Today's reading in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan takes us through Proverbs 22 and Galatians 6. There are SO many good nuggets of Wisdom found in both of those books. I will share a few that have been powerful in my life! First of all, it does not COST to serve God with all of our hearts. It pays! BIG TIME! Look at Proverbs 22: 4:
4 The reward of humility and the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.
The fear of the Lord is simply being in reverent awe over Who He is and over all that He has done in and for us! When we maintain that powerful attitude, we WILL be honored with riches (financial blessings) and honor (Godly favor and blessing) and Life (health and vitality). The next exciting promise that we see is found in verse 6:
6 Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.
When we seek the Lord over our children, and then see them go out into the world doing something differently than the way they were taught and trained, we can count on HIM to get them back on track, in keeping with HIS individual calling and anointing over their lives! NEVER be moved by the way things SEEM. ALWAYS confess God's Word over them and speak of them the way the Father speaks about YOU! God's at work in them continually. Never, ever doubt that! (Thank You, Father, for our families being born again, filled with Holy Spirit, loving Your Word and serving YOU!) Now, moving on to Galatians 6, we have verse 1:
Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
I LOVE this! I have found that in this day of advanced technology and rampant use of social media, more and more people have taken it upon themselves to correct everyone that they deem to be wrong, in any and every area of life. Many of these spew hatred, sarcasm, ridicule, slander, gossip, innuendo and condemnation, rather than the loving encouragement and exhortation that we are called to do. Look at verses 2-3:
2 Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]. For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.
AMEN! Let LOVE be your motivation in all that you do and you will never find yourself in the position of a judgmental critic, but you will always be one who can see and draw out the BEST in everyone! AMEN! And finally, here is a perfect exhortation for each of us! Verse 9:
9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
AMEN! Run YOUR race, finish YOUR course, fulfill YOUR God-given destiny and you will have favor and anointing in this life and rewards in abundance in the next! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with one of my new favorite Christmas song! "We Have A Saviour":
Shalom in Him!
