Proverbs 30 Today's Daily Bread

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 30:1-33

1The skeptic swore, "There is no God! No God!-I can do anything I want!
2I'm more animal than human; so-called human intelligence escapes me.
3"I flunked "wisdom.' I see no evidence of a holy God.
4Has anyone ever seen Anyone climb into Heaven and take charge? Grab the winds and control them? Gather the rains in his bucket? Stake out the ends of the earth? Just tell me his name, tell me the names of his sons. Come on now--tell me!"
5The believer replied, "Every promise of God proves true; he protects everyone who runs to him for help. 6So don't second-guess him; he might take you to task and show up your lies."
7And then he prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things before I die; don't refuse me-- 8Banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence. Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. 9If I'm too full, I might get independent, saying, "God? Who needs him?' If I'm poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God."
10Don't blow the whistle on your fellow workers behind their backs; They'll accuse you of being underhanded, and then you'll be the guilty one!
11Don't curse your father or fail to bless your mother.
12Don't imagine yourself to be quite presentable when you haven't had a bath in weeks. Don't be stuck-up and think you're better than everyone else.
14Don't be greedy, merciless and cruel as wolves, Tearing into the poor and feasting on them, shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them. 15A leech has twin daughters named "Gimme" and "Gimme more." Three things are never satisfied, no, there are four that never say, "That's enough, thank you!"
Four Insatiables
16 Hell, a barren womb, a parched land, a forest fire.
17An eye that disdains a father and despises a mother-- that eye will be plucked out by wild vultures and consumed by young eagles.
Four Mysteries
18Three things amaze me, no, four things I'll never understand
19how an eagle flies so high in the sky, how a snake glides over a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, why adolescents act the way they do.
20Here's how a prostitute operates: she has sex with her client, Takes a bath, then asks, "Who's next?"
Four Intolerables
21Three things are too much for even the earth to bear, yes, four things shake its foundations
22when the janitor becomes the boss, when a fool gets rich, 23when a whore is voted "woman of the year," when a "girlfriend" replaces a faithful wife.
Four Small Wonders
24There are four small creatures, wisest of the wise they are 25ants--frail as they are, get plenty of food in for the winter;
26marmots--vulnerable as they are, manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;
27locusts--leaderless insects, yet they strip the field like an army regiment;
28lizards--easy enough to catch, but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.
Four Dignitaries
29There are three solemn dignitaries, four that are impressive in their bearing
30a lion, king of the beasts, deferring to none;
31a rooster, proud and strutting; a billy goat; a head of state in stately procession.
32If you're dumb enough to call attention to yourself by offending people and making rude gestures,
33Don't be surprised if someone bloodies your nose. Churned milk turns into butter; riled emotions turn into fist fights.

Copyright Statement: THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary LanguageThis edition issued by contractual arrangement with NavPress, a division of The Navigators, U.S.A.Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language Copyright © 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’
Evidence of faith is action. I will show you my faith by my works. Faith works by love. Meaning if one is love, they will act in faith, they will put action to faith. Love is the driving motivator.
Wisdom is knowledge applied. Lack of applied knowledge is foolishness, in that one ends up blaming everyone else for the consequences they find themselves in, yet without applied knowledge there are no good results.
God is not a magician, to do our words at our bidding. The way our words become powerful is when we do what God has said, believing Him at His words. If we have faith in His words, believe that He is great and awesome, we will do His words. That is faith and wisdom in operation.
How does that work with salvation? I believed therefore I spoke. I tell others about His saving power. I change the way I walked before, the places I went change, the words out of my mouth change and by the renewing of my mind to His word, my thoughts and actions change.
Wouldn’t That be great to have an earthly father with such ability, ability to create? We do have a Father, while we are here on earth, with this ability. We just need to give ourselves over to the adoption of sons. Sons go the way of the Father, that’s how one knows they are Sons. Another way is that they look like their Father. So earthly men, women and children can bring heaven to earth and can model THE FATHER above, BUT there is no natural person like Him if they will not come alive spiritually unto Him, follow after Him with intent to copy Him, and then to show Him to the world. We must be born of the spirit to be as He is. There’s no natural way it would work, this is not a natural Father made of natural elements. This is Our eternal Master, who lives in the spiritual, eternal world.
To second guess, means to criticize after a decision is made. So, don’t second guess God! Just love and serve His will with a heart that wants it, no matter what. Also don’t make that hard, because then it is still all about you and how hard God is on you and how much He’s inconveniencing you, and how He makes you suffer for being His. What witness is thatto the world who is suffering enough on their own without Him??
I’ve met many, many people who would like God to answer their prayers, and in summary, they’d like what they ask to be done, by the help of God’s hands. That sounds normal for us right? Think about it, If this spiritual and natural life in which we live is more about giving and receiving than it is about buying and selling and if this life is about sowing and reaping, rather than making investments, then how much of obeying and doing what God says have we planned for an accomplished? Do we do His will? Then He does ours. Do we listen to His voice, with plans to make changes at His words? Then He listens to ours making plans to change circumstances or help us , by giving us grace to make the change.
Many of us want God to step in and do thus and so for us, Don’t be deceived, He’s waiting for us to DO it and rely on His strength to get it done, the move is ours, If and when we move, His strength can be depended upon to help us do what He’d like for us to do.
Why is the honor of people important to God? Especially parents and teachers who are as fathers? They represent His authority and us coming under that authority, our willingness to” go against the flows”, to be submitted and willing to pay the price for unity begins by coming under the rule of others. If we cannot come under the rule of men, whom we do see, we will not really ever come under the rule of God, the rule of God says come under men. It’s not about how good, fair, or wise the person are, it is about submission to God by practicing submission to a person we can see. If we base it on personality or the wisdom they possess, we will find ourselves without excuse when asked to give an account as children or sons of God. If we never submitted ourselves, He may not recognize us as sons., and aren’t you glad you have not gotten what it is your really deserve? If sowing and reaping, why would you only respect those who “deserve” it?If we really respect God, we will respect people who are made in God’s image and likness, and whom he has asked us to love, no matter what they do.
I said something about us making the situations all about us, when rather than magnifying God’s will by accomplishing it with His strength by faith, we magnify whatever He told us to do, as though we are victims who have been given impossible feats to accomplish. We say we do it for God, but it becomes all about us. There is also another area here tot check us to see who it is all about. Being rude and offensive to others, shows we have exalted ourselves because we have not taken time to lay down our desires in life and die to self and live to God, who is Love.
Ever hear the word J-O-Y spelled out? “J”esus 1st , “O”thers 2nd , “Y”ou (me) last.” Any other order of things is NOT joy, is not filled with the life and love of God, needs adjustment and prayerful consideration to go ahead and change from “me” centered thinking and action to Him-centered thinking and action. The only way to accomplish this is to believe His words as His words and DO them.
If the word says be kind. I am kind. If it says assemble myself with other believers, I do just that. I do the word, when I hear it, and in so doing, I am blessed. If I only hear the words but do not do them, I’m living a deceived life. If one finds they are being deceived, would they not stop the deception?
If for Love, yes, If for self, no.

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Isaiah 58:12 – in multiple translations….
The Amplified Bible
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
The Holy Bible, New International Version®
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
The New King James Version
Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
GOD'S WORD
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the foundations of past generations. You will be called the Rebuilder of Broken Walls and the Restorer of Streets Where People Live.
New Life Bible
And your cities which were destroyed long ago will be built again. You will set up the stones of the bases of the old buildings. You will be called the one who builds again the broken walls, and who makes the streets on which people live like new.