Good Intentions

Reading For Today: Proverb Chapter 18

Gold Nugget
Verse 2: “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.”

Commentary

The popular teaching in today’s society is, “Follow your heart”. There may not be a more foolish bit of advice than this “follow your heart” advice. The old saying, “Hell is paved with good intentions" has some legitimate value to it. We wouldn’t head for a destination that we’ve never been to with merely good intentions. We would want facts. We would not be satisfied with following our heart. When it comes right down to it, truth trumps both intentions and heart’s desires. My heart may want to take I-10 to Ohio, but I’ll never get there. With an illustration like that, we would quickly agree that we need directions, accuracy and truth to reach our destination. We want maps, GPS and instructions that are 100% accurate without opinion or suggestions. If this is all true concerning driving from Texas to Ohio, why in the world would we accept any other standards when we travel though life with heaven as our destination? When making decisions about the direction we go in and the manner in which we travel, we should not be following our heart or our good intentions. We should be asking, “What do the Scriptures say about my direction and means of travel? The Word of God (Truth) trumps both intentions and heart’s desires. We should be focused on what He has to say about the decisions we make for everyday living. My heart can be misleading and my intentions can be carnal, but the Word of God is ever true and always applicable. I know someone that has recently made a life altering decision that this person admits is not what God wants, but what they know needs to be done. This person is following their heart with good intentions down a path to sure destruction. Remember today’s “gold nugget, “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.” 

Prayer

Lord, I pray for my friend that is allowing their heart to go against your Word. I also pray that I remember this perspective when I am in their shoes. Help me to have the commitment to your Word and truth that will trump my heart’s desires and good intentions when they do not agree with your word. Amen

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Stay the Course

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 17

Gold Nugget

Verse 3: “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.”

                                                                                                                             

Commentary

I really like verse 3 of chapter 17. This truth is of utmost importance and value for a Christian to understand, accept and embrace. Just as the fired furnace is a necessary process to purify both gold and silver, the "fire" is just as necessary to purify the heart. Just as pain is necessary for the growth of muscle and endurance to improve performance, God wants us to improve our performance as well. As today's "gold nugget" says, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.” We are supposed to be servants in service to serve. God want to get as much out of us for His glory and work as He can. I don't know about you, but I don't have a problem with that. In order for Him to get more out of us for better service, we will have to endure the adversity that burns impurities out of us, the pain of our spiritual muscles growing and the weariness that comes from increasing our endurance. All of this works to improve how much we can endure, carry and suffer to carry this gospel of His. Consider these verses in James chapter 1 verses 2-4:  “2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Remember that God has much to accomplish through your fiery trial. Stay the course!

Prayer

Lord, help me to remember that you are working something to grow me through my suffering. Remind me of the truth from James 1:2-4 that tells me to hang in until the trial has run its course so I will be complete, lacking nothing. Amen

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Don’t Go There!

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 4

Gold Nugget
Verse 14: “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil.”


Commentary

Misery loves company and the wicked want both associates and victims.  A friend reminded me recently of our ability to enable these people without even intending to. It only takes one link to break a chain. Some chains are for bonding while others are for bondage. It is constructive for people to bind together in unity and strength, but often chains are used for bondage and need to be broken. In 1980 the United States and 59 other nations refused to send their Olympic teams to the Moscow Olympics as a protest against the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Disassociation can often be the most effective form of prevention. 

Sometimes we simply must refuse to participate with someone harmful or refuse to be harmed by them. There is an American celebrity that has a very low approval rating, but extremely high TV rating. She is known by TV producers as a “ratings booster”. Even though the polls prove that America doesn’t even like her, we can't seem to disassociate with her. As long as she is a “ratings booster”, we will have to keep on seeing her on magazine covers and TV programs. If we really want to put a stop to bad behavior, we need to learn how to break free from harmful people and situations.

Prayer
Lord, help me to see people that are destructive in my life and give me the boldness to defend others by boycotting these harmful people. I know there is a fine line on when is the right time to separate myself from certain people, but I know you can show me when and who. Amen

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Bless this House

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 3

Gold Nugget
Verse 33: “The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just.” 

Commentary

Is your house blessed or cursed? I’ve been in the south all my life, and it’s quite common to see a “Lord, bless this house” sign hanging in many homes. It may be up north also, but I wouldn’t know. What I do know is I’ve never seen a “Lord, CURSE this house” sign. We all want God’s blessings, but we may be clueless on how we ensure it. Today's gold nugget says, "He blesses the home of the just.” The Just are those who walk in God's precepts. Those who joyfully obey God will experience the blessings of God in their lives. 

If we want God’s blessings we need to understand how it hinges on our obedience. The first part of today's gold nugget says, “The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked..." Yes, God can and does curse the wicked. The disobedience in our lives may be causing us to lose favor with God. It is true, some hardships are part of the life of even an obedient disciple. The question you must ask is, "Am I suffering from the enemy because of my obedience to God, or am I suffering from the correction of the Lord because of my disobedience?

Prayer
Lord, I sure need your favor and blessings. I know what can hinder or open those blessings. I purpose today to commit to the commands in scripture, both to those I know and to those that I am determined to learn. Amen

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Don't Compare

Reading for Today: 2 CORINTHIANS 10:1

Gold Nugget
2 CORINTHIANS 10:12: Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

Commentary

How many times have you logged into your social media account and felt like a total failure after seeing everyone else’s lives? If you’re like me, it’s quite often. You see your friends who always look amazing in every picture they take. Perhaps you see friends that go on awesome vacations or get to do cool things like zip lining in the rainforest when you’re stuck at home all summer. It’s really easy to start comparing your life to the lives of others and start to feel like a total loser.

That’s a little like what today’s Bible verse is talking about. It tells us that when we begin to classify or compare ourselves we are not wise. It isn’t wise to begin comparing yourself, your gifts, talents, and your life with others. The main reason this is true is that you don’t see yourself fully. Often, we miss our own gifts because we’re so used to them.

Enough is Enough

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 31

Gold Nugget

Verse 26:  “She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness."

Commentary

Enough is enough. How long will we continue in a substandard life without the presence of godly wisdom? That is the theme of today's "gold nugget". Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". We continue in the same patterns in our lives always complaining about the same outcomes. Recognizing patterns in our lives is too often only accomplished because of their familiarity. That is to say, we don't recognize a pattern until it has run it's cycle a few times, else it wouldn't be a pattern. The thing we should be able to count on is the influence that the Word of God should have in the life of a Christian. Repeated exposure to the Word of God will begin to change the way we think and reason. Just as sure as repeated exposure to television and other forms of media influence the way our youth and culture think and reason. Paul wrote to the church at Phillipi and instructed them with these words, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Repeated exposure to the scriptures and less exposure from the world will result in more wisdom and quicker reaction to patterns that cause havoc in our lives. How long will we love living a simple (or foolish) way of life? When will we say, "Enough is enough?" If you have had enough, won't you make the change today?

Prayer

Lord, help me to embrace a life filled with exposure from your Word. I acknowledge the need for more of you and your Word and less influence from the world... Word over world. Amen

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Moral Compass

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 28

Gold Nugget

Verse 26: "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered."

Commentary

Put on a blindfold, spin in circles real fast several times and attempt to start walking zero degrees north. Only by absolute luck could you be walking "near" the right direction. Even if you think that you have a 1 in 4 chance, you are wrong. Closer to 1 in 360 degree chance. Depending on how far you plan on going in a given direction determines how accurate you must be. Being "within" one degree of the right direction at the start can still end up miles off over a given distance. The only sure way to maintain true direction is to travel with a compass. Using our "internal" compass is as dependable as the foolish person mentioned in today's "gold nugget" who trusts in his own heart.

Our own devices can mislead us and will surely put us in a trap, but trusting in the sound provisional direction of greater knowledge than ourselves will provide escape. The Lord and usually a direct word from Him in scripture, will measure how accurate and true the direction we are traveling in actually is. I find it truly sad when someone is convinced that the path they are on is the right one when it is in absolute conflict with scripture and sound wisdom. We are either too prideful and want to believe that we are fully capable of making our own way, or we are too rebellious to give up a path that pleases us for the now. Either way, the end is a trap and will cause us great sorrow and shame.

Prayer

Lord, help us to be humble enough to submit to you and your will and obedient enough to follow it when it is revealed. Amen

 

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Praise be to Me?

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 27

Gold Nugget
Verse 2:  "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips"

Commentary

Is it okay to want recognition for your hard work? We find in today's "gold nugget" that we are not instructed to avoid accolades, but rather suffer them when they come. That doesn't really address the question asked though. Allowing recognition and praise is all together different from desiring or possibly even pursuing it. I would dare say it is in our nature to want to be acknowledged. In its most basic origin, wanting to be acknowledge for having or being something of value isn't wrong of us. Needing to be assured that we are of value is okay. Wanting to be elevated, on the other hand, is a different story.

When we seek accolades, recognition or praise, we are usually more driven by the desire to promote ourselves over on another. This is not Christ-like. Being at peace with not being above another is a basic Christian principle. Paul wrote to the Philippians in chapter 2, verse 3, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." When someone pays you a compliment, receive it and move on. Don't soak in it. When you need it, the Lord will provide someone to encourage you in a way without your head getting too big. Promoting yourself only turns others away from you. 

Prayer
Lord, help us to be mindful of our apparent value proven through your sacrifice on the cross and give us the desire to have you and others exalted above ourselves . Amen

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Protective Walls

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 25

Gold Nugget
Verse 28: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

Commentary
Having a “hedge of protection” is something you will often hear Christians pray as they request protection for loved ones. It is very biblical and is mentioned in the book of Job. Job had a hedge of protection about him from the Lord. As Christians, we have a hedge of protection around us, but if we accept the truth of today’s scripture, we will see that our city walls (our hedge of protection) is conditional upon our obedience. I’m not saying a mess up today will cause God to lift His protection, but continued disobedience has historically resulted in him allowing the enemy to defeat us. 

We have an unruly flesh that wants to run rampant without reigns. Failure to have rule over our flesh will result in our enemy being able to overtake us as easy as a city without walls. Consider today’s “gold nugget”, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” We all should be able to identify the areas of our lives where our flesh is getting out of control and regain authority over it before we leave ourselves open to attacks.

 Prayer

Lord, sometimes it comes from being under stress or heartache. Sometimes it comes from just feeling like we are entitled to a little indulgence, but whatever reason we allow our flesh to start having liberty, we need to be quick to put our flesh into subjection through prayer, fasting, studying and fellowship with the saints and build our walls back into protective order. Amen

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Worth it All

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 23

Gold Nugget
Verse 18: “For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Commentary

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9) When we set out doing good, it is often a challenge to maintain our endeavors. Sometimes we may wonder if is all worth it. Today’s “gold nugget” reminds us that “… surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.” What is our hope? “Consider the hereafter mentioned in today’s “gold nugget” when we read this verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:8, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” What is the “hope of salvation”? Hope is defined in scripture differently than it is today. “Hope” today is often used as “wish”, meaning to wish for the best. For example, “I hope I get that job”. So today, “hope” means uncertainty with optimism. In scripture, hope doesn’t mean uncertainty, but absolute certainty. It’s simply the waiting period with excitement for what is an absolute certain event. Consider this definition of “Faith” found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That is to say, we know what is going to happen and we wait with expectation for the time to arrive. Such is the definition of faith concerning salvation; we are waiting with surety of its arrival. Our excitement while waiting is defined as the “hope of salvation”. It’s our faith and hope that carries us through, knowing that our choice to follow Him and His precept are worth every challenge that comes against us. “…our hope will not be cut off. We are guaranteed of the hereafter.

Prayer

Lord, help us to stay focused and stay the course of obedience in you and love towards others. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. (Romans 8:18)  Amen

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Demolition

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 21

Gold Nugget
Verse 12: “The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.”

Commentary

As a project manager, one of my recent projects was the demolition of a building inside one of the major refineries in the US. The preparations and risk of demolishing a building is pretty intense and involved. The preparations and risk of demolishing a building inside a refinery only increases. There are so many things to consider, but the greatest risk is the potential for people to be in harms way of the demolition. We go through great extents to ensure nobody is in or near it when we begin to knock it down. I think of that when reading today’s “gold nugget”. “The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.” Oftentimes people, businesses and even so called "ministries" and churches fall in this category. Not all that claim to be good or holy are actually of God. We need to be very careful of our involvement of those that have dishonored God. Should He decide to "overthrow" them as today's scripture teaches, we don't want to be inside or even near the demolition when He decides to take it down. There comes a time when God has had enough of people defying Him and neglecting His Word and truth. As we see in the New Testament, Jesus decides that He will not suffer the wicked in His Father’s house any longer and goes off! Although controlled and righteous anger, Jesus holds no bars in His judgment of the people’s neglect and rejection of the truth. I wouldn’t want to be in the area when He cleans house, much less have a booth set up in the courtyard. I would rather not be tied to or involved with those that compromise His Word. We will all have to make this choices at one time or another. You may be at that crossroad now. Consider carefully what you should do. Are you being effective for the Kingdom where you are, or are you dangerously close to a coming demolition?

Prayer

Lord, help me to know when my involvement with certain people has moved from being constructive to just tying myself to those that have defied you. Give me the courage and discernment to know when and what I should do.” Amen

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Google It!

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 18

Gold Nugget

Verse 2: “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.”

                                                                                                                             

Commentary

There will always be an opportunity to deceive people and therefore, deceivers will always have a place in society. However, since we live in the age of information, it is a lot easier to call someone’s bluff. All you have to do is “Google” it. A computer is rarely far away from us. Many of us have such a resource on our person at all times in the form of a telephone. Anytime there is a controversial fact that arises in a conversation, people will whip out their phones and call someone’s bluff. We are now ruled by a “higher power” – Google... (at least when it comes to trivia and misc. facts.) How we feel about two plus two is really irrelevant. We know that the calculator has rule over what we feel and expressing our heart has no bearing. Today’s “gold nugget” speaks on this matter. “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.”

How we feel in our heart is overruled by the absolutes in our lives. A Christian acknowledges another absolute in their life. A Christian knows that despite how they may feel about a certain thing, the Word of God overrules all. We as Christians don’t walk through this life making decisions based on how we feel when we have the Word of God to instruct us. It’s not that we don’t allow feelings and the expressions of our heart to have a place in our life; it’s just that the established Word of God is the final authority. If you are unsure about something or what someone is telling you, just Google it... "Google" it in the Scriptures!

Prayer

Lord, help us to accept your Word as the final authority in our lives. Remind us that we don’t have the luxury of going with how we feel when the truth of the Word stands in opposition.  Amen

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Falsehoods AND Lies

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 30

Gold Nugget
Verse 8a: “Remove falsehood and lies far from me;”

Commentary

I really like that today’s “gold nugget” says “Remove falsehood AND lies far from me;” Many versions actually say “Remove vanity and lies far from me;” Due to the fact that the word “vanity” has changed meaning over the centuries, “falsehood” is a better translation. Originally vanity simply meant, empty or void. Vanity or falsehood is just a false representation of the truth. How does that differ from lies and why are they both mentioned as if they have different meanings? If the scripture says, “Remove falsehood AND lies far from me;”, we could miss something if we just rolled them into one. Let’s see what we may have to gain by actually paying closer attention to the Word. We know what it means to have lies removed far from me. Lies are intentional deception. There are some falsehoods that are not intentional and yet cause just as much damage to our lives. I can lie to you and tell you I am capable of doing your taxes for you, but I can do just as much damage by really believing I can when I cannot. Just because I really thought I could do your taxes doesn’t mean that you won’t overpay or underpay and earn yourself an audit from the IRS. I don’t want to have just lies put out of me and away from me, it is of utmost importance that the truth is the foundation of all my existence. Some of the most devastating unintentional falsehoods are the ones we believe concerning ourselves. Not long ago the Lord dealt with me on some issues in my life where I was absolutely wrong about several things. I was not lying about these issues, but my perception was wrong and couldn’t have been further from the truth. There were things that I believed about myself that were wrong and just as damaging as if I lied about them intentionally. It would be easy for me to say, “Well, I was ignorant of the truth, so God will show me mercy.” Well, yes He is a merciful God, but this ignorance was selective. I had opportunity to see the truth in my life, but didn’t want to acknowledge my weakness. This is not an intentional lie, but it was a damaging falsehood anyway. As we mature in Christ Jesus, we want lies away from us, but we are so desirous of the truth that we don’t even want to overlook the truths that are not convenient for us. We want to know the truth about ourselves more than we want to preserve our pride. I want not only lies put far from me, but also any false or empty opinions of myself as well.

Prayer

Lord, when we look into the mirror of your Word, help us to see the truth around us and the truth about us. Allow your Word and our humility to keep us in truth and repentance as needed.  Amen

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Reach Out

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 5

Gold Nugget

Verse 23: “He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.”

                                                                                                                             

Commentary

Although men hold the reputation for not stopping for directions, pride does not reserve itself to just one of the two genders. All of us, male and female, have issues asking for help or admitting failure. Sometime asking for help or admitting failure are related to one another, sometimes they are not. Either way, the inability to reach out for instruction will ensure our own folly and disaster. We will surely find things in our lives began to perish. That which perishes can be relationships, finances, even employment. As today’s “gold nugget” declares, “He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.”

This next point is something that everyone must come to grips with; “God did not create us for individual survival.” As a matter of fact, one of the first statements He made concerning man was, “It is not good that he should be alone.” As a result, he made Eve to be his helpmate. This sounds demeaning to women if they are not aware of what this means. Clearly man in himself was lacking. He needed fellowship that God Himself did not fill. That is a statement that can cause discomfort, but it was from God's mouth Himself. (Genesis 2:18)

As long as we are on this earth we will need each other. God designed us to need one another spiritually and naturally. We need each other for strength, encouragement and for instruction. Embrace your humanity and loosen your pride. Reach out to someone with Godly character today for instruction. Your path with God is designed by Him, to include others. We are one body in need of our other members.

Prayer

Lord, help me to suffer my pride and receive instruction from those you have provided for me to call upon. You are first and foremost in my life for instruction, correction and guidance, but I know you often use others to carry it out. Amen

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His Enemies

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 8

Gold Nugget

Verse 13: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” 

Commentary

There is an appropriate time to assume someone an enemy that posses as an enemy to the innocent. It's important to point out that we don't select our enemies, they select us. Should they choose to hate and oppose us, they are (by definition) our enemy whether we want them to be or not. Let's put it this way, once I was stolen from, lied about, threatened and all around abused by a friend of one of my relatives. I had tried to help this person and all was good until I was being taken advantage of extensively. After much suffering and refusing to be abused any longer, I refused anymore charity to them. That's when the abuse worsened. I was hurt badly and took time to recover financially from theft and property damage. All of this was bad, but the real pain came later when I learned that my relative remained close friends with this person. I couldn't understand how my family member could still see someone as a dear friend who had severely abused me.

If someone mistreats my children - they have declared me their enemy. (All of this is assuming that my children are innocent of the cause to which they where deemed an enemy.) When we entered into a relationship with God, His enemies should have become our enemies. A few of His enemies are "evil, pride, arrogance, a perverse mouth and the evil way" As today's "gold nugget" says, we should "hate" these things. How can we be a friend and family member to God and be a close friend to this world? Using my emotions to draw from, I can imagine how Jesus feels when we are friendly to the world that rejected, beat, abused and murdered Him? Consider these profound words from 1 John 2:15-17 "15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world." 

Prayer

Lord, I will not be friends to those that have declared you as their enemy. You will not find me in the arms of those that abuse and reject you. If they reject you, they have rejected me. I will consider your hurt when I am tempted to embrace this world and its pleasures. Amen

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LOAN-ley Hearts

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 6

Gold Nugget

Verse 1-2: "1 My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth. "

Commentary 

When I was a little boy, my grandfather told me that a "handshake" was as binding as a contract. Today things are different. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am still shocked when people don't honor their word. It is better to have not agreed to anything than to turn from your word. That brings me to today's "gold nugget". The word surety from this verse means what it sounds like. "...if you become surety for your friend". "Sure" meaning absolute, without doubt or wavering -a guarantee. If you are a guarantee for someone today and they don't pay their debt, you will pay it for them. This is often times referred to as a co-signer. When you have co-signed, "You are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth.” Many Christians do not practice co-signing because of this very scripture and they have perfect grounds for it.

The scriptures teach us to be very careful when we guarantee another person. If we vouch for someone and they back out, we may be left standing there when the lender comes for his money. He will not hesitate to take from your family. I see this scripture like Jesus' words in Luke Chapter 6, "34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High." The way these tie together for me is through the fact that Jesus says to loan and do not hope for it back. If it does come back, you have not lost anything even though you were willing to. If it doesn't come back, you have only lost what you were willing to lose. Continuing with Jesus' words, we see that lending to someone and expecting it back is more like asking someone to hold your money for you. If they are in need and you can meet it, just do it and forget about it.

Prayer

Lord, help me to remember that who I associate for and vouch for should be people of character and not an offence to you and your name. Remind me also to give without hoping for a return or keeping score. Amen

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