Read Proverbs 15
Proverbs 5:15
Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
A cistern is a large vessel which is used to hold a reserve of water for household needs.
The theme of faithfulness in a marriage is peppered throughout the book of Proverbs. For Solomon, known for his consortium of many foreign wives as much as his wisdom, it is kind of bitter-sweet advice. Biblical history shows that Solomon was led astray in his faith by his many vies.
God detests marital infidelity for it is a breaking of a covenant between man and wife.
In modern society, it is not unusual for married people to flirt around without feeling guilty. However, this is not to be so for the Christians. What is harmless is a slippery slope toward adultery. Many marriages are wrecked not because the spouse deliberately sets out to have an affair. It is the unconscious, unguarded care one displays toward another person of the opposite sex which later develops into a tangled relationship.
There is something to be said of a relationship that has been given time to grow, bloom and weather the passing of time. It is rich trust with an abiding appreciation for the other party. It may be devoid of the ‘high’ feeling (which does not last anyway) but it is a reliable assurance that our special someone will stick to us through the end.
In the end, your spouse becomes your friend, confidant, lover and wife/husband all rolled-into-one. He or she is to be treasured because he/she has seen the best of you and the worst of you and still chooses to stay with you.
Does he/she meet all your needs? No. But so will not another new woman/man. Yet the spouse that walked with you down the aisle and promised you ‘till death do us part” is sufficient and enough for you – he is the best incomplete fit for an incomplete you.
I speak so as one who has been married for near 19 years.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Que Sera Sera??
Proverbs 4: 24-27
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
A friend of mine testified that he was surrounded by obscene talks all the time. Even though he did not participate in those conversations, it wore him down every day for a period of time. Cursing and the misuse of Christ’s name was the dialect among his friends. Not wanting to be the odd one out, he hung out with these people until one day the perversity of these conversations ceased to offend or disturb him. Then one day he was woken up by his wife from his sleep. His wife told him that he had been talking in his sleep for the past few nights. But what was appalling to the wife was that he was cursing all kinds of obscenity in his sleep!
Even though consciously my friend had avoided all kinds of contamination from his own mouth, the company he kept has had an impact on him. The realization so shook him up that he told his friends about his struggle and desire to be holy. To his surprise, his friends respected his wish and became careful with their language whenever he was around. Those who were offended by his confession just ceased to hang out with him. My friend was glad because he said, “I found out who are my true friends that day.”
We are to give careful thought to the path ahead of us – to be deliberate and weigh the consequences of how our lives will turn out if we continue with our present association and route. Life is afterall not just an accident. It is a result of our choices and decisions made along the way.
Verse 27 continues the admonition to ‘be steadfast in all your ways’ – it is the presupposition that we have already decided what is the right way to go – and to keep at the decided decision (forgive the double emphasis).
So if you have been living with a “Que Sera Sera” kind of attitude – whatever will be will be – it is not a biblical way. The God-anointed way of living is to know the truth, decide to follow the true way of integrity and then keep at it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
A friend of mine testified that he was surrounded by obscene talks all the time. Even though he did not participate in those conversations, it wore him down every day for a period of time. Cursing and the misuse of Christ’s name was the dialect among his friends. Not wanting to be the odd one out, he hung out with these people until one day the perversity of these conversations ceased to offend or disturb him. Then one day he was woken up by his wife from his sleep. His wife told him that he had been talking in his sleep for the past few nights. But what was appalling to the wife was that he was cursing all kinds of obscenity in his sleep!
Even though consciously my friend had avoided all kinds of contamination from his own mouth, the company he kept has had an impact on him. The realization so shook him up that he told his friends about his struggle and desire to be holy. To his surprise, his friends respected his wish and became careful with their language whenever he was around. Those who were offended by his confession just ceased to hang out with him. My friend was glad because he said, “I found out who are my true friends that day.”
We are to give careful thought to the path ahead of us – to be deliberate and weigh the consequences of how our lives will turn out if we continue with our present association and route. Life is afterall not just an accident. It is a result of our choices and decisions made along the way.
Verse 27 continues the admonition to ‘be steadfast in all your ways’ – it is the presupposition that we have already decided what is the right way to go – and to keep at the decided decision (forgive the double emphasis).
So if you have been living with a “Que Sera Sera” kind of attitude – whatever will be will be – it is not a biblical way. The God-anointed way of living is to know the truth, decide to follow the true way of integrity and then keep at it.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Guard Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
We are to barricade our heart against anything or anyone else that seek to claim it.
Our heart belongs to God alone and no one else. No one should be given the right into our heart except God. Only God, our Creator and Maker can have the permission to lead, guide and instruct our heart.
There are many claimants to our heart but they can only possess it with our permission. If something or someone has taken hold of it, it is because we have let down our “heart-gate” and let it or him/her in.
Christianity is all about Christ possessing us, having every bit and corner of us. There is nowhere and no place in our lives in which God has no occupation of.
To love God with all our heart means that there is no room for others. God is a jealous God and there is no one worthy enough to be His rival in love.
Pierce the heart and one dies. Capture the heart and dominion over the person is completed. Out of the heart come all our motives, desires and motivations. That is why we must safeguard it. We must diligently and consciously protect it from invasions other than God.
Does safeguarding our heart make us callous and cold? Far from it.
If God is the only Captain of our heart, we will love more, care more and usually cry more. Yet the people we love, the things we care about do not have the power to lead us. We are not ordered by these fallible beings or fickle issues but our heartstrings are pulled and our decisions are based on the eternal loving God.
Guard our heart against anything or anyone who seeks to command it for it belongs to God and God alone. Only He is worthy and wise enough to direct our paths.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
We are to barricade our heart against anything or anyone else that seek to claim it.
Our heart belongs to God alone and no one else. No one should be given the right into our heart except God. Only God, our Creator and Maker can have the permission to lead, guide and instruct our heart.
There are many claimants to our heart but they can only possess it with our permission. If something or someone has taken hold of it, it is because we have let down our “heart-gate” and let it or him/her in.
Christianity is all about Christ possessing us, having every bit and corner of us. There is nowhere and no place in our lives in which God has no occupation of.
To love God with all our heart means that there is no room for others. God is a jealous God and there is no one worthy enough to be His rival in love.
Pierce the heart and one dies. Capture the heart and dominion over the person is completed. Out of the heart come all our motives, desires and motivations. That is why we must safeguard it. We must diligently and consciously protect it from invasions other than God.
Does safeguarding our heart make us callous and cold? Far from it.
If God is the only Captain of our heart, we will love more, care more and usually cry more. Yet the people we love, the things we care about do not have the power to lead us. We are not ordered by these fallible beings or fickle issues but our heartstrings are pulled and our decisions are based on the eternal loving God.
Guard our heart against anything or anyone who seeks to command it for it belongs to God and God alone. Only He is worthy and wise enough to direct our paths.
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Battle is On!
May 22, 2011
Yesterday, May 21 was supposed to be Judgment Day.
There was supposed to be a giant earthquake yesterday too - according to Harold Camping, a retired civil engineer who founded a California-based evangelical Christian radio. Again according to Camping, all non-believers would be dead by October 21.
So is Camping a false prophet? This we know at least – that he will not be the last evangelist to claim the foreknowledge of Christ’s second coming. Funny that they should know what even Christ does not,
Matt 24:36
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The Bible says that He might come back any time, but we do not know the exact time.
Instead of going into wild and interesting speculations of end-times prophecies, the Bible tells us to be alert for signs that points to His imminent return. The signs are there since Christ’s time – escalating natural catastrophes, heightening lawlessness and intensifying sinfulness.
Is Christ’s return very soon? Yes. Satan knows that and he is working overtime to oppose God. The devil believes God and is on an assault to win. He is waging terrorism, guerrilla and even open warfare to capture the souls of men. And the only army to stop him is the CHURCH.
The church is in a spiritual warfare. Jesus, our military Commander has defeated the enemy, Satan but he is fighting back. The stakes are high and the battle is fierce. But we must not back down nor bow out.
We must clean up our act, wake up from our sleep and stay alert and vigilant for the fight is on!
Yesterday, May 21 was supposed to be Judgment Day.
There was supposed to be a giant earthquake yesterday too - according to Harold Camping, a retired civil engineer who founded a California-based evangelical Christian radio. Again according to Camping, all non-believers would be dead by October 21.
So is Camping a false prophet? This we know at least – that he will not be the last evangelist to claim the foreknowledge of Christ’s second coming. Funny that they should know what even Christ does not,
Matt 24:36
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The Bible says that He might come back any time, but we do not know the exact time.
Instead of going into wild and interesting speculations of end-times prophecies, the Bible tells us to be alert for signs that points to His imminent return. The signs are there since Christ’s time – escalating natural catastrophes, heightening lawlessness and intensifying sinfulness.
Is Christ’s return very soon? Yes. Satan knows that and he is working overtime to oppose God. The devil believes God and is on an assault to win. He is waging terrorism, guerrilla and even open warfare to capture the souls of men. And the only army to stop him is the CHURCH.
The church is in a spiritual warfare. Jesus, our military Commander has defeated the enemy, Satan but he is fighting back. The stakes are high and the battle is fierce. But we must not back down nor bow out.
We must clean up our act, wake up from our sleep and stay alert and vigilant for the fight is on!
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