We have put a bird feeder outside our dining-room window, and it gives us a lot of pleasure watching the little birds feeding there. But you know, even among the birds there is continual scrapping going on. The small silver-eyes stand on a branch nearest the feeder and fluff their little wings angrily at each other. The bold mynah struts around at the base of the tree and even jumps up on the branch to take a few pecks before he gets chased off. The sparrows take no notice of the others and greedily grab as many beak-fuls as they can gobble down while the others are scrapping among themselves.
It reminded me of how we as people often scrap among ourselves, sometimes vying for the better places or positions. This is not how we are meant to behave, especially in church situations. The Lord Jesus told us to be prepared to take the humble place and wait for others to give us a higher position rather than angrily (or sneakily) try to take it from others.
It is not smart to behave like this anywhere, and only causes hurtful situations that often can never be remedied. People can forgive, but they very seldom completely forget!
Category Archives: Daily Devotionals
Our Anchor of Hope
We had gone into a quiet bay for some rest and relaxation after a day of sailing, and dropped the anchor. But after a while we could see that we weren’t in quite the same place as we had been when the anchor went down. Somehow we had drifted, and were much further out in the bay. So we lifted the anchor, went forwards again, and put out more rope this time, pulling back on it to make sure that it had a good grip in the mud on the bottom.
It’s a lot like that in life at times. There will be times when we think we have a good hold on things and then we find that the winds of life have picked us up and carried us where we don’t want to be. It is in times like this that as we stop and take stock of what is happening around us; we are to go forwards once more and drop our anchor into the hope that God gives us in His Word, the Bible.
It is no use merely dropping the anchor; it is not the anchor that does the holding, it is what the anchor is sitting on. If the bottom has a lot of weed on it, the anchor will just slide along the top of it allowing our boat to drift. It is only as we put out more rope and pull back on it making sure that there is a good grip on the bottom, going through the weeds into the mud beneath, that we can rest in staying in one place. The rope is like the rope of faith in our life… the longer it is, the better the grip. The more we trust God in our difficulties, the stronger our faith becomes, and the firmer grip we have in the storms of life.
Without hope in our life, everything seems pointless, and we tend to get depressed. So it is that without the hope of God’s salvation, we have nothing to look forwards to. God doesn’t intend His people to be swayed around in the storms, but we must do our part by digging deep into His Word for ourselves.
Good Advice!
Warnings.
Proverbs 1:7-33
There is so much contained in this passage, that we could go through it verse by verse, and still not come to an end of it! Solomon points out that to not follow these instructions is to not fear the Lord and is foolishness in the extreme! Parents have the great responsibility of passing on to their children this wisdom…..
Bad friends are the worst influence in a person’s life, so it is up to all of us, no matter what age, to be careful who we choose for our closest friends. It is so easy to get carried away by what seems to be good ideas, but in reality they lead us down the wrong path.
We then read of how wisdom cries out to each of us to listen to common sense….this is available to all, but not all use it! It includes caution, yet action….but not so much caution that we hold back from doing what we know we should be doing.
God then warns the people to not go too far in their refusal to listen to Him… “You might find the day will come when I will laugh at your calamities,” He warns, “You will call on Me then and I will not answer. You didn’t want My advice, so you can reap the consequences!”
In spite of all that, yet God will still hear the repentant cry if we call on Him in sincerity and truth.
When God’s patience has worn thin, With man’s rebellion and his sin,
Yet He hears repentant cries, And will step in before man dies!
Advice to a Son
PROVERBS TWO…. (v.1-6)
Solomon is begging his son here to listen and take notice. A person with a bit of age and experience behind him, can see the pitfalls that a headstrong youngster can never see.
“Listen to me”, Solomon says, “Seek and apply yourselves, ask and seek earnestly for wisdom!” I wonder how often we do this?
God has all these blessings in Christ Jesus waiting for us, but we must put effort into getting them. James tells us that we don’t have the enjoyment of them because we don’t ask for them or apply ourselves to getting them (James 4:2c). It is like a student once who needed finance to get through her course and asked the Lord to provide it. He did, but not in the way she expected it…. God provided a job for her to earn her own money! He didn’t just get someone else to send her a cheque!!
Those who earnestly and prayerfully seek, WILL find…..this is one of the prayers that God has unconditionally promised He will grant!
Seek wisdom from the Lord above, Who gives all things richly in love; But we must search and seek this for, It to be giv’n from God’s rich store.
Gran’s Advice
This is Gran’s advice to an adult grand-daughter facing a crossroads in her life…..
Hi Dear, You’ve been on my mind a bit and I woke up last night after having a dream, actually I had a second dream along the same lines. So I felt I should write to you and give you some sayings to think about. Now I don’t know if this is for you, or if it is for you to pass on to someone else, and I’m not even sure which order to write it in, so I’ll do it in a series of thoughts I’ve gleaned over the years.
Thought No 1. “If it’s doubtful , it’s dirty!”
When you get a shirt out of the cupboard, or you are about to put one away, and wonder if it needs washing or not, this is the measuring stick. If it’s doubtful, it IS dirty!!
So if you are contemplating some move and are uncertain whether to proceed or not, and are feeling uneasy in yourself wondering if it IS a good move or not, remember if there is any doubt in your mind leave it alone until you are absolutely certain. And of course the measuring stick is, what does God say about this situation?
Thought No. 2. “Use Your Head Before you Lose it!”
Whenever you start on a new course of action, there always comes a point when you can still walk away from it. If you are doubtful, walk! Don’t wait until you get to the point where you are so involved you feel you cannot do this to someone else.
Thought No. 3. “Don’t Feel Sorry for Someone else; You will end up Feeling Sorrier for Yourself!”
I have given this advice to different ones over the years, and at first sight it might seem like a selfish rule to have. BUT your first responsibility is to yourself, not to anyone else, no matter how much trouble they are in. We had a friend once whose wife walked out on him, and he had to learn to do for himself. I could have easily done his washing, and taken him meals ready cooked, but he had to learn to do it for himself. Another lady friend whose husband had died, was living on her own and wondered if she should take in another person who was looking for somewhere to live. We told her, “DON’T!”
It seems mean, but if she had and then got into relationship problems with this person, guess who would have to pick up the pieces….other people! We all know about broken relationships. As it turned out, this person looking for board would have taken this lady’s house over. Her friends were already doing all the repairs and maintenance for her, and there was no need to complicate things!
Thought No 4. Don’t Take What is just Good, and Miss Out on God’s Best.
Think about Solomon’s choice when God spoke to him in a dream telling him that He would give him anything at all that he asked for. We don’t know how much time Solomon thought about this first but he was feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of ruling this nation wisely so he asked God for wisdom to do it properly. God commended him for asking this, because he had asked for what was good. But when he became old, he forgot God’s rules and married heathen wives for political reasons without trusting God, and the Bible says that these outlandish women (Nehemiah 13:26; King James words) caused him to sin. He had asked for what was good, but had missed God’s best; he should have asked for a heart to follow the Lord wholly all the days of his life. There is nothing sadder that seeing an older person fall away from the Lord.
Thought No.5. Always keep in Mind the Difference Between a Christian and a non Christian.
We all know the passage that says to not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever, but the Bible also talks about the difference between light and darkness, between the actions of the flesh and the actions of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-25)
I remember a girl years ago who fell in love with a non-Christian. She was told to not marry him, but he promised her the earth. He wouldn’t stop her going to church; it wouldn’t make any difference if she was a Christian and he wasn’t. So she married him. Later that year, friends went to stay with this girl and her husband. He hadn’t stopped her going to church at this stage, but he complained about her church DVDs, and music she wanted to put on; he didn’t like the time she spent reading the Bible; He didn’t like her church friends or her going out at night to Bible Study, or her giving her tithe to the church.
So of course these things were put aside, one by one, until she gave up going altogether.
Thought No. 6. The old Joke…..As the Bride Walked down the Aisle to the Altar, she thought of three things…Aisle, Altar, Hymn! “I’ll Alter him!”
Just remember there is one thing a person CANNOT do, you cannot alter another person’s habits or ways, especially if they are an older person, and been living on their own for a bit. Just look at people’s different eating habits!!!! Classic case! So you have to love a person very much to sink yourself into their ways and habits. It’s no use thinking “It’s not fair!” Of course it isn’t fair! It will only make a good argument! You CANNOT alter him!
It takes years to come to the point of being able to give in gracefully. And then to not resent it!
Thought No. 7. Make Sure There is no Baggage in the Way.
There are many forms of “baggage” in a relationship. There is nothing worse than trying to mix oil and water…..it can’t be done! Things are bad enough to adjust to without having complications of other relationships or cultures to have to adjust to. Another thing I have seen as I have got older, is a wife about ten years (or more) younger than her husband having to lead him along, or helping him use a walking frame. It might be flattering to have an older man court you when you are young, but just think of the other end of life when you are still relatively young and fit and he is incapacitated in some way. This can, of course, happen in any age bracket, but it goes without saying when there is that age difference it is more likely to be the case. An acquaintance married a man over ten years older than she was, and we caught up with her many years later at a funeral and could hardly believe our eyes…. here she was leading along a shaky old man. After he died she met someone else who had a motor home and then she was able to travel all around the country making up for lost time.
Well Dear, perhaps I can sleep easy now I’ve got all that off my chest. I sort of get the feeling that you are at a cross roads, and I heard that you were thinking of going overseas for a bit and getting a job there. If you have any of these sort of pressures on you here, go, and get away to new places and meeting new people. Just make sure you go to places where you can meet new Christian people and form new friendships that will be helpful, and not drag you down. You will have many openings for work with your training.
Remember the difference between what is Good and what is Best. Also remember that God’s timing is never late
Love, Gran
PROVERBS SIXTEEN…
Verses 13-17
This passage starts off with rule number one in the Christian life…”Commit your works to the Lord!” Can we commit everything that we are doing to the Lord day by day or are there things we do that we would be ashamed to have the Lord see?
What about the TV programmes we see and the magazines we read? Do they exalt the Lord or honour him in any way at all? David had a similar thought when he said to trust in the Lord, and to delight in Him. Then we are able to commit all that we do to Him, knowing that He will hear us.
We see the opposite of this in two more things that are an abomination to the Lord ….. those who are proud and those leaders who do sinful things. God can do nothing for these sort of people until they turn to Him in humbleness and repentance. Then God will cleanse them (verse 6) and give them the true wisdom that is worth more than gold (verse 16). He will direct their steps, give them peace and help them to be honest and just in their dealings.
To be honest and true, in all that we do, Is the way to honour the Lord,
For He hateth the proud, whose knee is not bowed,
And who never consider His Word!
The Diligent Son
PROVERBS Ten…. (v.1-3)
We all know families where there are diligent children and slack ones. It goes without saying that parents are glad when their children do well, and worried when they don’t. Have we ever stopped to wonder which type of child (of God) we are?
Solomon goes on to say that the treasures (and pleasures!) of the wicked are worthless and futile, whereas righteousness gives life……how many times we see this in the Scriptures! John says we are not to love (get taken up with, sucked into) the world system, because love of that will chase out the love of God’s things. Just as air and water fill a container…..the more water, the less air and vice versa so the more world in our lives will drive out the Spirit’s influence in our actions and attitudes. One will drive out the other, and as righteousness delivers from death, so those who do the will of God have eternal life.
The Lord is no man’s debtor, and those who honour Him, He will honour. (1 Samuel 2:30b). We are told here that the soul of those who seek Him will grow fat and not be famished, while those who ignore Him will lose their soul altogether.
The son who works, will his father please, Stores treasure in heaven and worldly lusts flees; God has said He will honour the man, Who seeks His face and follows His plan.
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Things that God Hates!
Proverbs 6:16-19….Solomon here lists seven things that God hates…..let’s look at each one and then evaluate our own selves….
- A PROUD LOOK….. God can do nothing with a person who is too proud to come to Him with their problems. The “I’m good enough” syndrome can’t be fixed by God…..it can only be dealt with severely.
- A LYING TONGUE…. There is not a person alive who is not guilty of telling a lie at some stage, or of stretching the truth. God hates this. He is all truth Himself, and anything less in others is abhorrent to Him.
- HANDS THAT KILL…. Anyone who has thoughts of hatred is the same as a murderer as far as God is concerned.
- A HEART THAT IMAGINES WICKED THINGS….. what do we feed our minds on in our leisure time, in our reading or what we watch on TV?
- GETTING INTO MISCHIEF…. Where do our feet take us? Where do our fingers take us on the web? To places where it would be better if we weren’t there?
- We can lump six and seven together under the title of GOSSIP….a “false witness and making trouble”. We must be very careful in what we repeat and the way we repeat it.
Let us always remember to only do what will bring glory to God!
God hates these seven horrid things, That no glory to Him ever brings; Pride and lies, and hands that kill, Feet, mind and tongues with mischief filled. These things to God no glories give, Remember this while here we live.