“Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.” Proverbs 20:30 NKJV
RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen
BIBLE READING:
Dear Heavenly Father – Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. Open the eyes of our understanding, please, so we may know the hope of our calling and the vast sovereignty and power of the grace of the cross. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. Lord, I pray that your word prepares us and not scares us! We forbid the works and influences of fear over your word and our sound mind. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen
Today’s reading is the Book of Proverbs chapter 20 (embedded below for your convenience in the NKJV).
Wine Is a Mocker
20 Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The [a]wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim each his own [b]goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
7 The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
11 Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made them both.
13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 “It is [c]good for nothing,” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, “I will [d]recompense evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the [e]inner depths of his heart.
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by [f]lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the [g]inner depths of the heart.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:2 Lit. fear or terror, produced by the king’s wrath
- Proverbs 20:6 Lit. mercy
- Proverbs 20:14 Lit. evil, evil
- Proverbs 20:22 repay
- Proverbs 20:27 Lit. rooms of the belly
- Proverbs 20:28 mercy
- Proverbs 20:30 Lit. rooms of the belly
MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE:
Proverbs 3:5-6- “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”
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Thank you for reading in 2022 – a Year of Wisdom and Salvation
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!
If Not For Grace 