Devotional
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Daily Readings: Psalm 63 and Proverbs 24:13-34 “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.” – v.27 “I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense.I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.” – v30-31 Translating v.27…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 62 and Proverbs 24:1-22 The wise man writes, “The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.” (v.5) Later he adds, “If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.” (v.10) I think those two lines are very closely connected. Wisdom gives birth to true courage and…
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Daily Readings: Proverbs 23:13-35 and Psalm 61 “O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” (v.26) Centuries later, the apostle Paul would write: “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Today’s key verse from Proverbs 23 has the same ring to it. In Proverbs 23:26, the…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 60 and Proverbs 23:1-12 “While dining with a ruler, pay attention … (v1) … Don’t eat with people who are stingy (v6) … Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich… (v.4) … Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers (v.10)” In these verses, the father seeks to impart…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 59 and Proverbs 22:17-23 “Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court.For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.” (v.22-23) Here is a father putting the fear of God into his son by warning him of God’s active opposition and punishment if he should dare…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 58 and Proverbs 22:1-16 “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (v.6) Many of us will remember this Proverb better in its older wording: “Train up a child in the way he should go,And when he is old he will not depart from…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 57 and Proverbs 21 “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” (v.5) What an encouraging word for those who are willing to apply themselves to the tasks, challenges and opportunities before them. The modern equivalent would be something like: “Fail to plan, and you’re planning to…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 56 and Proverbs 20 “Unfailing love and faithfulness protect the king; his throne is made secure through love.” (v.28) Of all the qualities we observe in our contemporary human “kings” – the presidents and prime ministers of our day – unfailing love and faithfulness would not be very prominent. More often, when we…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 55 and Proverbs 19 “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.” (v.3) How true. God has given us boundaries within which to live a flourishing life that is free and abundant. They are also given to protect us from the harm that lies outside them. As…
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Daily Readings: Psalm 54 and Proverbs 18 “Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense. Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” (v.1-2) The differences between the various Bible translations of Proverbs 18:1 are quite informative. The “unfriendly person” (Hebrew=”nip̄-rāḏ”) of the NLT is more directly…
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