Proverbs - Walking in the Fear of the Lord

Proverbs 14:2

He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD:

but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.

When we fear the Lord our steps will prove it.  Those who fear the Lord are making choices and taking steps that honor Him because His eyes are upon them.  If we are women who conduct ourselves in some sort of hidden manner, we do not fear Him nor consider His presence in our lives.  Our lives must be open and vulnerable to His judgments and evaluation.  We must trust Him to send to us His conclusion of the steps we are taking. If we do certain things in haste and try hard not hear Him, we despise Him and show that we think we know better than Him.  Ladies, do not allow the temptation of secret sin to diminish your perspective of our great and mighty God.  He sees it all and He will deal with us as any good Father would.  He will discipline us and there is nothing hidden from Him.  Trust Him.  Put those things that you are ashamed of in the light of His x-ray vision and allow Him to diagnose and treat the broken fellowship you have with Him.  Walk consistently today knowing He is worthy to be obeyed and feared.  Your life will be so much less complicated and your path so much plainer.

Knowing God - He is Present Help

Ps 46:1

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

God is a Present Help

When we need help, we need it now.  God is revealing to us that He Himself is our refuge and strength.  He wants us to know that we can hide in Him and draw strength from Him.  He wants us to know that His presence promises help.  He is our helper.  We need help.  God is always ready to provide the help we need because He is present with us at all times.  We can still our anxious hearts and become aware that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.  We can cease our anxious thoughts because we have the mind of Christ.  We can humble ourselves in those times where we find ourselves overwhelmed knowing He can lead us to a rock that is higher than ourselves.  We can stop looking to money to be our help because God is our provider.  We can stop putting expectations on others to help because our expectation comes from God!  We can stop growing weary in our trials because He has promised to be our strength.  We can hide in Him and gain the much needed protection and peace we may need in the midst of trouble.  The Lord is a very present help in time of trouble.  He is not far.  He is near.

Knowing God - He Weighs Our Actions

1 Sam 2:3

 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

God Weighs Our Actions

This was a part of a prayer that Hannah prayed when she gave Samuel to the Lord’s service in the temple.  She had prayed for this son and now she was giving him back.  She knew her God; and God was more important to her than the gifts He had given her.  We learn here that our God is a God of knowledge and He weighs our actions.  When we are doing something to please the Lord, He is weighing our actions.  The Lord ponders what we are doing and He considers our motives and sincerity of heart.  It is the heart that He desires to be clean and upright when giving anything to Him.  He wants us to prepare our hearts and be in a place where our words or actions are not the measurement but the heart behind those words and actions.  Our God knows why we are doing what we are doing.  Sometimes we don’t even know that there are hidden agendas or fleshly reasons for spiritual actions.  It is a good thing to pray quietly before the Lord, like Hannah, and ask the God of knowledge to weigh our actions and create in us clean hearts.  Ask Him to unite your heart to fear His name.  Ask Him to cause your offerings to be sincere and motivated only by your love for Him.

Proverbs - Building and Dilapidation

Proverbs 14:1

 Every wise woman buildeth her house:

but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

There is a contrast here of what a wise woman is doing with her life and home versus a foolish woman.  The wise woman is building her house and the foolish one is plucking it down with her hands.  A wise woman is not just maintaining her home but building it.  Building implies new- construction, materials brought in from outside, a design or plan that is followed and labor. 

We should always be looking to the Master Architect for what kind of extreme makeover He wants to do.  He sees potential and problems that need repair and upgrades.  Relationships in the home, priorities and attitudes are all things He loves to come in and inspect.  He knows that the day to day living we do will cause our homes to naturally dilapidate and that our home needs His constant care and plan.  The materials we need come from Him.  We seek Him to show us, as women, what He knows needs to be done.  We listen in bible studies, personal times with Him and throughout our days for His suggestions and when He delivers some great truth to build into the structure and layout of our lives and homes.  We cooperate with Him and know that, according to this verse we are His laborers and we build our homes.  He loves us and knows what we have need of.  Are you seeking Him for His ideas and input?  Do you understand that the infrastructure of your home is very much a women’s responsibility?  Do you take this seriously and look to Him for new ways to build up those within your home and keep the climate constantly open to Him?

Ladies, if we pluck down our home, we are foolish women and when you see all the sorrow a fool has, you don’t want to do this.  Plucking is a term that is not related to major demolition.  It is almost like a termite that is slowly nibbling away at the structure resulting in hidden, yet devastating damage that could make the whole structure unstable and unsafe.  The words we say, the thoughts we think, the choices we make, could, little by little, tear down our homes and before we know it, our families and lives have fallen apart.  Seek to build, repent of the tearing down and rest knowing that your home will withstand the elements because you are actively cooperating with the Master Builder.

Knowing God - He is the Olive Tree

Zech 4:2-3

 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

God Is the Olive Tree

This vision that Zechariah had was speaking the truth found in verse six; not by might, nor by power, but my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. We often stand on this truth to remind us to not put our confidence in any other source than God’s Spirit Himself.  This vision helps us understand this.  The vessels that were burning were burning not because of the gold or the shape of the vessels, but because of the oil within the vessels.  This oil was being continually renewed by living olive trees on either side with pipes coming from them permanently attached to the lamps, supplying oil needed for the lamps to shine and fulfill their purpose.  God is our olive tree and it is abiding in Him we get a constant filling and fuel for all He has designed us to do.  He is right there and without Him we cannot do what He wants in the way He desires it to be done.   When Jesus left this earth He promised to send the Holy Spirit to comfort, lead and show us what to do.  Let’s be those lamps today firmly abiding in the Lord and having His Spirit flow into our lives and supply the fuel that will make us shine in a way that NO one would think it was just us!

Proverbs - Satisfaction

Proverbs 13:25

 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul:

but the belly of the wicked shall want.

When we are right with God we are settled and content.  We find ourselves able to recognize and enjoy the blessings the Lord has given us.  When we live wickedly our lives become so complicated that we can’t see beyond the mess that we got ourselves in.  The Lord is good and has done so much for us.  Choosing to obey Him and focus on doing what He says is right will enable to us to savor and taste that the Lord is good.  Our adversary is desperately trying to blind us to the goodness of God and create in us a sense of dissatisfaction.  This results in a wrong understanding of God. We can begin to see Him as not thorough, not caring and distant.  No!  The Lord our God is good and good to His children.  Deep inside of us is a hunger that only He can satisfy.  When we wake up in the morning and sit before Him and cry out seeking to honor Him in our lives, everything takes on clarity and beauty and the satisfaction of what we take in becomes a reality.  Ladies, let us seek first His kingdom and His righteousness – His priorities for our lives and families.  We will then be satisfied and not led down the road of thirst rooted in choices He has asked us to avoid.  Lord, may we be women who richly enjoy all good things bringing You the honor as a good Father and Shepherd of our soul.

Knowing God - God Redeems Out of All Our Troubles

Ps 25:22

Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

God Redeems Out of ALL Our Troubles

God is the One who is to be called on in our troubles.  He sees us in our troubles and He is a God who is able, willing and will deliver His people out of ALL his troubles.  It is important for us to realize that our troubles are not to be hidden from the Lord but brought before Him.  He is to be trusted and sought in times of trouble.   It doesn’t matter if it trouble we deserve because of our own poor, foolish or sinful choices or if it is trouble brought on by others’ sin or foolishness.   God is to be called on to redeem and get us through and out of those troubling times.  Our God is a redeemer and our troubles do not intimidate Him.  They are not a challenge to Him.  Nothing is too difficult for God.  NOTHING!