Do you measure up? In His Word 9-6-21

 Thoughts to ponder today as you walk with the Lord in your life...

Do you ever wonder if your actions each day are making the Lord proud of you? Do you think your life is making the Lord rejoice and be glad? How can we know what to do in order to be sure we are pleasing Him?

Lets look -in His Word!

 

My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice -- indeed, I myself; Yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things.

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.  Do not mix with winebibbers,

Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;  For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags...also wisdom and instruction and understanding. 

Proverbs 23:15-24 (nkjv)

Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.  Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.

The father of a righteous man has great joy;

 Proverbs 23:23-24 (niv)

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."

Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word."

 Jeremiah 1:11-12 (nkjv)

For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.                      2 Peter 1:16-18 (nkjv)

 

         When we as parents look at our children and see them making the right choices it makes us proud. In the same way I believe when we make the right choices, we make our heavenly Father proud of us. 
         How do we know if we are making the right choice as appeased to the one, we think is right but turns out to be wrong? Let’s think on this a moment and see what the scriptures tell us…

 

Proverbs 23:15 “… if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice…”

Ps 111:10   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

 

Here we see that we need to have a wise heart in order to cause God to rejoice in us. Also we can see that with the fear of the Lord we begin to receive wisdom, and that if we do His will in our lives we are showing that we have good understanding of what He wants of us.

         We are told in Proverbs 23 also to buy the truth and to get wisdom, instruction and understanding. These are all things that will help us to grow closer to God, and to give Him pleasure.

When we have wisdom, we can choose wisely, thus pleasing Him with our actions.

 

When we have instruction or discipline as some versions say, we can learn what it takes to behave in a manner that will be pleasing to our Lord.

 

When we have understanding, we can know why, how, when to do what He would have us do.

There is one more thing we need though… for without it, it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 

         I think it is funny but everything we study on seems to come back to trusting God. Because faith is trusting in God. Trusting Him to give us eternal life, to help us out of sticky situations, to guide us in our life’s path. We have trusted Him with our hearts, when we invited Him into our lives, but have we really begun to trust Him with our lives yet?

         Trusting Him, will please Him.

         Once there was a family who went camping. They found a great spot near a river and enjoyed playing at the water’s edge with float toys and life vests and just plane splashing one another.  The second day came, and the water picked up some speed and a current stopped the family from playing so far out.

         Little Joe was knee deep in the water looking for a special rock when all of a sudden, he stepped wrong and fell in. “Help Mommy!” he yelled.

         Mommy who was right beside him reached out but missed his little hand as he was swept along in the current.

         She called to daddy who came running at an angle toward the bend in the river.  He reached the corner before the little guy did and stretched out his and towards the now clinging to a branch twig shaking and crying little boy.

         “Daddy save me!” he cried.

         “ Reach out to my hand son, I will grab your arm and pull you out.” The daddy assured his little boy.

         But the little boy was terrified and afraid to let go. “But, Daddy, if I let go, I will float away again!” he shouted at his daddy wondering what on earth daddy had been thinking! Letting go meant not having the safety of the branch, he was not going to let go… daddy would need to come to him right were he was.

         “Joey, I can come closer if that will help, but those branches above you are preventing me from reaching you right where you are. Son, you chose a shelter that was too close to danger. You will have to trust me and let go eventually.”

         “No-o-o! I can’t let go I will float away and you have to come closer, just duck and squeeze through the branches daddy you can get to me.”

         “Son,” the daddy got as close as he could but still could not quite reach the child. After studying the current again, he could tell it was going to get worse if his son did not let go soon. If he stood where he was the water would cover him soon and the boy would be trapped in the branches forever! If he let go right now he would float into his daddy and into his arms to safety. A small boy could not know the current was going a certain way, but the daddy could see from his point of view. “Let go of the twig, and you will float straight to daddy. I promise you I will not let you float away son.”

         Then Joey closed his eyes and let go. In the instant he released the branch he was whooshed downstream six feet into his daddy’s waiting arms.

         “I told you son; I would never let you float away! I love you!” the daddy told him as they walked out of the water and into the waiting towel his mommy was waiting nearby to dry him off with.

         “I am so proud of you son, you were afraid, but you still let go and trusted me to catch you.”

Joey looked up at his daddy’s smile and smiled one back as big if not bigger!

This story shows us how even when we don’t see what we need to know in order to trust God, we need to trust Him. In Trusting Him, we please Him!

         Do you trust Him today? Do you trust Him to show you what to read in the Word, or what to do with that last dollar in your purse? Should you waist it on a lottery ticket or buy a carton of eggs? Give God a chance and He will show you the way to please Him. In all we do we need to work to please our Lord. 

So, to please God, we need to do what He says in His Word. Trust Him and obey His commands. That seems like a lot, but it can be simple if we remember to include Him in our obedience! Ask Him to help you to obey, to trust and to do what He says. Just as the father in the story was there waiting and maneuvering himself to help, when we trust God, really trust Him, we can let go and float on the water into His loving arms!

         Dear Heavenly Father, Help me today to release the branches that are holding me back. Help me to be pleasing in Your sight and to do what You would have me do with my life. Help me to be a good wife, mother and to be obedient to Your Will and Your Word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Suggested Readings for this week;

Monday: 2 Peter 1:1-21

Tuesday:  Hebrews 11:all

Wednesday: Psalm 111-all

Thursday: Romans 8:1-17

Friday: 1Thessalonians 4:1-18

 Weekend readings: Titus- all of the chapters are short and so is the book. Be encouraged today!

***If for any reason you choose ever not to receive this devotion again please remember that all it takes is replying with a "Please remove me from this list." I do ask that if there is a problem with anything I write for you to feel free to write me back and let me know what the problem was, that we might go over it together and seek the truth in love.

In His love,

Teresa M. Wilson