Prayer for Wisdom

I praise you, Father, for your presence. Today your wisdom and understanding wait to be experienced by those of us looking for them. Whisper to us, Lord, that our hearts may find you again today. Prepare us, Spirit, as we wait to see you this day in your wisdom. Amen.

"Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy." Proverbs 3:13-18

Advisers and Action, Part 2

"Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but with many advisers victory is won." Proverbs 11:14

Today I continue yesterday's thought concerning the challenge associated with asking for advice and following through with action. I ended yesterday saying that asking for advice is only the first step in moving forward. A much more difficult step is actually taking a step!

Looking at the Proverb above it is obvious that the king of a nation must act to address the enemies looking to take the nation. No wise king would seek the counsel of his advisers and say, "Hey, that is great advice! Thanks for giving me that advice about preventing our enemy from destroying us!" and then do nothing. Yet, how quick I am to ask my friends for advice and put off any decision because it is a hard decision!

Regarding my office, one day I went to the library in Conroe with Tanya and the kids. While they ran with excitement to pick their own books, I went upstairs on a quest of my own. I left with a book called, Order From Chaos by Liz Davenport. Going through that book helped me begin to take another step I needed to get organized.

Interestingly enough, as I completely gutted my office to create some space to organize I found Adonna's written plan I mentioned yesterday. Reading through Adonna's plan again, I was amazed at how similar they were.

It baffles me why I never saw her advice and acted on it back in 2008! All I know is that now, I'm ready to act on the advice. The difference is found in me. I am ready to make a plan and follow through with it. What advice have you already received that you are needing to act on?

I've found that good intentions are only that...good intentions!

I also hear James 2:14-19 humming a little ditty in the background:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that...and shudder.

Humility Before Honor

Proverbs 15:33 and 18:12 use the phrase "...humility comes before honor." I learned this yet again last night. Tanya and I had been at odds with each other. I felt like she was demanding too much of me; she felt like I didn't care about her needs. She was stressed; I was bothered. Both of us could not really have a productive conversation at all. Most of the things we did, innocent though they might be, ended up being interpreted in the worst possible light.

This escalation continued until humility entered the picture. Once both of us were able to humble ourselves and commit to work things out instead of tear things down, honor came back into our relationship. Once we were able to humbly and actively listen, we were able to progress toward honoring one another above ourselves. Once we were able to, in humility, pray to our creator, we were able to, in honor, glorify God in our relationship.

The next time you feel like strangling your spouse (or significant other), remember that "humility comes before honor."

Draw from the Waters

I ran across a proverb this morning that I want to process. Proverb 20:5 says, "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out."

When I have read this proverb in the past, I haven't spent too much time on it thinking about it. As I look at it I see a couple of things. First, all kinds of stuff passes through my brain every single day. Some things are worth talking about and other things are not (nor should I). When I start thinking about the things that are deep down, I know that there are some real meaningful things. I think about my relationship with God, my relationship with Tanya, with Kayla, with family, with friends, with students, with all kinds of people. If I go further, I begin thinking about my prayer life, times of meditations, and lessons that I learn that can only be from God. The longer I sit down, the better I begin to understand how deep into my heart I can go.

This leads to the second thing I notice: I need to be intentional about going through this process. While I understand why it happens, sometimes I don't know why I don't spend time every day reflecting on things in my life or going down to draw from the deep water. All I know is that my intentional efforts to reflect on things in my life lead me to a place where I can be more sensitive to the moving of God in my life.

That is what I noticed this morning as I read this section of the Proverbs.

I'm just joking

"Yeah, Julie, you are lookin' pretty ugly today!!!" "What?!" "Oh...I'm just messin' around with ya. Don't worry about it...I'm just joking."

I find myself just joking around too often. While my sarcasm has diminished, it can get pretty bad at times...mostly with people that I begin to feel really comfortable around. There is a time for a nice little pun that knocks a close friend or a bit of sarcasm every once in a while. But, have you ever met a person who is always offering "little" put-downs here and "innocent" nuggets of sarcasm there every chance s/he gets? It seems like everything out of her or his mouth is "just a joke." Being around these type of people is not something I always look forward to.

Consider these proverbs:
"Many a truth is said in jest." - unknown
"Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, 'I was only joking!'" - Proverbs 26:18-19
"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit." - Proverbs 15:4
"A man finds joy in giving an apt reply--and how good is a timely word!" - Proverbs 15:23
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." - Proverbs 25:11

This is the lesson: I must think before I make a joke that could work against the edifying that I am called to do as a Christian.