Proverbs 4 - Day 4

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."
                                                                            Proverbs 4:23


Solomon gives us a warning to guard our heart because it will determine the direction of our life.  We've all seen people that lead with their heart or lead with their emotions.  It's very difficult to counsel someone who has their heart set on something.  As a parent, it's particularly difficult when our children have their heart set on something that we, as parents, know is not going to end well for them.  The classic example of a parent and child going through the grocery store.  The child spots the best aisle in the store - the candy and toy aisle.  The child's eyes spot a toy that they "cannot live without" and the drama begins...  The child's heart has decided that it needs this and the child will do everything in its power to get the parent to purchase it... including screaming and throwing a temper tantrum.  It never ends well.  The parent cannot give in to the child's wishes.  If they do - just once - the child will throw a fit for everything they want for the rest of their lives.  The child will then control the parent.  The parent also knows that the child doesn't really need it and it's not the end of the world if they don't get it.  If it's candy, it could lead to tooth decay, sugar addiction, a life full of bad choices... (OK, that might be a little over the top but you get the point)

Now, we are God's children and life is one big candy and toy aisle.

Think about your prayers for a minute.  What are you asking God to do for you?  How are you pleading with God to get what you want?  What is your heart set on getting?  God has a plan for you just like the parent has a master plan for their child in the grocery store.  The plan is much, much bigger and better than a toy or some candy but, like the child, we tend to focus on what's right in front of us and not on the big picture.  We can't even see the big picture so must of us think it doesn't even exist.  Well, it does.  In order to even begin to capture a marginal glimpse of the blurred reflection of the picture, we have to first adjust our viewing angle and then adjust our focal point.

How do we know where to look?  Well, first I think we need to know where we're looking today. Where is the focus of my heart?  Someone told me long ago that where my heart is, my money will soon follow.  So, where is your money going?  (another tough question, I know...)  If you've never completed a personal spending analysis, then now is the time to start.  It's a new year and it's a great time to start new things.  It's very simple you just track where all of your money goes for a month and then review.  You can probably guess the big ticket items.  Mortgage payment, car payments, credit cards, utilities, maybe a gym membership... but wait... making a credit card payment doesn't really tell you the details behind the payment.   You need to know what was purchased.  One big surprise for me, hidden in the details of the credit card payment, was dining at restaurants.  Ouch... big expense.  For me, my heart (and my belly) was set on fine dining.  When we track our expenses we find out two things. First, we find out where the majority of our money goes on a monthly basis.  We learn a little bit about our spending habits and what we cherish most.  No surprise, our biggest expense is usually for shelter and then transportation but at the end of the month there may be some surprises.  Second, we find out where God ranks in our life based on the amount of giving to the church.  Yes.  I'm sorry.  I went there...

Many of us like our luxuries:  my daily grande mocha latte, my lunch at the little diner, my dinner at that favorite restaurant...  At the end of the month, these luxuries tend to add up to more than our giving to the church.  That's not exactly the message I want to give to God.  So I have to make some changes.  Most of these luxuries are habits that I've picked up along the way.  So I may need to create different habits.  I don't necessarily need to quit drinking coffee, but if I can reduce the cost, it will free up some cash flow.  At $5 a day, that's $150 a month.  Packing a lunch may save me $10 a weekday or $200 a month.  You're starting to see the picture.  To some degree we can even conclude that a smaller house and a different mode of transportation will also free up cash flow.  These luxuries show that my heart is focused on me and my wants - not needs - wants.  (insert image of child at grocery store here)

Now, if my money follows where my heart is focused, can I change the focus of my heart by directing my money differently?  If I start directing my money differently would I take a greater interest in how it's used?  Would I find myself wanting to make sure it's used in the best possible way?   I would think so!  Most likely I would find myself becoming more involved in whatever it is that is getting the majority of my cash flow.  So, if I direct the majority of my cash flow toward the church (toward God) then I would also find myself becoming more involved in the church.  I would also be raising God's ranking in my life at the same time.  I would be showing God that he is important to me and I would be redirecting my heart's viewing angle toward God.  Along the way, I would learn a valuable lesson about how easy it is to become misdirected and misguided toward things that don't matter from an eternal viewpoint. 

Once we've found the proper viewing angle, we now need to adjust our focal point.  How we do this is easy to type out but difficult to do.  The answer "Focus on Jesus and the eternal gift He has given to everyone of us".  The more time you spend in the Bible, the sharper your focus will become but it takes a great deal of time and commitment and additional learning... and you must really want to learn as much as possible in order to get the focus to improve.  It is a never ending thirst for an improved relationship with the Lord, Jesus!  The stronger your relationship becomes the thirstier you become (but in a good way).  

So, guard your heart from selfishness, from judging others, from being arrogant and proud, from violence, from gossiping, from lying, etc... (this is not easy by any means)  But this is a journey, a very long journey that will continue for the rest of your life, that begins with a step in the right direction - toward the trail head that leads to everlasting eternal life with God. 

Let's walk this path together...


The Shepherd


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Proverbs 3 - Day 3

"Seek His will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
                                                                            Proverbs 3:6


First, a quick poll.  How many of you believe that God will guide you through the pitfalls of life and get you aligned with your main purpose in life?   OK -  I see some hands going up over there, yes...  OK...

Now, how many of you make God a vital part of your every day life - you continually talk to Him all day, throughout the day, asking for guidance with everything that occurs?   Ooooh.... I see a lot of hands going down.   OK - so - not so much...

What is interesting to me is how we seek advice from our friends, our coworkers, our family members, but we seldom seek the guidance of the all-knowing.  We have compartmentalized our God.  We go to church on Sunday, praise Him through songs and worship, then as we're leaving we place Him on the shelf till next Sunday.  In a way, we try to restrict God's access to our life (as if that's even possible) by telling ourselves that we've done a good thing by going to church and God is pleased with us for doing so... now stay here until I come back to church...  We need to take God with us as we leave (by the way He's with us anyway).  We need to understand that God is with us always.  Once we understand that - well - we might as well make Him a vital part of our life.  Consult Him as situations occur during the day.  Ask for His guidance.  At first, you may not get an answer.  At this point in our faith walk, we have to realize that we have allowed a vast void to develop between us and God.  

In order to get this image across, picture yourself at the Grand Canyon with your best friend except you are on one side of the canyon and your best friend is on the other side.  You're yelling at the top of your lungs for some advice from your best friend but they don't seem to hear you.  (again lots of problems with the analogy but please give me some leeway)   As you rely more on God, God will draw you nearer.  You will begin to receive answers and it is REALLY cool!!!  Notice, however, that I didn't say you'll begin to receive the answers you want.

The guidance we receive may seem to be completely off base to us.  We must trust in God.  Let me give you an example of what I mean.  I had become completely burnt out in my job.  The department I had worked in for 8 years was becoming boring to me.  I wanted to move to a more exciting area in the company.  I had the talent and knew I could do the work.  I asked God to lead me to this other area - to show me a door so I can make a move.  Every time the answer was "No".  I was frustrated but in my heart was a message that kept telling me that He needed me to stay put.  So I did.   One year later the company downsized and several hundred people lost their jobs as that exciting area was completely shut down.  I would have lost my job.  Instead, by staying put, a new area was created and I was asked to lead this group.  God had a plan for me that I didn't know anything about but by trusting in Him I was given a great opportunity.

As we trust in Him more and more, He will draw us nearer to Him.  As we involve Him more in our daily decisions you will become more comfortable with asking for guidance.  You will also begin to more easily recognize God's influence in your life.  The more you rely on God, the closer your relationship will become.  He will become the light onto your path.

I hope you're keeping up with your daily reading.  Let me know which verse you thought was the most useful to you by leaving a comment or posting questions about what you've read.


The Shepherd


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Proverbs 2 - Day 2

"Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman."                             Proverbs  2:16


Wisdom is God's gift to those who are making an attempt at living life according to God's manual:  the Bible.  Wisdom helps the follower identify situations that require either caution or an emergency escape plan.  Gaining wisdom is a process that starts with trusting God and grows as we rely on God to provide for us.  To help with this concept, I like to envision a video game where I am presented with situations throughout my day where I have to make choices.  If I make a righteous choice or decision, I earn some righteous coins.  If I make a poor choice or decision, then it costs me some of my coins.  A good choice may give me 10 coins and a bad decision may take away 2 coins.  This analogy has many faults but please allow me some leeway in order to get this concept across.  Obviously God doesn't put limits on his love for us and every sin is considered equally bad no matter how small.  The underlying concept is that there is value in doing what is right and as we continue to do what is right, God continues to give us more wisdom.

Gaining wisdom takes time.  You have to experience many challenging situations before you can "Level Up" - to continue with the gaming theme.  As you make your way through life, you begin to recognize situations sooner.  Your wisdom will help you avoid problem areas where your friends or acquaintances that may not be spending time in the Bible may not recognize the situation as something that warrants caution.  Remember knowledge is not wisdom.  I can have a great deal of book knowledge and still have no "Common Sense". 

This verse is really referring to immoral people and not just immoral women.  Immorality seems to have become the new normal.  It's amazing to me what has become acceptable to society just in my lifetime.  Spending time in Proverbs will help you gain wisdom and gaining wisdom will help you identify immorality before you find yourself in deep trouble.  That's really the message from this verse.

I recall a time many years ago when my friends were telling me about their situations and how surprised they were that these situations unfolded the way they did and so quickly.  "It just sorta happened.  I didn't want it to.. but it did... so what's a person to do?  You just can't walk away from this kinda thing."  Because of their inability to identify a situation as an extreme emergency, they lost their wife, their family, many of their friends and carried around a great deal of guilt for their actions.  Gaining wisdom will help you see how these situations may play out before they run you over.  When you see these situations for what they truly are you will not be enticed by them.

God loves us all just the way we are.  He wants us to come to Him with our questions and concerns like we talk to our best friends.  He has a better plan for our lives than we can ever imagine and He wants us to turn our lives over to Him so He can provide us with a life uncommon; a life that surpasses our wildest imagination.  He knows what we want and His plan for our lives perfectly aligns to our purpose in this world....  but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'd be interested in hearing from you as to what verse from Proverbs had an impact on you. If you would like to add anything, please post a message.  I hope you're keeping up on your "Proverbs Challenge" and remember you gain wisdom the more you spend time in Proverbs.


The Shepherd


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Proverbs 1 - Day 1

"Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."                 Proverbs  1:7


Have you ever met someone that seems to know everything there is to possibly know?  No matter how you direct the conversation they seem to have a strong opinion about the topic and they like to point out that your viewpoint is wrong and their's is the only correct viewpoint.  

How do you feel when you interact with this type of person? 

We commonly refer to this type of person as a "know-it-all".  Now, just to be clear, there are some very knowledgeable people in the world.  It is one thing to amass a great deal of knowledge and it's quite a different thing to ridicule others and their opinions.  People can be very knowledgeable and not be a "know-it-all".  In fact, many intellectual people understand that by listening to other people's viewpoints is a great way to expand your own knowledge.  A "know-it-all" doesn't listen to others and doesn't seem to be open to any other viewpoint than their own - regardless of how off target it is.  Solomon refers to these people as "fools".

Fools have knowledge but not wisdom and when someone tries to educate them they tend to become resentful or even belligerent.  They refuse to learn from others or listen to others advice.  They know everything already and don't need you to "help" them - after all, you barely know anything.  (...so they think)

There is only one that knows everything and that is God.   Learn to learn from others, especially those that know you well and can give you good counsel.

Did you have a verse from Proverbs chapter 1 that struck a chord with you?

Please post it and tell why or how it touched you.


The Shepherd


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The Bible is such a big book! Where do I start?

The Bible is actually 66 installments written over a period of 1600 years by more than 40 authors in three languages that have been seamlessly assembled without error or contradiction into one cohesive volume with a logical beginning and ending telling us one story about one person - Jesus Christ.  

I remember the first time I set out to read the Bible.  I treated it as a novel.  I started at the front and was determined to read it through to the end.  I really didn't get very far at all.  I started stumbling over the names and the family genealogy.  I was actually thinking that each of the names were characters that would be referred to later and that I needed to understand how they were related and where they were from.  Needless to say, it wasn't long before I set the Bible down and didn't pick it back up for years...

If only someone would have guided me through this common problem.  I probably would have built a better foundation for my life earlier in my life.  Instead, I struggled through life not really understanding that the Bible had the answers I needed.  If only I knew how to use it.  It wasn't until much later that someone guided me to specific areas in the Bible that helped me find the guidance I needed.  It was the first step to beginning to really explore the Bible.  Now, when I meet with others to discuss taking that first step to reading the Bible, I point them to a section that I found to be VERY helpful.  

My shepherd pointed out to me that what I really needed was a discussion with the wisest person that has every lived.  I remember saying "Yeah, if only..."  He then introduced me to the wisest person who ever lived... King Solomon.  I had no idea!  When Solomon became king he asked God for wisdom.  He knew that there was a vast difference between "knowledge" and "wisdom".  We can build our knowledge through books and classes, but if we don't know how to apply our knowledge effectively, then it is of no value.  Wisdom gives us the ability to apply what we know to our lives.

Solomon wrote hundreds of practical examples of how to live according to godly wisdom.  These little tidbits were grouped into the book of Proverbs.  Some would argue that the concerns of Solomon's time are not the same concerns of today.  After all, as a society we are much more knowledgeable than the people of Solomon's time.  This may be true, but remember knowledge is not wisdom.  We may be more knowledgeable, but we are not WISER.

Amazingly, most of these saying have been handed down through the generations.  We sometimes hear them referred to as "old wives tales" which just refers to matriarchs sharing their knowledge.  But in fact these sayings originated from the Bible, more specifically from the wisest person that ever lived.  I encourage everyone to start here.

The book of Proverbs is divided up into 31 chapters and most months have either 30 or 31 days in them (thanks February!).  I recommend reading a chapter a day for at least a couple of months and then see how your life has been impacted.  I've heard this referred to as "The Proverbs Challenge".  

So let's take this first step together as we begin this new year.  As we read through the chapters and verses, we can post some of the verses that hit home with us and tell why it impacted us so greatly.

I look forward to hearing from you!

The Shepherd


The Proverbs Challenge