Pastor Johnnie's Devotional Archives
October 2002
October 2, 2002
Proverbs 2:2 (NLT) says, "Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate
on understanding."
For years I had a watch whose alarm seemed to be the softest 'ting-ting-ting'
I'd ever heard. But I desperately needed that alarm to awaken me very
early every morning just so I'd be able to have at least 2 hours of unhindered
time with the Lord, alone. We lived in the jungle where there were no
early hour noises except the occasional chirping bird or swoosh of a flooding
river, which helped to develop my hearing of that soft 'ting'. But, the
real reason I heard it for years and years is that I prayed, "Lord,
please tune my hearing to that soft sound, as though I were responding
to You when You call." He did the rest. In like manner, every day
we need that fine tuning of our spiritual hearing in order to hear and
then obey the wisdom of God and to be able to concentrate on understanding
Him and His ways. I hope that's a priority for you today.
Father....Best of all alarms anywhere....fine-tune our hearts (spiritual
ears) to hear the softest prompting of Your Holy Spirit, lest we miss
out on what we most desperately need every day.... wisdom and understanding
of Your Word and ways. Amen.
October 4, 2002
Proverbs 4:18 (NLT) says, "The way of the righteous is like the first
gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day."
For me, there have been some dark nights of sickness or discouragement
which seemed to never end; I couldn't wait for the first rays of dawn,
for the new day to come. The Lord longs for His children (the righteous)
to consistently walk in His ways and has made it possible for us to do
so through submission and obedience to Him and His Word. His promise is
that as we walk in humility and apply His principles to the issues of
our lives, things actually do get better, because "all things work
together for the good of those who love Him." (Romans 8:28) Once
I get just a glimpse of the glorious truth that His ways are best ....
and humbly comply.... it's like the first gleam of dawn. Hope begins to
well up within me until I actually see, understand, and accept the full
beauty of His holy purpose. No wonder the Psalmist said (89:1) "I
will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth I will make
known Your faithfulness to all generations."
Father in heaven, no matter how dark, dismal, or hard-to-understand
the circumstances of life may be, let us walk in true humility and dependence
upon Your ways, that we might increasingly understand - and actually see!
- Your purposes fulfilled in our lives. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
October 6, 2002
Proverbs 6:1-5 (NLT) says "My child, if you co-sign a loan for a
friend or guarantee the debt of someone you hardly know - if you have
trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said - quick,
get out of it if you possibly can! You have placed yourself at your friend's
mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. Don't
put it off. Do it now! Don't rest until you do. Save yourself like a deer
escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net."
Long text....MANY reasons for concern. What sad stories I've heard through
the years of those who thoughtlessly co-signed (i.e. without prayer, agreement
with spouse, checking into the financial stability of the person, or readiness/ability
to assume total responsibility in case of default) and "paid for
it through the nose", as they say. They found themselves trapped,
facing years of impossible indebtedness or possible immediate bankruptcy.
Even if a person resists the bottom line lesson of this passage, they
should read it over and over and highlight the words or phrases which
reveal the frightening financial situation they can fall into if they're
in the habit of thinking and making decisions quickly, with a prayerless,
disobedient heart instead of an obedient, biblically-thinking heart. It's
a hard thing to refuse to co-sign for "a friend" or "someone
you hardly know", but the potential long term consequences are there
for both, obviously.
Father in heaven, grant us unquestioning obedience to Your wisdom
regarding our finances and 'helping' others out. For Jesus' sake, Amen.
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