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:
17 Let not thine
heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Proverbs 23:17-18 (AMP):
17 Let not your heart envy
sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the
day long.
18 For surely there is a latter end (a future and a reward), and your hope and
expectation shall not be cut off.
Thoughts for the Day:
These verses in Proverbs advise us not to
envy what sinners may have today; for in time, as Christians, our
rewards will come. Some Christians are
troubled by the fact that many times sinners have an abundance of
material goods and are free from trouble, while there are many
righteous who struggle from day to day. We are told in these verses that we should
not envy or covet what others may have, as the Lord will reward His
own in due time. There are other scriptures that tell us the same
thing.
Psalm 37:1-7:
1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be
thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the
green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and
verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring
it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself
because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who
bringeth wicked devices to pass.
One reason that we, as Christians, are called on to wait for our blessings, is
so that the character of the Lord may be formed in us. We are to walk in
the fruit of the Spirit, and fruit can only be developed over a period of time.
The fruit of the Spirit is listed in the following verses:
Galatians
5:22-23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
"Longsuffering" or
"patience" is one of those fruits that takes time to develop. Patience is one of
the attributes of God that we all appreciate when He is dealing with us. If we
are to be like Him, we must also attain this virtue. This verse does not say "short"
suffering, but rather, "long" suffering. What does "suffering for
Christ" involve?
True suffering for Christ is always by choice. It
involves laying down our lives for others. Jesus' suffering and death on
the cross is the greatest example of suffering for others. He said in
John 10:17-18: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of my Father." Jesus
suffered because He chose to do so. Paul, in the New Testament, is
another example of willful suffering for Christ, as he too chose to
suffer. He could have refused, but rather chose to obey God.
How do we suffer for Christ today? Some examples of
godly suffering for Christ would be the following: We suffer for Christ,
by staying in a hard place, rather than fleeing, in hopes that
redemption might come to those that misunderstand us. We suffer for
Christ when we choose to fast instead of eat; when we leave our
comfortable homes and go to mission fields that are filthy and
spiritually dark;
when we turn the other cheek; when we pay a bill that is not our own;
when we "go the second mile"; when we rise at the midnight hour to pray;
and when we minister to others when it is not convenient for us. There
are many forms of suffering that are just as valid as the stripes Paul
bore for the Lord's sake. We can endure emotional and physical pain, as
we give up the things we could have in this world for the kingdom of
God's sake.
However, suffering with sickness is not a form of
suffering for Christ, as Jesus paid the price on Calvary not only for
our sin, but also for our sickness. The word in the Greek, "sozo," is
used interchangeably to mean "to save" and "to heal" throughout the New
Testament. He does not want us to keep our sickness any more than He
wants us to keep our sin. If He paid for it on the cross, then we do not
have to bear it today.
Isaiah 53:5:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed.
Perhaps one of the things that causes us to think that
God is behind all suffering is that we do not understand the different
forms of suffering. (Keep in mind the Greek word for suffering means to
"bear" or "endure.") When we first come to the Lord, most of our
suffering is because we have broken spiritual and physical laws.
Therefore, we are suffering as a result of these broken laws. This form
of suffering comes upon the Christian and the non-Christian alike.
However, if we walk with the Lord He will lead us out of this kind of
suffering as it is the result of sin. Jesus suffered on the cross to
relieve us of this. Types of this suffering would be sickness,
depression, fear, poverty, filth, torment, emotional pain stemming from
divorce or broken relationships, anxiety, loneliness, grief, stress,
disorder, confusion, etc.
Other forms of suffering are seen in those Christians
who live godly lives, and due to this, they suffer the abuse of those
who falsely accuse them. Their flesh aches as they resist the
temptations of sin; they leave family and friends because their hearts
hurt to take the message of Christ to others; and some suffer being
"unequally yoked" with unsaved mates. I Peter 4:15-16 says:
"But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an
evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this
behalf." Verse 19 states, "Wherefore let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in
well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."
Here are two verses that tell us we have a great
reward in heaven when we follow the Lord and have a reverent fear for
the things of God.
Matthew 5:11-12:
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Psalm 19:9-11:
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the
LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there
is great reward.
|