Proverbs 31 Devotionals

• Oct. 2, 2008 - Blasphemy

Blasphemy

When we think of complaining, our minds automatically go to the Israelites in the wilderness. We can see where God sent judgment on them several times. At one point, fire came down and consumed part of the camp.

We may breathe a sigh of relief for not living under the Old Testament law. However, we make a grave mistake if we begin to think that God does not look upon complaining with such anger today. First Corinthians 10:1-12 addresses how the things the Israelites faced were written as examples and warnings to us. If they do not pertain to us, then why would we need the examples?

Our God does not change. (Hebrews 13:8) If He hated complaining in the Old Testament times, be assured that He still hates it, and that His anger is aroused by it. Psalm 7:11 tells us that He is a God who expresses wrath every day.

Since we do live in the age of grace, we do not experience His anger through a fire which we can see. Rather, we feel it. The result is that our spirit ends up becoming a dry, barren, scorched land.

I remember hearing someone say that complaining is one of the worst sins in the Bible. Immediately, I thought, “What about blasphemy?” Finally, it dawned on me that complaining is a form of blasphemy. For when we complain, we deny the sovereignty of God in our circumstances, and that is the root of blasphemy.

Jesus tells us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Mark 3:29) This view of complaining is quite sobering to me, for I realize that I have complained more times than what I care to admit.

This solemn view on the seriousness of complaining has led me to ask the Lord to set a guard over my mouth, keeping watch over the door to my lips. (Psalm 141:3) I have also started praying that my words and my thoughts will be pleasing in God's sight. (Psalm 19:14)

Do you feel like you are spiritually dry? Could it be that complaining has led you to a place of spiritual wilderness?

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• Oct. 2, 2008 - The Chattering Fool

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The Chattering Fool

As I was looking through the tenth chapter of Proverbs, I noticed that it mentioned a chattering fool twice, leaving the impression that too much talking is not good. A chattering fool will come to ruin. Prov. 10:8, 10. Why would she come to ruin? Could it be that people who know her gossiping ways are smart enough to figure out that she must also gossip about them? That could leave her with no friends. Could it be that her words have slandered a reputation, and it came back to "bite" her? Verse 19 tells us that when words are many, sin isn't absent, but she who holds her tongue is wise. Verse 14 tells us that the mouth of a foolish person invites ruin. I would like to invite many things into my life, but ruin is not on my list. I guess I had better be careful to watch my words!

As we look further, we see that verse 7 tells us that the name of the wicked will rot. Looking at verse 11, we find that one of the things which the wicked do is to speak violent words. Verse 32 tells us that the wicked speak what is perverse. In verse 18, it says that she who spreads slander is a fool. As we ponder on the words that we speak, do we speak violent words? Do we speak what is perverse? Do we slander others? Do we speak before knowing the facts? Even if we do know the facts, should we be speaking them? If we slip into these habits, we need to remember that God's Word declares that people who speak these things are wicked! Some more descriptive words for wicked are foul, profane, evil-minded, depraved, degraded, disreputable, indecent, scandalous, atrocious, monstrous, and rotten. Those words sure don't sound very complementary.

Unfortunately, even in the church, we have far too many instances of wickedness proceeding from the mouths of God's people. In Gal. 5:13-15, Paul was addressing the church when he said that we shouldn't be using our freedom to indulge our sinful nature, but we should be serving one another in love. We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourself. Then, we are admonished to watch out because if we keep biting and devouring each other (could he mean with our words?), we will end up destroying each other.

I love what it says in Proverbs 31. "When" she speaks, the law of kindness is on her tongue. The word "when" implies that there are times when she isn't speaking. She knows when to open her mouth, and she also knows when to keep it closed. May God teach us to do the same.

In closing, ponder on this: God made you to have two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, two hands, two feet, but only ONE mouth.

Lord, help us to use our one and only mouth to glorify you in all that we say. Help us not to ever invite ruin into our lives by being a chattering fool. Rather, help us to impart grace into the lives of those around us by the words which we speak. Amen.

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• Oct. 2, 2008 - The Restraining Order

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The Restraining Order

We are admonished in James to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. When tempers are flared and emotions are flying high, it's nearly impossible to follow this command. Sometimes we need a spiritual restraining order put on our mouths.

When dealing with different issues where a conversation needs to take place, it's important to remember that the first thing we should do is pray. There are several things we can pray before approaching the other person, be it our husband or someone else.

1. Pray for God to adjust your attitude so that you aren't bitter and full of angry, hurtful words when you do speak.

2. Pray for the Lord to season your words with His grace and to tenderize your tongue before you speak.

3. Pray for the Lord to direct you in the timing of bringing up the issue.

4. Pray that both parties will not be sidetracked by bringing up past hurts.

5. Pray for both parties to be receptive to hear out the other person.

6. Pray for a quick and speedy resolve that is agreeable to both parties.

7. Pray for there not to be any resentment or bitter feelings once the conversation has taken place.

It is important to remember that while we may speak our mind, we must be careful to mind our manners in the process!

There are many reasons why it's good for the Lord to put a restraining order on our mouths.

1. When we speak too much, sin is often close behind.

(Prov. 10:19)

2. A harsh word can stir up anger. (Prov. 15:1)

3. We can be like the fool who gushes folly. (Prov. 15:2)

4. Sometimes our tongue can speak deceitful things. (Prov. 15:4)

5. In our anger and hurt, we can speak death to a relationship. (Prov. 18:21)

When the restraining order is in place, there can be positive results:

1. We will be wise and learn to hold our tongues. (Prov. 10:19)

2. Our soft answer will turn away wrath. (Prov. 15:1)

3. Our tongue will be filled with the fruit of knowledge.

(Prov. 15:2)

4. Our tongue can be a healing tree of life. (Prov. 15:4)

5. We will learn to speak words of life to those around us. (Prov. 18:21)

6. We will speak pleasant words that promote instruction, and are sweet to the soul. (Prov. 16:21,23-24)

So is getting a restraining order on your to-do list for the day?

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• Oct. 2, 2008 - I Want It!

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I Want It!

The tongue is a very hard thing to tame. James calls it a fire, a world of evil that is set on fire by hell. He calls it a restless evil that is filled with deadly poison. (Jas. 3:6-8)

Webster's Dictionary defines 'restless' as unable to relax, giving no rest, rarely quiet or still, or discontented. I don't know about you, but just seeing that definition in light of how I use my tongue, I'm getting convicted already!

When we find that we are unable to relax our tongue, we will find ourselves being quick to speak. Yet, James tells us that we should be slow to speak. (Jas. 1:19)

When we have a discontented tongue, it's hard to follow the admonition in Philippians to think upon the things which are lovely, true, just, pure, and excellent. We don't allow ourselves time to shut up long enough to count our blessings. That discontented tongue just has so much to say!

Another thing that a discontented tongue can do is make us like the quarrelsome wife, who is like a constant dripping. (Pr. 19:13) We fall into the habit of nagging, whining, complaining, and/or disrespecting our husband because we have become discontent with our lot in life. No wonder Proverbs 21:19 tells us that a man is better off in the desert than living with a quarrelsome woman! At least in the desert, he might find some peace and quiet.

When our tongue gives us no rest, we miss out on intimate moments with the Lord. He may be calling us to find rest for our weary souls. (Mt. 11:28-30) In John 10, Jesus tells us that His sheep listen to His voice. If our tongue gives us no rest, how can we hear His still, small voice?

In Pr. 31:26-27 we see that 'when' the virtuous woman speaks, her words are kind, giving wise counsel and instruction. The word 'when' implies that she isn't talking all of the time. She has learned to be silent at times. She also doesn't eat the bread of idleness. Idleness is a dangerous trap because when we become idle in our bodies, our tongue usually doesn't follow. Instead, it finds reason to gossip or even to wallow in self-pity because we are discontented. Those ultimately lead us to that place of having a restless tongue.

How do we stop this vicious cycle? It is certainly a hard one to break once we fall prey to it.

Is. 50:4 says that God has given me an instructed tongue so that I will know what to speak to the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, wakening my ear to listen to Him, like one who is being taught.

When we begin to honestly pray for God to give us an instructed tongue, we may find the resulting fruit:

1. Our kind words may cheer up someone. (Pr. 12:25)

2. Our lips will nourish many. (Pr. 10:21)

3. Our wise words will bring healing to others. (Pr. 12:18) In fact, our wise words may even bring healing to ourselves because we begin to speak the Word over our situation instead of speaking out of our fickle emotions.

4. Our words can become a fountain of life. (Pr. 10:11)

5. Wisdom will flow from us. (Pr. 10:13)

6. We will learn how to weigh our answers before we speak. (Pr. 15:28)

An instructed tongue.....I want it! How about you? Do you want it?

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• Oct. 2, 2008 - Don't Puke on Me!

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Don't Puke on Me!

Have you ever gone to church, looking to be spiritually refreshed, only to find that someone approaches you, and 'dumps' on you? What they had to say may have been gossip or slander. It may even be a comment that is very critical of you or someone whom you deeply respect. Maybe you've been trapped in a conversation with someone who is always moaning about life. They have to recite their weekly woes to anyone who gives them an audience. Suddenly, you find that the anticipation you had of being refreshed has been quenched. Now you are left with an unsettling feeling in your spirit. My former Sunday school teacher had a very apt description for this. He called it being 'puked on.'

We are admonished to speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. (Eph. 5:19) Our conversation should revolve around things that are noble, lovely, pure, right, excellent, virtuous, and praiseworthy. (Phil. 4:8)

While it's so easy to remember times when others have 'puked' on us, it's not so easy to force ourselves to recall times when we have done the 'puking.' We don't want to think that we could possibly have done that, but we need to evaluate what we let slip from our lips.

When our husband comes home, do we greet him joyfully? Or do we start unleashing all of the terrible events of the day, thus 'puking' on him, before he ever gets in the door?

When our children forget their chores again, do we patiently instruct them, giving clear guidelines, with consequences to follow for noncompliance? Or do we 'puke' on them, telling them how sick and tired we are of reminding them? Do we continue in our tirade, saying words that are emotionally abusive, making them feel worthless and devalued?

When we've had a spat with our husband just before heading out to the women's Bible study, do we enter the room and begin to 'puke' on all of the ladies who are attending the study? Do we proceed to carry on about what a moron our husband is? Do we 'puke' bitter, resentful words about him? So often, when there is a group of women, one bad comment can light a fire, quickly spreading to every woman there. (Jas. 3:6) Before we know it, the Bible study has turned into a man-bashing session.

Vomit is filled with bitter stomach acids and bile. It leaves a horrendous taste in our mouth. When we 'puke' spiritually, it leaves an awful, bitter feeling in our spirit. We will begin to feel disquieted and our sense of peace will be disrupted.

We are told in James 3:14-15 that harboring bitter envy and selfish ambition in our hearts is devilish and unspiritual. James knows that what is stored in our heart will eventually flow from our lips. (Lk. 6:45) When that happens, we have begun to 'puke.'

When we've been 'puked' on, we need to wash ourselves with the Word. (Eph. 5:26) When we've been guilty of doing the 'puking,' we can find a remedy for it in Psalm 51.

1. Ask God to blot out our sins.

2. Ask God to wash away our iniquities.

3. Acknowledge that we've sinned against Him.

4. Ask Him to cleanse us.

5. Ask God to create in us a pure heart.

6. Ask God to renew a right spirit within us.

7. Ask Him to restore to us the joy of our salvation.

8. Ask God to grant us a willing and obedient spirit.

9. Ask Him to open our lips to declare His praise.

10. Ask Him to give us a broken and contrite heart whenever we have sinned.

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• Oct. 2, 2008 - To Destroy or Build Up

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To Destroy or to Build up

I did a lesson with young children at church where I took in bubbles and the bubble wand. Of course they loved chasing the bubbles and trying to catch them. I ended the lesson with telling them to go get all of the bubbles and bring them back to me. They got the funniest expressions on their precious little faces! They told me that they couldn't do that. I explained how it's the same with words that come out of our mouths too. Once they are out there, we can't take them back. Oh sure, we can say that we are sorry, but wouldn't it be better if we had never said the words that required the apology in the first place?

James says in chapter 3 that a word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything - or destroy it! He then goes on to mention how just a spark can set off a forest fire, and compares our tongues to a fire - that with our speech we can turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, etc.

Prov. 6:2 says that we are snared by the words of our lips, caught by the speech of our mouths. -- Think about this: Sometimes we can be having a day where nothing is going right. We begin to say aloud that we can't do anything right. The enemy of our souls hears that, and TRAP! He's caught us, and sets a snare for us. The next thing we know, we are in the mindset that we are nothing but a failure. Our joy, peace, contentment, and over-all sense of well-being goes out the door in an instant.

Prov. 10:19 says that in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent. In the Webster's New World Dictionary, "prudent" means, "exercising sound judgment in practical matters, cautious in conduct, not rash, managing carefully." Oh, that we could all say that where our tongues are concerned.

Prov. 18:20 says that life and death are in the power of the tongue. There are so many ways in which our tongues can speak death. With our words, we can emotionally damage our children, we can kill a friendship, we can cause a huge wall to erupt in our relationship with our husbands (and in a matter of only a few words!), we can even cause physical ailments to come upon ourselves.....and the list goes on. There is a flip side to it though; our words can speak life to people too. (I like this part!) We can speak life to someone who is so discouraged that they don't feel they can go on. We can encourage our children in their struggles, or even encourage them in what we see as strengths for them. We can lift the spirits of our husbands who can carry such heavy loads at times.

Prov. 10:11 says that the mouth of the righteous man is a well of life.

Prov. 10:14 says that wise men store up knowledge in their heart and mind. Well, what is the wise man going to do with that knowledge? He can use it to speak life to those who need it.

Prov. 10:20 says that the tongues of those who are upright and in right standing with God are as choice silver (the best silver).

Father, may we daily make the choice to let our words be as choice silver, bringing life and joy to those to whom we speak. Amen.

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• Oct. 1, 2008 - Are you Balanced?

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Are You Balanced?

"I want you to get out there and walk - better yet, run! - on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline - not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences." Eph. 4:1-3 (Message Bible)

I have heard different runners mention that when running a marathon, they reach a point where they just don't think they can go any more. The key is pushing themselves past that mental and physical brick wall, and keep running. Many have testified to getting a second wind shortly after this happens. The sudden surge of energy gives them the much-needed stamina to make it to the finish line.

The above verse mentions that we must be disciplined, not given to "fits and starts." With having hypoglycemia, I can testify to the benefits of being disciplined. If I stay on course and eat proper meals throughout the day, I can continue on track with the day's agenda. Some mornings I may wake up and be hit with a "cleaning attack." I want to tear into the house, taking a break only long enough to get a drink. If I don't listen to my body, I won't take time for my midmorning snack. The results are disastrous. I get very crabby, short-fused, disoriented, confused, tired, and am easily moved to tears. My energy has disappeared, and it won't be easy to recapture it. What had started out being a very productive day has become a day where I am spending a lot of time trying to balance my sugar, not to mention finding the time to take a much-needed nap. In these times, I find it very easy to spew unkind, ugly words. Then I must repent to those who I have wounded with my mouth, and also repent to the Lord for my unkind words, not to mention for abusing my temple and not keeping it in balance.

In our spiritual walk, it's the same. When we get too focused on our own agenda instead of listening to see what God's agenda is, we can quickly be zapped of any spiritual zeal. If we don't take the time to partake of the meat of God's Word, thereby keeping ourselves balanced, we will find ourselves falling into carnal habits. You can only give out what you put into yourself. Too often we try to continue doing good things, but we have no spiritual fuel left in us.

Some of the results of not staying spiritually balanced are putting our focus on things instead of people, focusing on the to-do list rather than on "do unto others." We will stray down wrong paths, following our emotions instead of using godly wisdom in our decisions. Instead of mending fences, we go about breaking them because we have failed to let God's love flow through us. We find that our spiritual fervor is waning. We may even find ourselves lonely - lonely for God's presence, yet we try to fill the void with food, shopping, fellowship, the Internet, watching TV, and numerous other vain pursuits.

It's time to come back to rest and repentance. We need to sit down and eat at the Father's table again. He's holding out an invitation to you to come and dine. What are you going to do with it?

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