Hey Guys! Sorry it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here... I've uhhh... really got no reasonable excuse. Sorry...
Here's an e-mail I sent out on Wed. morning... these verses really spoke to me and I hope they'll do the same for you!
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Hey there!
I was just doing my devotions this morning and found something... er... "re-discovered" something that I couldn't help but share with everybody! It is true that the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword! Do you believe that? I do!
Here's what I read...
Proverbs 3:3-8
"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones."
I'm pretty sure we are all quite familiar with these verses... at least the few in the middle. Who doesn't know Proverbs 3:5-6, right? But what I did this morning was actually pray through each part of these verses and claim the truths of God and His sovereign will over my life as I read them.
So, look again at the amazing concepts presented in this passage...
"Do not let kindness and truth leave you... write them on the tablet of your heart." Kindness and truth should be the everyday practice of a follower of Christ... which means that we should live, every single day, in the kindness and truth that we see modeled in Christ Jesus. It should be inscribed on our hearts and embedded so deeply in our souls that it is second nature to us. The end goal of this is "...favor and good repute in the sight of God and man." Obviously God is the most important one that we please, but a good reputation with those around us is also important in our attempt to be a light to those who do not know Christ.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart..." Try praying this... it's awesome!!! I'll admit it was scary at first, because I have put my trust in so many other things... but saying to God, "Lord, I want to trust You! I want to trust You with ALL of my heart! I don't want to just say it, I want to live it!" This has revived, in me, a desire to truly trust Him with everything...
"...do not lean on your own understanding..." This one is hard to do sometimes... I know I like to base my decisions on what I KNOW for a fact that I can accomplish. But this is a continuation of the previous thought, we are to trust God so fully that we abandon our finite and puny understanding in order to embrace the fuller and richer plans of Creator God! Don't try to live life according to the "knowledge" or "wisdom" that you already have or that the world has to offer... don't let your own "understanding" hinder you from doing the will of God. Trust that He will lead you, but don't get ahead of Him either...
"In all your ways acknowledge Him..." This one got me! I started re-praying over the areas that we just covered... I started acknowledging His control over my life. I started to acknowledge His plans for my life and my lack of understanding... Basically, we need to come to terms with the fact that God is in control... Acknowledge Him in ALL your ways and...
"...He will make your paths straight." Yeah... at this point I kinda started that laugh/cry thing where the truths of God hit you so hard you can't figure out exactly what you're supposed to do about it! I couldn't get over these words... let's dissect it a little further.
"HE will make your paths straight." God Himself will straighten out our broken and twisted paths... amazing!
"He WILL make your paths straight." His promises are never made lightly. He has said that He WILL make our paths straight! God is always faithful to His word! Praise God that He will never leave us nor forsake us! (Even though it sometimes hurts when God keeps His promises.)
"He will make your paths STRAIGHT." O how broken and beaten down are the paths of our lives, sometimes! I know mine have been crooked and unfocused lately... Here is where the verse hit me... just understanding that God will, in fact, straighten out my broken and misdirected life! By misdirected I mean that I have been chasing after all the wrong things... pursuing my plans, instead of trusting the Lord with all of my heart... and I had been leaning on my own understanding. But God... I love those two words together! But God has promised that He will take our broken and messed up lives and He will make us new... He will make our paths straight again! The passage goes on to say that it will bring healing to our bodies and refreshment to our bones! O to trust our God, to fear Him and turn away from evil... this is the life that we are called to. And in return we are told that God will guide our steps... that He will, lovingly, make our paths straight and take care of us. If we will only learn to trust Him and be satisfied in Him, He will make our paths straight, He will heal us of our brokenness and will bring rest to our weary souls. Christ once said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Trust God completely with ALL of your life... lean into the grace and mercy of Christ, and rest there.
I think that is what impacted me the most with these verses... is that I have not had rest in a long time! I have been weary... and I have been leaning on my own understanding. If this is you as well, then I urge you to lean into the goodness of our Savior and to trust Him with your burdens.
Well, that's it! I hope this passage will bless you as it has blessed me!
Grace and Peace!
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