Devotional Thoughts

Proverbs 12:25    "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad." Solomon had much to say about the spoken word. Paul was inspired to write that we are to "confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts" that God has raised Jesus from the dead. He said, "Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." Jesus said we are to "confess Him before men...." (Luke 12:8)  Yes, our words are very important. We saw yesterday that they can feed life into another or they can cause heaviness.  How do we work against that heaviness of heart hits us?  When I ask that question, my mind immediately thought about hoping for someone to come along and say something nice to me. That's a good thing when it happens, but it doesn't always work that way. So, how can I combat a heavy heart when it hits home? God gave us the answer through Solomon, "... a good word maketh it glad."  That good word does not always h...

Genesis 34:1-2    "And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her." Genesis 34:6-9    "And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you."   Genesis 34:20-23    "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefor...

Proverbs 12:18    "There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health." We quite often hear people speaking of being offended. According to this passage of Scripture, there are those words that offend, or pierce even to the very heart. We seem to live in a time when some are not as diligent as they should be concerning the words that are spoken. It seems to be fashionable to speak the mind, no matter what comes out of the mouth. Words can speak life into another person or they can tear down. We probably have all experienced both of those kinds of words spoken to us. It seems the only defense against hurtful words is to put on the whole armour of God each morning and wear it boldly. But this morning, as I read the words of Proverbs 12:18, my heart is saying that I need to be careful with my words so that I am not the offender. I want to speak words that build up rather than tear down. If I must speak words of correction, may I do it in s...

Genesis 33:11-15    "Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord." Jacob had sent a great flock before him as a gift to Esau. In a previous verse, Esau had told Jacob to keep the gift. Esau assured him that he had plenty and did not need any portion of Jacob’s ...

Proverbs 12:11    "He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding." Many of the Proverbs are short and straight to the point, such as today's passage of Scripture.  In the world, there are "dreamers" and there are "do'ers". That is the subject of today's verse. There is a saying that generally holds true, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is." In other words, if it sounds like you can get rich quickly without doing anything to get the money, it probably leads you down a dead end road.  There are those who are constantly looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They always come up short. On the other hand, the Lord says there is satisfaction if we will be content in being constant in doing a good job. There are good results in doing a good day's work. Not only is there bread to eat, but there is a good feeling when we are contributi...