Proverbs 31 started off with advice from Solomon’s mother.  It included staying away from evil women, and from strong drink.  I find it interesting that the end of this chapter states the attributes of a virtuous woman.  It included that her children call her blessed.  I know that Solomon didn’t follow that advice very well in his life, but valued his mother’s words.  He included those warnings amongst the previous chapters.

At any rate, I pray that maybe someday I will be able to have the experience of having my adopted children calling me blessed.  It is going to be interesting how the Lord will work in Alan’s and my lives.  I just need to hold onto the fact that as I serve God I will become more of a virtuous woman. Thank you, Jesus!

Proverbs 30 gives a prayer I have given God throughout life…I have asked Him to keep me honest, and that God will keep me balanced financially. It is amazing how off-centered man can get when not tuned into God!

When addressing the subject of having integrity, I would say it is found in following Christ and the leading of His Spirit. After all, didn’t Jesus say He was the way, the truth and the life!?

God has the ability to provide exactly what each of us needs. It is interesting that this writer asked God to balance his finances, so that he wouldn’t be begging or become prideful because of the abundance of wealth. I have wondered sometimes if God has not blessed me abundantly because I would become prideful? Each of us needs to thank God for each day’s blessings, that we are not stuck begging for bread. That we are not out there drawing attention to ourselves.

Proverbs 29 proves God is both merciful and just. In verse 1, it brings up the fact that people should avoid being stubborn against God. That only leads to a permanent downfall. Verse 26 warns about not putting your full trust in speaking to a king…rather, God is the one who will bring perfect justice.

Talking about someone who was stubborn, it was the Pharaoh. The Bible says that God hardened his heart…He went along with the decision that the leader had made. God is a gentleman and will not force people to surrender to Him. That decision led to the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea!

In reference to putting your hope in the king or governing authority, they are only able to give partial justice. After all, they are human. God, however, is immortal and omniscient. He knows how to give perfect justice. God, please come soon to make all things right! In your name, Amen!

Proverbs 28 starts off with a funny picture of the wicked running away from nothing; whereas, the righteous are shown as being courageous.  That is a wonderful promise we can claim as God’s children.

That is one area I need to improve on…I need to renew my mind daily. When I dwell on God’s promises to me, He will be faithful and transform my life. I just read that in Romans 12:2. That is beautiful that I can be courageous in the strength of the Lord! I will not be running around in a panic like everyone else in this world!

Verse 18 of Proverbs 27 was the section that spoke to me today. It compared taking care of a fig tree and getting fruit to taking care of a master’s property. It is something that bears fruit over a matter of time.

I started thinking of what God gives us here on Earth…how results are not always obtained over night. Our problem is with patience…to finish our race with endurance. We may not grasp the eternal fruit we will one day partake of when we are with Christ, but we trust our Master.

In Proverbs 26, it has several analogies about foolish/lazy people. It mentions how honor given to the lazy person is like snow on a Summer day. Later on in this chapter, it is like a hinge on a door when the lazy person turns over. One of the grossest comparisons is that a foolish/lazy person is like a dog going to its vomit.

Isn’t it true, that it is wasting time giving praise to the foolish person!? A fool will think that what they are doing/saying is great and that you agree with them. It just is not fitting to give their sayings acknowledgements.

On the ideas of a foolish/lazy person being like a hinge and a dog, it is true that these individuals will keep repeating the foolish actions. They will swing back to their wrong ways, or they will lap up the vomit they just spewed out. Father, give us the wisdom to learn from our past mistakes and not to become complacent. Let us advance with you into new beginnings! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Proverb 25 highlighted the point of not being hasty in your actions. For instance, promoting yourself all of a sudden before a governing authority would not be prudent. It is better that your actions promote you. Later on, it mentioned not automatically taking people to court without approaching the person first.

Exalting ourselves was not recommended by Jesus. He told us that when we enter a room, it is better to take the lowest seat and have the host place us in a higher seating rank. Very smart! Also, Jesus through Paul advised us to first handle matters with an individual. If the person will not listen to you and fellow believers, then there would be room for discipline. As far as nonbelievers, you would go to them first, and if they don’t listen, there would be grounds for litigation. It all boils down to how you would be portraying the Lord, the Church, and yourself.

The sixteenth verse of Proverbs 24 comforted me so much! I praise God He is there for His children. We may think it is all over, but that is not what the Lord says.

This verse says that even though the righteous person may fall several times, they are going to rise again. It is not so with the wicked individual. When disaster comes their way, they are going to fall. I have seen that in my life and those who love God…we keep getting up after set backs! Just wait…when we are resurrected, we will rise and meet Him in the air! It reminded me of a song I heard when growing up…”I Will Rise Again,” by Dallas Holmes.

In Proverbs 23 it had several verses warning about seeking drink/wine. It mentioned that it caused distortions in mans’ thinking. The Proverbs’ writer ended that section with the thought that the drinker usually ends up wanting to wake up, only to go after another drink.

My Father did an excellent job raising my Sister and I to stay away from drinking. He shared with us what abusing drinking had done to our Grandfather. He had ended up abusing my Dad a couple of times, and it almost cost my Grandfather his marriage. We were also told the story about their next door neighbor. Apparently this man had gotten so drunk he fell into a blackberry bush. My Grandma ended up cleaning him up and sending him on his way.

At any rate, I am thankful Dad did not let these experiences destroy him; but, God protected him in giving him the resolve to never touch alcohol. I wanted to honor God, and my Father, by not drinking. Lord, I pray that you will give us the purpose in our hearts to not sin against you! Amen!

Proverbs 22 opened up with the statement that someone’s reputation is more important than riches.  Isn’t that so true!?  That is my goal in life…when people hear my name, I pray they will equate it to goodness (following God).

The point is if all people see from you is how much wealth you have obtained, it is worthless.  If you are one who sets examples of what Christ would do, that will be an eternal inheritance.  This kind of goes along with the thought of how priceless knowing Christ is.  For me, since I have not been blessed with children or wealth, I  need to cherish the fact that I am leaving an everlasting inheritance when sharing Christ and His ways.