God's Protection

For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. (Psalms 91:11-12 NLT)

God has many promises in His word. We don't even have to ask for them because they are already promised to us. Protection is one of those promises. I, along with many others I'm sure, have asked God to protect them on trips, journeys, driving, hiking, etc. But look at what He is saying here. In the preceding verses, God stipulates this promise with "If you make the Most High your refuge." So there is something that has to be done before this promise occurs, and in this case God has to be your God! As long as God is your God, then this promise is true for you, you do not even have to ask for it in prayer. If you are a Christian, if you claim Jesus as your Savior, then this promise is yours. You can rest in the fact (and it is a fact), that wherever you go, God is protecting you, you don't have to ask for protection everywhere you go, it is already yours. But Kent, bad things still happen, I still get hurt. Me too, I've gotten hurt biking, I've gotten hurt doing other things. Remember that we are still subject to the consequences of our actions, and if you do something stupid, or are not paying attention, then you will suffer the consequences of your actions. Now think about this, before you got hurt, did you hear a small whisper, a small little voice saying "don't do that?" That is the Holy Spirit trying to protect you. 

Take Away: God has already promised protection for you, stop asking for it, it is already yours. Listen to the Holy Spirit before you do something, He may be trying to protect you!

No Favor in Your Life?

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4 NLT)

Have you ever had someone who was just down right mean to you, or maybe not to that extent but they just didn't like you? Perhaps it was a supervisor that didn't care for you and no matter how much you look at what you've done in the past, you can't figure out why? Let me present this to you...perhaps you are looking in the wrong direction? Perhaps you don't need to be looking at what you've done or not done to this person, but maybe you need to be looking in the mirror? Is your life a life of loyalty and kindness, or are you consistently gossipping or slandering people? Are you consistently showing mercy to others or are you unforgiving, or causing them harm with your words? Scripture is very clear in this...we must lead a life of loyalty and kindess and mercy to others...and do it consistently. It must become a lifestyle for us. Sure, we miss it every now and then, we all have our days. However our lives need to be marked by being someone who occasionally messes up versus someone who occasionally is loyal and kind. It is then that fulfillment of Proverbs 3:3-4 come to pass, it is then that we will find favor with both God and man. 

Take Away: Ask yourself "Am I leading a consistent life of loyalty, kindness and mercy?" If the answer is no, then make a decision to start changing your life! Ask God to help you. If you do, He will! 

Friendships

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive. (Proverbs 27:6 NET)

I like to think of the relationships in my life like the parts of a tree. There are different parts of a tree; the leaves, the branches and the roots. Now "leaves" friends are really more like aquaintances. They are easy to identify because they are there when things are going good, but the second they even seem to be going bad, they are gone. But you can't get mad at them because that their role in your life. Then there are the "branches." These relationships can sometimes fool you because they may appear to hang around when things get bad, but you put a little pressure on them, then they are gone.  You have to be careful with branches because you may think you can really trust them only to find out you can't. Then there are the roots. These are the relationships that no matter what happens they are there, by your side, helping you out when things are bad, counseling you, pointing your errors and inconsistencies out to you, but they will never leave you. These are the ones you want to keep in your life. You may have many leaves, and several branches, but you only need a few roots in your life. Its the roots that you want to pour your life into, its the roots that you can trust, its the roots that will give you wise counsel and although they may hurt you at times (and it will happen), they will always be there.

Take Away: identify the root relationships in your life, these are the people you need in your life, these are the ones God talks about in Proverbs 27:6...faithful are the wounds of a friend!

Faith and Persevere

But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12 NET)

The Bible is filled with the promises of God for the believers. But if you notice what the writer of Hebrews is saying here, we've got to do something to see the promises of God in our lives. It says here we must have faith and perseverance. So what does this mean to us? It means we can't sit around waiting and hoping that something will happen. If you are doing that, then you may be sitting around waiting for a long time! We've got to have faith, and not only faith but passionate faith in God that His promises will come to pass in our life. And then (here is what I think is the hardest part) we've got to also maintain that passionate faith even when circumstances are saying the opposite. If we cave into circumstances, then we have lost faith in His promises. When we have the next rent or mortgage payment due and we are standing in faith that "God will supply all my needs (Phil 4:19)" and the bank statement says $12...and then another bill comes in...we've got to remain passionate in faith that God WILL supply my needs, even if we have to say it over and over. Really, that is what you need to do, you need to say those statements of faith over and over because that builds up your faith. It looks dismal at times, but if you stand in faith and persevere, God's promises will come to pass.

Take Away: when faced with dismal circumstances, stand in that passionate faith and persevere with the passionate faith until you see God's promises come to pass.

Getting Them Back

Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will pay him back according to what he has done.” (Proverbs 24:29 NET)

As long as we live life, we are going to be wronged by people, some intentionally and some not intentionally, but make no mistake...you will be wronged by others. Sometimes it is by perfect strangers, other times it is by those we love. The question I have is when someone does something wrong to you, how do you handle it? Do you say "I'm going to get that person back, and even worse than they did me." Do you want to take them out back and slap them around a bit? Or do you say "whatever" and move on? If you are like me, the first instinct is to devise ways of getting them back or just take them out back and teach them a lesson. Fortunately now I let those thoughts dwell in my mind for about a second, but in my earlier years, I would sit for days thinking of how to get people back. If we want to live the Godly life that He wants us to live, if we want to see changes in our life for the better, we have got to do things God's way. And His way is to forgive and move on. Notice I didn't say forget, because God never said forgive and forget. Our human minds will not allow us to forget. In fact in most cases we are to remember and learn from the experience. But in everything, we are to forgive that person and let God handle it, and move on with our lives.

Take Away: the next time someone does something wrong to you, whether intentional or not, choose to forgive and move on with your life.

You Have A Skill

Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will take his position before kings; he will not take his position before obscure people. (Proverbs 22:29 NET)

Every one of us has some skill, talent, whatever you want to call it, we all have something that God will use if we let Him. The problem with a lot of us is that we don't think we have anything to offer that God can use. When we think of skills that God uses, most of us think of musicians, pastors, teachers, etc. While all of these are skills that God uses, these are but a small fraction of what God can use...and YOU have something He can use. Still not convinced? Look at Joyce Meyer, she has already said that she thought the same thing, and then God told her that she has a mouth...and now she speaks to an audience that is world wide. We all have something to offer, we just need to discover it. And once we discover it, we need to learn more about it. Notice that the scripture says "skilled" in his work. This means we learn all we can about it, we exercise our skill, we constantly use it over and over. As we practice and use our skill, we are making it stronger. You can't discover your skill and the next day say "God, I'm ready!" That is not how God works. First He will show you what it is, then He will give you opportunities to learn more about it and opportunities to practice it. The Apostle Paul went away for 3 years before he started his missionary trips. I can only think that he was learning more and more on how to reach the people.

Take Away: If you feel you don't have a skill, ask God to show you what it is. Then, and this goes for those who already discovered their skill, learn all that you can about it and practice it. EVERYONE has something to offer!

Words VS Actions

Even a young man is known by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. (Proverbs 20:11 NET)

Ever hear the saying "if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it's a duck"? When we are around people, we want them to think the best of us. We want to leave a good impression on people, mainly because we want them to like us. But have you ever noticed that sometimes what people say and what they do are two different things? I knew a guy that if you believed everything he said, you'd think he was the greatest person on the planet, that he loved everyone and was always there to help people. Unfortunately what he said and how he behaved were two entirely different things. And although he thought people thought the best of him, they knew what he was really like because of his actions. That person was me. Yep, totally me...until God finally got a hold of me and spoke truth into my life. I look back at that person and wonder why anyone would want to be around me. Our words and our actions need to line up with each other. Like this scripture says, you are known by your actions. This should be a wake up call for all of us. If what you say is not lining up with what you are doing, then you need to get on your knees and ask God to show you why is your behavior and your words speaking two different things. You need to be open to hear His truth. It is only when our words and our actions speak the same thing that we can minister to others in truth and love!

Take Away: examine your words and your actions, and if they are not speaking the same thing, then ask God to reveal truth to you. Be open to what He tells you. It may hurt and you may not want to hear what He is saying, but His truth will bring healing in your life.