Our Daily Bread Today Proverbs 21 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Proverbs 21:1-31
1The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he turns it wherever he pleases.
2People may think they are doing what is right, but the LORD examines the heart.
3The LORD is more pleased when we do what is just and right than when we give him sacrifices.
4Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin.
5Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
6Wealth created by lying is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap. F32
7Because the wicked refuse to do what is just, their violence boomerangs and destroys them.
8The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.
9It is better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a contentious wife in a lovely home.
10Evil people love to harm others; their neighbors get no mercy from them.
11A simpleton can learn only by seeing mockers punished; a wise person learns from instruction.
12The Righteous One F33 knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring the wicked to disaster.
13Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.
14A secret gift calms anger; a secret bribe pacifies fury.
15Justice is a joy to the godly, but it causes dismay among evildoers.
16The person who strays from common sense will end up in the company of the dead.
17Those who love pleasure become poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches.
18Sometimes the wicked are punished to save the godly, and the treacherous for the upright.
19It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife.
20The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.
21Whoever pursues godliness and unfailing love will find life, godliness, and honor.
22The wise conquer the city of the strong and level the fortress in which they trust.
23If you keep your mouth shut, you will stay out of trouble.
24Mockers are proud and haughty; they act with boundless arrogance.
25The desires of lazy people will be their ruin, for their hands refuse to work. 26They are always greedy for more, while the godly love to give!
27God loathes the sacrifice of an evil person, especially when it is brought with ulterior motives.
28A false witness will be cut off, but an attentive witness will be allowed to speak.
29The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright proceed with care.
30Human plans, no matter how wise or well advised, cannot stand against the LORD.
31The horses are prepared for battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.
FOOTNOTES:F32: As in Greek version; Hebrew reads mist for those who seek death. F33: Or The righteous man.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
The first 4 verses are about Jesus being Lord or being in competition with you. Lord, means He has His way, and you do what he wants. You change your desire, You ask for your desires to be changed that your will and His will would be one will. You do what is right in His eyes, You find out what His will is and you adapt your life towards doing it.
One way towards heading in the direction, is to find the will in the word, then through prayer ask for help to desire it and change your life towards it. sincerity of heart and desire will go a long way.
Another help God gives us is the body of Christ, and other Christian people who may have won these battles before us and can help us also. If we give an account to others, we may not have to give one to God in the future of judgments later on. That takes humility, a genuine stance towards change. A desperation of whatever it takes Lord! Haughtiness will always stand in the way of this and tell you you are your own man, no one can tell you what to do and you can do whatever you want.
Be aware, if we do whatever is right in our own eyes now, it will not be well with us later on. I always remind myself of the scripture where Jesus spoke to well meaning Christians saying, I did not know you, depart from me, you work evil! Why would He say that? They put on airs, looking as though they were good people, but in their hearts and in their religious actions, their only intent was to do what they believed they were to do, and there was a rebellious nature within, telling them to not ever allow anyone else, even those sent by God, to tell them anything else except what God was personally telling them. That is so ungodly. Prov. in another place says, inside of a multitude of council there is wisdom. When a person stands alone before God here on earth, they can error in their own hearing, because we hear through the filter of the experiences of our souls, and we can be off, way off, and if we stand alone we won’t even be corrected, ever. A wise person learns from instruction, where does that instruction come from? His own spirit, his own soul? The word of God? God sets tutors and governors over us to bring us to maturity, he sets us in a body of believers, he uses men to help us see what the words mean. This is his way, if it were not, He would have made one human and that would have been it.
The wisdom of God is to give one’s life over to discipleship, to come under the tutelage of others. That takes a tremendous amount of humility.
What if what they say to you to do is not something you especially like to do? What if they offend you? What if they are not yet perfected? What if they err? Those questions have trust issues and we all just need to trust God while we follow men. They are imperfect, so we trust Him, He’ll take care of their imperfections, because I complain about them to Him? No, because I’m in a serving position and therefore God is protecting me, and in serving, I pray for them and I watch God do His awesome work in them, they are a bit ahead of me, as I watch his work in them I want to follow more, I’m following their heart in being able to find God in everyplace and trial and situation. I follow their repentance, or if they lack it I pray and watch God even turn a rebellious nature around.
Following men, leads us to follow God Himself.
Our daughter is off at a Youth Pastor Internship Program. When they arrived and had orientation, they were told to pack a few things and they’d be off for a retreat, unlike any they’d ever been on. They needed good sneakers and grubby clothes. They got in a caravan and set off for the “retreat”. It was a 2- 3 day ordeal. The kids were thinking that maybe they’d have some time off with God, kind of like an Encounter, where you bask in the presence and in the love of God. The first night they were fed and oriented at the place. They were told something like , this is your last meal here. Now because they were thinking they might be on an Encounter with the Lord, and these kids were of the discipleship nature, they probably thought, ok, we’re fasting! Not a biggie, right?
That night in the wee hours they were awakened by their leaders and brought out to do push ups! Then they got to run a few miles… They went back to sleep a bit and were awakened at the crack of dawn to run some more, and do more. As the days went on they were told to assemble teams and do certain things as a team, if any one on the team failed the whole team was “punished” by callisthenic exercises! Are we having fun yet? Boot Camp-Encounter baby!
I have a picture of my daughter doing push ups, with a 150 lb teammate on her back, she captioned it, “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!”
I cried so hard. Can I do that? Even a stupid practical thing like running, or like fasting, or being a part of a team and succeeding? Can I, Can we? Can I follow another’s will? Can you? If you/I/we cannot follow the will of a person here on earth, we cannot follow the will of God! If we won’t listen to authority set in our lives by God, and do any little or big thing they ask, we will not follow God. There is a scripture tht says, do not be deceived, if you say you love God but do not love your brother who you see, you lie, you are a liar and truth, real truth, not self made up truth, what is right to me truth, is NOT in you!
Our daughter came out of that weekend with such a core trust inside of her being. When she could not do anymore, he could, when she could not get along with people, He broke her barriers for the greater good, and she learned to sacrifice. When she thought, ahh hogwash I can do this, consistently, she found herself unable in herself. That is when the trust level of believing for the power of God most High came through. She found out if she really believed, and found out she did, more than ever.
Get with people, become a disciple, do a few things you do not want to do, yield your will to others, you’ll find out if you believe, what you believe and how you believe and you’ll allow your belief level to increase and be changed into His image!


Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored. 19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.