Tuesday 3 May 2011 – Proverbs 26
Foolishness, Laziness, and Disunity
This chapter of proverbs seems to be split into three sections:
Verses 1–12: about fools
Verses 13 –16: about laziness
Verses 17 – 28: about unity
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I had been praying for wisdom a lot over the past few years. We all need God’s wisdom as we all have the potential to really mess up the lives of those around us. When I read through passages of scripture like this on fools and what they do, I have a few reactions immediately The first one is that it reminds me why I am praying for God’s wisdom in my life. The other reaction I have is a desire to grow and move forward in the process the Lord is doing in me, as some of the situations spoken about are familiar to me – I have done them. Sorry to disgust you, but I have returned to my “vomit” a few times in my life as I repeatedly make the same mistakes!!
The next section talks about laziness. I thought a bit about this because I don’t want to be a lazy person. At the same time, overwork and stress do not equal the opposite of laziness. We have to be careful how we interpret laziness. We need to make sure we have laziness defined by God and His Word, and not by society and culture.
The last section could be summed up in the word “unity”. It talks about things that we do to each other that pull down and cause us to be ineffective as the body of Christ. Quarrelling, deceit, tale-bearing, contention, covering up wicked hearts with words, hate, and lying are all ways that we cause disunity. I feel that this part of the chapter is quite strong and direct. It makes me check my heart and ask God to search me and see if any of these things are in me. I do not want to be someone who has these qualities because I don’t want to hurt those around me, but most of all I don’t want to disappoint God, and I know that these things are displeasing to Him.
Prayer:
* Ask God to highlight any of these issues that may be relevant to your life and ask Him to give you some practical steps to move forward.
* Thank God that He cares enough to see you overcome.
* Pray for relationships in Ruwach Christian Church, that we might each do the things that lead to unity, so that the work of God is not hindered or destroyed.
Monday 2 May 2011 – Proverbs 25
Trustworthiness
Today, God challenged me with this question as I was reading through the proverbs, “Are you a trustworthy person?” Look again at vv.9-10 which tell us not to disclose what a person has said to us to another; v.18 which talks about being a false witness; v.19 which talks about a lack of faithfulness (which is very similar to trustworthiness) and v.23 which talks about a backbiting tongue. I know that every one of us has the potential to do all of these things and every one of us probably has. But I want to challenge you with the question God asked of me, “Are you trustworthy?”
As the body of Christ, we need to be trustworthy and we need to be safe for each other. People should always know they can confide in us and it will not gossip about what they have told us. People should always know that we will not bear false witness against them or backbite. People need to know that we are faithful because that is an attribute of our Heavenly Father.
Our old nature is dead, and we have our new nature. Our new nature is a trustworthy, faithful nature, but “old habits die hard”, as the saying goes. Our old nature rears its ugly head, and we have the choice to allow it to continue or to push down and allow our new nature – our true nature – to be victorious. That is why Paul writes in Romans 12 that we need to be renewed by the transforming of our minds. We need to realize that we are not untrustworthy and unfaithful people. That is how we were, and we have a choice each day to allow our true nature to reign, or to allow our old habits from our old nature to say their piece. Do the right thing!
Prayer:
* Praise God for His trustworthiness and thank Him for trustworthy people He has put into your life.
* Ask the Lord to give you a fresh revelation of who you really are in Christ. Ask Him to help you to remember that you are a new creation and not to allow your old nature to dominate.
* Pray that the members of your cell will also grow in this area of trustworthiness.
Sunday 1 May 2011 – Proverbs 24
Wisdom
When I was a fairly new Christian, I began asking God for faith. I would ask God daily, religiously, to give me the gift of faith. I would never stop to check whether I had been given this gift, I would just carry on asking, and I did this for almost three years. Then one day something happened, and in the middle of responding to the situation I remember thinking, “Wow! God has answered my prayer and I have the gift of faith, and actually, I have had it for a while!”
Reading through this chapter in Proverbs today, I was struck by the constant theme of wisdom and foolishness and I was reminded about how I began asking God to give me the supernatural gift of wisdom about three years ago. It has made me reflect on whether God has answered my prayer, and I can honestly say that I have seen frequent instances where I have given out wisdom that has definitely been supernatural and not based on experience.
Two points come to mind for us to reflect on today. The first one is that we can ask God for these gifts and He will give them. I encourage you today to ask for wisdom if you want it because “we have not if we ask not”. God’s Word promises us, “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James1:5). Personally, because of the work that I am in, I felt out of my depth so much that I had a hunger for the gift of wisdom. I eagerly desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The supernatural gift of wisdom is different and I have a desire for this gift, not so that I can improve my own reputation, but because I want to be able to help those around me much more effectively than I am. Solomon’s ability to help those around Him inspires me.
The second point that comes to mind is that so many times God answers prayers and we don’t see them. I want to encourage you to take some time today just to reflect on some of the prayers that you have presented before God and check whether He has already answered them.
Prayer:
* Thank God that we can ask Him for gifts and He wants to give them to us. Thank Him that He answers our prayers and ask Him to show you any answers to prayer that you have not recognised.
* Pray that God would give wisdom to the leaders of our church and other churches across this nation.
* Pray for our services at Ruwach today, that we would press into God’s presence and receive everything He wants to give us to equip us for service.