sustain us in righteousness, helping us speak truth, it can deliver us from being a gossip, a liar, a deceiver and from being deceived.
• Verse 25—“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Wisdom can keep us from anxiety that causes depression, it will keep you in the truth of God’s good word.
• Verse 28— “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” Most importantly a crown of wisdom will keep us in intimate relationship with the Lord, helping us to live eternally minded.

Wearing a crown of wisdom is a huge responsibility, but well worth the obligation. The only time a crown of wisdom can tarnish is when we take the glory of being wise unto ourselves. We must remember every good and perfect gift comes from God…especially a crown of wisdom.

Please be encouraged to seek God for your crown of wisdom, I trust that you will wear it well.

Skillful Living Tools:

• Wake up and acquire a crown of wisdom—ask God for it
• Love instruction, knowledge and correction
• Wives: get wisdom—be an excellent wife
• Speak truth, declare righteousness
• Avoid depression by staying in God’s Word—speak the truth to and over your mind
• Live eternally minded

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Skillful Living 101—11 Righteousness

The common thread woven throughout Proverbs 11 is righteousness. Righteousness is a vital element to living skillfully. But what is righteousness and how do we acquire it?  

The definition for righteousness is: integrity, virtue, purity of life, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting, holiness; purity; uprightness. The state of being in right standing with God; the condition acceptable to God.

Too bad we can’t just take a righteousness pill, be righteous and therefore live skillfully! No, it’s never that easy, besides if we could it would not fill our void for right standing with God or for right living. Anything of value has to be attained by expense. In the case of righteousness we exchange our way of living and being accepted by God for His way of being righteous.

Matthew 5:6 says,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

We have to desire to be righteous, crave it so much that we hunger and thirst for it. Have you ever been hungry or thirsty to the point of embarrassment? You grab for food like a savage, not even bothering to use utensils! You guzzle water as it pours down your chin and neck! How many times as American Christians have we ever been this hungry and thirsty for integrity, virtue, purity and holiness? Or how many times have we been famished for intimate relationship with God?

Our appetite to be in right standing with God needs be ravenous. Where we throw caution to the wind and no longer care what others think. Because we love God so much and know we have to be in right relationship with Him and nothing else matters.

Jesus displayed His passion for the Father and for us, in this very manner. He did not let people’s opinion, or culture stop Him. He loved us so much He humbled Himself and hung on a cross.

Please be encouraged to acquire such an appetite for righteousness!

Righteousness is so imperative to skillful living that it is mentioned 11 times in Proverbs 11. It would appear very important to God that we obtain it.

Following are the 11 verses pertaining to righteousness and the skillful living tools for Proverbs 11.

Verse 4 “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”

Verse 5 “The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness”.

Verse 6 “The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.”

Verse 8 “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.”

Verse 9 “The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.”

Verse 10 “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.”

Verse 18 “The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.”

Verse 19 ^“As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.”

Verse 21“Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.”

Verse 23 “The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.”

Verse 28 “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.”

Verse 30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”

Verse 31 “If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner.”

Skillful Living Tools:

• Acquire an appetite for righteousness
• Let righteousness direct your path
• Sow righteousness—reap a reward
• Desire the fruit of righteousness
• Be wise—win souls

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Marry a Prostitute?

I’m engulfed in an amazing novel titled Redeeming Love. It’s a work of fiction based on the true account of Hosea in the Bible.

The book of Hosea is about God’s restorative love for His people and the unique method He chose to reveal it. Essentially it’s a prophetic statement—God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. He doesn’t argue with God, but I wonder what he was thinking?

It was a harsh demonstration of loving the unlovely.

God wanted His people to know how much he loved and cared for them, that they were His beloved. He wanted to be known not as master, but as a loving husband. A loving husband that unconditionally loves His beloved, no matter the state of her heart and life.

As I’m reading this novel I’m praying and putting myself in two places, one—as the prostitute herself (Gomer in the Bible and Angel in the book) and two—as Michael Hosea, the man who loves the hurting, miserable prostitute.

Honestly, I can relate to both. Not that I’ve ever prostituted (thank God!) But in her, I see the person I used to be, one who self protects and is afraid to dream or imagine anything different for her life. A wounded person petrified of true love.

Sadly, I also see the person I am now. One who has experienced God’s immeasurable, healing, redeeming love—yet still hesitates—at times—to surrender my whole heart and soul in complete submission—for fear of pain.

I can relate to the man in this because He represents God. Scripture says to imitate God in all we do. I want to patiently love as He does. Even when the person you’re trying to love and help; can’t receive or won’t reciprocate, even if that person hurts you. Loving the unloveable is what Hosea did as he prophetically demonstrated how God loves us.

It’s interesting how the two personalities in the books, though they be so opposite, relate to each other. In order to love as God does, we have to experience it for ourselves. We must allow this unconditional love to penetrate our very heart and soul, therefore bring change to the way we give and receive love.

At some point in our life we have to surrender to God’s love and learn to walk in obedience. Knowing, His ways are much better than ours. Unfortunately,  some will wait so long that it will be too late.

How do we surrender when we can’t trust love? Surrendering is an act of the will. You—will yourself—over to love and relationship, as painful as it may be—you choose love.

You will yourself to believe that God’s love is good and trustworthy. His love is evident in all He does, just read the book of Hosea…the book of John…all the books in the Bible! For God so loved the world, even though the world didn’t love Him, He gave Jesus.

I want to leave you with a quote from the book Redeeming Love. It’s found at the top of chapter 7, it’s a quote from a poem written in the 1400’s, by Charles D’Orleans.

I am dying of thirst by the side of a fountain

This appropriately describes a hurting person. Though they sit right next to The Fountain, they will die, for they refuse to drink.

Be encouraged—surrender to love—so you can be love.

Hosea 10:12  “Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.”

Skillful Living 101—10 Practical Truths

Within Proverbs 10, we find 32 practical truths. Each verse can be seen as a precious jewel with its own significance, beauty and value. Put them all together and they become a beautifully fashioned piece of jewelry. A necklace to adorn ones self.

Living skillfully takes the forethought and time of adorning our heart and soul with these beautiful hand crafted, by God, pieces of work. I want to highlight just of few gems (verses) from Proverbs 10 that stand out and demand attention.

Verse 8
The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fall.

Receiving instruction is an act of humbling our self. Proverbs 11:2 says, “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Likewise James 4:6 should cause us to yield to humility, it states, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We do not want to be resisted by God, this fact alone gives us reason to be humble.

Verse 12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.

This principle is just like God! His love is so enormous that it can and does cover a multitude of sin. I remember being confronted with an awful situation where someone had sinned against me. I had to make some serious choices that would not only affect me, but my whole family—as well as our heritage. By the grace of God I uttered the words “I have enough love to cover this sin.” I am not a saint—I would not have been able to forgive and love so deep, except for the love of God making it possible.

Covering someone’s sin may seem weak and unwise, but it’s a biblical standard to live by, especially because we need God’s infinite love to cover our own sin. The concept with this scripture is restoration, we don’t cover sin to hide it, but it’s with the hope to see the person restored. God always purposes to restore people to Himself. Besides, nothing is ever hidden from God.

Verse 13
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, but a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.

Just the other day I came across Psalm 32:9 “Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle.” This is a good scripture to pray! Who wants to be equivalent to a senseless, stubborn donkey, that has to be led by force and struck by a rod of correction? It seems life would go so much better if we just yielded to understanding.

Verse 19
He who restrains his lips is wise.”

This is great! Short but effective—be smart—bridal the tongue!

Verse 29
“The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.”

I love this! All throughout Proverbs we are urged and instructed to get understanding and wisdom—the wisest choice we can make is to love and follow God—to give Him everything. God’s way is not a burden but a strength! His ways empower us, they are a delight and asset to those who choose to live by them, on the other hand, ruin—is set aside for those who choose not to follow. Let’s get understanding!

Please be encouraged to read all of Proverbs 10—digest it and live skilfully by its wisdom!

Skilful Living Tools:

• Daily adorn yourself with God’s Word
• Be humble enough to receive instruction
• Be humble so God won’t resist you
• Be filled with God’s love
• Cover sin
• Yield to understanding
• Live uprightly
• Find strength in God’s ways

Please share with those who need to live skilfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Sober

When you read the word sober what’s your first thought?
The sober that I’m referring to is found in 1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Possessing a sober attitude about life will free us from foolishness and heartache. It will cause us to be vigilant, discerning and intentional with our life. Not only will we be aware of the devil’s schemes but we will be able to live lives that function with purpose.

When I was a new wife and mom I never really thought much about being intentional. In fact it was not until I had my first teenager that I realized being intentional in life is critical.

We can’t just let life happen and expect all will turn out well. No, because if we do our adversary the devil, will devour us and all that we hold dear. It’s pure stupidity to think our enemy won’t do his job—steal—kill—destroy.

When we live sober and intentional we live knowing what we want to accomplish in life. It’s as I tell my kids, “Make a good choice and stick with it, then let every decision support that one choice.”

If we intend to know and love God, living our life in His presence, then we must make every choice in accordance to our first choice to know and love Him.

Being a Christian does not just happen. If we want our kids to love and obey God then we have to intentionally raise them with such a purpose.

Purity does not just transpire. If we desire purity and if we long to raise our kids to be pure, then we need to make deliberate life choices as to what we will teach, how we will live and what we will allow in our personal life and in our family.

Careers, success, financial gain, a good marriage, obedient children, good health—the list is endless—none of these just appear. Accomplishment in any area of life has to be intentional.

This means having a sober/seriousness in the manner in which we live our life.

I’m not talking about being a prude and living a religious life, void of fun—no, not at all.

I’m referring to living a deliberate, calculated life style led by the Holy Spirit, where we make every choice in life in alignment with our first choice.

We love God this way; love our spouse, raise our kids, look for a spouse, we spend our money, guard our words, minister, and love our family and friends—all in this manner.

Please be encouraged—by the grace of God to love and live your life with vigilance, intention and with a sober heart and soul.

Skillful Living 101—7 The Heart

The issues of life spring forth from the very heart of a person. In Proverbs 7, we are instructed to engrave God’s commands on the tablet of our heart, cherishing every Word; keeping them close so we might not sin against our God.

A comparable bit of history is the Ten Commandments. They were written by the finger of God on stone tablets, so the people might not sin against Him.

How privileged we are to live in such a day in age where God the Son, can have His being in us and personally inscribe His loving commands—His living words, on the tablet of our heart.

Proverbs 7 illustrates four positionsof the heart.

Verse 3 describes a prepared heart; our heart is prepared as God’s presence etches His commands on it. In verses 6-9, we read about a simple-minded person who neglected wisdom; whose heart was unprepared to meet the charms of Satan. Therefore became devoid of understanding. He followed a loud, rebellious, married, imprudent woman—to her home—to her bed—to his death.

Proverbs 7:10, says she was a woman with a crafty heart. She devised evil and pursued the unwise fool who would join her.

Next, Proverbs 7:14-19 speaks of a religious heart, one that makes offerings and vows to God, giving Him lip service from an empty heart that never intends to live righteously or obey His commands.

Proverbs 7 ends with a warned heart, verse 25 warns the young man; “Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray onto her paths.”

In this Proverb we are given a treasury of skillful living tools regarding our heart.

In diligence, let’s engrave God’s Word on our heart. Let us invite Him to carve His commands on hearts of stone, causing them to soften as we draw near—drawing so near—our heartbeat becomes one with His. His very presence—is His finger writing living words on our heart. This is the essence of a heart prepared for God.

In the drawn near position we are able to guard our heart from being crafty. Likewise, discernment will dwell in us and we will be vigilant to recognize the snares of those with a crafty heart.

As we are situated in God’s presence, religiousness has a very difficult time taking root in our heart and life.

Lastly, the heart that is filled with God listens intently, pays attention to warnings, heeds correction and is filled with wisdom.

Please be encouraged to read Proverbs 7 and to apply the skillful living tools to your life!

Skillful Living Tools: 

• Prepare your heart for God’s presence
• Prepare your heart to meet the charms of Satan
• Write God’s commands on the tablet of your heart
• Invite God to engrave His Word on your heart
• Be vigilant against a crafty heart
• Guard your heart from religion
• Offer God heart service, not lip service
• Pay attention to warnings, heed correction, be filled with wisdom

The  Skillful Living Tool Box at the top of this page, is updated weekly—check it out!

Thanks for reading and share with those you care about!