The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.  Proverbs 29:15

A SIN NATURE PROBLEM

Children are born sinners.  We don’t have to teach them to sin, talk back, disobey, push the limits, throw tantrums, be selfish, yell, scream, hit, kick, bite, steal, destroy other people’s things… they can learn that all on their own! 

It always kind of shocks me when I hear a mother of children older than age 1 say that "everyone is basically good." It has been pretty obvious to me from a very young age that my children take after me and their Daddy – they have a sinful nature.  

It is our God-given responsibility as parents to do something about this sin issue or there will be severe consequences in our precious children’s future!  That sinful nature is set on autopilot to cause our children to self-destruct if it is not managed, controlled and regulated.

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I am blessed to be a writer. God impresses so many ideas into my little brain that if I didn’t get to write I would explode. If you struggle with this problem, it is a good sign that God created you to write or express thoughts in some kind of form that communicates to others.

I love looking at old books – Goodwill and the Thrift Stores are some of the best places to find such treasures. Most libraries discard these gems… the pages are yellowed or even cracked, the binding is loose, the dust cover is faded or torn. Someone who loves filling the shelves with the newest and latest has no problem loading these great books away and stamping them with a big read “DISCARD”. (more…)

How many days pass and you still haven’t gotten much done? And what you have done, does it really make a difference, does it really matter?

If you were to die today, would you have lived your life the way God wanted you to live it?

Oh, God… Him again.

I was writing about success from the perspective of a relative that is already dead (sounds kind of dreary-I know), but I found it challenging to be reflective, to look back at life through another person’s eyes.

Why did they do what they did? Why did little things bother them? Why did they put so much focus on some thing and not on others? Did they ever live life they way they wanted or more importantly they way they should have? And should have according to who?

Isn’t that really the truth? We live life the way we want, but not often the way we should.

Everyone does what they really put as a priority. What we truly believe can be seen by our actions.

They may not finish “it” but they continually work toward this priority. Words often don’t match to the real actions or lack, thereof of, actions. We each get 24 hours a day, but we each do not get the same number of days.

Are you wasting your life?

Do you write a list and check it off? Or do you address what crosses your path or drops in your lap next? How do you prioritize? And do we really live by what we SAY is most important?

Truth is few of us ever do. We are so distracted. I hear people say that pleasure is Satan’s greatest tool to keep God children from being effective on earth. I wonder if it is not distraction.

Is the tool we love–the internet–really a tool for good or is it used much more for evil? Are you wasting your life sitting at a computer or staring at a screen? And in ages to come, does what you did or said really matter?

So many times I feel like I am wasting my life, like I am running as fast as I can in a repeating cycle. I write, and do and speak but there are so many words in the world…they can’t all be heard or read.

Oh, God. Yes, Him again.

God  is our central core when we are making a true differences and progress. It boiled downs to obedience. 

You see, we can’t really tell if what we are doing is making an eternal difference, but He can. And we don’t know if what we say pours out only as rain that floods or as rain needed for the nourishment of growth, but He does.

As I am writing this, I see the sun setting outside the window. It seems to be rising over the ridge of tall trees brighter and brighter as the sun gets closer and closer to my eye level before it finally sets. And I sense God saying to me, “That is the point of it all. Finally, you said it! Life is never wasted when you keep me at the center. How can you forget? How can I make you remember?”

And He continues, “I am always shining brightly like the sun. You just sometimes aren’t looking for Me or listening to Me. Yes, you are so distracted.”

And I smile, because I know I get it – I hear Him. He is always there for me, waiting for me to re-center my life. I am so thankful and so blessed because with Him, I am not wasting my life. I am living for Him.

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.  Proverbs 11:22

EXTERNAL BEAUTY ALONE IS NOT TRULY BEAUTIFUL – NOT TO GOD AND NOT TO MEN!

There are many women who have stunning outward beauty.  And many women strive to have the ultimate hair, figure, complexion, make-up and wardrobe – some to the point of obsession and idolatry.

But no matter how perfect a woman’s body – her character can tarnish her beauty, smearing grime, mud and filth on her outward glory.

It’s not difficult to find a beautiful woman without discretion.  Almost every prime time TV show and reality TV program showcase these women daily.  It’s fascinating – and a bit horrifying – to watch a gorgeous woman show her true character. Her attitude, promiscuity, immodesty, pride, vulgarity, profanity, arrogance, gossip, unjustifiable anger, attacking nature, selfishness and lack of virtue cast such an ugly shadow over her facial features that her beauty can become completely overshadowed by her sinful, ungodly, unholy character. Eventually she doesn’t even LOOK beautiful anymore. No external beauty can mask the ugliness of a sinful character. It shows on her face.

WHY A PIG?

According to God’s Law in the Old Testament – pigs were considered to be “unclean” animals. The Jewish people were not to touch or eat pigs. They didn’t even own pigs because the animals were considered to be filthy. God is SO very wise! He knew that if improperly cooked, pork could easily cause his people serious illness and His Law protected them from sickness and even death. Of course, they didn’t know about the infections pigs can cause. They only knew that God said not to eat or touch pigs.

A valuable gold ring would suddenly be of very little value if it were in such a nasty, filthy place as a pig’s nose. What could look beautiful and precious on a young bride does nothing but look out of place and distracting on a pig.

A woman with no discretion (modesty, virtue, chastity, propriety, wisdom, proper use of godly femininity) is herself living in a filthy, vile, ungodly and repugnant way. Her external beauty is out of place because it is smeared with the filth, vulgarity and sinfulness of her soul.

A beautiful piece of gold jewelry is lovely in the right place. A beautiful face and figure on a woman are lovely when her spirit is godly, modest, gracious, wise, discerning and submissive to God.

Lord,
I pray that You will help us to cultivate the inner beauty of the heart – a gentle and peaceful spirit that does not give way to fear. A spirit that is submissive to You, to Your Word and to our husbands if we are married. Let us truly be women of eternal beauty in Your sight!
Amen!

Come, anyone who wants to know Jesus. Come as you are. He accepts you by His grace. Come. He loves you.

Many people have heard this call, and many have responded. They have walked “the aisle” or “raised their hand” during such an invitation. The music was playing in the background. The pastor said, “I see the hands all over the auditorium.” And with encouragement many were moved to join. People respond to such an invitation for many reasons:

• seeking approval,
• yearning acceptance,
• meeting expectations,
• wanting to give it a try,
• to do what is right,
• guilted, or possibly,
• to appease.

But, is this the whole calling of Jesus?

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The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.  She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, “Let all who are simple come in here!”  she says to those who lack judgment.  “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”  But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.  Proverbs 9:13-18

A foolish woman even today tends to be loud, boastful, and loves to talk about herself and her decisions like she has wisdom  – but watch the fruit of her life – she will destroy her family and those around her.  She tries to entice others to follow her ungodly ways.  She sees those who are living uprightly and advertises to them and tempts them to join her.

There are various interpretations of her offer of stolen water and secret food.  Some believe she is advocating eating things that are literally stolen.  And others believe that the stolen water and bread eaten in secret are figures of speech referring to adultery/fornication.  Regardless, she is tempting others to follow her wicked ways and desires to lead others away from God and to their own destruction.

She is herself headed for destruction, but she is unaware of her future and her guilt before God.

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Much of Proverbs can apply to both women and men equally. But there are many Proverbs about women that we can learn from more specifically to discover the details of ungodly femininity vs. godly femininity.

The first human woman to appear in Proverbs is the adulteress in chapter 2. The warnings are for men to avoid an adulterous woman.  But many of the warnings to men would also apply to us as we seek to avoid adulterous men, as well.  We can also look at the adulteress and examine our own lives to be sure we don’t pattern ourselves after her. Adultery always leads to destruction physically, sexually, emotionally and spiritually for everyone involved – with children often paying the highest price. An extramarital affair – whether purely “emotional” or actually sexual  is something that is worth avoiding at all costs! 

GUARDING AGAINST ADULTERY IS UNNECESSARY – I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!

When I was a young newlywed 21 year old, I was extremely naive.  I believed that certain people were “above” certain sins.  But the longer I have lived and witnessed the behavior of people and seen the sinfulness of my own heart, the more I see and understand that if any person is far enough away from God, isolated enough from other believers, and has the right circumstances and temptation – we are all plenty capable of just about any evil.

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