Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 21:11-15
Prov 21:11-15
11 When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 12 The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked down to ruin. 13 Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. 14 A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. 15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
Gal 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
What goes around comes around. Paul says that what we reap we will sow. If you want friends, be a friend. If you want others to listen to you, learn to listen to them. Treat others the way you want to be treated. What we get in life is usually proportionate to what we give. If we want the blessings of God upon us, we need to share his blessing with others. Jesus said: “Give and it will be given to you.”
Now some of you are thinking of all the exceptions to this, and there are plenty of them. We try to do right and all we get in life is trouble. It seems that every disease and problem that is around, comes to us, but none to our friends. Yes, there are exceptions to the general rules in our lives, and this is one of them. One of the problems we have is that so much of the teaching of Jesus is counter-intuitive to us and to our “this-world” thinking. We accept his word by faith.
The devil, who controls our culture, tells us that we should take what we want in life because no one else is going to give it to us. Look out for #1 because no one else will look out for our interests. This is another way of saying that we are to be our own gods and that we can and should try to control our lives. “The fool has said in his heart that there is no God.” The devil is a liar and is lying to us.
O Lord God, my heavenly Father, it is with a humble heart that I come to you with praise and thanksgiving for all you have done for me and continue to do for me in more ways than I can count or even know. Thank you for loving me! I want to be like Jesus in all I am, but I know that I fall short of this in so many ways. Fill me with your Spirit so I will have wisdom from above and his power in my life. Help me love and show love to all around me so others will see Jesus living in me. Use me to serve others and to encourage them. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
