Speak Up

Proverbs 31:8—Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.

There is no doubt that God has created each and every one of us with a unique and special purpose, but there are some who suffer circumstances that prevent them from living into that purpose.  Even in the most advanced nation in the world, hundreds of people (including our own citizens) are destitute.  So many cannot speak for themselves.  It is imperative, therefore, for us to cry out for them.  The failure to speak up makes us just as bad as the oppressors – perhaps even worse because we know we could speak, and we choose not to.  Those of us who have the power, knowledge, and wisdom to rise up on behalf of the oppressed must do so.  Take a look at your community – what strikes a fire within your soul? What can you do to make it better?  The Holy Spirit is powerful to lead you into the opportunity to lift others from their oppression. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the revealer.  Ask Him to show you where you are called to defend the poor and destitute.  Pray for wisdom and discernment in fighting the cause of those who cannot fight for themselves.  Commit to fulfilling the purpose to which He has called.

Hold the Mirror Up

Proverbs 26:19—Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.

God breathed life into man – His Breath is the very core of our human form. We are created in His Image.  We are called to love one another and shine His Light in this world. Of course, it is normal to question whether anyone else sees our light, or whether it is even shining at all.  But we can figure that out by being in relationship with one another.  The thing about relationships is that we not only learn the heart of another, but our heart reflects in them.  Our relationships hold up a mirror to us so we can see who we really are.  We must critically consider our hearts when we catch glimpses of ourselves so that we can constantly grow and mature.  We must also be careful who we build relationships with.  Their hearts will also reflect in us, and we must guard our hearts from influences that would harm us.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the God of relationships.  Give thanks for the friends, family, and other relationships in your life.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in seeing your heart reflected in others.  Pray that you would be a worthy mirror to reflect others’ hearts, too.  Worship God today by letting your light shine.

Discover God

Proverbs 25:2—It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

What a marvelously creative God we serve.  When I look around this world, the colors of Spring, the magnificent perfection of the seasons, the tides, the sun, moon, and stars – it is impossible not to see the perfection of God.  And how marvelous it is that He wants us to seek Him out and wonder at this world He created for us.  How He must delight at our discoveries.  How it must please Him when we appreciate the beauty and splendor of all He has given to us.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His creativity.  Pray that He would fill you with wonder and love for His magnificent creation.  Worship Him through song by listening to Indescribable by Chris Tomlin.

Choose Your Words

Proverbs 24:28—Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

When I was a little girl, I learned that if I had nothing nice to say, I just shouldn’t say anything at all.  It seems, though, the older we get the less people remember this lesson.  There are some people out there that only feel self-worth when they tear down others around them.  When we speak out against others, we wield great power against their Spirits.  God has breathed life into each and every one of us, and we know He sent His Son to die for each and every one of us—who are we to use our words to harm a person God cherishes and holds dear?  When dealing with others and speaking about others, not only must we carefully examine our motivations, but we must constantly guard what we choose to manifest in words.  Our choices and actions ought to guard our relationships and protect our fellow man from the potentially devastating effects of our words.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, worship God as the Breath of Life.  Praise Him for being the Word and giving us His Word.  Pray that your heart and spirit would be pure and that the Holy Spirit would guide your every thought and word to build up others around you.  Ask God to protect you from the negative words of others and to shine His Light through you that you might be a guide for peace in this world.

A Measure of Success

Proverbs 23:4—Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist.

How do you define success in life?  Is it based on how much money you earn, your status, or your recognition?  It’s tempting to seek monetary wealth, particularly living in a westernized culture that places great value on the acquisition of tangible things.  So, why would the Bible tell us to back away from the acquisition of riches?  Is money really so bad?  When you start to think about it, money has the power to insulate us from some very common life problems.  To be sure, money may bring its own set of problems.  But once a person begins acquiring money, some of the common every problems others suffer (like what to eat, what to wear, where to sleep) no longer exist.  And the further removed from these types of problems, the easier it becomes to judge those who are still poverty-stricken.  It’s easy to believe that someone is still poor because of bad choices or because that person just doesn’t work hard enough.  The ability to be compassionate toward others who aren’t as financially secure diminishes.  Money helps us to create walls of disconnection from others, which is the antithesis of our purpose here on Earth.  We were created to be in relationship with each other, and by loving each other loving our Creator ever more profoundly. So challenge yourself to define/redefine the meaning of success in your life – make it about how many lives you touch and meaningful relationships you cultivate in this short time we have on Earth.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the Great Provider.  Examine your heart and ask yourself how you define success.  Pray that God would take away any desires in you to seek riches for riches sake.  Ask God to infuse you with compassion for those who have less financial and economic resources on which to live.  Rejoice in the provisions God has given to you and pray that you would have a giving spirit to connect and help your fellow man.

The Oppressed

Monday:  Proverbs 22:16—Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss.

In our modern culture, the wealth gap seems to be ever increasing.  Today, a greater number of people suffer in poverty, and the poverty line is lower than it has ever been historically.  In other words, the poor are poorer than they have ever been.  Did you know that today’s middle class has roughly the same earning capacity of a poverty-stricken person 60 years ago?  So, even our middle class is more akin to our poor and further removed from the wealthy than ever before.  There are lots of complicated reasons why this has occurred, but today I’d like to focus on what God has said about this type of wealth distribution.  In Proverbs, we learn that the oppression of the poor and the related giving to the rich will lead to loss.  In Western culture, the diversion of wealth to the rich and away from the needs of the poor is manifest.  This phenomenon ought to cause grave concern because the infrastructure is unsustainable long-term.  Just remember back to the housing market crash in 2008—that kind of crash can and will occur again as the .01% gets richer while the rest of the world gets poorer.  As Christians we must pray for our leaders and educate ourselves so that we can advocate for the implementation of policies that will protect the poor and lead to long-term sustainable financial security of our economy.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His Wisdom.  Pray for our nation’s leaders and policy-makers that they might be infused with wisdom and knowledge.  Ask God for insight to be an agent of change to protect our nation and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Silence is Golden

Proverbs 11:12—Whoever belittles another lacks sense, but an intelligent person remains silent.

Have you ever noticed that the letters of the word “silent” can be rearranged to spell the word “listen”?  In our new age of social media, I sometimes wonder if we have lost (or are beginning to lose) our ability to remain silent and just listen.  We are so used to pumping out our own opinions on things we may not even know much about that we tend to make judgments based on incomplete information. Knowing when to be quiet, though, is one of the hallmarks of a wise and intelligent person.  As I read this verse today, I thought about my grandfather.  He was a wise man who always seemed to know the right thing to do, even when the right thing seemed controversial to others.  He always found a way to lift others up.  I never heard him say negative things about anyone else, and I never heard him gossip.  He had mastered the art of remaining silent and listening.  To be sure, there is a time to speak—but we ought to listen and be silent far more than we speak.  Remember, just because we have words to say does not mean that we ought to speak them into existence.  Words are powerful, and we must use them responsibly. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for the gift of words.  Pray that you would learn to be silent and listen with patience.  Ask God for wisdom and insight on when and how to release words into existence.  

Integrity

Proverbs 10:9—Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out.

The dictionary defines integrity in two ways: 1. “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”; and 2. “the state of being whole and undivided.”  When I think about a person with integrity, I think about those people who treat others well and put the interests’ of the whole above their own selfish desires.  A person with integrity tells the truth, thoughtfully considers other perspectives, but never wavers from doing the right thing even if that means personal loss. In this proverb, integrity is juxtaposed against the word “perverse.”  In this context, perverse simply refers to those behaviors that are against society. When we act out of selfish desire, we place our individual interests above the interests of others.  We don’t even think to contemplate the consequences of our actions or how we might be hurting someone else. Integrity provides pathways of trust and understanding.  When we deal with people with integrity, it is easier to manage our expectations.  God created us to be in relationship with Him and one another, and in order for relationships to work, people must act with integrity. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His Integrity.  Pray that He would fill you with integrity that you might have insight and act honestly and morally in all areas of your life.  Give thanks for His Guiding Spirit and invite Him to enter ever more deeply into your heart.

Scoffers Amongst Us

Proverbs 9:8-9—A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise, when rebuked will love you. Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.

When I entered academia, one of the first lessons I learned was that in order to teach, I had to be willing to learn.  Teachers must continually re-evaluate their knowledge in light of newly gained information.  Our understanding of the world around us naturally evolves and matures based on the experiences we have.  What is more, in order to be credible in the eyes of our students, we must show a fervor and passion for learning ourselves.  The same is true in our Christian walk – we should never be complacent thinking that we have it all figured out.  We must show a fervor and passion for maturing in knowledge and wisdom.  The other lesson I learned was that, in order to teach, I had to sometimes overcome great skepticism of the student.  Yes, some students come into a classroom believing they have nothing new to learn.  Some think obtaining a degree is a mere technicality, so their willingness to receive new information and knowledge is limited.  They come across as arrogant and self-absorbed—they scoff at new teachings.  It is true that rebuking a scoffer generally causes that person to simply hate you.  But that doesn’t mean a scoffer cannot be taught.  The key is to understand the scoffer’s motivations and trigger their buy-in to whatever it is you are trying to teach them.  In my experience, most people who are arrogant and self-absorbed simply haven’t had enough life-experience to teach them humility.  Usually, exposing them to new experiences provides an appropriate perspective enabling them to break down some of their walls and begin receiving new knowledge.  Perhaps the most important lesson I learned, though, is that a scoffer should never just be discarded.  To be sure, it takes a lot more effort to teach a scoffer.  Sometimes it can be downright unpleasant.  But in the end, there is great reward on both sides.  And, of course, we must also remember that Our Great Teacher never pushes any of us away, not even the greatest scoffers among us. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His infinite patience with us who so often think we already know it all.  Pray that you would be open to acknowledging those areas where you really have so much to learn.  Ask for patience when you are both teacher and student. Rejoice in the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and insight, and commit yourself to pursuing them diligently.

Wisdom Treasure

Proverbs 8:11—for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

As we grow and mature, hopefully one of the lessons we learn is that money and earthly treasures are not the most valuable things we can possess.  Money earned can be easily lost, but true knowledge, wisdom, and insight are gifts that endure even beyond this lifetime.  Wisdom is a treasure that can be passed from generation to generation.  What is more, the pursuit of earthly treasures can also interfere with our pursuit of wisdom and insight because the acquisition of jewels and riches is an inward-looking act.  When we acquire wealth, we feel empowered.  It feeds the ego that the human is self-sustaining and in control.  Wisdom reminds us that no human is really in control of anything.  Wisdom tempers us and provides us the insight we need to survive when the world begins to crumble around us. It forces us to look outside of ourselves, beyond our own personal experiences, and contemplate a perspective greater than any one person.  Wisdom endures forever.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for gifting us with wisdom and insight. Consider your priorities and ask God to fill you with the desire to seek wisdom and insight above all else.  Give thanks for the many blessings, both physical and spiritual, that have been bestowed upon you.

Be Intimate with God

Proverbs 5:12—For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.

How wonderful to know that we are created by a God who loves us so much that He would examine all our ways.  He wants to be intimate with us, and He cares about what is happening in our lives.  And His love is so great, that He gives us the free will to choose the lives we will lead even though He desperately desires us to choose intimacy with Him over all else

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as the God of Intimacy.  Rejoice in the personal relationship He desires to have with you.  Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with desire to fall in love with God over and over again.

Knowledge, Wisdom, Insight

Proverbs 4:7—The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.

First comes knowledge, then comes wisdom, then comes insight.  Knowledge is the essential building block of wisdom, but knowledge alone can be dangerous.  Knowledge can be used for ill—it is a weapon that can be wielded to hurt others.  Wisdom is required to harness knowledge for good.  Wisdom is a deep-seated understanding of right and wrong beyond what society says is the right thing.  Wisdom acts as a compass guiding us in how to show mercy and impart discipline.  Insight is an even deeper dimension of wisdom.  Insight informs us as to why the right thing is right in a given circumstance.  Consider for a moment the incident where Jesus saved the adulteress from being stoned.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were testing Jesus to see if He would do the “right” thing and follow the Mosaic law that required the woman to be stoned.  Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, contemplated the crowd and ultimately responded with His famed statement, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Jesus was knowledgeable of the law, but He refused to use it for evil as the Jewish leaders urged Him to do.  He was wise in choosing mercy over punishment for this lady.  And He had insight as to why showing her mercy was the right thing – because love is greater than any law.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His Wisdom and Insight.  Pray that He would fill you with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and insight so that you discern right from wrong and live into His Perfect Will for your life.

A Necklace of Faith and Loyalty

Proverbs 3:3—Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Our first duty of loyalty and faithfulness is to the Lord.  God has created each of us uniquely for a special purpose, and we demonstrate our loyalty and faithfulness when we live into that purpose.  As Christians, we should strive to be known for our faithfulness and loyalty – for our dependability.  Are you the kind of person others can trust?  Are you reliable? Do you follow through on your word?  These qualities reflect the traits of faithfulness and loyalty, and they are hallmarks of a wise person.  Faithfulness and loyalty should be obvious and seen by the outside world.  Just like anyone would be able to see a beautiful necklace worn around your neck, these traits are ones that glimmer and shine—they should never be kept hidden away in secret.  And they are nurtured and grown through faithful study of God’s Word.  Only by studying His Word can we write the lessons of faithfulness and loyalty on our hearts.  Memorizing scripture is essential to developing into a faithful and loyal person.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for His steadfastness and faithfulness to you.  Challenge yourself to begin memorizing scripture, and begin with this scripture for today, Proverbs 3:3.  Envision faithfulness and loyalty in action and commit to living into those characteristics in your daily life.  Pray that God would fill you with courage, strength, and wisdom to live faithfully and loyally to Him.

Paths of Justice

Proverbs 2:20—Therefore walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just. 

What does it mean to walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the just? Does it mean to judge others who we perceive as disobedient?  Does it include ranking sins from insignificant to really bad?  Goodness and justice aren’t so much about following a set of rules, though rules do help us to figure out the difference between right and wrong.  Rather, keeping to goodness and justice is about how we treat others.  Daily, we ought to lift others up.  We should strive to show empathy, love, and respect for others.  We walk in goodness when we honor our connection with others. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, pray that God would reveal what is good and just in every life circumstance.  Pray for wisdom in discerning right from wrong.  Rejoice in the Lord, for He is good all the time.  Praise Him in song by singing O Give Thanks Unto the Lord.

Seek Wisdom

Monday:  Proverbs 1:32-33—For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.

Each day I am struck by the assured self-righteousness of so many people around me.  A quick glance at Facebook reveals how quickly so many of us jump to declare what is “right” and what is “wrong.”  So many are quick to judge and condemn.  Such comments reek of foolishness.  They are made from a position of false security, a place where people gain self-import by drawing lines and pushing away others who “don’t count” to them.  Such simplistic ways of viewing the world are foolhardy.  When we listen to the wisdom God has infused throughout the universe, we begin to see ourselves connected to one another and God’s creation.  We cease to desire separation and exclusion from one another.  We see how our words have the power to impart pain upon others, and we gain wisdom to use our words for good and healing.  Wisdom does not arrive passively—it must be actively sought.  It is never withheld from anyone who seeks it with a pure heart.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for the wisdom He has gifted to His Creation.  Pray that you heart would be made pure and that your spirit would be willing to grow in His Wisdom.  Worship God today through song by listening to Perfect Wisdom of Our God, by Keith and Kristen Getty.