MAY ARCHIVES
May 1st
Proverbs 11:17-19
The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
Outlook from
the In Book
There were once two men that worked together for months. Not really best friends but they got along ok. One day one of the men overheard the other call him by name and say “He thinks were friends but were not.” The words seemed to cut like a knife. He had never done anything to make this man dislike him. Not one cross word ever. Not a cross look or anything. Nothing. Day after day for weeks he would see him in the shop and as he walked by the guy would smile and say “hey how's it going?” Out of courtesy he said;" fine.” Yet in his heart daily he hated it more and more. So much so he started clocking in at the other end of the plant just so he did not have to see him. One day at a family reunion he saw him there. What? Why is this guy at MY FAMILY REUNION? I hate him. He has no business here. As he walked over to talk with him the gentleman turned around and said; “Hey How's it going?” That was it. He could not take anymore. “How's it going?” He replied. “Terrible that’s how its going. What in the heck are you doing at my family reunion.” The man chuckled and said; “that’s funny I was just telling a guy at work the other day that asked me if we were friends, that you thought we were friends but we were not…. we are relatives.” Immediately the man realized he had only heard part of the conversation and had been mad for weeks for nothing. Who did it hurt? It hurt only him. Anger eats at us and only us. “...He that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.”
The Word Walking In Me
Anger and hate is like a cancer. It will eat at you and cause all types of mental and physical problems. Forgiving is really a better way to go through life. Anger takes a lot of work to maintain.
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May
2nd
Proverbs 11:20-23
They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
Outlook from
the In Book
I was walking down the street the other day and saw a lady walking her dog. That was not so strange, except for the fact that the dog had on a sweater. Now it may have just been me, but it seemed like the dog was really moving fast and kept looking left to right, right to left as if to say, “I sure hope none of my dog friends see me dressed this way.” Now I know, some of you dress your dogs that way too, and I guess if it makes you happy to dress up your dog as children do their dolls it never hurts anything. And there actually might be some good to it if it’s really cold out or something. But one thing we need to keep in mind is that under that sweet little cardigan is still a dog. You can paint their toenails a rainbow of colors, give them a cute hair cut that often cost more than your hair cut did, and put ribbons in their hair, but they are still dogs. What’s the point in all this? You are the same way. You can dress up the outside and clean up nice. You might say the right things and go to the right places. But if you have never accepted Jesus as your Saviour, you’re still lost.
The Word Walking In Me
The word froward means to be a fraud or a fake. The meaning of the word abomination is something that stinks or the same as to make one sick. If you put that together you see that people pretending to love the Lord when their life shows they don’t, makes God sick. Just as we bathe to wash of the grime of this world, we should also examine ourselves and ask for the washing of God’s grace for all sin to be sure we don’t stink before Him.
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May 3rd
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 10 - 11 and this past weeks Devotionals if Desired
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May 4th
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 10 - 11 and this past weeks Devotionals if Desired
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May 5th
Proverbs 11:23-25
The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Outlook
from the In Book
Greed encourages greed. It almost seems bewildering how often God shares with us that we should be willing to give. And to give liberally. IN the verses today it says the desire of the righteous is good, there is that scattereth and yet increaseth, the liberal soul shall be made fat and if you water you will receive also water. All of those comments are pointed at the Christian or the righteous. We do know that in our self we are not righteous but we are only made righteous by placing our self in God’s hand by putting our faith in what His Son, Jesus, did for us on the cross. And because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us now, our once dark, angry, greedy heart has been turned to one that is full of the light of the word and filled with the love of Christ. And love in itself is giving. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Love is about giving. God does not need our money. He is better able to take care of things than to require us to give up what we have. What God does desire is our heart. It is from the heart that man either gives or is greedy. The rest of the verses comments today say the wicked expect wrath and they hold on to everything and still end up with nothing. The reason lost people often do not give is they expect others to be just like them. Not willing to give and help one another and so they horde everything but end up with nothing. When we die we take nothing of this earth with us. But love will go on forever.
The Word Walking In Me
In the New Testament Jesus tells us the same principle again in Luke 6:38. It say give and it shall be given unto you. Who do you think we should believe, God or greed? I choose God!
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May 6th
Proverbs 11:26-28
He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
Outlook
from the In Book
When I was young I could hardly wait for my birthday or Christmas to come around. I just knew there were going to be presents wrapped for me. And everyone seemed so happy that I was happy in receiving them. As I grew a little older I started to want to give presents to people I liked too. I did not always have a lot of money, but I always seemed to come up with something. My main question while they unwrapped it was, “do you like it?” If they said yes (which most people do) it just made me so happy to make them happy. But I was still looking around for what everyone had brought for me as well. Now as a grandparent that God has blessed beyond what I deserve, I still look forward to Christmas and birthdays. But I’m not so concerned with presents they have brought for me. The greatest joy now is watching the grandchildren as they tear into those packages. I see there eyes light up, a scream of joy over here, a “look mommy what I got” over there. To me it’s not about the presents. I get such a kick out of bringing joy to their life by giving. And all year long I get their love in return. You can’t wrap true love up in anything but the heart. God knew that we all should be able to experience that kind of unselfish happiness. That is why He teaches us about giving all year long. And as we give to others not looking for anything in return, God gives to us through others all year long.
The Word Walking In Me
God’s economy makes much better sense than man’s. In man’s economy you get what you hold on to. In Gods economy as you give to others you inherit the wealth of those around you in a time of need. And with God as the banker how can you lose?
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May 7th
Proverbs 11:29-31
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.
Outlook
from the In Book
The Frankenstein Monster was a scary looking creation. According to the story he was really not a Monster. He was the creation of Dr. Frankenstein. He was conducting experiments in how to create and sustain life. The creature he constructed was a combination of many parts he had put together. Who can forget the moment when the switch is thrown, the creation begins to move, and he says “He’s Alive, He’s Alive”. The creation then took on the name of the creator, as the people all begin to call him Frankenstein. That’s a fictional story, but did you know you are also creating peoples lives everyday? In our verses today it says “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.“ The fruit of what you do and the life you live as a Christian is part of what will cause others to want what you have or not. Your kindness and love will be to them a tree of life. Your testimony for the Lord will bear fruit in the lives of those around you. People can realize the joy of salvation, that Jesus died for them as well, and they can accept Him and have a new life in Christ just as you do. Now I would be careful with this next idea, you might scare a person to death. But actually when they accept Christ you could do like the Dr. did in the Frankenstein movie. You could yell, “He’s Alive, He’s Alive”. What a joy to know you have a part in giving real life.
The Word Walking In Me
Today as we go our way it might be interesting to think, I am becoming part of someone else's life right now. What I say, where I go, how I look all matters in the life of another. So to be my best I want to model Christ. Just as Frankenstein did, we too have taken on the name of our creator. Christian, Christ like.
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May 8th
Proverbs 12:1-4
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
Outlook
from the In Book
On TV I saw a raging fire on the west coast of the US burning out of control. The firefighters were actually not trying to stop the blaze, they were concentrating on making sure it did not spread much farther. They realized it was out of control and were busy controlling the amount of damage it would do. To do so they started a controlled fire around the blaze large enough to burn everything in its path. Hoping that when this raging inferno reached that point it no longer had anything to burn and that the area was too large to leap over. Fortunately it worked. To control the fire, everything around it had to be destroyed. Often people that believe they are right and will not listen to counsel are just like that fire. No matter what the facts say, no matter what the evidence of God’s hand at work says, no matter what they know they are right. Not until everything around them is destroyed do they realize that in their unwillingness to learn they destroyed themselves. There is no fire left to burn. No one left to complain to. No one to listen to them and their ideas. People will avoid a destructive fire. The word brutish in today’s verse means eaten up or self-destructive. Just as the fire was destroyed by fire, so will people unwilling to receive instruction destroy themselves.
The Word Walking In Me
You might be asking, how can that change if I’m in the middle of it? Reach out to the mighty hand of God to pull you free. Ask Him to open your heart to the truth. Don’t try to get God to get on board with what your doing. Find out what God is doing and get on board with Him.
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May 9th
Proverbs 12:
