Daily Devotional
Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the
Bible.
The Wisdom of God
Verses for the Day:
Proverbs 11:4-6 (KJV):
4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his
own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in
their own naughtiness.
Thoughts for the Day:
Throughout the book of Proverbs, we are presented with the blessings of righteousness,
versus the consequences of evil. In verse 4 we are told that in the day of
God’s wrath, the riches of this world will not help anyone who is wicked. Those who
are sinners and are trusting in their riches have heaped up the wrath if God against them.
Money cannot buy health or save someone’s life.
The Bible says that we are to seek the true riches of God, not the riches of this
world. His riches are things that money cannot buy. How can money deliver a wayward
teenager from drugs and sin? How can money buy peace in our souls in the face of fear all
about us? How can money keep a marriage together? How can money save a soul from hell?
Only God’s riches are available to do these things.
Certainly God does want to bless us with material things, but it will be Him that we
are seeking when these things come, not the things themselves. Many today are seeking God
for what He can do for them, instead of seeking God, asking what they can do for Him.
Matthew 6:31-33 tells us, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you."
The Lord tells us here to take no thought as to what we shall eat, drink or wear.
Certainly it is good to ask the Lord for our daily needs, as our Lord prayed in the model
prayer in Matthew 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread."
However, our main emphasis should be upon seeking God’s kingdom and praying for the
material things needed that would advance His kingdom first. Jesus said that if we seek
His kingdom and righteousness first, we will suffer no lack.
We are told to be more concerned about having God’s righteousness in us, than
about having material things. If we seek Him first, He will supply for us materially in a
beautiful way. He knows we have need of the things of the world because we live in the
world. He wants to bless us with these things, even as we like to give our children gifts
and take care of them.
The Bible says that life and death are in the power of God. We can choose to follow God
and receive His blessings or we can choose to disobey and reject Him–and thus be in
the danger of perishing. The Bible tells us that if we walk in God’s ways we will be
delivered from death, hell and the grave.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20:
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to
keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and
multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess
it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and
worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not
prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that
thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou
mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and
to Jacob, to give them.
In verses 5 and 6 of our daily verse today in
Proverbs, it says that those who are upright and perfect in God will be directed by God
and delivered in their day of need, while the wicked will reap what they have sown. God
does not bring evil upon us. We bring evil things upon ourselves by our own sin and
waywardness. When we get out of the will of God, we are in the enemy’s territory and
are therefore exposed to his attacks against us. In every situation that you and I face,
we need to be willing to do whatever the Lord thinks best for us. This is what it means to
be totally committed to His will. He sees the future and he knows better that we what is
the best for us.
Many times we are tempted to hold on to our "things," thinking that they
provide security for us at that moment. However, things change and the very things that we
hold on to, by refusing to give them to the Lord will be lost anyway. Satan, the robber
and thief, gains access to them because they do not belong to God. The only safe place for
the things we love is in the hands of the Lord. If they belong to Him, then the devil has
no right to them. If they do not, then Satan can ravage them. The Lord is a good Father.
If He asks us to let go of anything, it is because it would be harmful to us, not just
because He wants to deny us something. He wants to give us something better. His riches
are beyond the things of this world.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You are my Father. You are
so kind and patient with me. Lord, I do want You to work in my life and set me free from
all weakness and sin. Cleanse my heart and deliver me from all that offends You. Give me a
heart of forgiveness for those who have hurt me. Lord, I do want your nature to be formed
in me. I offer my life to You again today to die to my own way and live to Yours. I trust
that You have the best plan for me and that You will give me the grace and the faith to
walk in that plan. Fill me with your love today and use my life to bring glory to You. I
ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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