Wednesday... What a difference it makes to be open to practical truth.

Look at these two "sterling principles - tested guidelines to live by" (v. 20-21) from Proverbs 22.

First, verses 24-25 (MSG) says, "Don't hang out with angry people; don't keep company with hotheads. Bad temper is contagious - don't get infected." And we have seen this happen over and over, haven't we? Angry people are dangerous, they really are. We can stand for something with deep conviction but being angry and a hothead will head us down the wrong path.

Let me give you an illustration. Take your right hand and make it into a fist and then start pushing the left hand. What happens with the left hand? It starts pushing back. That is not the practical, effective way to get your point across. Anger begets anger and some people are angry all of the time so don't hang out with them; "don't keep company with hotheads. Remember, "Bad temper is contagious - don't get infected."

Here is another one. Verse 29 says, "Observe people who are good at their work - skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a backseat to anyone." Now that doesn't just happen. They are constantly striving to get better at their work. They don't take things for granted and they don't take a backseat to anyone."

There are so many ways that we can get better at what we do but it takes effort, it takes work but it is so worth it.

I love to read. What about you? Just because you've got a degree or you got the job doesn't mean that you don't keep striving to get better. It takes work, it takes effort, it takes drive, it take determination but "skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a backseat to anyone."

Proverbs is filled with practical truth that will make a difference in your life. So why not read a chapter every day. Today is the 22nd and I just read Proverbs 22. Remember, "Bad temper is contagious - don't get infected." and "skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a backseat to anyone." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Todays Beginning

Search This Blog