The Purpose of Proverbs is to impart wisdom for godly living.
Solomon’s fathering advice to young people and all who seek wisdom will greatly benefit from these wise words. Discover the source of wisdom, the value of wisdom and the benefits of wisdom. Proverbs gives practical suggestions for effective living. They should call a person to action. The verses tell how you can live in close relationship to Him and offers positive advice that helps you to make good and righteous decisions. – notes of the Life Application Study Bible
PROVERBS 8 The Excellence of Wisdom
This chapter reads like a poem to me. Speaking of so many important values of Wisdom.
The study notes state that wisdom is portrayed as a woman who guides us, makes us succeed, was present at the time of creation and works with the Creator. That those who hate wisdom, love death. And wisdom should affect every aspect of one’s entire life.
Imagine if we could be a people where all the words of our mouths were with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse be in them?
Wisdom says…I AM understanding, I have strength. Just as with the Lord, those who diligently seek wisdom will find her.
Wisdom was there from the beginning of time.
Pride and arrogance are the evil way. Love for God and love for sin cannot coexist. Throw evil ways away!
Re-read this chapter and pull out the words or sentences that stand out to you. Meditate on them. What is God saying to you? Journal what you feel God is saying to you and what your hearing in your heart.
The Purpose of Proverbs is to impart wisdom for godly living.
Solomon’s fathering advice to young people and all who seek wisdom will greatly benefit from these wise words. Discover the source of wisdom, the value of wisdom and the benefits of wisdom. Proverbs gives practical suggestions for effective living. They should call a person to action. The verses tell how you can live in close relationship to Him and offers positive advice that helps you to make good and righteous decisions. – notes of the Life Application Study Bible
PROVERBS 3 The title to this chapter is Guidance for the Young
There is a reminder of obedience in the first two verses. Keeping Gods commands. Then we are introduced to two important words…mercy and truth. What more could we want, than for God to find favor with us because we are merciful and truthful. Your thoughts and words are not enough. Your life reveals if you are truly merciful and truthful. What are your definitions of a merciful person and a truthful person?
Verses 5 & 6 are very familiar verses to us. Many can recite them word for word, but I often wonder if we also apply these scriptures to our lives. We say we trust in the Lord, but often our actions don’t show that. Because we take matters into our own hands, especially if we feel God isn’t moving fast enough or the outcome is not turning out the way we wanted. We then step in front of God to take matters into our own hands; we then show God that we don’t trust Him. Be honest, have you done that before? Do you believe that God knows you and your situations better than you do? So you should trust Him in it, correct? Think carefully through your decisions, bringing them before God in prayer, seeking out wise counsel from others and using your bible as a guide. Then follow God’s leading. Take the time to put ALL things to God, verse 6 says in ALL your ways acknowledge Him.
I actually like verses 7 & 8…”Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” This chapter is guidance for our young people. ‘Leave’ from evil…’go away’ from evil. Doing that will be health to your flesh, you will stay healthy…you will stay alive. How simply stated is that. How simple…yet true is that verse? This is one of many reasons I believe that our children should grow up with biblical principles…because it is truth that will not steer them wrong. It will steer them to LIFE!
The Study Bible states that giving God the first part of your income demonstrates that God, not possessions, has first place in your life and that our resources belong to Him. What you have is not because of you, its because of the goodness of our Lord. Everything you have, God has granted access for you. Please remember that. Honor God with His firsts and the rest is your resource to manage properly. Don’t be greedy, be open to give so you can be blessed. Like people always say…you can’t take the money with you when you die. There are some people that God has blessed them to be givers. Are you that person?
Why do so many people dislike correction? And correction from God your Creator? God is our Father. He’s a parent. Don’t we expect correction from a parent? Without correction, how would you know what to do? Correction and discipline are very important parts of our development for both young people and adults. Because adults can still develop in areas of their lives. Correction comes into play when learning the difference between right and wrong. Discipline is very much a part of our everyday life, not just your spiritual walk. You become successful from hard work and consistent discipline. And when you choose to live a life dedicated and disciplined for God, nothing compares to the joy of knowing God.
There is so much in this chapter, but I pray that you are reading through with me…word for word. There is so much to learn. See you, next chapter.
Let me 1st say that I’m talking to Christians when I say this. If you don’t identify yourself as a Christian then I am not talking to you. And let me also clarify that I believe God is our FINAL judge. He is the one who will make the final decision on where you and I will spend eternity.
That statement, “only God can judge me” has been on my mind for a minute now. I see it everywhere…on Facebook, tattooed on someone, in meme’s. So I know I needed to write about it because God kept making me see it. Then one day while I was listening to the bible in my car, the story of Jethro visiting Moses came on. Exodus the 18th chapter. Can I tell you, I had to play it back 3 times! I left like God was saying, “Yes this is for your understanding.” I love how God will confirm what He is teaching and showing you. But before I go into that, I did a little research trying to find out where this phrase came from. There is no scripture in the bible that says, “only God can judge me.” That is NOT biblical.
In my research, many made mention that those who are believing and living their lives to this statement are those who do not want to be held accountable to their actions. This is a way out of being corrected, a way out of having discipline and being obedient to God’s will for your life. Humans are very good at changing the things that God established and making them fit their wants. Laws and standards have been put in place in the this world because, if we are left to ourselves…we would destroy everything and each other. It’s the sinful nature that we were born into. Now I’m not saying that you can’t be mature and make right decisions. What I’m saying is that many of us won’t govern ourselves, so the ones who choose to live right would have to contend with those who don’t.
And then I often wonder, why wouldn’t you want to be warned or re-directed here on earth? Why would want to continue in your wrong behavior and wait for God to discipline or judge you? I tell people all the time, don’t make God have to turn your life upside down to get to you because you continue to want to do life your way. He’s a loving God, yes but His wrath is no joke. When scripture tells me that He is longsuffering and wishing that none should perish, that tells me He takes time with us, He sends help, He sends people to get us back on the right path. But some are pushing their help away because they don’t to be told that their right is wrong.
Anyway…let’s get back to the Exodus story of Jethro and Moses. Jethro was Moses father-in-law and he saw Moses handling people’s disputes and teaching people the laws of God. But Moses was the only one doing it. It was becoming overwhelming because ALL the people were coming to him. Jethro tells him that he wasn’t doing it right. You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him. You should teach them God’s commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do. But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed.Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis.
Ahhhhh….others where brought forth to judge. Capable men and women. God set forth people in the earth to help to judge. This is why I believe and scriptures tells me that God is the FINAL judge, but He has placed people in the earth to help give guidance and direction…because we need it!
There are many other scriptures that talk about how to judge people. So the Lord, set certain people aside to help judge and then wrote how to judge. How to be fair, how to carry yourself as a judge, He gave them standards and rules on judging. When you read them, look at the context of the them, where in was happening in scripture and in what time it was happening. Because rules and laws were different during different times of the world. Just like some rules and laws many not be for this time in the 20th century, so are the rules and times of the bible.
Read the bible for understanding. Not to point what is wrong in it. If you go with that mindset, you will miss so much understanding because you’ve already made up your mind.
God will judge you when you die. And then it will be too late to change your ways do things differently. Don’t put yourself in that predicament. Choose Christ today so you know where you will spend eternity.
Some of us don’t want to be judged because we are all over the place and need to make the decision to choose Christ and stick with it. You have gone back and forth with Him for a long time, but you haven’t been consistent. That is not how the Lord wants you to live. He wants your foundation to be strong and stable. God wants you to be like a tree planted by the water where the roots are deep and you can not be moved, because your source of life is right there next to you. God is your source of life.
One thing I am learning in my Christian walk is that God is re-teaching me. There were some things that I believed that were not really Him. My thinking was wrong. I also learned that the word hits us all differently. It is the same Word of God but it will speak to us differently according to our spiritual maturity and where we are in our walk. Be open to learn from the Holy Spirit, be open to grow and mature in Christ. And if you disagree, don’t throw it away. Bring it back to God and ask if it is for you. He will let you know and He will deal with you in that area. Be ok with God correcting you and showing you a new and different way of understanding Him. His way will ALWAYS be the better way! Trust!
If you were one of those people who people who believed that no one could judge you…make a comment and lets pray that you will see and receive the people and the help that God is sending you to make your crooked paths straight.
Do a word search and look up every scripture that talks about “judge or judging.”
Listening to a Persicope live recording really can get you to thinking. Carla R. Cannon asked us this morning that as followers of Jesus Christ…why we are here? She said “God reveals His will to us and communicates with us so we can fulfill His assignment in the earth.”
That was awesome to me!
Have you ever thought about why am I here? You may have it in your mind that you didn’t ask to be here…but there is a purpose for you being here on this earth. Remember, Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that before you were formed in the womb, God knew you. You were set apart. Do you understand what that means? God had already predestined a place for you before you even came to the earth. He already had plans for you, a purpose ready for you. He was already thinking about you.
Carla says in the Periscope that you are not here just to build a great business, or a great ministry or to make a great name for yourself.
I wonder about that often, do we know why we are here. I believe if people really knew their purpose for being on this earth, we would do some of the things we do. We would plan better. We would take care of what we had better. Our outlook on life would be better.
The Lord does want you to have an abundant life, HERE ON EARTH. But also know that He has called you to a life that includes Him. A life that brings glory to Him. We are all called to one specific thing…
You are here to do your Father’s business!
So here is the big question…do you know what your Father’s
business is?
Did you know that you are to live a life that worships God? Live a life that pleases God? Did you know that you are to imitate Christ, be Christ-like? Did you know that you are to share the gospel of Jesus Christ? Tell someone about Him. Lead others to Him. Share your life as a Christian with them. Help someone get closer to Him. And be an example of Him. Many have told themselves that their life with Christ is only for them. But that is not so….as a follower of Christ, we share our lives with others. Someone…everyone should know that you love the Lord and you live a life in line with His will.
But most importantly…be in a personal relationship with Him. Be intentional about making Jesus a part of your life. It is in Him that we live, move and have our being. He needs to be a priority in your life.
Why am I here?
Not for your own selfish pleasures, dreams, aspirations.
But to give God glory in those dreams and aspirations. To give all
honor to Him for showing favor in those dreams and aspirations. To
acknowledge that without Him you would not have these dreams and
aspirations. And then living out a life that gives Him honor, a life that
imitates His life, a life of righteousness, a life of holiness. The
Lord says, be ye holy for I am holy. It’s not a suggestion…it’s a
command. And if you love the Lord you will obey his commands.
I was watching a Periscope awhile back of Daniel Stombaugh and
he asked the question,
What
is your identity?
He said “know who you are TO God and know who you are IN God”
And I kept repeating it over and over in my mind.
Know who you are to God.
Know who you are in God.
Many of us know who we are at work, right? We know our job
function and what is expected of us. Know how to get to work, what time to be
there and how to get our paycheck.
Many of us know who we are at home, right? Know our role as a
parent, as home owner, as a husband, as a wife, as a child (well most times we
do LOL). We know where everything is and pretty much how to use it.
We even know how to walk to the bathroom in the dark.
In all our common knowledge and intellect, we are pretty
comfortable.
But when you think about the things of God, what don’t we know?
Do we really know who we are to God? Do we really know how much
He loves us? Do we really understand the sacrifice that was made for
us? Are we totally conscious of His mercy?
Being loved by someone is a powerful motivator. It can give you an inner strength; it can give you a reason to wake up in the morning. It can change your moods and brighten your days. This is what God wants to be to us. We also want to hear someone say I Love You! Oh boy that would really take us over the edge. LOL and yet God does that every day…all day. Are we paying attention? God is love and that love is shown thru the beauty of nature and the fact that we open our eyes each day. We are the apple of His eye. A special people to Him. He is longsuffering, which means he waits and waits and waits and waits for us to come to Him, completely trust Him, because his wish is that none should perish.
Do you really know who you are in God? Where your strength comes
from? Who fights your battles?
Greater is He that is IN me than he that is in the world. (1
John 4:4)
Greater is the God in you than the devils in this world. You
must remember that!
I believe having a solid understanding of what we mean to the Lord will help us to stay strong in Him. We won’t be so easily distracted by the enemy’s tactics, the depression, the hopelessness, the anxiety, the worry, the defeat that the enemy tries to lay upon us. If we truly could understand how loved we are we could be stronger in our fight against the enemy. The enemy should not be able to so easily get us off course, change our moods, or tempt us, get into our thoughts and change our atmosphere. God did not create us to be led by the enemy or his tricks; God created us to be led by His Spirit!
KNOW
WHO YOU ARE IN HIM! YOUR IDENTITY IS IN GOD,
YOUR IDENTITY IS IN CHRIST.
Daniel Stombaugh also said something else in his Periscope that
moved me….
Knowing your IDENTITY always brings your purpose.
So if you’re not sure where you fit in, how God wants to use you, or what your purpose is, figure out your identity in God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and ALL these things will be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) Which means….seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
How can you NOT acknowledge the Creator of your life in all that
you do? What would make you think you should live this life never once giving
honor to the one who gave you life? We will love everything around us
except God.
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart”
Luke 12:7 says,” And the very hairs on your head are all
numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock
of sparrows.”
Before you were formed, God placed purpose in you and God knows
how many hairs are on your head! He is that intimate with you, knows that much
about you.
Let me
remind you that you were created with a PURPOSE
but you have to make the effort to seek God to find what your purpose is. If
you want it, go get it!
Press into God even more so that you can be more intimate with Him. In His presence is assurance, confidence, love, peace and your identity. Get to know Him, so you can know yourself.
I encourage you to get to know God on a more personal level this
year. And if you’re not sure where to start in that relationship…reach out to
me. I will help you.
Most times, “you don’t know it until somebody tells you.” If it’s not truth…its a lie.
We don’t like people telling us what to do. We feel we got this thing called LIFE under control and we are doing well navigating our way through it. But at some point in your life, someone had to tell you how to do things. Be honest. You didn’t just know how to do life. You didn’t just know how to do things. The reality of it is, we need direction and instruction. In order to get through this life, we will need right direction and instruction.
Think about right direction & instruction for life being your GPS. If you didn’t have it, you would get lost, lose your way, end up in a crash, take some wrong turns and go down one way streets. If you didn’t have right direction and instruction, you would put things together wrong, you would move prematurely, you would forget ingredients, you would be unprepared….do you see where I’m going with this? Compare what I jus mentioned with LIFE. Go back and read it and relate it to LIFE.
We all know life is made up of trials and errors, and making mistakes to learn. The one character trait we should master is being teachable. You don’t have to agree with everything your being taught, but learn to take what you need and leave the rest. And don’t grumble and complain in it. My mentor used to tell me in the beginning of our relationship, “chew the meat and spit out the bones.” You ever see a cow chew? They chew slow. They take time with it. Learn to do that. I always ask God, “what are you showing me, teaching me in this?”
The Holy Spirit is my teacher. Sometimes I get my lessons (direction) from the bible, sometimes it comes to me in prayer or when I’m in worship. I hear it in songs, in a sermon or a video of someone preaching and often times it comes from other people. God uses people to carry His message to us.
I say all of this, to say…don’t despise someone giving you direction, or instruction or TRUTH. Because you don’t know everything. And humans have a tendency to think they do know everything…when in actuality we don’t. And most times, you don’t know until someone tells you. All your life you could have felt like you were right about something until someone brings you the TRUTH and then you realize, all along; you’ve had it wrong. In that moment, Thank the Lord for showing you the TRUTH. Truth sets you free from believing the lie. You walk differently, act differently, you even talk differently when you know the TRUTH.
Don’t despise someone changing your directions. God knows what we have need of before we ask it or think it. and He will use multiple ways to get what we need to us. If I offer some direction to you, I want to teach you something new. I want to give you another way to look at things. Please don’t take it as me judging you…I’m loving you.
I shared this on my Facebook page today and felt led to share it on the blog.
Quick read…
3 years ago I was developing and writing my blog but then I got this job and little by little pulled away from it. When I was in Raleigh, NC on vacation last month at a ministry conference, the Lord told me to revive the blog when I got back home. Start in September, my birth month and write something everyday.
I was trying to figure out what, when, and how I was going to do this.. God said it, and I must be obedient but I just wasn’t sure how. Anyway, I left it there and said to myself…God will show me.
2 days later (the day I was leaving to come home) in the hotel lobby I see a woman from the conference, and we begin talking. She’s an author. I tell her that there was a prophecy spoken over my life to ‘write the books.’ But I just don’t know where to start. We talk some more and she gives me a suggestion to write everyday for 15 minutes to begin to discipline myself to write. I mention to her what the Lord told me about my blog. She says, your 15 minutes of writing each day is your blog!
And just like that…God gave me instructions on how to do it.
So on September 1st I revived my blog. It’s my life journey, my Christian walk, what God is showing, my mistakes, my failures, my successes, how I’m getting through, how we can help others and ourselves, some parenting info, some dating tips, marriage and more. In all my living, learning, searching the one thing that always came back to me was a desire to just live right.
So that’s my blog name…
Just Wanna Live Right
I always say…If you dont feel something you learn is for you, share it with someone else. They may need it. God may have allowed you to hear/read/learn it so you could share it with someone else. Or you just may not need it at that time. God is planting a seed for later, that He will bring increase to in due season. LIKE my blog, follow me and share it.
Leave comments, converse with me. Let me learn from you too.
Let me preface todays post with…some of my writings I’m reviving/bringing back to life. I wrote them during my journey and I still find them appropriate for today. Some things become re-occurring themes in our life and some things come back full circle. When this happens, I believe it is a sign that we need to be paying attention. It reminds me of when reading the bible; you read God saying something twice. God is repeating himself. To me, that means…we need to be paying attention! There is purpose for everything that God says…he doesn’t just talk to be talking. LISTEN and be mindful of the repetition of things in your life.
So now, I wrote this back in (2014) and I still stand by it. Again you are being reminded that you have a purpose…let’s figure out what and why we are here so we can get to work!
I feel some type of way when I hear someone say ‘I don’t know what I want’ when it comes to life or relationships or making decisions.
If you don’t know…then where are you going?
What is your direction in life? Think about that for a moment. Have you made any goals for yourself lately? Have you thought about what you want your next move to be? Have you looked at your life and saw some things you want to change? Do you want more? Or maybe you need to slow down?
Especially for those who have children. You have been given the responsibility to lead, nurture and raise a life, but you have no direction? No boo, that can’t work. But what you can do is…make a decision, especially for the well-being of your child(ren) and begin making plans. There is no better time than NOW!
We ALL have our own individual purpose for being here on this earth. We are living on purpose…not by accident. You have something to give, something to do, something to accomplish, something to create, someone to assist. You gotta figure out what it is. Find the path to your destiny.
If you are just here, living day to day you’re not fulfilling what God has placed in you from birth. And…no one can do it but YOU!
Listen….you already know what I’m trying to do with my life, from what I’ve shared on the blog and in the About Me section. So if you need some help getting there…post a comment, I’ll respond back to you. Say it out loud. God wants us to succeed in this life, but we have to do our part. We have to seek out what we need. Ask for help, read a book, find a mentor or friend you can confide in. God gives direction. He doesn’t leave you out here by yourself to fend for yourself. Even if you don’t have anyone else in the world to rely on…you have God.
And let me tell you something about God that you probably figured didn’t apply to you…even if we make mistakes, gave up, didn’t listen to Him the 1st time or 2nd time or even the 3rd time…He’s still waiting for you to come back to Him. If you repent (which means to truly be sorry and turn from what displeases God), ask forgiveness…God is there with open arms.
And you start again. Just like that. Gods love does not keep a record of your wrongs, or bring it back up to you. Remember, He wants you to be successful in this life. God is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
In 2014, I wrote this encouraging someone to work towards a more responsible, mature and purposeful YOU!!!
In 2019, I’m still encouraging you! Find your purpose! Meet your goals! Find YOU!
(Here are the lyrics to the song – chorus)
Do You Know Where you’re going to? Do you like the things? That life is showing you Where are you going to? Do you know?
Do you get? What you’re hoping for? When you look behind you There’s no open doors What are you hoping for? Do you know?
What is purpose? It’s been a trending word for awhile now. Purpose means…the reason for which something was created or exists.
Don’t let anyone tell you or make you feel as if you don’t have purpose! You were created, right? You are here, right? Then you have purpose!
Some people walk this earth their whole life not fully knowing or understanding who they are or what they are supposed to do. Some of us are freestyling life with some routine moments to keep order. But we’re not satisfied. You know there is something else for you.
Yes, some of us can make things work better than others or have the ability to make things look easy, but that does not mean you don’t have a place in this world too. Find out what your purpose is…that is your assignment while your here on this earth. Who did God create you to be? What did He create you to do? Your purpose is from God, so if you want to know it…you have to seek Him to find it.
And if you know the answer, how are you using it to glorify Him? Are you pointing people to Jesus in your purpose? If your not, then it’s not God’s purpose…it’s become your purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for YOU. Which means he set aside somethings just for you. It’s coming!
But I must ask, what are you doing until then? When we don’t know how to get somewhere, some of us WILL ask for directions. But some of us won’t. Some of us will get the directions but still try to find it on our own. But some of us still won’t ask. Some of us give up when it starts looking to difficult. Some of us never try. Some of us become spectators and watch everyone else, never stepping out to walk in our own assignment. What’s holding you back? Think about it for a moment. What are you afraid of? It’s OK to admit that. Say it out loud so you can confront it, deal with it, overcome it and move on. You won’t be satisfied, completely satisfied until you are doing what God called you to do.
Jeremiah 29:13 says, And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. You have a part in this…you have to do the work to find your purpose. But I can guarantee you, God will send you your help, people who can give you sound spiritual advice, someone you can talk to, give you clarity and opportunities to walk in your purpose.
But you have to want to know God’s plan for your life, you have to be willing to put in the work, allow God to make the necessary changes in you, clean you up, fix you, renew your mind. You can’t walk into your purpose…messy and unprepared. See, that’s where many of us stop the process. We don’t want to confront our mess. But it’s a necessary part of the process.
If your ready, leave a comment. Say it out loud so you can be accountable to it.
No more hiding. Your purpose is waiting for you!
Remember to LIKE this blogpost (see the option below)….it will then give you the option to follow the blog!
The lord gave me a directive and I have challenged myself to blog everyday this month. I’m still on this journey called LIFE. Just tryin’ to live right. Follow me as I follow Christ.
All I ask from you is to share, comment, disagree, laugh and live life with me!
JUST WANNA LIVE RIGHT 