Tag Archive | Jesus

Proverbs 17 – What’s your heart status

Jul7

Good afternoon y’all.  Today we are studying proverbs 17.

I’m blogging through the book of proverbs with Good morning girls. Check us out at www.goodmorninggirls.org or www.womenlivingwell.org

Be blessed 🙂

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I’m focusing on verse 3 and 9.

Verse 3 – Testing our hearts

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the lord tests the heart”.(v 3 NLT)

God tests our hearts. He uses situations and circumstances to test us. He does this sometimes to check the genuineness of our love; to refine and purify us from impurities; to reveal hidden motives; and to bring out the best in us.

David in the book of Psalms understood this principle. In Psalm 26 and 139, we see David asking God to test his heart. He wanted to make sure his heart was still right with God. He understood that God doesn’t focus so much on the outward. God prefers to go directly to the source, which is our heart, to examine the motive behind our actions.

“Put me on trial, Lord , and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart”. (Psa 26:2 NLT)

“O  lord , You have examined my heart and know everything about me”. (Psa 139:1 NLT)

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. (Psa 139:23-24 NLT)

These verses ought to be our prayers as well, because sometimes in our own eyes we can think we are doing okay, and have arrived, whereas God is thinking otherwise because our hearts are not truly pure. We can fool people and ourselves but we can’t fool God.

In Jeremiah 17:10 the Lord says:
“But I, the Lord , search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” (NLT)

My prayer is that when our works and thoughts are put through the fire, they will come out refined and stronger to the praise and glory of God.

Verse 9 – Overlooking offenses

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends”. (V9 NLT)

“Overlook an offense and bond a friendship; fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend!”. (V9 MSG)

This verse is so true and I have seen it work in my life. When we forgive and move on, the relationship has hope of being restored. It might not happen instantly but with time love will prevails. But when we hold on to grudges and keep bringing them back, we drive each other apart and the relationship tends to eventually break off.

It’s very important in our christian journey that we come to a place where we are able to overlook offenses and let love have its way.  Scripture says love covers a multitude of sin.

“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins”. (1 Peter 4:8 NLT)
“Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses”. (Proverbs 10:12 NLT)

When Jesus’ disciple asked him how many times should he forgive, I’m sure he was expecting Jesus to say something like 1 to 3 times is okay but Jesus shocked him by saying 70 times 7. Gosh! One would be sad if they actually spend time keeping records in a day till 490 is achieved and say no more forgiveness. I’ve reached my quota for the day. Could you imagine if God treated us that way? I, for one, know I would be lost. Won’t even be here writing this blog! So let’s deal with one another in love.

I pray we get to a place in our walk with God where we don’t get easily offended by people; where we find it easy to forgive and move on; and where love is the motive for all our actions.

Honestly, the world would be a better place if we all learnt to cover offenses with Love.

Thanks for joining today. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter.

Have a blessed day basking in God’s goodness and love 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Proverbs 10 – Keep your mouth shut!

Jun27

Hello y’all. Today we are studying chapter 10 of Proverbs.

Be blessed 🙂

There is so much to learn from this chapter, but i’m going to focus on verse 19.

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“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise”. (NKJV)

If we talk too much, we are bound to say something we shouldn’t say and that can lead to offence or anger.

I’ve noticed this is true in my personal life. When I talk too much, I end up saying things I shouldn’t say and someone gets offended or upset in the process. So I’ve been talking to God about my mouth and I’m starting to learn to keep quiet, talk less and listen more. It hasn’t been easy especially as I’m someone who likes to talk a lot…. there are good days and bad days, but I’m definately getting better.

The latter part of verse 19 says ”He who restrains his lips is wise”. The NLT version says “Be sensible and keep your mouth shut“.

We need to learn to shut our mouths. Learn to restrain when we talk and what comes out of our mouth. James 3 tells us our tongue can do great damage. It can set a house on fire.

“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell”. (James 3: 3-6 MSG)

No wonder David prayed in Psalm 141 for God to take control of what he says and  put a watch over His mouth.

“Take control of what I say, O  lord , and guard my lips. Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong”. (Psalms 141: 3-4 NLT)

I think we ought to make this psalm our prayer every day.

I pray our words will always be seasoned with salt. It will always build up and not tear down. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Thanks for joining today. Feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter.

Have a great weekend 🙂

***With God all things are possible***