Title: Two Observations/ Topic: Judgment and Righteous Living

Today’s Reading: Amos 7; Amos 8; Amos 9; Psalm 104; Titus 2

Scripture: Amos 8:11 and Titus 2:11-14
11 "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Observation: I was struck by two different passages in today's reading. The first was from Amos. In all three chapters the Lord is pronouncing judgments that will come on the people of Israel because of their indulging in sin without repentance. Verse 11 struck me as being the worst of the judgments that could happen to any people; a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. A society can become so sinful that God stops speaking to it. Those who are enjoying the temporary pleasures of sin don't care about hearing from God. The implication in following verses is that those who do seek the Lord will have to work harder to hear from Him. I'm afraid a time is coming in our land where freedom of speech for those who want to speak the Word of the Lord will not be tolerated well. Unless the words are words of comfort, people will not want to hear them. The second observation was from Titus. We think of grace as the power of God that forgives our sin, but it is also his power to give us control over our sin nature so that we can live righteously in an unrighteous world. He expects us to appropriate the power of his grace to purify ourselves from all things that are ungodly and to cultivate a heart that is eager to do what is good.

Application: We must intercede and pray for our society so that the word of the Lord is not a rare commodity and we also must grab a hold of the grace of God to overcome sin in our lives. We must excel in our desire to do what is good and to be examples of the overcoming power of God in our lives.

Prayer: Help your Church, oh Lord, to pray and intercede for our society. May the word of the Lord never be rare and hard to find. Speak to us through all of the gifts of the Spirit. May your Body grow in the use of the gifts you give us to stir one another up to pursue love and good works. May we grab a hold of grace so that we are overcomers; never allowing the enemy or the world to draw us away from living a godly life. May we all be eager to do what is right.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Manifesting the Promises of God/ Topic: Faith and Prayer

Today’s Reading: Jonah 1; Jonah 2; Jonah 3; Jonah 4; 2 Timothy 2

Scripture: Jonah 2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave [a] I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Observation: It's very interesting that the prayer of Jonah is all in the past tense, even though he was still inside the fish. He declares that God has delivered him (vs. 6,7) and affirms God's salvation with thanksgiving. It was after he prayed this way that God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out of its mouth. This is an example of someone praying in faith as described in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Application: We are generally not taught to pray this way. It's considered presumptuous to pray as if what we are asking for has already been done. Could it be that this prophet Jonah had an understanding of prayer and faith that we need to grab hold of? I think so. And I think all we need to do to keep from being presumptuous in this practice is to make sure that our requests are within the will of God. The will of God, according to the scriptures, includes healing, salvation, deliverance, provision, everything we need for life and godliness. That's a lot. I need to pray like Jonah did much more than I do.

Prayer: Teach me Lord, to pray in faith. May I call those things that are not (but should be) as though they already are. May my faith, spoken and declared by my mouth, bring the manifestation of your promises into existence in my life and the lives of others.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Healing Ourselves and Healing Our Land/ Topic: Repentance

Today’s Reading: Joel 1; Joel 2; Joel 3; 2 Timothy 1

Scripture: Joel 2:12-19
12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "
The LORD's Answer
18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.
19 The LORD will reply [a] to them: "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

Observation: The book of Joel is a plea from the heart of God for his people to turn from their wickedness and repent so that the Lord can relent from sending devastating judgment that will cause many to die. God is gracious and forgiving but he will only let wickedness go so long before he metes out judgment in order to turn people fro their sin and cleanse a society. He would rather that we cleanse ourselves through repentance. We start with confessing and turning from our own sins and then we can intercede for our land so that our whole society is benefited. There is a time for spiritual leaders to call everyone who loves the Lord to put aside their amusements and fast, pray, weep, and seek forgiveness and healing from the Lord. These times are not fun and far too many Christians are unwilling to discomfort themselves to enter into this spiritual work.

Application: I believe we are in a time when the Church needs to fast, mourn, weep, repent, and intercede for ourselves to be filled with passion for God and for our land to be healed. It takes engaging our will to obey this sort of Word from God, because when we are in a state of spiritual apathy, our emotions won't lead us to “feel” like doing this. We must discipline ourselves to fast and to enter into weeping and mourning for our sin and the sins of others by faith and an act of our will.

Prayer: Father, help me to obey you in this and to lead others into this also. I feel your coming is near and we need to live holy lives and heal ourselves and our world by interceding for revival. Pour out your Spirit upon us Lord. Forgive us for indulging our flesh and letting our world become so polluted morally. Come, heal your people and our land. Move among us in power and show your glory through us.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: You Can Run but You Can't Hide/ Topic: God's Sovereignty

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 18; 2 Chronicles 19; Colossians 4

Scripture: 1 Kings 22:31-36
31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." 32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, 33 the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him. 34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." 35 All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. 36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!"

Observation: After hearing a prophecy about how the Lord had it in for him, Ahab tries to foil God's plan by having Jehoshaphat be the only one to go into battle wearing royal robes. Ahab disguises himself. But God's sovereignty will not be thwarted. When he has determined that a certain thing will happen, no amount of hiding or trying to trick God will work. Arrogant people are sometimes foolish enough to believe otherwise.

Application: God's sovereignty is a difficult subject to understand. Many people think that if God is all-powerful, then he must bear the blame for all the murders, rapes, wars, illnesses and diseases that ravage mankind. But God has given man a free will to make choices, and those choices bring about most of the evil in the world. There are times, though, when God determines that certain judgments or events need to take place. It's as if,in his sovereignty, he allows man to determine how life will be, but he also has established boundaries beyond which man cannot go. He will not allow our sinfulness to totally destroy his creation. I have heard complaints lodged against God for this; either that he does not act soon enough and allows too much evil before he judges it, or that he does not allow enough free choice. But God has laid out clearly in his Word what the consequences of our choices are and what the end of the world will be like. We have been warned ahead of time about the boundaries he has set. It is up to us to choose to live in the bounds of his will.

Prayer: Father, I want to always heed your Word and obey what you say. May my choices bring good into my life, the lives of others and the world. And I thank you that your will, which is always good, cannot be changed.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Our Attitudes and Actions/ Topic: Holy Living

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 20; 1 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 17; Colossians 3

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-17
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Observation: The entire chapter in Colossians spoke to me. It is all about the attitudes and actions that we should be living by in order to please God and live a righteous life that will be blessed by God. Attitudes we must have are: 1. Realize that we died with Christ and our life is now in Him. He gets to call the shots and we don't. We subject our will to his voluntarily. Because of this, our hearts are to be focused on things above and not on this life. 2. We are to have an attitude of love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness toward others. 3. We are to cultivate a grateful heart. 4. We are to let peace rule in our hearts. If peace isn't reigning in our hearts, it's a sign that something is wrong in our relationship with the Lord. Actions that we must take are: 1.We have an obligation to God to put to death anything that belongs to our sin nature. 2. We must not use filthy language. 3.We must take time to dwell in the word of God and teach each other God's wisdom. 4. We must work diligently at everything we do as a testimony to Christ. Laziness does not become us. 5. In addition to an attitude of gratitude, we must also express gratitude often.

Application: The application is simple; just do all this! Simple does not mean easy. The hardest part about doing all this is that we must submit ourselves to God. Submission is not easy. We have to spend time with God, in prayer, worship and the Word to be able to do it. Only when we have experienced his great love for us and know that he truly has our best interest at heart and will bless us when we follow his plans for us.

Prayer: Help me Father, to be submitted to you fully in all things in my life. Thank you for sacrificing yourself totally for my good. Sometimes I don't see the blessing right away; I only experience the pain of having to put my flesh to death.
But I know that pain is temporary and that the blessing you bring to my life as a result of me battling my flesh is more than worth it. Nothing compares to knowing you and having you in my life.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Lessons from Elijah/ Topic: Perseverance and Faith

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 17; 1 Kings 18; 1 Kings 19; Colossians 2

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:19-22; 1 Kings 18:36-38, 42-44; 1 Kings 19:1-3
19 "Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!" 22 The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived.

36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." 44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "

1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert.

Observation: Elijah is one of my favorite Bible heroes. I observed a number of things concerning perseverance in prayer, faith, and human frailty and God's grace in these stories. First, when the widow's son dies, Elijah takes him to his room and begs God three times to restore the boy's life. God answers after the third request. The next time we see Elijah praying is when he has a showdown with the prophets of Baal. God answers his prayer immediately. After this, he prays for a miracle seven times before he sees the answer begin to appear. In the last group of verses we see Elijah giving in to fear. It's amazing to me that after seeing God work such awesome miracles on his behalf that he is so afraid of Jezebel that he flees for his life! But God is gracious to him and does not rebuke him for his weakness. Instead, he ministers to his needs and comforts him. It is an example of how God understands our weaknesses and our propensity toward depression and anxiety, and how he extends kindness to us to help us through those times.

Application: I don't understand why God sometimes answers prayer immediately and why he sometimes wants us to persevere in prayer before he answers, but the lesson is to KEEP PRAYING until we see the answer come. In our culture of instant gratification we really need to get this lesson. We want results now and if we don't get it, we tend to just give up. We need to not give up on God. The second lesson from these verses is that God doesn't give up on us! Even when we have breakdowns in our faith and endurance, he ministers to our needs and cares for us until we come again to understand that he will never leave us or forsake us.

Prayer: Father, I need to persevere in prayer much more than I do. Help me to keep extending my faith and to not grow weary in doing what I should do. I want to pray until I see the manifestation of the miracles that need to happen for me and others. Move in the Church so that others see that you are the only true God. And I also thank you so very much for not giving up on me when I succumb to depression or negative thoughts. You always bring me back to understanding that you are the Rock and Foundation on which I can firmly stand. Thank you for sending your Spirit to be my Comforter when I need one.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Power to the Powerless/ Topic: Spiritual Battle

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 13; 2 Chronicles 14; Philippians 4

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 14:11, 1211
Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah.

Observation: I love Asa's prayer as he faces war with an army that is much too large and well-equipped for him to have any chance of winning. In the face of those odds he chooses not to give in to fear and despair but to call on God in prayer. His battle is in the physical realm against a very real enemy that he can see, but he knows that behind it, the battle is a spiritual one and he calls on the only power that can help him. He admits his own powerlessness and calls on God to fight in the battle with him. Notice Asa still has to fight; he doesn't get to just do nothing and watch God take care of it all. But he engages the enemy knowing that God is fighting with him and that this fact is his only hope of victory.

Application: I need to call on the strength and power of the Lord to help me in my times of need and weakness. I will still need to engage in the battle, but I will do so with the knowledge that God is the source of my power. And the church needs to engage in prayer and ask the Lord to fight with us against the onslaught of the world and all the fiery darts of the enemy.

Prayer: Oh heavenly Father, help me to pray all the more when life gets hard. Let me recognize when the enemy is at work so that I am not surprised by an ambush attack. And let your Church rise up and call on you together so that the enemy will not defeat us. We need to stand as the army of God together so that we don't get isolated by the enemy and picked off one by one. Thank you for being our Source, Protector, and Defender. I praise you for being greater than any power or enemy we face.This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Partial Obedience is Disobedience/ Topic: Obedience

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 13; 1 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 12; Philippians 3

Scripture: 1 Kings 13:7-24
7 The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift."
8 But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the LORD : 'You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.' " 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" "I am," he replied.
15 So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat."
16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD : 'You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.' "
18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD : 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.' "
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.

Observation: This is one of the strange but instructive stories of the Bible. The prophet of God from Judah has been given firm instructions by the Lord as to what he is to do. He does it, but he stops to rest on the way back to Judah (this was his first mistake). This allows the second prophet from Israel to catch up with him and ask him to his home to eat. The first prophet repeats his instructions from God, but the second prophet lies to him saying God told him to tell the prophet to come back with him. The first prophet makes his second mistake of not checking with God himself to see if this was correct. I'm sure the first prophet wanted to believe the second one. It's a long trip fro Judah to Israel and he was probably hungry and thirsty. He acceded to the lying prophet's request because it appealed to the needs of his flesh and sounded as if God was okay with it. The result is his destruction.

Application: The application is simple: When God gives you a clear Word, don't deviate from it because it's difficult or because another person who knows God says you can ignore it. Don't allow anyone to tell you you can take the easy way out of something God told you to do.

Prayer: Father, teach me to never compromise your clear instructions to me, even if they are difficult. If I obey, you promise reward and blessing (happiness and fulfillment). The end is worth whatever sacrifice I must make in the short term.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: The Wisdom of the Aged/ Topic: Counsel

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10; 2 Chronicles 11; Philippians 2

Scripture: 1 Kings 12:1-11
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "

Observation: Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king over Israel; not exactly very young. But he made a huge error when he was first established as king. He rejected the counsel of all of the elder statesmen that had served his father and only heeded the counsel of advisors that were his own age. The result was disastrous. The Bible has many passages that speak of the value of listening to the wisdom of the aged. Proverbs 13:20 says that a person who walks with the wise grows wise himself. We never get too old to listen to those who are even older and more experienced than we are.

Application: I am 53 years old and I still listen carefully to and seek advice from my parents. They are not believers, so I filter what they say through the truth of the Word, but they have much wisdom that I can benefit from. So often younger people think that the elderly have little to offer them because they are not necessarily in sync with the current culture. But they have learned valuable lessons about human nature, which doesn't change, and timeless truths about how life works. I am glad I have those in my life who are a generation or two ahead of me to give me counsel and advice. I never want to be without that. It has served me well and I know it will continue to do so.

Prayer: Father, help me to teach others younger than myself the wisdom of having older friends and advisors in their lives by my example of doing the same. And as I grow older may I be one of those wise counselors to those younger than me.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: My Desire for Us All/ Topic: Sustaining Love

Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 1; Song of Solomon 2; Song of Solomon 3; Song of Solomon 4; Ephesians 6

Scripture: Ephesians 6:23, 24
23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Observation: Paul ends his writing to the Ephesian church with his heartfelt desires for them. He wants them to have peace; even through the troubled times of battle against the devil, flesh and the world. He wishes for them to have love, but not just any love; love with faith that comes from the Father and from Jesus. This is the only kind of love that will sustain us through all kinds of circumstances, both good and bad. Love with faith is what allows us to have an undying love for Jesus so that we may be recipients of his grace.

Application: I echo Paul's desires for all believers. I want peace, love with faith, and grace to be in my life and in all those who call themselves followers of His Way. May we always encourage each other to be experiencing and excelling in all these things, especially as the day of His return draws closer.

Prayer: Father, build your Church. Help us to appropriate your Word and to live in your peace that passes all understanding, in love with faith, and in grace. And may we love you with an undying love and also love each other and lift one another up in prayer and with words of encouragement.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Keeping Clean/ Topic: Righteousness

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 28; Proverbs 29; Psalm 60; Romans 16

Scripture: Proverbs 28:13, 14
13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
14 Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Observation: The way to keep your soul clean and to have forgiveness of sins was known even before Jesus came. The keys are in these two verses. Have the humility to confess and renounce your sins. Do not conceal your wrong or you will stop having a proper fear of the Lord and your heart will get hard. Then you will continue to follow a path that leads to destruction.

Application: I must not let pride keep me from confession and renunciation of all my wrongs. This will keep my heart soft toward the Lord and my conscience clean.

Prayer: Father, this is such a simple and universal truth in your Word. I have seen the outcome of the lives of people who continue in sin, excusing or justifying it, and the trouble that follows for them. I do not want that in my life. Keep me humble and keep speaking to my heart by your Spirit. May I be instant in my confession of sin and in turning from it to You.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: Worse Than a Fool / Topic: Arrogance

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 25; Proverbs 26; Proverbs 27; Romans 15

Scripture: Proverbs 26:4-12
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
7 Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Observation: According to the Word, a fool is not just someone who is silly or lacking wisdom, they are evil people who have a poor character. The first 2 verses listed are interesting because they seem to be saying exactly the opposite thing from one another. I think the reason these verses are juxtaposed next to each other is to point out that there is no winning an argument or discussion with a fool. He will find a way to ignore any wisdom you try to give him. Some other aspects of a fool's character listed in these verse are that they cannot be counted on, they cannot comprehend wisdom, they are poor workers, they cannot handle honor well, and they stupidly repeat there poor choices and behaviors. After this litany of railings against fools, these verses are capped off by saying there is a kind of person even worse than a fool. That is a person who is wise in his own eyes. Why? A person who is wise in his own eyes cannot be taught by anyone. He values his won opinion over all others and will justify in his mind the value of his own ideas and beliefs over even very well-thought out ideas of others. He cannot learn from anyone else because he is unteachable. The Word makes it clear that there is very little hope for such a person to have a good life. His arrogance will make his life very difficult because he values his own wisdom above that of others and even of God.

Application: How important in view of all this that we check to make sure that we listen carefully and consider what others (especially older Christians who have been through more in life than we have) say to us. God places parents, pastors, teachers and others into our lives to instruct us for the purpose of helping us to avoid making foolish mistakes that we will regret if we do not heed what is said to us. The only thing that others cannot teach us is the attitude of being teachable. That is something we must cultivate in ourselves.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the wisdom of your Word, which instructs us for our own good. May I have the humility to always heed what you say and what others who are wise deposit into my life, even if I don't understand all the "whys" of what is said to me. I know the advice of others has saved me from foolish mistakes many times in my life.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title:How Shall We Then Live? / Topic: End Times

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 19; Proverbs 20; Proverbs 21; Romans 13

Scripture: Romans 13:11-14
11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Observation: Paul is encouraging Christians to “wake up” from their slumber (what I would call apathy or unawareness of what is happening around them). Why? Because the coming of the Lord (ultimate salvation) is nearer now than when they first believed. The early Christians thought they might very well see the second coming of the Lord in their day. His instruction to them in light of this was to put aside all the appetites and misdeeds of the flesh and to give attention to developing their relationship with the Lord Jesus. They were encouraged to not give thought time to how they might gratify the desires of their sinful nature, but to have their focus on God.

Application: As I read these words, I thought about how many Christians in the church are in debt because their desires and focus are on getting more of the comforts and pleasures of this life. Bigger TV's, nicer cars, bigger homes, better furniture, the latest fashions, etc. And because of all the materialism, so many of us have our time maxed out with work and stress over how to pay for our lifestyles. In view of what is happening in the world; all the signs that the Bible says are precursors of the Lord's return, we need to quickly re-evaluate our priorities and “wake up” from our spiritual slumber. Too many in the church have a “ho-hum” attitude toward their relationship with the Lord and his people. The words of Paul are much more true today than they were even then. Our salvation is near; the return of Jesus is imminent. Am I ready for His return today? Are you?

Prayer: Father, I do not want to be so entangled in this life. I want to be free enough from debt and other things that I can focus on you and what you nt in my life. Remind me of these words and help me to focus on the condition of my spirit more than the comforts of my flesh.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.