2008
JANUARY ARCHIVES
January 1st
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
Outlook from the In Book
Wouldn’t it have been great if today when you woke up you had all the answers to everything? I mean everything. Your New Years resolutions would not have to be resolutions. They would be fact. Why? Because you would have not had to speculate on anything. You would be too wise for speculations. Everyone would come to you for advice on how to do this or that. And because you are so wise, all people would listen, right? Well that is not always the case. God told Solomon that he would be the wisest man that ever lived. So everything Solomon says should be what we would consider a wise decision. In fact, that is what the book of Proverbs is. Collections of Solomon’s statements, or, statements made by those that were around him and heard what he said. This book contains Wisdom, Instruction, and Help for us to gain understanding in the ways of life. To help us judge what is fair and just. To know what is right. Do you really want to know what the right choices in life are? Then pray today for a clear understanding of what God has to say to us through Solomon this year as we go through the book of Proverbs.
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January 2nd
Proverbs 1:4-6
To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Right now school is most likely out for Holidays. Children are playing and having a great time. It also seems the older we get, the less likely we are to really like school. And really it’s not school we hate so much, it’s the idea of having to learn something. That takes work. That takes time. That means I have to memorize something. And young and old alike all make the same claim. “I am not good at memorizing things.” Well that’s just not true. Let’s think for a second. Where do you live? What is the address? What is your phone number? How do you get to work? What’s your favorite food? You have all the answers to these questions buried in your mind. You memorized them. Why? Because they are important to you in daily life. The book of Proverbs is also important for your daily living. I am not asking you to memorize the book of Proverbs. But what do today’s verses tell us? A wise man will hear. And not just hear, but dig deep to find the dark sayings. Or in a more modern way of putting it, not just reading the words, but understanding what the meanings of the sayings are. Not just readers and hearers, but doers also.
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January 3rd
The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and
instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the
law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy
head, and chains about thy neck.
Outlook from the In Book
If I told you that to go to California from Virginia you
need to go straight west that would be a true statement. So the statement
then is, to go to California you must go west correct? NO! The statement is
to get to California from Virginia you must head west. If you begin in
Florida and head west you will end up in Mexico. So does that make the
instructions wrong? NO! It makes your starting place important. It is the
same with these Proverbs. If you try to apply them to an immoral heart they
will not always work. In fact, they will not always make sense. Our heart
tells us, “Live For Me, Get All I Can, Enjoy Every Moment No Matter The
Cost.” The Bible tells us Live for God, He will supply all you need and your
joy will not be for a moment but for eternity. The beginning of
understanding these proverbs is to understand and believe in the writer of
the Proverbs. It’s to have a personal love relationship with God through His
Son Jesus Christ and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. If you begin in the
right place, you’ll end up in the right place. Begin with Jesus. Ask Him to
come into your heart if you never have. Resubmit yourself to Him if you
already have. The beginning of knowledge is to have a relationship with God.
The Word Walking In Me
If you have never accepted Christ, agree with Him that you are a sinner and need a Saviour. Understand He died for all your sins. Believe that His death, burial and resurrection paid the price in full for your sin debt. Ask Him to come into your life forever. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
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January 4th
Proverbs 1:10-14
Get all you can, can all
you get, sit on the can and poison the rest. That’s the world’s philosophy. To
get everything that you can possibly get. Then when you get it, hold on to it.
Don’t share it; keep it. You worked hard for it. You earned it. You deserve it. And
don’t worry about who you hurt on the way up. That is just part of life. Right?
WRONG! There are literally thousands of people across the United States that are
living in automobiles and under bridges and in cardboard boxes because of that
very way of thinking. And then, those that are wealthy toss a dollar in the
Salvation Army pot for “the poor homeless people” and feel they have done their
part. Not even realizing that being part of today’s business machinery has
caused the situation. Making a dollar becomes more important than Human life.
People die during this time of year by exposure to the elements of freezing
cold. Entire families are without food and shelter. Did someone mean for that to
happen? Probably not. Yet they fill their houses with the spoils and consume the
livelihood of someone else. And for what? To make one more dollar they really do
not need. Not all people are homeless because of this. Some are just lazy and
will not work. But what if it was your family that was put out. Wouldn’t it
matter then?
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January 5th
This year we are doing the Work
Week Devotions
All Devotions will be written and distributed Monday through Friday.
On
Saturday we suggest you re-read
the Proverb
we have written from this past week
and the week to come.
Some weeks that will be the same chapter,
while other weeks that may be two chapters.
We have never given out Bible reading for Sundays.
The reason is simple to us.
We want you to be reading and studying whatever
the Lord has laid on your Pastors heart for that week.
Whatever his text is for the Morning and Evening Service
was given to him by God for your specific needs.
The principal for this is found in the book of
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by
night unto Berea:
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,
and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
We hope you enjoy your
weekend in God's word
and pray we might see you back here on Monday
as we begin another Week
in the Word.
Review Proverbs 1 and this past weeks Devotionals if Desired
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January 6th
No Passages Assigned
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January 7th
Proverbs 1:15-17
My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their
path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in
vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
Outlook from the In Book
As a young boy my father would give me wise counsel. Although as a young boy I did not count it as wise counsel. At that age I looked at it as if some old guy did not want me to have fun and was trying to talk bad about my friends who he didn’t even know. He would say things like “Who you hang around with is who you’ll become.” Or “People judge you not by who you are, but by who you hang out with.” Did I believe him? Not really. Was he right? ABSOLUTELY! My friends did not seem so bad to me at the time, and my dad did not really know them well. But what he did know was that they were heading in the wrong direction in their life. They had little if any direction and absolutely no Biblical beliefs. Or if they did, they sure did not show it. What he knew was that if I continued with them others would judge me as just like them. And worse. After a while I would become just like them. He was right, and I did. Had it not been for the grace of God and his life changing salvation, I might be where many of them are today. Broke, unhappy, addicted, mean spirited, and some even dead. But because of Godly parents prayers, the visitation program of a couple of churches, and a revival speaker, God got hold of my life. I now serve God and not self. I now have joy that is immeasurable. I am no longer addicted to the drugs, tobacco and alcohol that once ruled in my life. And I have a different set of friends. Real Friends!
The Word Walking In Me
People still judge me by my friends. And I am proud of those people. They pray for me and keep me accountable to God. What are people thinking of you today? Do you want to know? Look at your friends. That is who they think you are.
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January 8th
Proverbs 1:18-20
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Outlook from the In Book
Not me! It can’t happen to me! That is the attitude that we all have. Somehow in us we have this belief that bad things only happen to other people and we are somehow supermen. “It can never happen to me.” But the truth is, bad things happen to everyone. But wouldn’t it be kind of foolish to make them happen and then complain about it? Would you take a knife and start sawing of your finger and all the while be screaming and crying “please stop that hurts”. No, you would just stop. But young people have the advantage in their life right now to see what the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, pornography, greed, and hatred have done to others, and they still fall into the same old trap. Somehow they think they will be able to stop whenever they want to. That’s just one more of Satan’s hooks which, as our verse says, “taketh away the life of the owner”. I have sat with Alcoholics and Drug addicts latter in life that are going through withdrawals and watched the physical pain they go through. As they scream and cry and beg for it to stop. “Please make it quit” they yell speaking of the pain, the physical pain their addiction is causing them. I have listened to people dieing of lung cancer that have been told tobacco is what caused it and they set with a cigarette in their mouth saying I wished I had never started this. Ted Bundy said in an interview just before being put to death as a serial killer, that he believed it all began for him and hundreds of others through pornography. What a trap they set for themselves.
The Word Walking In Me
Don’t fall into the worst trap of all. The trap of lying to you, saying “it can’t happen to me”. That’s what they all said. But it Happens!
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January 9th
Proverbs 1:21-24
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Outlook from the In Book
If you go to court most any given day, you’ll find someone standing before a judge with the defense, “I didn’t know that was against the law
