December 3 / Proverbs 3 / Luke 20

thankful-poor

Proverbs 3:7

Don’t depend on your own wisdom [be wise in your own eyes].  Respect [Fear;Hold in awe] the Lord and refuse to do wrong [turn away from evil]. EXB
 
Proverbs 3:18
As a tree produces fruit, wisdom gives life to those who use it, and everyone who uses it will be happy.
 
Those who USE it.
Wisdom is great but does nothing for you if you don’t actually use it.
 
God is there to be sought after and called upon.  This is tough in those difficult moments when our flesh kicks in and shuts down part of our brain used for rational thinking.  This is why we train ourselves to make going to God our default setting.  This requires “off the spot” training, so that when we’re on-the-spot, we can respond the right way.
 

Not like the bumper sticker I saw last week > “When all else fails, pray!”  As if we’re to try all the non-God options we can think of first.  How bout “Before doing anything, PRAY!” 

PRAY FIRST.

PRAY DURING.

PRAY ALWAYS.

Like when people say, “All we have left to do now is pray.”  Well why weren’t you doing that from the get go???  We’re not trying to be overly harsh, just encouraging us to stop and think about what we say and convey.

Luke 20:1-8

Jesus said to them in effect, “If you cannot recognize divine authority when you see it in action, no amount of argument will convince you of its presence. If you cannot tell me by what authority John baptized, I will not tell you by what authority I do these things.” -from Hard Sayings of the Bible

What we learn from Jesus here, and elsewhere in His answering of questions, is to know your listeners. Seek to go deeper with them on the “why” of what they are asking. Don’t cheapen conversation with quick answers.

Just as the Bible is not necessarily a quick answer book on life. It is deep treasure to be intentionally mined. God wants to be close to us and spend time together. As we’ve said before, doing the “One Minute With God” devotional only, will probably not result in a transformed, godly, powerful life, just sayin’. That’d be kinda like doing two push-ups a day for a few months and wondering why you’re not a beast. Gee, I wonder…

You reap what you sow.

Sow one minute with God, reap the life that that produces.

Sow a life devoted to Him, reap the life that that produces.

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