Knowing God - The Lord Cares About Relationships

Psalm 68:6a

God setteth the solitary in families:

The Lord Cares about Relationships

God has a plan for our support environment.  He sets those who are alone into family environments.  It isn’t really us who are deciding that but He that is setting us there.  This truth about our God should help us understand God’s heart about relationships and family.  He knows we have a need to belong and be connected and He knows where to set us.  Be open to who He may be setting around you that He wants you to embrace as family.  Be open to being set in families where He knows they have what you might need.  What a wonderful God to direct our paths into relationships that feel like family!

Proverbs - Jesus is the Wisdom of God

Proverbs 17:24

Wisdom is before him that hath understanding;

but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

                                           

The Lord is with us and Jesus has been made unto us the wisdom of God.  He desires to lead us.  He is a Shepherd.  He desires to show us where to go.  He is the way.  He desires to reveal what is right.  He is the truth.  He wants our decisions to thrive.  He is the life.  He wants us to see where we are going.  He is the Light.  He wants our souls satisfied.  He is the bread of life.  He wants us to understand.  He is the wonderful counselor.  If we will silent our own anxieties and quiet our myriad of concerns, we will find wisdom before us.  To be understanding women, we need to stand under His covering.  We will be foolish women if we are looking all around in some sort of ‘Martha’ mode to solve and answer our dilemmas.  Slow down.  Be aware of His presence.  Remember that He now owns you and He is your master.  The master knows what the day consists of and knows what His servant needs to be about his business.

Knowing God - He Knows Us

Nahum 1:7

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.

He Knows Us

                                                               

Sometimes we can feel like nobody really knows us.  We may even be confused ourselves about who we are.  One day we may feel outgoing and the next we want to isolate ourselves.  God knows those who trust in Him.  Trusting means to place our confidence in Him to the point that we don’t need an explanation to believe or act on what He says.  When we place our trust in Him, He knows us.  He knows our fears.  He knows our desires.  He knows our arrogance.  He is not asking for perfection.  He is asking for trust.  We don’t have to explain ourselves.  He knows us.  Trust in Him.  He is your stronghold in the day of trouble.  You don’t have to have your act together.  You don’t have to understand why you may be reacting the way you are.  He knows.  Focus more on trusting and knowing Him and less on trying to depend and know you.

Proverbs - Bribery is Not Good

Proverbs 17:23

                                                                     

A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Bribery is not good.  It twists the mind of the one who has to make a clear call based upon what is good and right.  Gifts, flattery and manipulation can cause the person in authority to not be able to judge a matter righteously because self interest begins to play a part in the judgment.  When parenting our children we may melt with that four-year-old’s sweet smile and not follow through with the appropriate consequence.  A teenager can begin to bring to our minds some sort of exchange in the implementation of a punishment we have already instated.  When we are single, flattering words from an unsaved gentleman can confuse the judgment of not being unequally joined together with an unbeliever.  We may even be tempted to persuade our husbands away from a leading they have with our sensuality or pouting.  When we must give forth a judgment or we find ourselves under the authority of another, we must be careful to not have any sort of influence come in and disturb the signal of a righteous God giving us His direction.  Even a friendship we enjoy can be a temptation to not give the right warnings o counsel for fear of losing that friend.  Let us be women who seek first to please the Lord and do that which is right in His eyes, regardless of how it affects us.  We, will then be women who open our mouths with wisdom and affect those around us in the way the Lord intended us to.

Knowing God - He Had Done Great Things - FOR YOU!

1 Samuel 12:24

“Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart;  for consider what great things he has done for you.”

                                                                          

He Has Done Great Things  - FOR YOU!

The Lord has done great things.  We all know that.  He has created this earth.  He brought His people out of captivity over and over again.  He raised Lazarus.  He forgave the adulterous woman, but…..here we see we are commanded to consider the great things He has done FOR YOU!  Perhaps you are in a place where you believe and know that God is powerful and has done great things but you have not chosen to consider what great things He has done FOR YOU!  Stop now and consider what He has done for you.  Has he saved you from continuing in patterns that would have left your life in ruins?  Has he healed you? Has he given you abilities you know did not come from the way you were raised?  Has he delivered you from your own consequences?  Consider this today and it will help you to only fear Him and serve Him in truth with all your heart.

Proverbs - What is a Merry Heart?

Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

When our hearts are merry our bodies actually function much better.  When our inner man is not working right, our frame becomes brittle and unable to support us through our lives.  A merry heart is not just an outward expression of joy but an inner state of mind.  A merry heart is within us.  A merry heart is one that is settled in as accepted and loved by no merit of its own but by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  A merry heart has a sense of purpose given by the One who dwells within it by faith.  A merry heart is feasting on promises given by the One who never disappoints.  A merry heart is considering all that the Lord has done for it.  A merry heart is not weighed down with unconfessed sin.  A merry heart is looking to be a source of blessing and refreshment to others.  A merry heart recognizes the most simple events of the day as glimpses of God’s faithfulness and love.  A merry heart connects history with the present and anticipates the future being a further revelation of God’s presence and position.  A merry heart delights in a child’s laughter, a dog’s facial expression, a cake’s decorated beauty, the smell of meat and onions being united in a hot pan, the clean, hot water of a morning shower, the soft, tender sheets that surround us as we sleep and other daily events that are often not appreciated or taken in.  By having this peace of God ruling in our hearts we are free to absorb the rich life we so enjoy and it does good like medicine.  I think of anti-inflammatory medication.  These are taken to reduce the swelling of some sort of injury that we might not have the pain.  Having a merry heart will reduce the swelling of legitimate injuries that we might move more freely and with less pain. 

Knowing God - The Lord Interrogates

Job 38:2

“Brace yourself like a man:  I will question you,

and you shall answer me.”

The Lord Interrogates

The Lord is speaking here and seems to be speaking in a tone of authority.  We can find ourselves questioning Him and expecting Him to answer us.  Here we see the Lord saying that He will question us and He expects us to answer Him.  When was the last time you allowed the Word of God to question you and you answered?  Have you ever sensed His still small voice speaking to you?  It is a good thing to sense the searching of God and respond when you hear His questions. He could be asking us why we are doing something.  He could be questioning us about our mischaracterization of Him.  He could be asking us about something we have done.  We would do well to put ourselves as the ones being questioned rather than always questioning Him.  As we give Him answers we might be surprised to find out that His questions were well directed and intended to bring out of us that which we might have been blind to.  Brace yourself.  He will question you.  You shall answer Him.