It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:8 (NKJV) Do you always trust people to do things for you or to make something happen for you? If that is the case, you have to stop and start trusting in God for everything. You have to begin to trust in the Lord and not in people. You have to trust in the Lord and not lean on your own understanding and trying to make things happen in your own superficial way. You have to remember that God makes all things beautiful in his own time. The scripture today says, "better to trust in the Lord than to put your trust or confidence in man." Man can fail you, man can hurt you physically, man can hurt your feelings and disappoint you and judge you and condemn you. But God can never disappoint you. What have you got to loose in trusting him, nothing. You may be going through a situation in your life physically, spiritually or financially, whatever it may be, trust in the Almighty God and he will show himself strong in your situation. Take your mind off your situation and focus on being in his presence and trusting him. He will begin to lead you and direct you to your solution when you are in sync with the spirit of God. Listen to his directions and be obedient to his leading to your breakthrough. Like the song says, "Trust and obey for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." PRAYER Lord today, help me to trust in you and not lean on my own understanding. Let me in all my ways acknowledge you and not look unto man, but trust you and only you for my sustenance and well being, in Jesus name, Amen. JOURNAL Take an inventory of situations in your life where you have sought people for solutions first instead of seeking God first in prayer for a solution. Repent and see how you would have approached those situations trusting in God. Reference Biblegateway.com Song - Trust and Obey Lyrics - Unknown
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" A good person’s mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom; a foul mouth is a stagnant swamp."
(Proverbs 10:31 MSG) What is a Swamp? A swamp according to Dictionary.com is "a tract of wet, spongy land, often having a growth of certain types of trees and other vegetation, but unfit for cultivation." It is also a place where it's water never really drain well and because of this reason, the water becomes mucky and smelly. The scripture above characterizes a person with a foul mouth, "a stagnant swamp". Who is a person with a foul mouth, it is someone that curse all the time, speaks and confesses only negative words. The scripture characterizing a person with a foul mouth a swamp is accurate. Why? The person that constantly speaks negative words cannot move forward much in life, because they are constantly seeing the worst and confessing only negative and defeating words, which will eventually manifest itself as delay and setbacks in the long run. However, a good person's mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom. How you speak concerning your life, your children, your marriage, your home and situations matters a lot. Do you speak life or death? We all are guilty of speaking negatively occasionally, but when it becomes constant, one needs to check oneself, make amends and begin to speak positively. Choose to speak and see the good in every situation no matter how ugly it may seem. Ask yourself, are you a clear fountain of wisdom or are you a stagnant swamp? A fountain flows, it is fresh and it never ceases, neither is it stagnant. Today, make up your mind and be determined to begin to speak life to your life and situation, let your words be one that flows with encouragement and positivity towards yourself, your situations and to others. Verse 32 of Proverbs says, "the speech of a good person clears the air; the words of the wicked pollute it." Which would you choose? Are you going to be a person that walks in and commands the room with positivity and make everyone around you comfortable and motivated or are you going to be one that pollutes it. When you cultivate this habit of being positive, everything around you that is negative will no longer affect you. Be determined and I am sure all will go well with you. PRAYER Lord make my mouth a fountain of wisdom, and if there is any area of my life and communications that are swampy, I ask that the holy spirit that teaches all things would teach me how to speak and how to hold my tongue to speak less and listen more, in Jesus Name, Amen. JOURNAL In your journal today, write down those areas where you feel you have been negative and what you would do to correct them. Reference: Dictionary.com Biblegateway.com "People are wise and understanding when they think about the way they live. But people are foolish when their foolish ways trick them.:" Proverbs 14:8 (NIRV)
As I read this scripture, I recall a story of a couple who were constantly arguing because of lack of trust. The wife believes that the husband is unfaithful and is constantly lying. After so many conflicts they went for counseling and the husband was asked, why he feels he has to lie to his wife, he said, any time he lies, he is trying to protect the wife from getting hurt. This is craziness! How can a couple argue about trust issues and one of them still feels that they have to lie to protect the other. Protection is good, but the lying I am not so sure. The scriptures tells us in Proverbs 14:8, that, the wise will give thought to his ways. If the husband in question above, checks the way he is living, and seek to gain his wife's trust, I am so sure that things would have gotten better. Let's look at the case of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in (Genesis 39:7-20). Potiphar's wife asked Joseph to defile his master's bed several times but Joseph being a man that feared God and understood the meaning of trust, rejected her over and over again. Potiphar had placed his whole life in his hands by trusting him with everything that he had except for his wife. His response to this woman was, "..So how could I do an evil thing like that? How could I sin against God?” Because Joseph was wise, he resisted all the advances of his master's wife. I repeat because Joseph was WISE he resisted all the advances and fled from the woman's presence. What if Joseph had defiled his masters bed and then when his master returns he lies about it over and over again. Proverbs 14:8 (NIRV) further says that the foolishness of fools (NIV version) is deception. Joseph did his best not to fall into the deception of this woman. However she lied and it ended Joseph in Jail. Folks Lying about a situation calls for even more lying because you would want to cover up the last lie that you told and the process continues on. Such behavior would eventually hurt those we love and most of all oneself in the long run. Heed the word of the Lord and give thought to your ways, speak the truth in love and not deceive in an attempt to please anyone. PRAYER Lord, today help me to speak the truth in love always. Help me not to fall into the deception and plots of lying to be recognized or to please people. Help me to always heed my ways and obey your word, in Jesus name. JOURNAL Look into your life and see if there is any area where you have been deceptive to yourself and to others, ask for forgiveness and take necessary steps to correct the wrong. |
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